circadian

in urban cocoon
we feel her heartbeat
the circadian rhythm
of Gaia beneath our feet
overlaid in asphalt
and unsung by the birds
in an endless summer
still, we use the words
of an earlier time
and call this spring
as though seasons
were still a thing
we cling to a clock
to the artificial tick-tock
of a life support beep
and those who notice
mourn her and weep

accolade

among a certain type,
humble and profound,
imposter syndrome
more the rule than the exception;
but believe me when I tell you
that you are, without exception,
exceptional
and every accolade
bestowed upon you earned.
though your modesty would
have you think it unconfirmed -
please know, your value
by the discerning is discerned.

resuscitate

she gave up the ghost
quite unwilling
but once relinquished
Hope dead
beyond redemption
so put back the paddles
turn off the pump
you cannot resuscitate
that which you killed
with slow neglect

logy

the long pause

logy and lurching 

towards cognition  

fumbling past definition 

in the morning after mood

partitioned by regret 

and contrition 

putsch

i was never
revolutionary
i worked for change
but always incrementally
i did not see
that those opposed
had no such qualms
that they would happily
take up arms
against the defenseless
so now i
who never dreamt
i'd dream of a putsch
before we screwed the pooch
do muse upon a coup d'etat
as though it were a la-di-dah
sad for what we've lost
sadder still for the cost

nonpareil

sleep serene
in the exhaustion
on the other side
of exquisite anxiety
slumber in
the nonpareil
of nonchalance
wherein the vault
of all your fucks
is empty
your bank
devoid of cash
has crashed

writhe

hate 

          within

      burn

long to 

make you              

squirm         

       worm       

                   writhe  

             and 

  wriggle

like a        

 squiggle  

           as I 

              prepare 

          the

 hook

inexorable

debt
a scythe blade
pendulum swinging
back and forth
the rope held by
a preoccupied toddler
and resentment
the knife
creeping ever closer
the end inexorable
impatient guillotine

intoxicate

the pheromones
that emanate
in miasmic haze
to fill the air
twixt here
and there
intoxicate
stronger than
whiskey or wine
and when we kiss
I taste the divine

resurrection

from the ashes
I am reborn
again
in perpetuity
and burned
again
in my naivety
my resurrection
infallibly linked
to optimism
jinxed
to repeat
infinitely

propitious

light the sky 

morning sun of

liquid dew

refractions scrape

again stone 

the sword of day

propitious as 

a warrior goddess 

rising from 

her birthing bed

to fight for the 

world she bore

ecstatic

after the end
as the pavement
cracks and crumbles
into a terrestrial reef
comes a riot of color
like coral burst forth in
the chaotic democracy
of a haphazardly sloppy spring
the meadow's ecstatic offering
to the effulgent sun
populated by a lonely bee
wondering what happened
to everyone

adversary

if one would wish
to set a precedent
for how to fuck
one's presidency
one should set
oneself an adversary
persistent and slow
patient and pernicious
whilst they themselves
act ever more suspicious
but what do I know
I'm still hoping 
just desserts
are just delicious

gullible

the fault
our own credulity
spun into silk
cast skyward
in a soaring arc
we are both
the catcher
and the caught
gullible guppies
gawping at a shiny fly
lured to an end by a lie
we decorated ourselves

shanghai

oh, my heart's a drunken sailor
shanghaied in the night
awaking to the morning light
of wildly different shores
and just like that; it's no more yours
it found a partner, not a gaoler

katzenjammer

dull ache suffused
head sore - heart bruised
in the katzenjammer cliche
of a break up binge
a siren passes and you cringe
the bourbon blurred
and pressed your pause
but now tomorrow
has you in her claws

veritable

The light within
A veritable sun
Which from her eyes
Shone bright
To guide you home
And in each new face
You seek her glow
And hope flickers
Like the fluorescence
That greets you

cubit

the heart
is measured
in beats and pulse
in weights
and measures
I could not
in cubits,
yards,
or kilos
convey
how big
it swells within
my chest when
you smile

thole

beneath a seeping
grey blanket of sky
feet and eyes run
encumbered
by emotion
as much as
the straight jacket
of corset and bustle
thistle pricked
slipper feet sprint
over the moors
fleeing degradation
her soul tholes
though her soles
fare less well

despot

shape of my days
determined by
the watchful eye
a purring despot
demands I rise
or remain the same
makes known her laws
by jaws and claws

Parthian

light reflected
in effect a
Parthian shot
by matter
on its way
out the door
reminding of
what came before
the energy exerted
ere the universe deserted

opusculum

each day
a little rhyme
i write
and wonder
shall someday
each serve as
opusculum to
masterpieces
yet to come
or are they it
these snowflakes
will they avalanche
will they glacier make
or will the thaw
melt and seep
my words
into the ground
with my bones
when I go

cerebral

oh sure

come inside

I've decorated

the walls with

paper scribbled

in cloudscapes

and dancing flowers

 

oh sure

we can walk and talk

for hours - 

 

NO - not that room

keep that door closed

 

oh sure 

there's nothing

of great import hid behind

but merely the mess

of a busy mind

 

oh sure

walk my cerebral halls

or the garden, there's waterfalls

 

but sure

keep closed doors closed

you wouldn't like me discomposed

sashay

after all
these years
and all
she took
when finally
she found
the strength
to walk away
she did not walk

what she did
was sashay

moiety

is it human nature 

that makes us see it so

marks us out 

to us and them

makes us search 

for a match and 

seek a moiety to

make us whole

are we all 

just lost souls

seeing patterns in

paint splatter that 

is just atoms crashing 

together colliding 

into compounds

or compound fractures 

shattering ourselves 

into bits like 

puzzle pieces forced

to fit in other holes

in desperation to make 

a picture or fill a role

brummagem

take this trinket forged of faux
made up of make believe
held together with spit and string
this tenuous thing
this brummagem heart
it may not be worth much
not made of gold or silver or such
but value and worth diverge
where love and life converge
and though its broken clockwork
may not keep the time true
if you'll have it
it will beat in time for you

rowel

i cannot tell
if it's the grit
to grow a pearl
or just to
rub me raw
the thought
that rowels me so
i scarce can sleep
the certainty
that i should be
somewhere else
as someone else
doing anything else
i cannot tell

arduous

we are,
all of us,
just clusters of mutated cells
held together by hope and goo.
ambulatory sausages of sentience
trudging through the universe
en masse; on an arduous journey
over broken sun-baked roads
of cracked asphalt & jagged dreams
striving towards a whisper.
so pick up your neighbor
when they fall and help them along
or don't be surprised when you
return to gooey pavement jam.

fantod

Murder's Prelude:

it's the little things -
the smacking lips,
the cracking knuckles,
the mispronunciation
of a simple word -
that give me the flaming fantods,
set my teeth on edge
and send me spiraling.

but sure, ask me again
for the thing I've shown
you how to do a million times
and that you could do yourself
if you could but be bothered

you aneurysm,
ask me again
before I've had my coffee

hoodwink

you made of me an April fool
hoodwinked and hornswoggled
by one too cruel
I bought in hook, line and sinker
and you, you vicious little stinker
would have me shamefaced be
when you're where blame should lie
my trusting heart may be naive
and far too easy to deceive
but better that than amplify
the unkindness you personify