Autumn is Coming

The air smells of rain 

And

The cigar smoke of small town captains of industry

Who sit upon their horses so high

Lightning and life 

Both chained together 

Not fearing the lion or the wolf

Weathering late summer storms

Stirring up old emotions

We gather in courtyards and on Government building steps

Calling for action

Waving our signs 

Small voices joined in unison

All the books have been read and closed

And cleaning out my old car I found bits of you 

It sinks me 

Like submarines on the ocean floor

Forgotten and rusting

Words words words

I see a shortening length of days

And patience running out my mouth

At 1

2

3 in the morning

Gas running out of my tank

Faster than I can think

Minds starting to shrink

And I place these curses on your head

And this heart at your feet

I can't keep any secrets

Because I talk in my sleep

And somewhere 

some place

There is this girl...

Failing Pen

I fell because you dropped me

Or was it a push off my pedestal 

The giant of the sky opens his mouth

And lies pour out

I fell and was saved 

By the angel with a clockwork heart

Do you remember 

After all these years

How magical it all was

I forget nothing it seems

Remember all of it in dreams

Wake Me On The Tracks

You can hear the hum 

Coming for minutes 

Like an alarm clock that you never set

For awhile it was ok

Sort of comforting in its regularity

But it's become a buzzing annoyance

Then it blows by in my backyard

Horn blaring

Letting everyone know it has arrived 

Clear the crossing

Make way 

And I can feel something else now

Creeping its way more quietly

Into my mind

Understandably out of control

Days of sanity

Should be squeezed and loved

For their shortness is fleeting

Broken Chains

I become Monster in the middle of the night

All sharp teeth and biting words

Bloody mouth and ears

I wonder often if it's the real me

The thing I use all my waking strength to keep chained down

I am rage in the midnight hour

A scary thing 

And it goes on until dawn peeks its crown over the horizon

Is it any wonder I'm exhausted during the day

Phantom Treaties

Phantom tremors cause concern

Everyone else here puts nails in their coffins

So I join in the fun

Why the Hell not

They drop like flies weekly

New faces disappear quicker than silver

Give me some music I wanna hear

Before you set me to sail

I fumble with words like a child learning to talk

Yesterday When I Was Dead

We are eggshell fragile in the hands of Gods

Empty vessels waiting for smoke to form our bones 

I am a stranger in my own skin

Lost in internal conversations with voices that are not my own

Staring at unfamiliar faces in polished glass

Internet savvy and computer ill

My eyes are bloody

We are anxious for fingers to crack our shells 

To let the thoughts leak out and spread wings of their own

I lay vacant 

Waiting to be born again in bright light

To see trees grown into half moons around power lines

30 Seconds Broken Down

We have become a target market
All the things we've held dear and close to our hearts
Have become commercials
It's sad in a way
That someone somewhere breaks down our passion into statistical graphs
To figure out the best way to sell a car

Songbird

I tried to cage love
To make it sing
For only me
But love is not that at all
And it became a disaster
I ended up just caging my self
And my song was out of tune
So I opened the door to both cages
And both love and I flew in different directions
Strangers
And maybe when spring comes again
We will meet on a branch
Singing summer songs

Stage Acting Is Not Easy

I must remember to remember all these words
To become someone else
Standing in a spotlight
Or faced with an audience
Bloody Mary afternoons
Don't help
And there are so many distractions
On long drives west
I must remember to remember
All these words
The pressure makes my gums bleed
Jolting jokes put me in my place
Hitting my mark
My cues
How I missed this

Wildfire

I hope you burn
In flames so bright they blind the Gods
While you clutch your secrets and lies to your breast
I have walked through that fire
And
Have come out unscathed
Clean
The same as I once was
Grinning madman
Playing parts
And stinging hands
Sharp with my poison tongue

Playing Parts

Chalk on a sidewalk
They broke my teeth
And bloody my nose
Arguments stand up in a court of law
And fall down the sides of buildings
They have five minutes and will be here in ten
I'm not a lawyer but I play one on the stage

Blood in My Mouth

Wago road starts where the sidewalk ends
I have a mouth full of blood
Bloody teeth
Like my cold red heart
I am the devil the bedevils the Devil
Keeps him up at night
Worrying
You you you
Have built your happy home
While I spend my nights learning to be someone else
And of course wrecking a happy home
That I call my own
Be that as it may
Just put on my tombstone that I was griefed to death
Is that even a word....
My fucking phone doesn't think so
And it's smarter than me