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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
ryo plays piano while i sit and cry been that way all day ryo plays piano and i weep
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 […]
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 […]
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
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 beneath the apple tree but bury my books beside me in case i get bored forever seems too long to go without reading
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
“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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
“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.” […]
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 […]
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 […]
the sky is still gray and yet there is hope of light the sun will return
she ran her fingernails down the brittle glass of my soul because she liked to watch it flake away, the whatever flakes of my being gathering like so much fake snow in the bottom of my snow globe form, she was like a cat and my spine was her scratching post and when she finished […]
i awoke from the darkness into a barren red land, the yellow brown skies like butterscotch each step like a leap of pure joy in the lesser gravity of this foreign landscape red clouds erupt from each bounding step and form dust devils into the emptiness it is freeing, this lack of tether and alien […]
“Good mor… what the fuck are you wearing?” “Excuse me?” “Is that a bowtie?” “Yes.” “And a vest.” “Astute this morning Mona.” “Who died?” “Whatever do you mean?” “I mean, who died? You wear the same five ugly ass shirts that barely qualify as business casual every week.” “No one died.” “Are you up for […]
if a poet dies in the woods and no one is around to hear does it reek of desperate longing or just go unnoticed does the world pause in the passing or continue to spin does the universe sigh in relief or in loss of so much potential she stood on the railing if the […]
do you ever dream that you and i lay in bed and drift off to sleep taking comfort together lost in love, in something more this world only takes but i still have more to give in your eyes i see reflections of want and need we could be the stuff of dreams things get […]
fell in love with armageddon in bright red lip stick apocalypse in a set of heels and a short short skirt she seems to be my end and it never looked so good she has death and desire in equal measure written in her eyes i fell in love with the atom splitting power of […]
out of darkness i awoke into a fog filled alleyway of mossy cobblestones the scent of the city hung heavy in my nose, of refuse and soot, and an underlying scent of copper i stumbled on weary legs down the tight corridor unsure of my destination ahead a scream broke the eerie heavy night and […]
out of darkness i awoke in a land of technicolor amazement the field of wildflowers erupted into flight as i approached it carnivorous butterflies of every shade imaginable swarming consumed in a tsunami of color and gently flapping wings into darkness i fell as the teeth of a thousand mouths feast
she is a tuft of dandelion fluff in the fertile field of my mind drifting and slowly taking over every thought the culmination of years of searching, of dream and failures, of joy and sorrow, summing up all of it, each scar a mark on the road to her she is
minor league archeologist combing through the strata of pain hoping for the find of the century the root of all self hatred he excavated layer after layer with cramped hands bleeding and blistered it bubbles to the surface in waves of radiating sorrow it all seems so abundant, he’s become redundant, just another case of […]
he sits silently always watching she stays just out of reach how he longs to sit and hold her closely yet it is not meant to be twice every three or so years they embrace in passing but all he can do is give a pale reflection of her light stoically his need is hidden […]
she eyed me at the end of the bar one that spoke hunger with a hint of lonely saying mistakes could be made i had the bartender send her another of whatever it was she was drinking she smiled and nodded her thanks ten minutes later we are in the hallway that leads to the […]
“Hello Lurch, is the Lady in tonight?” Of course she was. We both knew it. But protocol dictated a certain decorum when stepping into the darkness of this world of business and demonology. But Lurch, well, he doesn’t care for me. “Ashtray. You look like shit.” My name is not Ashtray. He knows this. It […]
onetwothreefourfive onetwothreefourfive straighten the paper cap on the pen have to go outside knock three times on the door touch the frame doesn’t feel right onetwothreefourfive onetwothreefourfive knock three times touch the frame better watch the ground step on a crack break your good luck streak too many fractures cross the road black car blue […]
sipping wine from the bottom of the barrel red lips and unfocused eyes antifreeze and failing kidneys wobbly like a cowboy fresh from the dusty trail got an itchy trigger finger a pocket full of dollars and a need to wash the dirt from every crevice cracking my facade haven’t been on a horse for […]
how i miss you my friend, the way your temper fired my own, the taste of beer and cigarettes as we wiled away another night with no future planned and yesterday another punchline do you remember those nights when we just drove and drove how we never made it anywhere yet the miles clicked on […]
sorrow is a cardinal perched on the branches of my heart joy the petals of a lily buried in the snow love is an ostrich with it’s head buried in the sand and madness is a lion stalking in the tall tall grass hope is a mosquito buzzing ’round my ear fear is a tick […]
she is the comfortable feel of the blade in hand, equal parts promise of protection and harbringer of pain everything i’ve ever dreamt yet more than i could possibly imagine and impossible to ever hold she is
an empty promise made from gently lying lips given too freely no will to fulfill the words whisper worthless thoughtless odes
how long has it been since i’ve seen the sun is it weeks now the sky opened and let loose the rains and i cannot tell any longer if it is a reflection of me or if i am a reflection of it when was the last time any of this felt worth it that […]
suffering a deficit of fundamental necessity hollow raised to expect nothing to desire nothing i’m a scarecrow watching the barren fields crows perched on my shoulders ignoring my basic functions in favor of a clearer view to tomorrow i sip from a flask of distilled spirit listless going through the emotions of the day has […]
it is coming apart this illusion i have made that it will be fine
feel dejected, rejected, ejected from this world of promise left to rot on the side of the road deplorable, ignorable it is fair to think that no one cares when you spill your guts and even the fat flies don’t swarm nor feast not up to preening, posturing, or begging to come to view just […]
why aren’t we pissed off at the state of the world like we should be seriously the doomsday clock ticks closer to the point of no return the oceans are warming and clogged with plastics and poisons the ozone still isn’t repaired animals birds plants and insects go extinct at a rate of one hundred […]
the room was on fire the flames consumed all racing up the curtains embers blew in the smokey haze on now visible currents yet in the center of the room immune to the heat and falling rafters we danced cheek to cheek to the crackling timbers as the blaze took the piano in the corner, […]
he was the product of an inaccurate conception, immaculate in the sheer accidental nature of his being are there mistakes in this chaos inherent in every atom, or byproducts of grand design flaws residual remnants of primordial ooze that seeps from his every pore born in the footsteps of giants and left to flounder in […]
she is the paradise in which to take comfort in when the ache is too much to handle alone the hell where my demons can frolic without fear of judgement or pitiful stares she is
the leaves fell like pieces of time across the still damp sidewalk gently falling reminders of the world still turning the now naked branches rattling in the wind skeletal hands reaching out once vibrant now gray with longing the verdant sky gone amber then bare now a desolate memory of what was once and will […]
how many pairs of shoes have been worn to nothing in my constant pursuit of escapism buy them by the dozen mastered the art of changing mid step nothing better than fresh kicks before being kicked to the curb vans and doc’s left on the side of the road like so many lost chances follow […]
she is the final blossom in the bouquet that blooms as the others wilt around her a half remembered dream that stays in your mind the entire day teasing at the edges of thought she is
no better way to express it if you want to be in the poet illiterate’s shoes for a moment understand why he doesn’t sleep this song on repeat in his empty head the fool lies and sings it to the ceiling when he should be resting the purity cuts into his being and rips him […]
a crash course in staying awake long after your body says sleep be insane depressed turn off the lights and let your brain go wild have you seen that face in the ceiling this week, no, well we’re not sleeping til we do ever experience bouts of deep seated longing for something anything having thoughts […]
went down to the lake to watch the waves today the stormy skies mirrored the ashen waves it became disorienting trying to separate the gray above from the gray below did the rain fall or rise it seemed impossible to say equal parts my mind and my heart, both with an indelible ache, both turmoil […]
i relish in your silence, in your quiet moments, your doubts and fears manifest, those times between thoughts and words when you just exist as my only thought is to take you in my arms, to soothe the solemn hurt in your fractured soul yet it is not for me to do so instead i […]
i write about the things that don’t exist, the things i wish existed, the thoughts i never share of love and she and gods and dreams and life to be lived and words meant to be given but they are not love poems they are missives sent to the vacant sky above in hopes when […]
the feel of low gravity against an earthbound brain is disorienting to say the least everything works the same except that it doesn’t zero gravity is worse and worsening still the crystals suspended in liquid in the inner ear get all kinds of loopy don’t know if you’re coming and going as you spin in […]
“Good Morning.” “Uh huh.” “How many days has it been?” “Since what?” “You’ve slept.” “Three.” “At this point the debilitating effects of sleep deprivation start.” “Yay?” “Not yay. Are you still sick?” “Sort of.” “Sort of?” “Nah. I’m good.” “Which is it?” “Which is what?” “Are you sick or better.” “Yes.” “Asshole. I care. Lord […]
some words mean a lot some of them don’t mean nothing i tend to use both kinds i paint with the one and i live by the other you pick which is which but know this one thing i try to never tell lies truth is beautiful so when i look up and tell you […]
the first night she stayed the night, we laid together, my arms wrapped around her, her hair in my face, her breast in my hand all felt right in the world and as she drifted to sleep, scooting closer though there was no more closeness to be found between our naked forms she murmured softly […]
she is that moment when afternoon skies grow purple and clouds ignite pink on the horizon of the setting sun the occasional bitter bite of kale that reminds you perfection is only perfect for the inherent flaws within she is
do you remember staring at the stars that night lying on the hood of the car, still warm as the chill air surrounded us watching our breath blow clouds into the sky orion’s belt seemed cocked at a funny angle and we laughed that could have been around his feet as lupus and lepus pranced […]
she was a vision in revisionist history, hysterically visionary in the way a vice vanquishes virtue, a shimmering sign of holy power and brought the good book to life hard the hairy angles swing, glory to this sweet, sweet thing brothers and blisters, let us bluster and prey upon the deaf, dumb and blind bindings […]
he starts the car, turns the stereo up too loud for the early morning, puts it into gear and heads down the road with no destination consciously in mind one day he will find that which he searches for, even if he doesn’t know quite what that is, the specificity is secondary to the road […]
he stood still, trying to define the walls of the latest box he found himself trapped in, walking into a wind that isn’t blowing, tugging on a rope that slides through his grip, his painted smile at odds with the pain in his eyes, beret jauntily perched on his head, onlookers just stood and watched […]
she is a flyer for salvation caught on the breeze and blown through the alleys of a dirty city the sad smile that knows a secret that could change everything but is sworn to silence she is
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 […]
he acts so tough but i watched him weep as she sang, after when she came out in her black dress looking so grown, he wept as he held her the poor illiterate fool he wonders why he is alone without seeing he is his own worst enemy so sentimental, just an open book no […]
this tenuous blob of sorrow hangs from the back of his throat like a secondary uvula wretched fool wallowing in a pool of his own traffic jammed insidiousness the black streaks down his face mirror the immaculate filthiness of his tattered soul he is playing with fire yet fearing the dark of his own troubled […]
she is the blinking lights from staring too intently at the noon day sun that flicker at the edge of vision the wispy halo around the full moon on an autumn night just before the first snow falls she is
my sleep was filled with hanging moss and willows weeping into the lazy river winding in the back it was a black and white southern gothic syrupy accents and barely concealed tension behind an affluence of manners biting sarcasm you were there you and i were the only ones without accents, the only ones that […]
she is fine grit sandpaper slowly smoothing out the jagged scars left by former egregious flames the taste of coffee upon a still half asleep tongue rich with the promise of a new day she is
“Hello?” “Hey Mona.” “What?” “What what?” “Why are you calling me at this hour?” “What hour is it?” “Three in the morning.” “Oh shit. How the hell did it get so late?” “Are you drunk?” “Are you drunk?” “I was asleep.” “Well that just seems like an acceptable act at three in the morning.” “What […]
having trouble catching the air, like breathing under water feel so cold even as the fever flares If this is the end let it come, i’m ready so tired of feeling this way and ready for a fight bring your pale horse you rotten bastard, i’ll feed it apples til it chokes your scythe means […]
the silence beats down watching the ceiling again at a loss for words the sadness seems to be all in a solo frame of mind souljacker up loud looking for answers to life the question seem moot but just once i’d like to hear some reasonable reply born and die alone moving slowly between them […]
she knelt on the steps of the pagoda cherry blossoms filled the air around her the wind whistled through the bamboo and the cicadas sang a solemn song of loss and from the hills came the roar of the great beast the sky itself began to burn the doctor cancelled the surgery scheduled an appointment […]
is this heaven or hell, i can’t tell the difference that well, kneeling before the throne in supplication, or in a pit of flesh eating ants sing a song of six pence, a pocket full of lies, until the best parts of this child atrophy and die i sit on the wall awaiting the fall […]
she’s summer i’m winter she’s water i’m oil she’s beauty i’m scarred she’s courage i’m scared together we could be something new something stronger stranger better more she’s spring i’m autumn she’s perfect i’m flawed she’s scripture i’m fiction she’s poetry written by a master’s pen i love her she’s etched in my soul carved […]
he kept meticulous notes in the small black book in his jacket pocket, written in code only he knew the cipher to to the normal person it would seem random dots and squiggles but to him it was the key to everything the secrets of the universe, of god, of man and of terrible hunger […]
she is the answer to the question that sits on the edge of your frontal lobe but never forms an art exhibit of images that project onto the blank canvas of your heart and soul she is
i cannot see, this fallacy, this faded sea, this infancy sadness, madness, sorrowful morose, singular, modular, scented malaise shake the plastic eight ball and show me my future, all of my answers hidden in the murky blue depths all signs point to the emptiness the uncertain certainty of cerulean cynicism sinking softly into saline daydreams […]
Mike's Manic Word Depot 