2 November, 2009 - Fishbowl

Fishbowl

Twelve years before, my arms fell off
And scales sprouted from my neck.
Slithering along the shoreline slowly
Waves cradled my shifting frame.
Dandelions bloomed on Saturday.

Fifteen miles below the surface,
I stand three car lengths long,
Feeding twice a day on flounder
And unlucky divers.
Moonlight shone on Sunday.

Seaweed dangles from my jaw,
Skin molded from the pressure,
A mobile mountain through the water
Never sleeping, always floating.
Blue Jays hatched on Monday.

Ruling over the ocean
With a tyrant's fist,
Octopus futilely wrestle my flippers
We sail on through the mists.
Clouds exploded on Tuesday.

Diving ever deeper
I sedate my growing body,
Reasonably aware of my collapsing lungs,
Water wiping away my memory.
Streetlights rattled on Wednesday.

Settling at the bottom my imprint sets,
Twelve more years I'll be humbled,
Two more days, I can forget.
My pocket-watch snapped in June.
Tornadoes sang on Thursday.

Perfect memories of the golden daze,
Spring afternoons walking down Fifth Street
In our drunken haze.
I'm still growing or shrinking.
You set sail on Friday.

1 November, 2009 - Haiku (2)

Grieving willows hang
Proudly at the morning light-
Decaying Cities
Dropping through brimming Manholes
Choking with Regret.

31 October, 2009 - "Montecito Complex, 1986"

Montecito Complex, 1986

Clouds, Crimson:
Snapping branches the sky tumbles downward,
Machines rolling onward,
Manufactured Men strung along the Forest
Stagger past the sleeping Cardinals
Toward the factories.
Uniforms, Yellow:
Alarms whine with exhaustion,
Elation,
Workers dancing in unison grab levers,
Children in a Toy Box,
Daunting tasks rendered menial,
Not meaningless,
Active, proactive, Professional.
Springing above inferior superiors-
Supervisors-
Penthouse, Purple:
Hands adorning the regal halls,
Nails supporting custom portraits,
Drapes of hair shielding the sun,
Cinder Block Smiles Illuminating
Lampshades of Flesh,
Ocular ice cubes spilling vodka
Over Your rugs of marrow.
Tumbling skies puncturing Your palace,
Standing above the flattened vendors,
Immobile and Ascending,
Grazing eyes survey the barren surface.
Tombstones, Blue:

28 October, 2009 - Saturday on Seventh Street

Saturday of Seventh Street

Walking up the skyscraper wall
Toward a castle of eternal gray,
Your strawberry fists broke my jaw,
When the sun started chasing after me

Up to the palace where the Cranes
Hold the clouds tightly in their beaks,
Necks cracking daily like popcorn
Bursting from the Cumulus Streets.

Surveying the city limits,
Chocolate mint eyes burning a hole,
Remorseless,
Cranes holding up your fortress.

One lets out an earth shattering scream,
But I left the surface behind years ago.
Necks snapping as the California breeze
Grows ever closer.

Scaling the steps of the entrance,
Elegant jade floored halls
Distract from the zinc walls.
And I pour a glass of water.

27 October, 2009 - Glasgow Picnic

Glasgow Picnic

Swallowed by the forest I frantically search,
Buzzing and humming from the distance
Uncontrollable.
Leaves crunching with each coming step,
Frost hanging blissfully, gasps of freedom
Circling the brush,
Eternally Lifeless.
Oaks becoming shopping mall mannequins,
Mocking each scratch, my futile gnawing.
Slugs loaded up in the chamber
Pointed at my temple,
Eyes gazing with passion and coldness,
Numbly Ecstatic,
Biting and Breaking,
Firing,
Optimistic.

26 October, 2009 - Haiku

Acorns tumble Down
Splitting malnourished Branches
uprooting Forests

new intersections
twisting through the dismal town:
Faulty Wiring.

Sparrows flying West.
Tornadoes running Eastward.
Finding Hollywood

25 October, 2009 - "Oncoming Traffic"

"Oncoming Traffic"

Dishes dry out for the second time this evening,
As water massages our roof and the floor starts creaking.
An ostrich tramples down the stairs that night,
Dressed up like a sailor and eating all the moonlight
Until flames flicker out from all his feathers.
Spiced rum spilling on the table is all that I remember.

You carry a chandelier in as the house becomes lifeless,
Sitting in a musty room with all new devices,
And I have a bottle of whiskey and firecrackers
As the men on the television start talking backwards.
Hours of conversation all ending with the weather,
Our final flask of vodka will nearly last forever.

Teacups flying off the china cabinet,
Flowers dying in the garden outside,
Our tables buying stocks online.
Reading menus by the candlelight left both of us blind.
Yesterday morning we found your rope and his letter,
And with each empty glass we both begin to remember.

22 October, 2009 - Haiku

Moons bark at the cliff,
Crumbling under the lilacs
Caressing the sky

20 October, 2009 - Ragnarok

"Ragnarok"

Perched upon the telephone pole the crows watch the trash yard,
Miniature trapeze artists hopping with a surgeon's precision,
Wallowing in the culmination of earthly aroma, rising out of existence.
Swatted by the charred tires and week old cardboard coffee cups,
Chirps and shrilled squawks comment on the scurrying mice below.
Scampering from Chinese take-out cartons to towering soup cans,
Collecting for the night, scouring the yard's confines.
Cackles as the creatures stare at the colonies of rats nesting,
Holed up in worn out sneakers,
Piled atop one another like building blocks,
Defending the last rotten apple.
Swooping downwards in unison the crows grab the rodents,
By broken backs, wriggling tails, or paws in talon,
Weaving through telephone wires during ascension,
Roosting once more after the feast.
Rain drizzles down on the broken beaks,
Cawing for the lightning to strike.

October 20th, 2009 - Haiku

Stars over the grove
Dance down the confined branches,
Bruising the ripe Pears.

6 August, 2009 - Haiku

Charred flakes fall lightly
Upon cracking desert skies.
Children burn away.

5 June, 2009 - Haiku

Raindrops brightly gleam
Upon the magnolia,
Blades grinding closer

4 June, 2009 - Mirror Haiku

Morning rolls with pride,
The between hours fade out,
Night blankets the sky

Night blankets the sky,
The between hours fade out,
Morning rolls with pride

3 June, 2009 - Haiku

Quicksand pulls with force,
Draining the forest daily
Into nothingness.

2 June, 2009 - "Child Perched Atop the Tree"

"Child Perched Atop the Tree"

Nights float by, blending into days.
Pastels on the Earth's surface, blurring.
Mountains wash over waves, trees snap,
Red spills slowly over dense forests
In midday suns as rain cleans the canvas.

Canvases cleared for the next artist,
Perhaps for the next cans to knock over
Or another paint brush to fall off the shelf.
A bristle, at least waiting for a bristle.
Unattended and unacknowledged,
The linen becomes the breeze.

1 June, 2009 - Haiku

Dew upon the grass
Evaporates each mourning.
Children shriek and starve.

31 May, 2009 - Haiku

One lamp burns nightly,
Holding vigil through Summer,
Negating the Stars.

30 May, 2009 - Untitled

Thrice through the night the clock blasts,
Waking the dead, walking with vigor
Past bustling cities and farms so vast
As Cain's child cuddles the trigger.

May 29th, 2009 - Haiku

Vultures peck, with Love
Upon the Sleeping child
Whispering new Truths-

May 28th, 2009 - Commercial Interruptions

"Commercial Interruptions"

Game shows roll across snowy screens,
Hissing and spinning nightmares.
Contestants clutch new furniture,
Wheel sofas inside cramped ranchers
Pressing against jammed doors,
Locked windows.
Talk shows turning up lost children,
Forgotten parents,
Mistresses of the plumber’s wife.
Stained glass windows shine,
Lighting precious china, golden candles.
Prizes, presents, and prisoners
Lovingly arranged and showcased,
Placed on shelves in suburban homes,
Suffocating hallways and cluttering cabinets.
Midday rides inside on a thoroughbred stallion,
Swords swinging like children in a playground,
Terrified tears trickling past a plastered grin
When a soap opera begins
And a teacup falls.

May 27th, 2009 - Rainy Evenings in Bastrop

Rainy Evenings in Bastrop

Memories remain stagnant and deep,
Perfectly lurking, gathering, growing
Graves lining the congested street
Lights spilling over roses in pavement.

Laughter swims past sad lamp posts
Standing guard as footsteps silence the night.
Flames light a broken grove,
Teenage hands gently claw out kittens’ eyes.

May 26th, 2009 - Haiku (plus update)

Tearing skies in half
Bodies rise from the pavement,
Being shot by Stars.

Okay, with summer back fully in swing I plan to write on this blog one a day every day, except when I do not have access to a computer, but hopefully that will not be often. Even when it is, I shall return with enough entries to compensate for lost time in order to keep my writing and my mind sharp.

Also, as this blog is the spawn of a Youtube project from the summer prior, I will be making one video each week containing myself reading a poem that I write during the course of the week. I shall link to these videos each Monday, though for any readers that I may have, you can check out previous readings and subscribe to my channel here to watch them when they go up on Sundays.

This project, as usual, is supposed to help me grow as a writer and, hopefully, provide the readers/viewers with exposure to original poetry. As usual, all creations previous and hence forth are available for free use as long as due credit is given, a link to the website will suffice, though comments and subscriptions to the blog and video service are always welcome. As part of my secondary summer project, exposing myself to as many cultural outlets, classic and current, as possible, I have created the Processed Grass blog which does not have any entries yet, but shall in the coming days. When the first entry is posted I shall post here with a link, though it's on blogspot and it's called Processed Grass, so it should be easy enough to find. And, if I have any regular readers that I do not know of, feel free to follow me on twitter if you want to, though I can't imagine what the benefit would be, though I'll likely post on there when a new entry is up here.

Anyhow, thanks for reading and continue enjoying, reading, and writing poetry and thank you for reading my work, I really appreciate it and continue to enjoy creating these poems each day. Also, I'll try and do a longer one tomorrow since I have a few ideas of more expansive poems I would like to test out, but expect many haiku over the summer as the form is a personal favorite.

March 28th, 2009 - Freyr Saga

“Freyr’s Flight”

Cardboard boxes wheeled in through the door,
Neighbors listened as the screams were suppressed.
Shoplifted dreams and expectations are stored,
Seeking a new final place to rest.

Our old house was like a garden
On a Saharan night in May,
Our new house is the wrapping paper
One morning after Christmas Day.

Cranes roost on the picket fence,
Gleeful stares shattering our windows,
While you watch nightly new programs
And the over burns our first dinner.

“Freyr’s Seclusion”

Raindrops spill over pots strewn across the floor,
Falling through our bedroom ceiling.
Retreating to my chair I contemplate these feelings
Longing for the flames that burned our home
Yearning for the fire that charred your face
Forgetting the flames that spared our hate,
Pouring another glass of scotch to douse my regret.
Water runs down the door’s throat
Cutting off the house’s lower level
Washing away our unpacked cardboard
Diluting open liquor bottles on the table
Vomiting old photos of our wedding night
Flooding from the front door into the street.
Cranes fly from storm clouds to the creaky roof.
Staring, my empty glass reflects a distorted face,
Winds blow a moldy scent through my nostrils
And a puddle numbs my bare feet.

“Freyr’s Morning Meal”

Cranes settled by the garden side, watching with remorse,
Our two plates piled with pancakes on the clean kitchen table.
Cloudy skies peeled away revealing an orange globe
Hanging from the neck of a raven taking a final flight west.
Cattle grazed and goats rammed heads along the fence,
Peacocks preened inside our kitchen, stripped of two walls,
As we sat in silence, pouring syrup and stale whiskey.

March 27th, 2009 - "Evening Scenes Performed inside the Ford"

“Evening Scenes Performed inside the Ford”

He holds me, my Father, rocking me lazily,
Whispers find my ear, overflowing compassion,
Confidence flowing inside my crystallized veins
Delivering, lethargically, signs of slow smoke.

Down, through clouds, I fall. Divine eyes scanning His Earth
Lovingly fixed upon huddling, famished masses.
Penetrating fluff, breaking seams, dodging jet planes
He gently guides me, with safety, to His surface.

He spies on me weekly, sending cards on Christmas,
Assuring me of His presence every Easter,
Calling me on weekends with unwavering care.
His glory eternal, always necessary.

Up, in chains, I search. Judges gazing upon me.
Sun rays caress my scalp like fingers holding coal.
Crowds shout as I, with a son’s confidence, confess:
I shot the Devil. And the blade fell.

March 24th, 2009 - "Battery Park, Flat Twelve in Gateway Plaza"

“Battery Park, Flat Twelve in Gateway Plaza”

One: Woman average height,
Drop the sheath down the front, hold the towel.
Thread the needle and sew.
Number Two: Man average height.
Slice and stitch, dispose of excess in jar,
For skin lost patch as needed.
Pull the lever, send the man, the women.
Elderly man, number three, skin sagging.
Raise arms, insert pins, tug the face,
Smile, always smile.
Number Four: Aged Woman, over weight.
Barren and dried up, productivity down.
Left, send her left and Reevaluate.
Number Five, Number Six: Couple,
Both balding and destitute
Decaying in town, reassignments needed.
Homeless woman, Number Seven.
Medicate, Educate – wait,
Gauge response or Dispose.
Number Eight: Man, middle aged.
Waiting – Working, without direction,
Starving nightly, Drinking hourly.
Number Nine: Woman, barely.
Sexless and Diseased, walking Porcelain
Ready to smash when Pushed.
Push the switch, send the woman, the men.
Number Ten: Boy, sixteen and innocent.
Science, Sports, and Sex, all removed,
Stripped and sewn, stunted in Development,
Slowly Straying from Society,
Shackle and Sedate, use Force.
Number Eleven: Child, obese.
Gender gone, Plaster applied
Brutally Kind, Locked aWay.
toddler, number twelve, inferior,
deficient, indecent, cowardly,
useless, and strangled, sadly surviving.
Number Thirteen: Baby.

March 19th, 2009 - "Thoughts from the Electric Chair"

"Thoughts from the Electric Chair"

Electricity pulsed painlessly through the executed,
Charring skin flaking off his arms effortlessly.
Maggots took no time, crawling upon the man,
Nesting behind bloodied eyes, lovingly.
Colonies springing out, crawling through the crags,
Hollowed out passages stocked completely,
Nutritiously sustaining the ignorant larva.
Generations growing, expanding rapidly,
Commandeering the legs, arms, the fingers.
Tissues was devoured, Veins dried out eventually,
Marrow was forgotten and barren bones rotted,
Stranding the parasites in the velvet coffin helplessly,
Naively waiting without the merciful electricity.

March 12th, 2009 - Haiku

Slowly the shells crack,
Molting hens serenely cluck,
Scales, naive, release.

March 11th, 2009 - Haiku

Snow conceals Flowers,
Bending like origami
Bulls mating in June.

March 10th, 2009 - To Be TItled and Expanded

Mornings crawl in with a rising Sun,
Bullying out the old the old days.
Stirring, I awake to the sound of a Gun,
Bullets crying and running a-stray.

March 9th, 2009 - Haiku

Splattering Rain drops
Crack on a rotting fetus
Shattering all doubts

March 3rd, 2007 - Haiku

Skipping the grass blades
Bullets pierce Winter and Spring,
Breaking the Rifle.

March 2nd, 2009 - Haiku

Popping in fire,
Frogs explode on the campers
Swallowing their Sins.

March 1st, 2009 - "The Kitten's Yarn"

"The Kitten's Yarn"

Watch as the sky wildly crumbles
Under the weight of a dove's wing.
White light cracks the globe,
Piercing the crust,
Penetrating the planet,
Embracing the Core.
Rising to these creations,
Toys in a child's crate,
She howls.
Shamefully, Order returns.

February 28th, 2009 - To Be Titled

To Be Titled

Atop a Hill there lives a Man
With flowers sprouting from His hands.
Each petal brushes upon my face,
Delivering an aroma so astute
And crisp as the ocean's shore
That other scents exist no more.

Waterlilies and wild berries fill my nose,
Closing each nostril and sewing them shut in bows,
While my mouth moves about the apples
Which hanged from his hair.
Each strand so smooth and silky,
Skin falling away in golden clumps
And ruby juice running down my chin,
Until I could not taste again.

Azure, violet, and cardinal flower
Fill my eyes as the juice turned sour,
Making my mouth tighten and pucker
Like a noose on an undertaker's birthday.
Every petal, another shade,
Stroking my lashes
And lulling each eye shut
Replacing both with coal and soot.

Blindly, I rub His grassy chest,
Each blade poking me with tenderness,
Warming my hands, caressing my veins.
Flowery fingers gently cradle my skull,
Forcefully his roots entangle my figure
And we bathe together in the sun,
When finally my frame goes numb.

We sit, or stand, or float, or move,
Atop a Hill, or in a Grove,
Unknown to me as I doze off daily, weekly.
Time passes quickly or slowly,
Without worry or regard,
With the frustration of a traveling gambler
Trapped in Nevada with nary a nickel
Or stuck in Antarctica with a cool million.
And I listen as a child draws near,
Making me lament my ability to hear.

February 27th, 2009 - Haiku

Barren souls float free,
Grazing arms and legs, passing,
Remaining silent.

February 26th, 2009 - Tanka

Wooden dams collapse
Ushering in the Great Flood.
Have you seen my son?
Servants bones break against trees,
While the world rotates clockwise.

February 25th, 2009 - Haiku

I forgot to write
Something to go here today,
Tomorrow I won't.

February 24th, 2009 - Strolling through Camden by the River

“Strolling through Camden by the River”

Gazing down upon the meadow at midnight,
Where five children frolic and play.
Riding nude upon a Pegasus, snow white,
While honeysuckles caress the moonlight,
Until their dying day.

February 23rd, 2009 - To Be Titled

Roll out the rugs, sound the alarms!
Our neighbors just bought a new atom bomb!
We’ll throw a party, it shan’t take too long,
Push on the button and the guests are all gone!

And where upon was this bomb purchased?
Well, around the fairgrounds the other night.
How much, surely the atoms aren’t worthless?
Surely not! Priceless! A great, glowing sight!
And how long shall the metal glow so bright?
Eternities! Our light never shall fade!
And if the neighbors resist, yell, or fight?
Press the button, friend, and they’ll be deceased!
They’ll knock on my door filled with shame
With ropes in hand and torches aflame
Crying for shelter which will fall on deaf ears
Fearing the explosion that soon overtakes Earth
While I sit by the fire waiting for the next day.

Always waiting, never arriving,
My bomb and me for eternity!

February 22nd, 2009 - Haiku

Watching the sun die,
Water fills my lungs with swords,
Blood heals my lost limbs.

February 21st, 2009 - Memories from Mother's Kitchen

"Memories from Mother's Kitchen"

Cages filled with captured mice quarreling over the cheese cube cover the counter.
Roll up your sleeves, smile, sing,
Never forget a step.
Snap their necks nice and clean, making sure to hear the crack.
Hesitate not or we’ll starve.
Remember, one hand on the stomach and one on the head.
And pull.
No push.
Mistakes are natural, they are only human.
You. Us. We. Not they.
Hold their hands, tails rather, and set them inside.
Pack each one in tight, let the tails hang out for decoration.
Roll the crust over the top, cut breathing holes in the top.
Frill the edges, make the pie presentable, check the time.
Quarter, a quarter inch, cut a quarter inch on top.
One more for flavor.
Do not snap, slice.
Drizzle over top.
Finish the remains, you deserve a snack.
Slide pie in oven, bake on high two hours.
Do not forget to wash your hands,
When you are finished.

Hear the noise?
Father must have ended early.

February 20th, 2009 - Haiku

4 Haiku today as I hopefully go on a binge and get something productive finished shortly. All feedback in welcome...none are titled and all are original creations. The poems are not related to each other and should be read individually.

Flowers spring anew,
Flames dance seductively close,
Blooming and Burning.

Snow blankets the ground,
Tucking in stranded children
As the Son slumbers.

My bony eyes stare,
Stroking the brain gleefully
With procreation.

Benches wait Vacant,
Uniform, always Constant,
Unfilled, and Breaking,