(un)titled ode
her smile was like moonlight glinting off of a razor’s edge her fingers like a hangman’s noose around his throat her kisses felt like a sucking chest wound on a winter’s morning she was death he loved her
l(os)t
have you ever stared into your reflection and only seen madness the face that faces out at you a concoction misshapen snarling caricature and you try put in the effort to smile but the simple act has lost all meaning the muscles twitch spasm writhe like a mass of electric eels or tentacles just beneath […]
lessons in hell
learning how to be alone was one lesson in it’s own selfish hell to teach oneself learning to accept it as the new normal was an entirely different hell all together it’s funny in the saddest sobbing laugh because it eases the ache way hell is a decidedly human conceit one dabbed behind the ears […]
twnty tw
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(un)titled he V
he is lost in a forest of disillusionment where every fallen leaf is a dream still born at his feet searching for the her that exists in his heart and mind not knowing she is poisoned by the places she inhabits he is
event(ually)
it all comes crashing down eventually we build our foundations on sandy soil it only takes one good storm then the walls shift any change inclement patterns develop next thing you know you are on your hands and knees sifting through the remanants wondering where it all went wrong it’s raining here
there was nothing
in the mirror when i woke up this morning i looked twice but my reflection didn’t come into the room luckily i know what i look like so i knew i wasn’t missing much later as i drank coffee i saw him again i liked it better when he was missing
1267
i wrote this poem while sitting in the shadow your absence casts upon the ground if it lacks substance that’s okay the world does too without you in it
(un)titled he IV
he is the brown flowers on an unmarked grave as the first snows fall heavily a lone albatross floating over the ocean in search of a home he has long since forgotten he is
inner working
my skin is a road map through pain marked by scars that slowly trace their way through a lifetime of lessons forgotten my blood is kerosene rendered inert under pressure every breath a catalyst designed and intended to ignite my soul an oil spattered stain glass portrait of stained shards pointedly turned within grating with […]
lamentation of a restless soul
need me a dusty trail the stars above guide me to a new tomorrow far from home out on this plain away from pain and sorrow all alone is where i’ll roam to find my heart’s desire at night i’ll sit rest a bit beside the cozy fire the wind she sings that gentle breeze […]
yet another one about love and yearning
i miss it some days more than others the crackle like electrictiy sparking to life a neon tube the thrum of power intangible yet making the hairs on your arm stand it isn’t just because i am alone that i miss it hell i’ve been in the death throes of loves last days and been […]
a lot bloodier
i’ve noticed when the words fall out in the novel the poetry seems more concise i guess i still vomit all over the page but my verbosity my natural tendency seems sharper those days maybe i am just sick of reading myself too much time in my own head seems unhealthy but being in someone […]
but
her heart was sweet like freshly picked flowers but her eyes were open like a freshly dug grave it was hard to reconcile the two but that didn’t stop me from trying so i wasn’t particularly astonished when it didn’t quite work
hell(o)+(good)bye
i’ve always been good at hellos the problem is the ones i’ve loved were always better at good byes maybe if i were slightly worse at beginnings there wouldn’t have been so many catastrophic endings but the heart does what the heart wants and sometimes two different hearts have vastly different desires
there are days
i feel as useful as a rowboat in the desert there are others when i feel perfectly content to be utterly useless i just cannot tell the difference some days between the two i tend to write on either let’s call it a draw
every other
sunday night is the worst night of my life i drop them off return to silence forget what happiness means takes two weeks to adjust to sorrow and silence then i get them again relish the love until every other sunday night strikes again
locket
near empty just a few seeds rattling about inside salted earth beneath toxic clouds above feels like lately all there is left is waiting for the crows to pick away what’s left still got life to live but it is fleeting still got dreams but they are fading an image of you distorted over time […]
knowledge
the crowd gasps applauds but the magician knows the truth behind the tricks sees through the illusion cannot recall the feeling of being amazed jaded in the knowledge so much he has forgotten how to live in the moment and just let go
just south
right at the edge of human limits of belief just beyond sanity normalcy somewhere just south of crazy that is where poetry creation love resides i’m so tired of regular life wanna go insane together
shhh
you’ve said it all no need to mutter more words into the ceaselessly uncaring void now look at you talking to yourself but if you’re honest that is what this always was
a drive
let’s go for a drive i’ll turn the ramones up loud we can blitzkrieg bop down the highway holding hands as joey serenades us into the sunset simple chord progression while we sing along driving until we run out gas we’ll lose ourselves on the open road
in the murky silence
it glides darting through the darkness inky black against the lightless sea immune to the pressures of the depths the boneless hunter death swims below
1251
at one time i felt important not essential but like maybe i mattered the reality was it was a misplaced misread misinterpreted mistaken feeling in the end i really wasn’t the sunshine fell like rain, but each ray somehow missed him, a perpetual shadow forming around like a cocoon, the warmth of the day missing […]
(un)titled he III
he is trying his damnedest yet always snatching defeat from the snapping jaws of victory a lightning rod standing in the center of the storm drawing every strike to him to protect those he loves he is
(mis)take
i find that sometimes starting the day off with a mistake really puts the whole thing in perspective if it begins with a mistake it really can only get better or worse sort of depends on the mistake but generally i prefer to screw it all up first thing at least you have something to […]
“Ty Segall – I’m A Man”
to my dear sick friend who’s feeling down with the flu soon you’ll feel better there ain’t nothing worse but music can soothe sickness or make you forget hopefully this helps or at least it makes you smile also a haiku
silken
spider webs floating on the breeze tangled silk blowing everywhere can you feel the strands wrap around your face invisible legs scurry all across your skin the breeze is still blowing webs stuck about my beard spiders work is ruined laying eggs across my face
relive vs repeat
if you asked me to make the same mistakes relive the past knowing the outcome i wouldn’t change a thing as monumental as the failures were i did some amazing things made love to beautiful women laughed in wonderful places made memories that pierce the pain so if you asked me to do it all […]
sea of shadows
he wonders as he reads other’s words on love desire need they draw the pictures of the dream lover they seek he sees in this that loneliness is the only lover he shall have they write of running fingers through his hair(he has none) of penetrating blue eyed gaze(his are hazel, brown and green) looking […]
grave(digger)
i held her like a gravedigger clutching a shovel she was rigid and i knew she would leave blisters even on my calloused hands still i held her like a gravedigger clutching a shovel to dig his own grave and i knew deep down six feet part of me would die from holding her but […]
shells
even a hermit crab eventually has to leave his shell in search of a new one a mad dash from one discarded home to another i feel it’s pain my heart was her shell once upon a time now it is just another facade waiting for the tide to sweep it away if you hold […]
old joke
there’s nothing quite as sad as seeing a grown man crying alone on his birthday except i suppose being that man it’s like that old joke something something he will probably die alone
(un)titled he II
he is the sum of all his failures molded into a broken caricature of a functional being a panoramic display of anxiety and misplaced anger blurred into a malaise of discomfort he is
(un)titled he
he is trembling in fear and trepidation as another shattered dream crumbles at his feet drowning as thoughts pour from his open mouth like bats at sunset from a cave he is
some days it seems
it is inevitable living is just a series of ever failing chemical reactions guided by preprogrammed genetic need determined by societal opinion subject to laws of entropy hurtling towards the end rendering all moot but i like coffee and watching the birds flit between the branches so it is not all bad sometimes
rubber duckies
i stay up all night unable to sleep then i use the sun as my pillow miss out on the whole day what in the world happened to me it used to be drinks and drugs and ladies and fun now it is a bunch of melted rubber duckies oozing down the drain
six sevenths
over the span of seven years every cell in your body is replaced six more and maybe i’ll no longer crave your touch the ache has reduced by one seventh but six sevenths is still too much
weight
i read an article on the weight of a human soul wonder if mine is heavier due to sin does sorrow add ten pounds like a television camera or is mine drooping from gravitational pull i cannot say
lily
a lone lily sitting in a vase petals once vibrant now hanging low i speak to it hoping to breathe life into it i know how it feels though sometimes the world is just too heavy
(un)titled she XIV
she is the harmony just beneath the surface, punctuated with every off note the sun hidden behind the rain, still as glorious for the light that remains unseen she is
colored string
thunder rattles the windows breaking the silence that rattles my mind the storm outside will eventually break but i fear i am already broken swept away down the gutter like a piece of colored string
paste
seven point six billion people on this planet then why do i feel completely alone call it depression this ragged feeling of inconsequence or maybe i woke from a dream and it is reality grinding me to paste
new day
cockroach in the coffee cup he takes errant sips brown against the brown brush against the lips a new day dawns maggots in the soft cheese mold on the bread everything is tainted happiness is dead a new day dawns the face staring back from the mirror is unfamiliar, laugh lines like headstones, reminders of […]
wiggle
when i was a kid i wanted to wiggle my ears like fozzy the bear eventually i figured it out as an adult i want to learn to pull the tears back in to retrieve the words spoken in haste and anger all the false statements of forever but that is just a dream so […]
dancing shoes
the words sing a different song in this pit of despair a dirge i find it painful to dance along as blue skies spin into this black hole the soles of my dancing shoes have worn too thin for guilty hearts to glide in yet still they pull the strings my jerky movements a mockery […]
my(self)
i don’t feel like myself which in a perfect world would be wonderful but somehow this is worse it would be funny but new me doesn’t seem to remember how to laugh
fangs
her heart has fangs glistening and sharp tearing into mine leaving a withered mass weakly beating itself in remorse
no one
i’m the great no one the empty suit and clown make up waving at happy people from the side of the road the great mistake the punchline to a joke left untold failing at being a failure just another unsigned portrait left unsold at the neighborhood rummage sale become a ghost in my own shell […]
archery
her words spoke of love of hunger desire arrows launched across the great divide but this division cynical derision tainted fletching send the fledgling volley spinning to the dirt in a cloud of mislaid emotion she spoke softly with great passion infusing every line with still heart beats sounding silently throughout the night but the […]
sleep
tired but sleep won’t come sleep has become a cat she wants what she wants when she wants it not a second before i’ve rattled the pillow gently called out it’s name but damn it all if i’m not ready when it calls sleep waits hidden under the chair to pounce on my head i […]
wombats
we are only given so many seconds in this life i’ve spent too many pondering love too few on the sunrise and probably just the right amount on wombats so there is that to be proud of i suppose
broken eggs
the horizon appears flat but i know it curves how many more things do i see that are just illusions the world is round but every step feels smooth and straight and flat have we all just gotten our sea legs do we cease to see the curvature or does the curvature avoid our line […]
duck
death is like a blindfolded toddler carrying a baseball bat the world is a ripe pinata hanging lazily from the tree that kid is a sugar crazed little demon who doesn’t care what’s in the way the problem is we all wear blindfolds to even the field feeling the wind not smart enough to duck
lighthouse
i am a lighthouse sitting alone on the rocky shore but my bulb burned out so i’m just a phallic shaped eyesore
surprised
the last time i was surprised was when i realized nothing really surprises me any more the worse things get the more acclimated to being buried alive i get i think i would like to be surprised again but that would require something going right and that seems too far fetched
not much
there is so little left of me that isn’t rotted when i say you can have it all you best bring a medicine dropper for the good bits at least you know when you take all of me you will still have a free hand to play on your phone can’t say there was ever […]
always pretty
she called me asked me to come over said she didn’t want to be alone she never called anymore the last time she said was the last time but she was always prone to hyperbole i always told her she was the best at it but the joke never seemed to stick i got dressed […]
easy
i will seep into you slowly at first you won’t notice at all just the occasional errant thought soon you will wonder where i have gone it is the first sign of affection then the dreams start innocent at first you will wake looking for me forgetting i was never truly there this is how […]
submit
i’ve submitted my poetry to a few different publications each and everyone so far has rejected me i submitted my short stories once and they sent me a contract i believe the issue i have to face is this i am not a poet not a good one at least and the submission i need […]
1213
i wrote a sad poem before bed last night but i read it and realized i didn’t want to have to be sad in the morning so i deleted it but when i woke up this morning i was sad anyway didn’t know if it was because i deleted it or if i just woke […]
when i grow up i’m going to be inconsequential
some days the words flow like a winding river coming easily a feeling of serenity as they pour into the world fully formed other times it is like ripping pieces off my soul poetry flows it is just an extension of the emotions already bubbling under the surface an outlet for the overwhelming feelings that […]
mellow dream
nothing beats ryo when it comes to soothing the savage beast in my mind and chest the fierce and sublime beauty sets my at edge mind to smoother land if scenery speaks to my sorrow mellow dream calls to my creativity sets my sore soul to sailing music has always been my go to for […]
not like words
she had unreal expectations of me because she thought my words were pretty i knew all i could do was let her down she had built me up into this person i never was mistaking metaphor for truth and truth for metaphor i told her i am not worth the time or tears just because […]
dead men and whores
drove to the cemetery today needed to get out of the house i didn’t intend to go to a cemetery just started driving that is where i ended up said hello to clyde barrow he didn’t say anything back which is probably a good thing if he had i don’t know what i would have […]
scenery
ryo plays piano while i sit and cry been that way all day ryo plays piano and i weep
mirr(or)
her eyes were chrome like mirrors when she looked at me all i saw was myself she never cried told me she couldn’t when the doctor’s gave her new eyes they took that ability away now she let’s her sadness take other forms other outlets she dances she sings she paints and she writes becoming […]
not a poet, not really
all my exes think the same thing when asked about me he was a dreamer was slick to talk to in the beginning could sell water to a fish talk your panties off with promises of forever but i preferred his head between my legs that was his gift rather than to hear him talk […]
sometimes it feels like
autumn rain is like waking up during surgery staring at the operating lights as they dig around in your chest to remove a tumor it seems endless as you blink black dots paralyzed and numb winter rain is like dying on the table and finding out you still have bills to pay
in the mo(u)rning
all i have left is the empty bottle of pills and a need for sleep i’m so tired of being alone in pain suffering silently it is no pain that is unique to me we all feel the crushing sorrow of alienation we all cry but as i look at the remains of the house […]
a joke
i wrote a joke once thought it quite clever i spilled some water the other day and went to get a mop. i accidentally opened the futility closet. the water will dry itself i decided. more will just get spilled anyway. I left the door open and sadly walked away. hardly anyone else thought it […]
three or nine
in myth there are nine muses sometimes three osiris gathered them in ethiopia or they are daughters of zeus and mnemosyne the lord of olympus and goddess of memory in my life i have had a few in the before before writing before finding my voice before giving up on love on dream on anything […]
same age
i’m nearly the same age as my father nearly the same age as my father when he died i’m nearly the same age as my father when he finally bought a bar an alcoholic dream to be surrounded by your vice no one can tell you a thing drink whenever the hell you want every […]
she sent me a letter today
it sits on the couch beside me it seems important her careful letters spelling out the name she used to say with such tenderness in her voice curious but not that curious my eyes return to it over and over it could be anything really it could be an apology (no chance) it could be […]
the greatest poem i had ever written
last night i wrote the greatest poem i had ever written my phone was dead so i grabbed a notebook and pen and frantically wrote the words the words seemed whispered from the mouth of an angel directly into my ear i wept as i wrote them i saw splashes of tears on the page […]
insom(nia)
last night i was witness to a four car crash my past my present my future and what could have been thankfully the only fatality was sleep
dream words
i read somewhere that poems aren’t worth the paper they are scribbled on maybe it was me in a dream one of those dreams the kind where i do nothing but write the vacantness of it i never recall what i wrote in those dreams i dream of writing probably just blank sheets maybe dream […]
a final kiss
my friends my friends i’ve discovered i am dying this incurable disease called life is slowly killing me oh how i scream in frustration bellowing out to the heavens to save me for the lips i have yet to kiss and breasts left to ogle i need another hundred years, make it two i beg […]
fear(alone)
instead of being alone perhaps out of fear of it i was willing to change aspects of myself to better suit or maybe camouflage the parts i despise but is it better to be with someone in another guise than to be alone as myself that is the quandry no one has all the answers […]
hello(good bye)
the sweetest word i ever heard was when she said hello that first time it was to my dismay when eventually she murmured good bye we said many words between some in love some in anger more than a few in the throes of passion but it was her hello that first caught in my […]
bury me
bury me beneath the apple tree but bury my books beside me in case i get bored forever seems too long to go without reading
fade from view
can you remember me like a ghost in a photograph half in frame yet out of focus you should i dreamt of you and in that dream we sat and laughed as the seagulls circled the beach do you recall what i said to you on that dream beach no it’s okay maybe you misremember […]
buried in sand
a pure distillation wildflowers cinnamon scorpion pepper a simple taste sweat beading the ceiling fan wobbles currents of air send chills on now damp skin molecules of scent trigger memories of someplace else former life former love long buried sins long lost thoughts circle a murder of crows never forgetting faces burnt places of death […]
a vision of hell
it begins with static disharmonious off time drums and then a scream it can only be described as pained every instrument played in a different time signature and the screaming the room is pure white so purely white wall floor ceiling indistinguishable it is as if floating except the feel of the floor beneath walls […]
a vision of you
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 […]
the empty tank
the tank appeared empty just coral in the back i was young then impatient with a new found love of aquatic creatures not yet a man with dreams of drowning unfamiliar with the sea as a metaphor the sea had not become a she that would come later the empty tank bored me i tapped […]
not meant to last
your love is like spring you sweep in and the earth comes to life at your every glance your gentle touch i thrived under your rains your love for me is the promise of better days to come and shedding layers of clothes as the winds turn warm sprouted from my hidden lair under the […]
take as needed
another day where everything is wrong and the skies are gray and my heart is empty and brain feels numb another instance of wondering why why did i bother to wake up why am i pretending to live why is this ache so deeply cracked into my flawed facade of a human desperately trying at […]
haunted
the bed is shaking again, hovering two feet off of the ground and steadily rising by the time i fully wake to realize what is happening my face is pressed against the ceiling all i can do is go back to sleep mental note to self, buy more whiskey and salt all the cupboards are […]
once two (now three)
i could live forever in your smile no need of food nor drink as the skies darken and the clock ticks forward to the end your smile brings the only sustenance i require it is the heat that fuels my world in your smile i feel as one with universe after a day toiling to […]
list(less) need
1) if i could lick the blood off of your skin, i would growl in hunger and lap up every last drop as it stands like red agates against your supple flesh 2) i don’t want to hurt you, ever 3) i want to hear you scream though, blur the line between pleasure and pain […]
Lady Syphilis, a Gambler tale
“Friedrich!” She stood in front of an iron wrought throne with crimson cushions. She was as pale as moonlight but had a deadly grace to her. An air of menace radiated from her and had been known to cause her enemies to clench up in fear. Scars marked her face where her hair didn’t hide […]
reaching
this insular feeling of sorrow radiates beneath the surface of us all suffocating the best parts of us until we hide from the light so sure we are the only ones that feel it darkness and pain as interwoven in our souls and spirit as the need for love and laughter as you sit crumbling […]
vintage(muse)
she told me to let the words rest on my tongue like wine, to savor the myriad of flavors, identify the notes inherent within a hint of coffee, the sanguine whorls of dream, sadness and joy, a ray of light, soaking in my mouth she was right, she writes with righteous purity, she rights the […]
closer
her eyes were as clear as a mountain stream and held the same strength and serenity but like the mountains she has steel within her, forged by fires but never broken no matter how it may feel at, times my story is not quite as… my eyes are like a mountain stream after a storm […]
(un)titled dreamscape IV
i awoke from the darkness into more darkness, a palpable black that coats the world noises from beyond, shouting and breaking glass, this feels so familiar somehow crawling forward it dawn’s upon me that this a closet, and one i know too well i stand and reach for door knob, well aware of what comes […]
Boldly Going Mona
“Well good morning Mona.” “Ugh.” “Not often I beat you to work. Late night last night? Seems rather uncharacteristic for you on a Sunday.” “Long weekend.” “Really? You didn’t mention any plans this weekend.” “I don’t have to tell you about everything I do Mike.” “I’m not saying you do. Just seems suspicious is all.” […]
Exciting News
Normally I just post poetry and the occasional story here. But this is beyond exciting news for me. I’m going to put out my first collection of tales through the wonderful people at Death’s Head Press! I can barely contain my joy at this news. This has been my dream since I realized I would […]
as the light grows closer
am i drowning is that the surface of the sea or an angler fish in the depths i can’t tell and for some reason call it that fatalistic kill switch in the back of my head i don’t care i’ll continue to swim irregardless of direction until my lungs compress down to the size of […]
Mike's Manic Word Depot 