oh hell
oh hell the fool wants to write another shitty ode to those squishy feelings that wind their way across the nervous system of inconsequential chemical release in an effort to feel more like a human in an age of dehumanizing rancor
Category: poetry
projector
i get depressed end up reading hank then i get angry as the neighbor upstairs does aerobics at three in the morning as the car alarm goes off the neighbors across the parking lot that spent all night loudly making love now argue in half heard epithets spit like occam’s razor against the silence i […]
the fly buzzes against the window
there is something about walking under the moonlight through a copse of trees on a winding path near a babbling brook as the insects sing songs of fucking from the thick brown bark hidden in the shadow that seem to cover everything to make you realize there is something about sitting on the couch with […]
summit
he seemed to be as perfectly unremarkable as damn near any of the bastards that walked around with chests puffed out in one size too small shirt to accentuate the slow drift from youthful muscle to middle age paunch the spiked up hair that sought to misdirect from the thinning with inarticulate gesticulations frozen in […]
worn
the neon tube sizzles gas ignites a flare of pink in the shape of a lower case t beneath the words jes_s saves flashes to entice the unclean the sinners the lost sheep but it feels meaningless without u filthy street water enters the hole in the bottom of my shoe worn soles even more […]
a star fades
there was a winsome look in her gaze as the last spotlight faded as she relived the years on stage from those awkward first nights to the heyday of coke and easy marks a sense of pride briefly washed across her before the steady decline reminded her how she got to this final curtain call […]
scaffold (a taste of (un)fettered)
he built a scaffold out of the ivory bones of affection used it to scale down to tap the reflection of the moon in the bottom of the sea the coral cut and snagged his suspenders, suspended in the waters, neon pink daydreams of high colonic dismay a diorama menagerie of carefully sculpted plankton beside […]
oceans
i’ve only seen the ocean a handful of times having grown up landlocked with only the blue gray of lake michigan as a reference the first time it seemed angry in its wrath as the waves bashed the land for as far as i could see down the coast the second time wasn’t really the […]
a storm comes to the valley of sundered lies
the rains began somewhere out over the mountains the jagged spires that dare pierce the emptiness of the heavens awash in reticence as the gales pound the ancient stone the tall grass sways in the valley as the birds of prey take flight in search of rabbits frantically seeking warrens in the cool soil starless […]
sculpting nothingness
the words flow intangible streams of viridescent syllables shifting the banks trying to tame the torrents into the winding prose of poetic meanderings allowing them to take control through soulshallows anxiously scraping bonecoral flaking calcium sediment into a slurry to slow the incomprehensible darting quicksilver of insanity creating a poem is pulling every nerve ending […]
of snails and turmoil
time is an ouroboros certainty a myth emotion is the tinder her gaze became the spark the blue flames rush eager to consume the timbers of justification leaving only whirling mists in ancillary meaning. buried deeply beneath the whims of sufferage deep in the recesses of angular precision sits a solitary mass uncorrupted by insubstantial […]
a simple test
turn your head towards the wall and tip your head back, lower your mask so that your nose only is exposed i do as i am requested the tightness in my chest mixed with the fear from countless friends descriptions of the procedure there is no warning no this may sting or gentle squeeze of […]
mars
i sat in my boxers on the couch watching stitched together photos of mars as i marveled at the alien planet come to life on the screen in front of me the hispanic lady across the hall stood in her doorway screaming profanities at her children those same monsters that run roughshod across the complex […]
silicon deity
the mechanical god has fallen into disrepair disuse as shinier objects take center atage as the digital age swallows the world in an opaque blue that dulls the senses of sensory overload the last gear rusts in aortic spasms sheering the pin that kept the world afloat awash in ones and zeros the new overlord […]
(in)ability
he flops on the shore like a seal slapping sand to prevent the sun from burning delicate skin drowning in his own inability insufferable for the self perceived suffering sending the words into the darkened place in the root of his spine where only fools or monsters dare venture.
tiredly watching
she smelled of sweet sweat her skin tasted salty yet it was beyond my reckoning to control myself from salivating as she tiredly undressed in front of the full length mirror hanging from the closet door even with her shoulders slightly slumped i felt the burning need to lick every inch of her before taking […]
the bullfrog and the booger
her second (third? fourth?) chin swelled like a bullfrog in heat as she looked down her bulbous nose at me unaware or uncaring of the snot waving with every heaving breath. can i take your order i carefully folded the menu set it on the table trying not to flinch as visions of the green […]
miss under stood
there is an absurdity in the natural order of chaos that regulates the division between seen unseen dreamt and wished. a knock kneed little sycophant pleading with tear filled eyes at the last rapture of emotional dismissal as punctuated by the deafening silence in the blank stare of love’s understated refusal she never could look […]
extinguished
she set me down gently swaddled in false adoration on the shredded newspaper littered floor in a glinting cage of golden words spun from the dying heart of hope. if she cast a nickel to my feet for every sovereign lie bespoke in earnest tones the avalanche of silver coins would be enough to bury […]
virtuous
been laying in the lush foilage nestled against the dry ground as the insects feast upon the supple flesh of good intention leaving nothing but a husk that once resembled a man of virtue
lost in a darkness of his own doing
there is a radiation pulsating from somewhere between my fourth and eighth chakras causing spasms in the tenebrae film coating my third eye using echolocation to find the sliver of joy hidden in the craggy misery like broken teeth of giants that burst from the desolation permeating the sacred seals the blind journey made by […]
altered alliteration
rectangular reticence in the midst of resurgent regurgitate another day in the curved corners of crazed circumstance and as she strode barefoot across the thorny disposition of roses in full wilted splendor, droplets of crimson soaked deep into the salted soil of youth, she shared a bitter smile for the bright sky of benevolent beauty […]
resplendent emptiness (a taste of (un)fettered)
staring at the world through the filtered lens of the abyss, an ever spinning counter clockwise void of nothing with a shimmering black center unaware the ground beneath is slowly consumed by the unrelenting hunger, standing with locked knees and vacant adoration slipping, slipping into the end, is it falling if there is no sense […]
aeons olde
away from me, soggoth, wretched creature from beyond the scope of time; back, back, to the stoney carapace of aeons olde dark madness; for in your insipid insanity whispered soft in the gurgling tones of r’lyeh; lie the shadows of the sleeping beings, to whom all is naught but prey; the words call, resonating deeply, […]
lioness
your timidness is brazen even as your lies taste sweet. you fool me not, fair lioness dressed as though a doe you seek to deceive but your claws rake the earth. and still the fool draws closer to his inevitable end she pierces the paper thin skin breaking the fragile bones of glass
vacuum of hope
the red hot hooks tear easily into the soft flesh of abdominal digression chained to the fetid earth facedown to muffle the screams as the loose soil fills the airways where vacant screams once lived a series of long rusty nails pounded lovingly into the skull to release the demons who feel naught but anxiety […]
change
they chopped down the bushes outside my bedroom window silencing the chorus of birds that used to greet me in the morning they closed down the comic shop down the street that was my favorite stop on wednesdays to chat about the newest books the creepy house on top of the hill burned down where […]
a match
the exploited play screaming fuck the usa from a simpler time when the world sat at the brink of nuclear war when punk rock had been proclaimed dead on a stage in san francisco as johnny rotten asked if the crowd had ever felt cheated but it was not dead not even close the caterpillar […]
pregnant
i woke not to pee or roll over not from dream or pain my mouth was full of saliva i lay half dazed swallowing too much spit only for my mouth to immediately fill i have worn this skin suit long enough to realize when it is not operating optimally the oversalivation was a precursor […]
drowning in a mud puddle
the beavers in my mind have erected a dam that keeps the fiction silent as i desperately try to wrangle the words overhead a group of sparrows drops shiny bits of metal pieces of colorful yarn an occasional twig to feed the rumbling hunger of poetry it’s like drowning in a mud puddle after pulling […]
without glory
i hear your sound the soft snowfall of your thump woosh as the world falls silent around me i smell your scent of wildflowers kissed by the summer sun even as the world erupts in flames i taste your lips like honeyed wine with hints of autumn rot while the ashes coat my wagging tongue […]
the last public beheading in paris
the parisians took to the streets to celebrate the use of the old guillotine wine splashed across the cobblestones an augury to the blood to come they packed the bars awaiting the guest of honor to be paraded to the wood and iron implement of final resting of succinct endings a bucket placed unceremoniously in […]
clinical
there is a sine wave that follows the clinical chemical wake of emotional response her deep brown eyes caught mine from across the smoke filled haze of too many drinks too much smoke too little concern i followed that wave unerringly a cartoon dog on the scent of a steak have you ever known your […]
mouthing prayers
maybe it is the smoke in my lungs the willie album playing low or the deep down soul weary loneliness that tickles my deadened limbs but the world feels off centered just enough that i am having issues telling what is and what is most certainly not real in this prison of mental construction of […]
(un)fettered. one month away
(un)fettered is one month away, pre-order is live by following the link. Foreword by Patrick C Harrison III. Afterword by Chris Miller. Cover by Don Noble. Edited and formatted by River Dixon. Written by me. I am quite excited about this one. (un)poetic was my search for my voice and a light in the darkness. […]
souldander
she stared at me from the eyeholes of a raven’s skull through the beady little eyes of the mice in the walls(and as i fell through the subdermal retractionary physics of a wormhole to the ass end of intergalactic redundance) i could hear her voice in the scratching branches on the frost covered window pane […]
bodies
i make words into balloon animals cartoonish shapes to entice a reaction. she twists them into the prettiest noose to slip around my fluttering heart. together we will leave a crime scene to baffle to dazzle to ensure we’re never forgotten. what more could a couple of budding sociopaths wish for as the bodies pile […]
and ginsberg howled
ginsberg howled over the greatest minds. being destroyed by the traumas of war in a world where war was something sacred an every couple of decades event where the young were lined up to die in pursuit of some golden ideal of some ignoble truth that was nebulous errant the shimmering glow from marcellus wallace’s […]
soft bits of self
a fraction of gossamer memory draped across the ocean to reflect the substandardized ego pulls tightly the spider with swollen abdomen drips venom on the incidental recollection constricting into an atypical trap of grainy black and white images that show a yesterday that never quite occured an occular manifestation of optimal misrembrance drawing the fangs […]
whiff of rot
he smiles with teeth like crooked headstones swaying behind her(she is staring at the ground unseeing) the whiff of rot swirls in the wind attracting gnats in a cloud of buzzing theatrics(she is in bed still unable to make herself rise) in a fit of unjust clarity of self clarification calculating infinite lies(the dead all […]
vulture
the vulture flies lazily above my head it’s shadow a reflection of happiness in the less than stellar residuals of blank horror. come pick my carcass clean you brazen bastard just know i know you are the epitomy of dream
casting
she fluttered her long lashes the motion pulling my gaze from the murky waters instinct has me darting forward before rationality could step to the forefront it wasn’t until the hook pierced my lip i was dragged to gasp in the barren sunshine of her false adoration suffocating in her desperate momentary need in the […]
junkyard
i had an aunt she lived in a junkyard for a spell i liked walking among the skeletons of automotive decay she always had odd signs on the walls over the toilet read ‘my aim is to keep this bathroom clean, your aim helps’ i can’t recall her voice or the color of her eyes […]
midkiss
she would bite my bottom lip sometimes midkiss as she came i eventually came to connect the taste of pennies with her clenching craved it long after she became another she that went away unable to cope with a too busy mind i’d cut my lip just a little close my eyes remembering that rapturous […]
tethered
she always carried a length of wire when she went out at night the stars in her smile as she clutched at the metal quite tight she turned with a flourish humming a fanfarish-like tune with the wire held just right it appeared she tethered the moon
ode to a nymph
she dug her toes into the soft soil a dryad in search of her oak tree little did she guess that her satyr was searching for her as well the nymph in shades of blossom danced in the fertile mud of hope swollen bud dripped sweet nectar calling out the passion in his soul oh […]
differently
backed into a corner the coppery taste of blood runs along his tongue his pupils pinpricks his pulse raging in his skull his hands shake as the incongruency of the universe bears down leaving him with no choice so he hunched down into a ball ignored every instinct that had only ever led him into […]
hypocrite
we are all incapable of seeing the hypocrisies we commit but so fast to point them out in another if an ounce of understanding were shared instead of self justification maybe things would flow smoother
impact
the aeroplane spins towards the ocean flames consuming the engines as the wings splinter. there’s an analogy there for the state of the world. but i am sure someone else made the exact same point in a more poignant way. i am just bracing for the inevitable impact.
sudden serendipitous silence
if a poet retires in the woods and no one is around to hear it is it still inconsequential or does the universe sigh in relief at the sudden serendipitous silence?
cage
rationalizing the unrest while the world erupts feels much the same as standing in front of the cage watching as the lions feast. only the cage is unlocked.
working through some things
tranquil beauty thrown into the irrational blender of bipolarism lends itself to painting transitional images across the impenetrable depths. it can serve as an eye opening into the deeper meaning of friendship discovering the royal we and acceptance are a diverse set of opposite focused means to an end. as i felt the boot on […]
Troutlike in Texture.
it lays on the counter feeble gasps mouth moving incompetently as the very air itself is impossible to inhale. two sudden chops take off the head slits the white belly open. practiced motions rip the spine out removing the organs to be discarded on the newspaper laying upon the counter. flayed splayed opened for the […]
autobiographical biopsy (a taste of (un)fettered, coming soon)
pins and needles race down my deadened limbs anxiety acupuncture for the shattered soul massage my temples this temple unholy hell fire rains from the tolling brass bell brain stem haunted by demons named longing desire and remorse work the gordian knot out of past tense muscular dystopia hollow brittle bones echo broken hearted odes […]
in the muddied grays of overcast happenchance
in the muddied grays of overcast happenchance above the swirling browns of constant motion there was a vascular precision to the chaos incarnate around me from every possible vantage the far bank was slapped rhythmically while our side made a sucking beneath the docks if i closed my eyes as the deck under my nervous […]
feat
depression feels supercilious yet never once does her breathy whisper seem superfluous. it’s quite the feat.
dreamwisps
when you realize the dream is just that no matter how hard you pursue or the amount you want it a lack of ability an overabundance of hope and tenacity mean nothing. you’re the one waiting your turn and no one wants to hear you unless it is to mock what you’ve done before. waking […]
morning on the bayou
the deck sits high lilting back and forth above the deceptively deep muddy brown water spanish moss hangs in brown clumps down towards the bobbing heads of turtles i seek the tell tale lumpy log like shape of gators lounging among the currents below a boat comes flying towards my perch sending the entire placid […]
mattress of madness
as i slit the plastic shell holding the tightly bound mattress into compressed hatred, after maneuvering it onto the frame through no small effort a gasping sound as the infernal contraption of netherfoam hissed in loud breaths to flop to writhe before unrolling itself with a cry to r’yleh beneath the oily brine there is […]
no needs
never dreamt of a home a house to store my things a box of possessions possessed by the need to possess. all i need is a roof a charger and a good connection to the aether. the rest is superfluous. i long to paint the sunsets to pretend they are sunrises. lose sense of self […]
dissonance in the structure
i spend so much time alone feeling like an outsider in the skin prison that has kept me chained to the soil implanted with every fear doubts sprout with drooping petals that shed as brightly colored tears to the barren earth that pulls gravitational pulses growing stronger as another rotation leads closer to the inevitability […]
well read (a taste of (un)fettered)
she wore a shirt that said eat me, drink me and i was ravenous dying of thirst willing to go down that rabbit hole a tea service for two smiling when she announced it was off with my head told her i loved her she grimaced said that was seven impossible things she’d heard before […]
80E
there is something about a field reclaimed by prairie grass and flowers a supple beauty unseen in the concrete prison of the city a field of mesquite shrub in a a pool of water after the damn near torrential rains that swept across texas like a wailing banshee driving into a little town half way […]
the world
the world doesn’t owe you a thing it gave you a one in a billion chance at life supplies air water bountiful food. is it easy no it shouldn’t be if everything were handed to you would you understand the feeling of accomplishment. when it weighs heavy on me i think of the ones that […]
normal
it’s in my lack of understanding in which i strive to see beyond the reckoning of implicit lies in hopes of uncovering a hint as to the underlying truth. staring so intently at the bark of the tree that it isn’t until the bird has shit on my head i remember to look up. it’s […]
pink blossoms in the gutters of inconvenient truth
the rains have fallen incessantly over the past four days, the thunder shaking the windows, as forks of lightning stab down at the uncaring ground beneath, a battle with no true victor the trees that line the road have been battered by the winds, the small pinkish blossoms lay scattered in the gutters, left soaked […]
squirm
she swore there were maggots burrowed just beneath her skin as she scratched herself raw in the dark of her cluttered home. as i stood in the open doorway shining weak sunlight in i could see them squirming under her parchment like epidermis occasionally peeking out from one of the open sores. it was obvious […]
sleep(less)
the rain makes the aching in my shoulder seem to pulsate in spiral agony with the vertical spray against the bedroom window. the world is quiet underneath the buffeting rains still sleeping not tossing and turning trying to find the one position that alleviates the pain.
father
old spice the white bottle with the ship on it a carton of reds a case of lite every year it was the same he didn’t ask for anything if he wanted it then he got it but every year he smiled hugged me in that back breaking rib creaking embrace of his kissed me […]
naps and splinters
some days are meant for lounging among the roots of the great world tree with nothing but thoughts of naps as dandelion fluff circles lazily in the hot summer breeze. other days are like a splinter just under the skin. i’ve had too many of the latter not nearly enough of the former and a […]
satin
i can still recall the feel of the satin lining in the coffin as he lay in a suit and heavy makeup as if asleep i never did figure out if he was at peace or just painted to appear that way to put everyone else as ease in the end it didn’t matter at […]
union
a swirl of conjoining colors an array of shades of crimson dancing with black. there was nothing in the world in that singular instance but two pairs of eyes locked in misty understanding that forever was no longer an uncertainty but a gift. love struck by the simple snapping together of two seemingly indifferent pieces […]
and the sky opened above
and the sky opened above great gouts of pitch rained down upon the houses the streets the happy little people in happy little cars on asphalt gashes rendered into the flesh of the earth itself an umbilically umbraged biblical battering to cast the slate as wiped from incidental understanding and the sky opened up above
vellum prayers
the ravenous raven aflight on ebony wing to perch precariously upon the shoulder of sweet sorrow the darkness harkens to serene motion in faded sepia languish laid out like a flayed offering to bored gods the waves batter the unseemly seawall in decadent need for sluice to fill the ever empty belly of dreamhate solemnly […]
dine alone
i am well aware that on a list of dream men to sweep you off your feet carry you away to a land of dreams come true fulfill your wildest fantasies that i am most likely going to fail at every turn but if hearing rambling odes to birds trilling of where they store the […]
dastardly intent
a silhouette in the tree sits staring into the lone lit window a shadow among the dappled branches swaying gently in the early morning breeze. she undresses slowly in the full length mirror watching the reflection running hands slowly down the supple flesh a lesson on self love desire happily given. the silent watcher cares […]
< ~
i just don’t know anymore but every moment feels like i know less have you ever had a headache last nine years dreamt of getting sideswiped so someone else would pay the tab of fixing the things wrong with you stared inwardly into the unblinking emptiness that fills your pathetic meanderings and just wondered why? […]
sisyphean flashback
her kiss lingered upon my parched lips like a sisyphean flashback to a time when hope wasn’t just another four letter dagger between the third and fourth ribs when love wasn’t a synonym for a shortness of breath as blood fills vacuous innocence if only i had the foresight to blind myself as she walked […]
unvisible
unvisible to any spectrum except one of spectral delights candy coated horror with gore filled pinatas hanging noisily in the haunted forest of childhood whimsy the reticence of those that despoil upon entering the magma core of ethereal agonies they sing a nonsense muttering of sinful dissonance to shatter the stalagmite of unshed tears that […]
roaming eye
she asked me for a picture to prove i was who i said i was so i sent her x-rays of the skeletal deficiency that creaks inside the flesh of tender lies she said i was beautiful stripped bare of gradual atrophy laid out in calcified remnants of pre-evolutionary denials a missing link between the […]
drowning in silence
the bird screams in ignoble disregard for the inherent bullshit that coats the earth in sticky pockets of filth it doesn’t preen it’s feathers just bellows to the void as it grows in dimension until it eventually encompasses all i get it little one i’ve just lost my ability to scream along with your dulcet […]
Shameless Self Promotion and Dust
Good Shameless Self Promotion Sunday, dear readers, I hope the day finds you well. Feel free to leave a link in the comments if you have a collection or book to shill. My western horror novel, Hunger on the Chisholm Trail, has been out a month and a half and the reviews have been pouring […]
36 insignifiers
so hyperfocused yet the edges blur until the definitive answer is to question imperial evidence without a hint as to the meaning of circumstantial suspecting the essential vitamins and nutrients until all becomes the same bland fibrous blend forcing the tongue to retreat in shame yet the truth is as simple as licking nine volt […]
a vision of you (a taste of (un)fettered, coming soon)
drops of blood in the clear glass of water cloudy swirls your fingerprints greasy reminders along every surface of my soul unpoetic unapologetic odes of once nevermore ash and dust little gray snowflakes caught upon the tongue all that remains cardiac discontent water turned scarlet ebbs and flows small tendrils still clear this open wound […]
buried
i had mud on my face ashes on my jeans tears in my eyes blisters on my palms from gripping tight to moral insecurity as i buried my heroes in the cold high ground. climbing out from the footsteps of giants is a great way to work your core decimating values in the rains of […]
toothpaste and oranges
she inoculated my blank slate against ever pursuing one half as perfect unable to muster the necessary chemicals to ever give a fraction of my dream to another in any way but temporary her every kiss erased the memory of any that came before tainted the ideal of any to come after leaving my mouth […]
ode to manic dismay.
the sun was yellow; like the lemons on the tree; like her hair whipping in the breeze; like the finch on the branch, singing an insipid song of hope the grass was brown; like the barren earth beneath; like the rough scaled bark of the tree; like the squirrel chittering, at the bereftness of will […]
random panties
there was this woman i dated once upon a time a real wild one that could drink ten men under the table she was something to look at with a foul mouth and big blue eyes that could should lightning bolts while she smiled every time we went out together it was a night of […]
an ode to futility. 2.
he stood grinning like a goddamned fool bareass pointed towards the open door all while he pissed into the fan. the sorry son of a bitch would either be a statistic or president. i just sat with my hand over my wineglass feeling the mist across my leathery cheeks. god help us all.
rewrites II
her eyes rewrote the meaning of forever. her disdain rewrote the definition of pain.
ode to futility
that goddamned werewolf has been shitting in the petunias again. with silver the price of gold and my plasma flakier than a call girl’s panties at the end of shift, i may as well burn the whole fucking place to the ground.
times
there are times when the words come in short bursts the inside of my head is covered with lipstick kisses over cancerous growths. as painted by jackson pollock with hunter’s shotgun. a roadside attraction filled with pt barnum’s scraps. times like this i miss drinking.
rewrites
her memory rewrote my past while her hunger rewrote my dna
under the stars
under the stars in front of the fancy houses of the rich long fallen asleep on mattresses stuffed with money i had your perfume in my nostrils the strands of your hair wrapped tight around my fingers your lips pressed hard filled with desire as our tongues did an intricate dance of need in a […]
deadlight
with deadened digits of inarticulate aspiration threatening to scrawl an ode to the winsome smell of decay floating on the breezes of yesterday’s lovely memory rose petals lay piled across the broken mattress of matrimonial dissent to putrefy amongst the bloated black flies that swarm across silken lies sworn under the deadlight of sorrowful reminisce
making it up as we destroy
we met under the cover of night under the covers of desire under the understanding that what was uncovered could never be covered again she gave willingly of the flesh but i sought the rotten core inside of bruised ill intentions of battered hearts of self facing hate we smashed the facades of intermingled dismay […]
la brea
i lit my next cigarette off of the dying butt of my last every one is the last one i tell the ladies whereing too much made up i chase my shadow in a loop a gerbil on a wheel about to be stuffed into the ass end of a bitterly dejected universe it’s just […]
woke up
my bed is set on an inward spiral so every side is the wrong one woke up with a case of the burn the entire globe to cinders woke up with a blaze of agony lancing across acrimonious reality woke up with a headache a lighter and a case of molotovs dizzy from the infernal […]
hellspite
when she smiled at me across the too long couch i cannot help but wonder at the subtle differences between need, desire and obsession she is a summer storm that runs across my every thought, my every dream, my every waking moment of exquisite shattered loneliness she reassembles me, only to break me apart in […]
begat
they planted their rifles into the virgin soil; letting bullet trees sprout to rain death from the canopy of iridescent reverie behold the instance of secular grandeur; befallen from the heavenly bosom of dismay tinted lenses; begat by shameful pride far from fatalistic whims; cast aside by the fervent failings to drift as leaves upon […]
Mike's Manic Word Depot 