fell asleep with your words on my chest as the exhaustion of constant anxiety wore through my sullen the same way a creek carves through the mountains i chased a drifting balloon across the rooftops of a nameless city sitting on the edge of an endless desert facade encircling my photonegative smile losing the reason […]
the power in someone putting themselves into the focus of someone else’s words being able to wish for those phrases to highlight the things within themselves they wish to see means one of two things the words hold power or the reader holds their own sense of self too high i have never seen myself […]
the bloated never has been with the spun sugar ego craving constant validation even in the face of legitimate criticism trying to make a career proving his superiority with half-baked iterations of classics done to the applause of none a small town would be king a deluded narcissist running naked through the big city streets […]
Off With Their Heads – Clear the Air the first time i heard this, I put it on repeat and let the tears flow. sometimes a song can sum up a soul perfectly. this is mine. a beautiful poetic song about falling apart.
the return flight was barely occupied big plane headed back for routine maintenance the crew ready to go home after a long day of standing at six hundred miles per hour in the air crisscrossing the country my headphones were in with music playing as i found myself in a row alone so the twitching […]
arrived late woke early half expectated home to feel like a relief but it doesn’t the birds sing the same song the bed is there the smell the conforts the nothingg the silence the anxiety maybe that part of me that knows i deserve lesser than realizes being on the road relaxed the burden of […]
the moon reflects off the wing much like how i reflect off of you a ruddy dull glow that never quite captures the beauty of the original
ryo plays as the plane gently rocks along the currents of ephemeral fluff the stars seem so much livelier in the air over alabama as we approach the mississippi border the moon just a sharp crescent of silver hovering above the wing the fool slowly makes his way back from eastern misery to the comfort […]
this marionette has the demeanor of a dragon dragging his hoarde of empty enticements across the arid desert he is forced to reflect in an effort to deflect the desperate attention seeker seeking to capsize his inflatable cardiac distress pay attention to the way he casually dances in his seat oblivious to the obvious ploys […]
the crimson flows down the ivory steps of the ossuary cracked yellowed pieces of skull mar the serenity the hollow stares that fill every crevice pomegranate flames dance along the torches that do little to light the ebony maw that opens deep into the earth itself buried far beneath the boney outgrowths lies the bitter […]
in the inner insipidness inherent in indiscriminate self loathing lies the last increment of insidious insubstantiality watching make up tutorials to try and forgive myself applying a foundation to hide the hurt deep in my empty eyes if you could see me like i see me you’d never look me in the eyes again as […]
a last trip around the frozen civil war cemetery my mind haunted by extraordinary beauty music playing loudly in my ears the cold bite of the wind a reminder that i am still alive that these ghosts are figments of the me that died to be reborn in her eyes as something more complete than […]
dreamt of the depths between quasirealities where the diaphanous silks of rapturous latency linger against the schism between the deification in emotional fulfillment on chemical receptors stringing sultry pheremones across the electrical deviance of protein deficiencies caused by maternal distresses my heart quavers at the thought of your voice tracing along the curvature of my […]
every poem written is a piece of crumbling mortality spat into the wind to fall unread across the page the quill taps the soul as it scratches along the vellum depleting the whole in an effort to appeal to a world that stopped paying attention millennia ago
the witching hour tolls as the fools shuffles aimlessly down the street the stars seem to blink in and out with the music that fills his empty skull the typical broken sleep pulverized by the nothing inherent in transitional woe it’s cold, far colder than it should be, a pervasive chill that blossoms from the […]
we lay together the sheets tangled around our heaving chests her legs tangled through mine the moon playing peeping tom through the open blinds my hand gently running down her spine i could love you she said softly into my chest why i replied in confusion she pushed off of me the storm building in […]
from the darkest crevices(lost light lingers in phantom waves) emits limitless glowering dread alas the sunken dream of drowned hope screaming whereupon the feathery remnant of restless sighs(whereupon the dusty memory of passion died) a lone traveler limps along the uneven truths spilled forth a burned out bulb sways upon the fetid air(drumming laquered nails […]
It isn’t often I read something that shakes and rattles my heart, that encapsulates my own personal feelings and I understand to my core, but this one does it – To Artina – I will take your heart. I will take your soul out of your body As though I were God. I will not […]
just above freezing as i stand waiting for light to change there is no traffic but the conditional training keeps me rooted to a the cracked concrete shivering as the wind gusts mockingly the lady at the waffle house knows my name as do the two regulars as i saddle up to the counter for […]
if i could pull down the sky to grab thirty stars off the ebony blanket of night to drape across your body they would demurely dim faced with the comparison to the complex beauty you exude effortlessly. if i could write the words that would prove to you exactly how deeply ingrained into my pulse […]
the moon is a yellow blotch, staring down in morose despair, spectral nightingales whisper soft, their songs filling the evening air on his throne the fool does sit, watching over his kingdom of lies, listening as the nightingales sing, the yellow glow in their ebon eyes in the heart of seeming madness, the jester king […]
his heart was a bouquet laid at the jagged edge of an unmarked grave her love clawed desperately at the silk lined box six feet beneath happiness hope is the moon reflected off the curving blade pitted by bitter sorrow joy the deepest wound carved with insolent skill raggedly spilling forth his soul the primordial […]
granular reasoning leads to an avalanche of misunderstanding as the tectonic facts shift the reverie of absent realizations the last bloom on a dying vine is a revelation in the bitter cold winds of encroaching winter derailment angular denials follow the bell curve towards lost oblivion as surely as the sneaking suspicions render emotive disinterest […]
the fool had thought after eight hours trying to get to where he didn’t want to be to do what he doesn’t want to do at a hotel that didn’t want him there once his head hit the pillow it would be curtains to a(besides her)terrible day so he gave up the ghost of hope […]
the stars are the same even if i am farther from your embrace there is something intrinsically wrong with that the sky should feel the same lovelorn sorrow every twinkling light should burn itself out in remorse
a hawk landed on the branch in front of my bench staring at me with its head cocked to the side not knowing what it wanted i just told it about you and asked if it could pass my love along for me it flew off to be replaced by three fat little squirrels eager […]
Thunderstorm Press has teamed up with Death’s Head Press to turn the horror event of 2020 (not pandemic or election, real life horror, fiction) to announce they are doing a limited special edition of the entire series. The first five are at the printers. I had to sign 70 sheets with my foolish face for […]
i still remember the paramedics names the first responders the ones that couldn’t save her steve alan and rich a list of men i can never forgive for being five minutes too late
i don’t want to complain if i can help it all it does is lead to more complaining dwelling on things that cannot be changed so i fake a smile laying in bed staring at the ceiling going over the mental checklist underwear socks pants t-shirts work shirt comfy shoes mask toiletries chargers kindle glasses […]
at times i feel completely lost pushed and pulled with no say in the direction packing a bag for a flight i don’t want to take to learn more for a vocation that barely let’s me breathe taking time from the things i should be doing frustrated anxious and fearful aware that this constant streaking […]
there was a tortoise sitting on the bank of the slow moving river watching the turtles float he was a reptile like them had a shell like them even his skin seemed pebbled just like them but he wasn’t no matter how much he longed to float it just wasn’t in his nature life isn’t […]
the sky is the color of rainwater traveling along a freshly drawn chalk mural filled with particulates of purples and blue in his veins rumble throbbing with a torrential flood chemically induced at the merest thought of her whispering through his mind the world around him slumbers deeply as the coffee steams fitfully her smile […]
the sweet scent of happiness fills the ever winding corridors wildflower with a hint of honey and citrus notes of spring the heady smells fill the heart interlace through the cobweb soulstuff lingering a balm that softens scars illuminates secret pockets of joy in the crevices to be savored at a later time alas, even […]
two blue jays flitting about the branches of the browning spruce the blue streaks around the tree as the brown female dances on the branch singing songs of juicy worms brought by the rains the trees back north a longing for home as the southern vacation brings new berries there is a soft joy in […]
they sit watching the fool as he tries to navigate a world he doesn’t want to understand hoping to see him struggle wishing for him to fail to fall back into the same old routines that made it easier to control they are patient taking no pleasure in his success only smiling with every line […]
it’s impossible to describe how you make my soul feel incredibly free a drink of water after days in the desert an errant ray of light on a cloudy day an ease that sweeps through me when i think of you just you being you
maybe the sky is just a dome this world is just a prison shackled with decaying meat suits forced to walk perdition as we submit to the entropy that rules this maximum security sphere but there is something to be said in the honor that exists in existence in this world of sin with you […]
did you pull the pieces of collapsed granite from my chest leaving me free to breathe or did your smile just evaporate the insecurities this feeling of being a new person that is not new at all confounds me i wonder if this is how normal people feel all the time yet they complain about […]
the street was nearly bleached out by golden light that didn’t seem to come from the sun but almost emanate from the air itself we walked together hand in hand in this yellow nimbus talking about the world around us watching the people laughing as it all seemed so silly the rush the angst the […]
i have sought the term to describe the woman that i love a game of pains for a poetic fool one that strikes the words from the sodden mining new scars out of the aether in solemn oaths of undying adoration noumenon – a thing as it is in itself, as different from a thing […]
he looked at me with unfocused eyes, gesturing at something only he could see i tried being happy once, but i could never get it to stick, figure it isn’t my lot in life there were ladies, lovely ones of every shape and description, but none ever stayed it wasn’t for lack of trying, i […]
danger the sign had read, simply danger with no attempt at an ecplanation curving road deer children at play falling rocks my mind raced at the thought of the potential for harm that could be lurking just out of sight there was a halfassedry a laziness in installing such a sign instilling such a fear […]
i wrapped a strand of lights around her forehead a briar halo of pastel whimsy neither of us believed in angels but i will be damned if i didn’t hear the heavenly choir with each of her private smiles the golden peal of bells that seemed to accompany my labored breathing when her scent filled […]
i cannot define the soulshudder in this sphere of mental commissioned decommiseration the city is quiet still slumbering in manic undertones a brief respite from monolithic misery the line at the tapatia stretches around the corner of the building as birds peek out from the topiary tenements this ghost town with phantom flames teasing one […]
and i watched as the horizon filled with smoke insignificant the sky rains razors the immensity of tangential comeuppance they put flouride in the water to pacify the barracudas in the tanks and i watched as the horizon filled with smoke transitive secular polarity as the ever shifting rancorous majesty abounds in magnetic bipolarity bandied […]
the day begins with a thought of her i luxuriate in that moment of peace it is the first sip of dirty water that launches the nukes in my mind beginning a rollercoaster barrage the sun/the birds/the breeze/the clouds/pet the puppy/adjust the mask/do i have my mask/set the map/write a poem/more coffee/three more poems/where is […]
i don’t(really)care for ee cummings but i am enamored by his layouts even if i don’t believe he says anything of note: (stylistically) his work is/interesting/ let me curl up with Sylvia on sheets of the finest silk; smothered by a comforter filled with ebony feathers; let the downy barbs or hollow calamus cut lines […]
you know those times when you want to say something but the words freeze in your throat your tongue trapped behind traitorous teeth your breath constricted as your ribs tighten into a vise i feel declarations pile up beneath my tongue as my brain urgently hits the panic button cutting off any and all access […]
he missed her like a last cigarette and a shot of whiskey but when he woke the next morning with a pounding head and the cold sweats he remembered why she was gone seems old memories look better cast in amber and a haze of smoke
the void stares back at me biting it’s lip seductively at times like this it is impossible fo think with an existential erection not today, darling but keep my number close likely, i will be back to finish
she told me you’re more in love with the idea of being in love than actually being in love, you’re a poet i smiled no, i just refuse to settle for anything less than absolutely fucking spectacular, i’m a lover
i watch the fly as it struggles against the silken strands of the web wondering to myself what the spider whispers as it engulfs the wriggling mass there is no fear in the mutilfaceted eyes of the fly nor understanding in the spider’s own vacant gaze just the struggle of the soon to be consumed […]
a part of me cannot handle when something is left dangling the need to explain to close out tabs to put into words the hurt careless callous selfishness casts but i have learned to stay silent my tongue is made for words of love goddess knows it has spilled too many tears over the years […]
she slams the padded hammers down upon the xylophone keys discordant tinkling in the middle of the night she sent x-rays of her ex pressing tiny fingers against the soft spots she knows as well as anyone possibly could examining my failings she circles the parts of gim she took the time to understand in […]
people mistake my kindness for weakness allow me to reassure you i strike like a cobra my tongue is double bladed honed to a razor edge even if it cuts me when it lashes out it just takes more to push me to that point but know it is there no matter how wide the […]
life is an accident a random spark in a pool of haphazardly gathered chaos sure in the end it is all meaningless but look at all the beauty that was created to try and force some sort of order on it all neurotic little apes seeking to place the spilled matchsticks into order casting stereotypes […]
there was a duck something something fell in love with a swan things happened (lessons learned) he was a swan (bird logic) the whole time they realized that they were both (blah blah blah) sunshine happy images the truth is i fall asleep with your name on my lips i wake with you filling my […]
i like astrology because it is neat how we can assume fated truths based on flawed vagaries stare hard enough into the tea leaves the image of death or sex or riches is suddenly drawn forth as mercury is in retrograde bad uranus joke i like astronomy because i understand everything we loved has been […]
the miserable old bastard with the red splotched skin darting little rodent eyes always sat at the corner of the bar always facing the door he would squint into the sunlight that streamed into the poorly lit tavern whenever the door opened his quavering hand holding tight to the shot glass ready to slam it […]
poetry is an excuse to hide the truth behind flowery words metaphors disguise pain or carve edifices to ideals saying so much without revealing anything maybe i am not a poet maybe i am just a coward so fuck it i love how you make me feel i love your quirks i just love you.
some days when the light refracts off the wayward eye of utter devotion splitting nto isotopically intrinsic morning showers comprised of shuddering sorrowdaggers with ebon blades hungering for the heartblood dripping from the open blossoms of pale purple thistleweed choking constricting the diaphragm until all that is left is a hazy reflection in the mud […]
there is a sense of peace smothering the anxiety i love your voice especially when it breaks into laughter i didn’t know how much i missed you until you snapped back into place in the empty spot in my chest apparently it was a you sized hole between happiness and sorrow that left all the […]
the mockingbird sits in the old oak tree watching the silent world as the first hint of light ignites the far eastern horizon it hops from one leg to the other ready to fire off into the slowly filtered dawn a cacophonous blast a fire burns in the black orbs a need to shout to […]
the stars were dead long before we believed they twinkled for us alone making wishes on celestial death so focused inward that the gods we made to justify our own failings had to be shadows cast on the backwall of this dilapidated ouija board factory we call home sweet hell
incidental incremental falling into self destruction every three miles a dead skunk in the middle of the road a glitch in the system replaying images designed to strike the paranoia the anxiety screaming to stop from falling inside curling up involuntarily the storm on the horizon feels like a bad one the lighthouse isn’t visible […]
microscopically myopic with a tinge of body dysmorphia wrecking hell reckless feeling way too energized feeding on the manic anxiety like a superconductor a lightning rod getting struck on repeat the lichtenstein patterns dance on my bare torso as i self flaggelate on the stained carpet of a back alley motel on the bad side […]
i want to be somewhere that the city doesn’t drown out the stars where the world is not frenetic somewhere quiet but i love the city maybe it is the people i can do without except i love watching people i want to live somewhere close enough to a people zoo but far enough away […]
feeling over-emotional skinless in a salt water bath the mad line between cryinglaughingandscreaming my head hurts my heart hurts and the world is far too scratchy
i am saddled with shortcomings but have a few innate skills honed to perfection through my years drifting along as something very nearly real i can burn bridges with the best of them disappear into the brush to never be seen again satisfy yet still not quite be enough in equal measure i can say […]
i find that in case of a lack of candles to be lit in mourning a molotov really lights up the room
tension fills the air the streets are empty save for a few brave souls willing to face the day in their eyes fear lies deeply rooted no matter who wins the general feeling is we have all lost so much already pandemically paralyzed trapped masked kennelled afraid of where the road goes next as all […]
once the potential turns kinetic once i engage it is never ending clack clack clack clack clack clack the silver balls smack sending mercurial shimmers at an atomic level to shift this electron dystopia of negative charges down the spinal recompense of a life lived huddled in the shadows afraid to be seen as the […]
Lisa Lee Tone Review of Notches My little collection of madness got a great review from Lisa Lee Tone on her blog. I’ll be honest, her reviews are always excellent. She avoids spoilers and still gives you a hint of what to expect. And her kindness to Notches is very much appreciated. But she is […]
slithering eels in my stomach little arcs of nervous anxieties flashing my nervous system into a state of heightened agitation i know it is false flags but my mind doesn’t want to acknowledge the fact the chemicals make me feel this way while digging deeper to find a cause assuming everything is falling apart the […]
brown rice banana and fresh squeezed lemon in the instant pot for me smells with light citrus heaven delightfully fills the apartment about to make biscuits then start on the sausage gravy for the squiddos get dead is playing as i dance around the kitchen spent an hour with Sylvia and Hank hard to beat […]
the clocks have fallen backwards little drunkards on the mantle yet the internal dismay sounds regularly no matter the locality the fool refuses to acknowledge time as anything other than a construct invisible chains of anxiety until a scientist figures out how to traverse it backwards then it remains meaningless i count the heartbeats since […]
there won’t be a twenty one gun salute no solemn procession as my body is presented to the masses clamoring for one last look at the fool before the eternal flame sputters out leaving a greasy stain on the cheap wooden cross no fanfare or papal smoke rising from the vatican to signal the coming […]
Notches, A Collection will be free for ebook tomorrow. And (un)poetic and (un)fetteted are 99¢ each! I feel dirty soliciting my wares, but feel free to take advantage of the deals. Big thanks to River Dixon and Potter’s Grove Press as well as Patrick C Harrison III and Death’s Head Press for doing this. love […]
i know you would roll your eyes at me if i dared say you are perfect you would brush it off or try to convince me that it is far from true you’d think i was overly romantic the fool was too much in love to see reality with lavender glasses bleeding out the hard […]
“Are you having fun!?” Chris screamed. “What?” I heard him perfectly well, but he will just yell louder. “Are you. Having. Fun?” People across the room looked at him in confusion with their heads slightly cocked to the side like a bass player in a metal video from the late nineties. I looked around the […]
mommy drank her sleepy juice the fire in her eyes had gone to embers as she glared blearily around the room a cigarette burned in the ashtray as she lit another i watched out of the corner of my eye as her head dipped then snapped back up only to raise slower when it finally […]
she told me my heart was a cursed burial ground filled with the smiles of the most beautiful women to ever walk this world killed by the fumbled inadequacies of the messy fool spewing moribund poems looking for the lady with wildflowers in her hair never quite present never quite right a cardiac infraction with […]
training for a marathon barefoot across the remnants of every childhood dream that was shattered every year i die waiting to be reborn into something half as twisted half as infected half as ineffectual something more suited to be injected directly into your open mouth training for extreme depression by locking myself into the closet […]
As a heads up to all of you wonderful readers and artists, this coming Sunday the Fool is giving you presents. Death’s Head Press and I are going to drop the price of my collection of short stories, Notches, in e-book to free for the entire day. I’m proud of this one. It goes across […]
i found myself writing a poem about you as i woke one that captures you as i see you one day i will whisper it into your ear between kisses on your neck i am saving this private little verse for me as it is not for public consumption they don’t get to know the […]
i am the last bloom to push out of the soil too late to ever open like the flowers around me the pistachio unsplit the scuff on your new shoes i spit in the eye of both god and the devil for doing fuck all but watching everything sink i tell the truth even when […]
she cut the wires to my self destruct button so now when i jam down hard on it in my moments of extreme weakness it just plays her smile on a loop sending the bitter sorrow back to the basement where it belongs she knows the affect she has on me yet never uses it […]
as wonderful as the ideal of a new regime coming into play maybe to some has anyone stopped to think that it is akin to slapping a band aid on an injured bald eagle’s wing while ignoring the head has been lopped off at this point it will take victor von frankenstein or herbert west […]
sometimes i feel so fucking hard that i cannot take it i just sit sobbing unable to breathe in those moments i need you so fucking bad it takes every ounce of strength not to beg you to help because i have to be a rock even if my guts are gravel and i cannot […]
in the private moments when the clouds obscure the sky the moon shines back to the sun with fierce abandon without the prying eyes casting dispersions on the wan glow in the all encompassing reflection of pure adoration on those nights i stare up at the clouds with a deep sorrow an egg in my […]
the sky showers down droplets of its peculiar vernacular a rhythmic dribble lost in the nuance of her absent-minded stare when the only urge is to wrap myself tightly around her take the worries away in the warm glow that pulses in her presence it’s cold again today i sit watching the rain shivering beneath […]
lesser than.mp3
on hand and knees heaving onto the oil stained concrete wretching a sluice of scabberously chitinous locusts twitching malformed wings skittering on half burnt legs into the overflowing gutters filled with the tearstained lost faith of artists that gave every bit of their soul to create only to fail vomiting a hoarde comprising the broken […]
i woke today insubstantial a shadow of the person i had hoped to be a wispy almost human shape filled with insecurities anxieties a once hopeful bastion of dream no more than a fraction of a hint potential squandered in an emotional pile up along the rainy corridors between real and imagination i woke today […]
the moon weeps the air filled with sullen tears as the skies above reflect the seas below i dreamt of you last night in fits and starts i found you sitting in the shade of the kapok tree while the concial thorns sway beneath the falling rains you smiled as i chopped my way through […]
he lit another cigarette off the corpse of the last letting out a cloud of blue smoke that danced in the cool rainy air followed by a tremendous cough that rattled like thunder and looked me in the eye as he spat onto the wet concrete and said: each one of these is a fuck […]
the world rings hollow the rains continue to fall in the blank spaces between errant spatters unblinking eyes trace movement coiled ready to strike i lay here under the elements weathering the storm staring into the ceaseless night that rests just behind your unabandoned vacancies in you i become less substantial unvisible in your tumultuous […]
there is a beauty that shines to me in the degradation of the countless copies the inspired bys that go too far cross the line into outright theft yet never quite manage to harness the spark of the original film slowly deteriorating into shambling mockeries of unaltruistic design it is there in the unentangled quantum […]
it is in her eyes a cold panic in calculating increments a sheet of ice coating her sense of self she sits at the threshold of fight and flight all i can do is slowly lower my hands step back into the shadows vanish from sight her nostrils flare as i settle down onto a […]
there are things i accept as truth that have zero bearing on any aspect of my life or the small chunk of this giant world i occupy only when i pause to conceptualize them do i begin to question the veracity of the known unknown truthiness of it then the ideas grate across my brain […]
Mike's Manic Word Depot 