I Don't Live at Home Anymore

i don't live at home anymore
with the (sometimes)
       quiet murmurs
       smooth skin
                  watching eyes
                  helpful
                              criticisms
i was like a child                     (happy)
you said,        SO LOUD
                      (i'm embarrassed of you)          
so,
            i tried to be (qu)aint
            and (i) wait(e)d
      a long (t)ime
      you know,
like skinner's rats                   who killed themselves
pressing the bar
only they           may have
           known what they wanted while
           i
 (you) buried (me)
           myself
           under a heap of dirt           so dark
and
i don't live at home anymore
i drive right past to
          four walls
          and a bed
with the
                loneliness (is it worse)
                darkness of the hours i can't sleep
                woken by thoughts because
       IT'S SO QUIET HERE
       (is it better)                 and i'm so tired but
my friends say
i seem like myself again
                                  (under that heap of dirt
                                  what began to grow?)
           these streets feel unfamiliar
     (is it the same) city
if you're not here?
                          who was it living
                          under the dirt
                          struggling to breathe?
                                                           (was it me?)
i'm sick and move like a million bricks
                                        are on my feet
                                                      so far
                                         and
i don't live at home anymore
                     but the distance
                                    i think
                            is the same.

The Enchanted Forest

Deep inside the forest
there is a place that's always night
where flowers, moss and trees
will be everywhere in sight.

And if you come in Spring,
on a slightly misty day
you'll come upon a sight
that's most mystical and gay.

For even in the day,
In the forest it is night,
Which is why the fairy people
Have so many lovely lights.

And if you are so quiet,
with a spirit calm and good,
you can see the world of fairies
just as a fairy would.

You can see their houses shimmer
you can see them in a boat
you can see them sing and dance and fly
without a need to gloat.

Though many cannot see them
and will say it isn't true
I have seen this wonder
and now I'm telling it to you.

So go into the forest,
to the stream and to the sea
for if you don't you'll never know
what wonders there may be.

apologist

disheveled
bleached hair
attention seeking
slut
addicted to
cocaine
fame
selling drugs
fell in love with a rapper
heard of chris brown
what did she EXPECT?
should have
listened
to the rumors
should have known
what would happen
it's like she fucking
wanted it
which is why
he
gets the benefit of the doubt
besides
that dumb bitch had it coming
glad someone
finally taught her a lesson
living without fear
is foolish
that bitch should
know
her
place

Explosion

"Oh yes,"
says the news,
"there has been another explosion.
These are the dead,
this is the killer,
and here's who to blame."
but many other evils make no sound.

Loneliness Kills the Human

Long ago, in the depths of space 

lived a strange little people called the human race. 

They wore bags on their bodies, mud on their face, 

and their quest for companions was a constant chase.

Out past planets, past asteroids and stars, 

"Come out, come out, wherever you are." 

This was their plea, sent out near and far 

sprawling out even towards the Republic of Agbar. 

We heard them first, for we're on the way, 

and that is why we sent on that day, 

"Stop sending messages lest you be slayed 

for dangers are great beyond the milky-way". 

Instead of fear, their excitement grew, 

and instead of one message they sent out two. 

They kept sending more, as much as they could do, 

until Earth was a planet the whole universe knew. 

Within one day, the Earth was no more. 

The planet had been stripped to its very core. 

The Agbarians thought humans were quite a bore, 

but any civilization is a threat in war. 

With the Earth they made guns and wallets and shoes. 

They made soap and batteries and three types of glue. 

Then they sent out a message far out past Baloose. 

"If you mock the Agbarians, you will certainly lose."

The Dreamers Weep

In the South the kudzu slowly creeps

up north to where the pine trees sleep. 

It tangles its roots down in the deep. 

and covers the trees in a silent sweep. 

It lives by a farm with many sheep, 

whose luscious wool the farmer reaps. 

They don't know the world beyond the street 

as they give up their coat to earn their keep. 

Beyond the street a chickadee cheeps 

it hops around with little leaps. 

Its nest is made of many leaves

and pieces of plastic from a garbage heap. 

Even the people cannot sleep 

they have no home beneath their feet. 

And when they ask me on the street, 

I say, "I've got no change, you cannot eat." 

The dreamers weep.

Evolution

My aunt Beth had a man once
who we only saw twice
who had a big smile,
a daughter,
and a heroin addiction.

Aunt Beth was in love
and she and the man
made three more children.
One is fourteen and cannot speak,
perhaps on account of the drugs.

Aunt Beth was sad
because the man was gone
most of the time
doing god knows what
and she had three children all to herself.

Aunt Beth has got a lot of ancestors
way back to protozoa
and some other weird shit
we don't know about
that may never be discovered.

Aunt Beth's ancestors passed down their traits
a stomach
a brain
a reproductive system
the capacity to love.

Aunt Beth is sometimes so sad
that she regrets a lot of things,
and she doesn't remember to eat.
Sometimes she does not
want to be alive.

Aunt Beth is not the fittest
of all
but she survived long enough,
at least,
to pass on the pain.