i was looking for something i was sure i had written or possibly dreamed but i knew somewhere sometime i had scribbled something so i scrolled and scrolled through my own endless blatherings countless odes piteous screams unrecognizing the words looking at titles first verses searching through hundreds of pedantic pieces looking for the one […]
All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream. – Edgar Allen Poe stumbling alone on this muddy path, the pregnant moon the only light, heart racing and labored burning breath i saw something i should not have, a creature feasting, bloody mouth and ragged claws, the personification of death my […]
her depression tastes like caramel on her lips salted by the stray tear on her cheek when she is sad all i want is to hold her close squeeze until that sorrow infuses me instead yet i taste the caramel on her lips the sticky mess of intangible agony that is her depression longing for […]
i moved from illinois to the deepest of deep south away from snow away from bars from all i knew about far from the vacant eyes of lovers gone astray wagging tongues of slander from dear friends i ran away traded one empty for another but never ever did i realize it would turn out […]
she was an angel with dirty feet from a lifetime of walking when she should have soared i longed to touch her wings but i was icarus she the sun so i fell and fell while she shined gloriously in the sky reflected back in my eyes
she asked why i was sitting at the bar alone her smile said she was just as lonely the rest of the crowd of drunks made me look good in comparison so you can imagine the shady patronage scarred goons drinking to forget i told her the truth i was hoping to get a little […]
pt I she dances on moonbeams flies upon the thermals like a sparrow dives through the aether like a dream given form pt II the road was laid brick by brick cemented together by blood and lies unevenly paved paid for by tears none who walk alone on this empty road can hope for more […]
sinus pressure cluster headache brain infection mental infraction dove into the greenish swirl pain reliever slash sleep enforcer slash truth inducer slash thought refuser now i sit weak and weary wishing i could just think clearly dreams of you run through the fog clock hands twitching broken gear and cog(tickticktick) i am drowning in a […]
he told me stories about living in a border town sitting in the harsh sun sipping cervezas watching the dark skinned beauties in their multicolored skirts as they walked down the dusty streets around him he made one hundred dollars a month lived like a king arranging trips to send mota across the border hidden […]
i would never hurt you unless you asked then only as much as you desire but if you were a book i would break your spine with the number of times i would read you cover to cover highlighting your secret passages with shaking hands folding the corners of pages for quick access to the […]
it seems a pen dipped in venom can still write the loveliest of words even as they scorch the table beneath
i would trace my tongue along your every self perceived flaw until you saw they just enhance your perfection calluses would form from kissing away your callous self image until my tongue grew rough as a cat’s still you do not see how beautiful you are when my eyes catch the softest glimmer of your […]
the sky turns crimson as an arrow hit the sun shadows turn liquid blood drips across the ozone oceans rage, all becomes red panic strikes below flora wilts in on itself oxygen turns stale photosynthesis no more black mold ingratiation peace fades chaos rules this new reality holds the world goes insane filtered through vermillion […]
i carved the blade from my own rib for her to use sharpened it against the stony disinterest she previously wielded like a blademaster presented it to her hilt first bared my soul so she had no chance of missing yet my eyes still widened in shock as she casually carved her initials then walked […]
let me get lost in you fall deeply into your eyes lose track of minutes to hours to days to weeks let me lose the part of myself that keeps me apart from myself that keeps me apart from you i wish to be lost what better way than to let myself become lost within […]
when i die i want you to take my heart and calcify it then wrap it in every poem i wrote about my feelings for you let it drink in the love i spilled the words drenched in you your beauty of wildflowers in your hair your blood like wine stains upon my lips let […]
threading the needle it seems between romantic or misguided every word of it is true still even if this love is unrequited sworn to you my sheer goddess i shall be your personal poet your vengeance and your blade give me one chance to show it i would cut my heart out for you if […]
she blossoms like a flower in the dead of the night a vision of sublime beauty intoxicating on a subliminal wavelength laying root inside your brain until she is all that remains latching to your reward center your opioid receptors then she is all you need
my head hurts just a double bass pounding in my temples with a circular saw behind my eyes so excuse me while i sit in the dark stare up at the ceiling thinking about you knowing you won’t read this if you do i doubt you will know it is you that is the you […]
i am a mudpuddle in a pothole right next to your car door a hassle stepped over so coins can be tossed into the depths of the wishing well that is her
i am the middle verse of a poem written in shaky hands on yellowed parchment forgotten for the prose that slides across her teeth and lips
i am a firefly in a glass jar on the shelf battering myself against invisible walls ignored for the lightning storm forking majestically she casts across the sky
i have started sketching using charcoals for heavy shading the kind that leaves your fingers blackened smudges on your cheeks like a chimney sweep after a long shift a coal miner after sixteen tons each new piece of art using the charred remains of former loves of former lives of former frames of mind to […]
the words grow quiet or at least i won’t seek them as a waste of time there seems little reason to no one cares if they do speak if i stop writing will the world even notice or sigh in relief as i stop polluting it with odes and refrains of love
she loved me despite myself she was quite proud of that always pointing out the despite she loved me for who she thought i could become not who i was but future me she loved me for my words the ones that flowed onto the page just for her but when it came to me […]
i speak with the voice of the voiceless heard by deafened ears seen by the blind my portrait painted by quadriplegic artists in comatose reality i am a lession covered leper in the broken heart club the zero sum investment the toothless lion pariah of the pack sinking like a stone into the poisoned waters […]
the wind chimes sing on the balcony a steady ringing ode to desolation or maybe today is a day for depression
sitting with my feet up craving whiskey in an effort to stop other cravings the neighbor upstairs just got home his slight frame beguiles his inability to step lightly a knock on the door i refuse to answer it is her the ex her if she can refuse a hint i can refuse her knocking […]
i woke this morning with the dream remains of your kiss upon my lips wispy and tasting of yesterdays long gone cold your name still sat upon my tongue the feel of your fingers entwined with mine lingered like a ghost i cannot escape even if i chose to your memory draped across my skin […]
freshly cut flowers standing in a vase the sounds of vivaldi dancing softly on the air her light steps upon bare feet gliding across the room. flores recién cortadas de pie en un jarrón los sonidos de vivaldi bailando suavemente en el aire sus pasos ligeros con los pies descalzos deslizamiento través de la habitación. […]
my poetry my search for love are actualizations of the dunning-kruger effect my lack of understanding fuels my belief that i can succeed my ignorance breeds confidence i rub lemon juice upon my flaws assuming it makes them invisible all it takes is a simple smile to make me forget the glaring failings the greatest […]
pt 1 she stands in front of the window golden light frames her naked body uncaring if a car drives by hits the pole out front again dust motes float in the air as if she stands in a sea of airborne glitter it isn’t clear yet if the sign outside referring to deadly curves […]
i don’t wish your lover would die but if he had an accident i wouldn’t be overwrought with sorrow i would never raise a fist in anger but if he truly made a mess i would be on a plane to you by tomorrow call it jealousy or just need but before bed i pray […]
blame my impatience in my utter disdain for the person i was to the one that i am to who i want to be in the not so distant future how do i wait for the next evolution when every bitter tear falling is tainted by lies i desperately need to believe it isn’t as […]
the roof on the church had partially collapsed i can only assume it was from the weight of unanswered prayers i have never found myself understanding so profoundly a sentiment more as i sit alone in the cold as if to give an answer a raven took wing launching itself like an ebon dart against […]
she folded me like a letter she no longer needs to read stuffed me into the back of the drawer with the musty reminders of days gone by i told myself she was saving me for a day when things had changed when i would be important or at least not quite so bittersweet when […]
her love gave me the bends decompression sickness from an escape from the overwhelming pressure of daily life i surfaced from the pit of depression too quickly to see she was a mirage instead of the oasis i first mistook her for i fell for her by falling for what i thought i wanted by […]
injecting robots nanomachines deep within looking for the cure knowing deep down in my soul both disease and cure are you
she smiled like a piano i tried all eighty eight keys but none fit the lock on her heart i tugged the strings all i got was bloodied fingers and the sounds of my own fading soliloquy
there are plenty of fish in the ocean but where i live is landlocked the only net i seem to cast is poorly made any potential catch swims freely through they told me if you teach a man to fish he eats forever but with jutting ribs and aching belly i sit on the cusp […]
my dearest though i have never gotten a chance to whisper sweetly into your ear brush my lips across your neck or your throat know that the sun’s rays as they shine upon your skin is a reflection of my love for you every breeze carries the whispered words of devotion from my heart to […]
he was an ink blot on the ocean a rorscharch of childhood trauma nebulous tremors anecdotal memories a butterfly with poisoned fangs murderous intent in loving eyes a plastic mask devoid of hope these things are what he was but the question he asked himself in the quiet dark what was he
she is beautiful like an aria like a field of lilies like a sunrise over the sea she is intangible like lilacs on the breeze like sea foam like the thrum of lightning right before it strikes she is dream fantasy given form divinity given shape love made palpable washing over bare nerves
it’s raining it’s cold i wish i were with you even if it were in the rainy cold i can think of a few things we could do to keep our minds off of the weather we could read to each other or watch a scary movie i could watch you out of the corner […]
she has two small puncture wounds on her neck no reflection in the mirror we only meet at night i have never seen her eat i would be suspicious but it is just nice to be wanted to be paid attention to to feel as if i exist or it was last night i told […]
i wonder if things would have turned out different if i hadn’t been such a sad sack of shit my entire life the whiskey the women the singing the words dating out of my league only acceptable when you factor in the talented tongue also the charming way i spoke how did i fool so […]
i am just animated carbon and water an ocean given human shape an unsharpened pencil incapable of making beauty you on the other hand are the most spectacularly beautiful thing i have ever seen in hindsight i am the dead sea and you are the bountiful ocean if i ever find a way to sharpen […]
you cannot teach an old dog new tricks you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink you can close yourself off from the world but you cannot stop the need and you have proven time and again you can take my heart and crush it but you cannot love me […]
every time she smiles a star let’s itself fall from the sky in jealousy when she cries an angel hangs itself from the heavy bough of the cherry tree and when she looks at me my stomach tumbles my hands grow sweaty the world seems brighter
my mind is a photo album of all the perfect days my dreams are the photo negatives the views beyond the page now they seem crossed as all i have is imprecise rememberings of another time another place the candle burnt away waxy reminiscence now the latest to deem me insignificant other joins the menagerie […]
she swears up and down what she feels is love but she has never seen him, never held him, never smelled him, never felt him, never been there when he needed her she is the mist of the sea and he is the shore, tangentially connected at best, everytime they meet, interact, he loses something […]
when she left it felt like lying in a snow bank like lying to everyone it was going to be okay like the pieces of my being were left lying in the broiler as i turned up the heat in hopes they would ooze back together again if absence makes the heart grow fonder silence […]
https://wolffpoetry.com/annoucement-issue-1-the-ache-of-the-pen-is-available-for-download/ The first case of yours truly being published as a poet. Thanks to Linda for this chance. Grab a copy or twelve. Tell your friends. Have them tell their friends. I can only assume everyone involved is amazing. Follow the link and remember to purchase the chapbook when it comes out. Hell, buy me […]
i had hoped by staying in my cell the transformation would not occur wrapped in chains of pure silver away from prying eyes temptations of the sweetest variety alone with the beast that lies within pain is momentary but the memory iself that lasts your entire life i could never rectify the two halves of […]
if there was one thing that had fought against the depression that smothers me so it was you. but then you showed just how little i meant to you as well. i was little more than a distraction. easily disposed. not that it matters we both knew it was so even if we were too […]
i have painted a bullseye on my head and chest now you never have to miss me again even if the only part of me you ever missed was a bit lower i’ll be over here you won’t really care
before color tv people dreamt in black and white color dreams were not commercially viable until the 1950s, monochromatic journeys into the minds flushing of tangential garbage i dream in radio plays, in subservient satellite blasts of long gone yesteryear a top of the charts rendering of the ridiculous renderings of reality versus distorted misinterpretations […]
she moves like the breeze as his heart flutters like a sparrow they dance like flakes of snow falling upon a window pane it lacks the fierceness of love but carries the weight of unspoken promise two brass gears in the back of a grandfather clock ticking in precision so softly as not to break […]
i will never be a famous poet spinning words into silken delight there will never be a bronze statue in a park of my likeness for birds to shit upon or children to ignore i am no one always have been always will be but i keep writing anyway
she has the eyes of a mother filled with hate and regret the rough hands of a drunken father the sharp cutting tongue of an abusive aunt is it any wonder that i can’t help but love her so i am a stray desperate for a home
rainy days like these remind me of when i fought in the secret war to liberate canada from their beaver overlords the battlefields smelled of maple syrup bullets and bodies were strewn aboot we fought hard across the frozen tundra against the furry bastards on top of their moose mounts war is hell, eh the […]
one day i would like to make my living off of the words that sing songs in my empty head all day rather than barely survive with the words being my only companion
etch you sigil onto my skin carve your intials into my soul paint your visage across my pupils sear your scent into my nose by the north wind i call to you by the east i cry your name by the south i feed your fire by the west consumed by flame with this bell […]
some nights she melted into me as if our bodies were not whole without one another others it was if she were a mannequin or mechanical facsimile of a real oerson in the beginning when sweet words and soft thoughts flowed like honeyed nectar from our tongues you could not tell where i ended and […]
as far as i know she sleeps every night in her gilded tower on the softest bed surrounded by works of art that have nothing on her. a moat surrounds the tower filled with snapping crocodiles a knight in blackest mail stands guard to keep evil doers at bay. in the morning bluebirds land on […]
i prepared her a feast made her favorite dish served it on a silver tray she smiled said it smelled delicious as she removed the lid she gasped in delight my heart on a bed of wilted promise garnished with every lie she ever uttered in moments of passion enjoy my love i whispered as […]
drip drip it was a strange noise that woke me far too early a rather ringing sort of drip drip i tried to ignore it so tired always so tired drip drip so i stumbled from dream into underwater kitchen felt the water hit my head from the light above goddess knows i may have […]
i only let myself fall in love in two very precise conditions. she must be fictional or unattainable. that way the end is obvious at the start. but i am a fool. the fictional is just a dream scenario. i am not insane. the unattainable though. i still let myself dream. because i am a […]
cobbled together from pieces of all her former lovers she worked like frankenstein in her laboratory trying desperately to make him into the one she truly wanted bolts on his neck jagged scars on every joint every word a moan of anguish as he lost what made him him he was the creature but she […]
i am sorry you have had to suffer through this congenital disease called life i only know one cure it is coming for all of us one day a wise person told me chin up so i carved a bullseye into my forehead and did as i was bade
her smile is the habenero twinge in the back of my throat her laugh the nails across my spine the twinkle in her eyes like tap dancing on my grave but i’ll be damned if she isn’t the cooling balm on my burning soul i hate myself for loving her with every fiber of my […]
flay me skin me dip me into an ocean of your salty tears burn me as your effigy carve your initials into my heart take my ribs and carve them form a frame from them in which to rest your pretty head i don’t give a fuck about me without you and that isn’t going […]
she was an orchid in bloom i was just a fool that tried to love her is it any wonder it wasn’t meant to be
the depression is like a wool blanket gently tucking me in for six more weeks of sadness six more weeks times six more weeks times a lifetime of fighting against the silken cuffs tired of fighting tired of not just tired you were a lighthouse in the mist and fog yet you chose to extinguish […]
the songs of the words has changed again this time i care not for the hymnal skating the thawing rink of desolation surrender seems inevitable angst is a candle burning the rope holding damocles sword this causeway of pits and pendulums growing ever closer ever whispering ever screaming silently into the emptiness of night fear […]
is it any wonder i have abandonment issues when being left is all i have ever known it isn’t me pushing away it is me watching as you run nary a word of explanation just the soft slapping of bare feet on the road leading anywhere but here
step aside this is not the time for false bravado for proving yourself i am just so sick and fucking tired of the same old same old i need a change of pace a change of place a change of face a disruption to the status quo so step aside step step step aside just […]
(un)stable pt I the air was stagnant poisoned impossible thick he sat the room was dark nothing seemed to matter not anymore it isn’t as if he breathed as if blood pumped through his veins thoughts pumped through his vanity poison felt right just cloying enough to clog his circuitry (un)kempt pt II on the […]
i would love you as more than a friend but then i would eventually lose the friend as my love is caustic so instead i love you as a friend knowing eventually you will just disappear saves the mess of being a mess in the midst of all the other messes i have messed up […]
got an email today about bracelets i don’t wear much jewelery but these caught my eye they make a disc on each disc they show the planets position on a certain day in a certain year a unique time stamp an array of dates flashed through my mind that are burned into my medial temporal […]
let’s go out into the country and lay on the hood of the car we can count the stars until we find one that shines as brightly as you my love we can drive down to the beach and watch the waves as the sun glimmers off of them like diamonds i will make up […]
she signed every kiss with the tip of her tongue. the places along my frame that signature had travelled the parts of me marked as hers. i wrote novels of devotion with my tongue along every inch of her body new gospels of worship etched across her perfection. love is not forever but the memory […]
her eyes are perfect mirrors in which i never hope to see myself mar the perfection of but for a moment it would be glorious
gimme just a minute of your precious time gimme gimme gimme gimme just a piece of the action everyone knows the end of the story is just a series of sorrys all i want is a chance at a fresh beginning with you so please baby gimme just a minute of your precious time gimme […]
i used to dream of finding my mallory knox a partner in madness now i want to find my alice morgan a partner in the cold i need the insanity but in a controlled isolated way i am willing to bet i will never find either but can’t stop the dreaming or the lonely just […]
the hills (pt I) the hills are not gently rolling as much as haphazardly clinging for all they are worth which would be more if they had deposits of precious minerals hidden within she was one such hill the latter rather than the former haphazardly clinging unbeknownst to any she was far more preciously laden […]
serial thriller chiller killer filler tiller miller driller feeling lost today thinking darkly dripping thoughts rewriting an old tale on repeat it only ends one way
she took root on my tongue sending tendrils up through my sinus cavities into my ears my eyes before nestling in my brain it is a wonder every sound taste scent and sight makes me think of her in quiet moments of lucidity i wonder how far the infection has traveled
there was another me once upon a time far from where i am what i have become the thing i am would you believe i once loved freely gave of myself smiled openly shared deeply it wasn’t one single catastrophic event it was a series of micro fractures cascading through my mind i fell apart […]
every time she crosses my mind a blossom of light explodes lately it has been the fourth of july in my skull night flowers blooming fading to yellow embers that burn deep into the gray matter parting tissue like a scalpel leaving scars in the pattern of her fingerprint across my mind
i wanted to write you a poem one where i told the world how much you mean to me where i expounded upon your virtues where i shouted out my love where i gave in to all the softer things but that isn’t the type of thing you would want need or care for just […]
she mistakes me for another curses yells as if i need to obey her tells me what to do how to feel who to be when she isn’t aware of who i am i don’t understand it we seemed to be friends or at least friendly until she decided i was someone else she mistakes […]
i told myself sternly no more writing about love i made myself swear no more the she the her the dream the need it is all so empty so pointless let it go fade away into the pit in your stomach the tumor in your brain it is cancerous slowly killing you draining your will […]
her eyes were the same color as a channel with no signal no her eyes were not the vivid cerulean of a modern television they were the swarm of flies with the static hiss pouring out of them in a way that defies logic defines tragic implies longing portrays passion gone astray it wasn’t love […]
she smiled up at me it was obvious she had been beautiful before life had it’s way with her. the small little scabs ran down her arms ghosts hid inside of her eyes as well as a hunger that seemed to drive her. she asked me for some change overly eager slightly desperate i frowned […]
the night is quiet lying in bed staring up thinking of the end not of the end of the world just the end of misery
she flies about in her mortar wielding a pestle as a wand to her hut deep in the forest telling fortunes punishing the wicked call her death justice torment pain in her hut with the backward legs of a giant chicken baba yaga is her name
i dreamt you were my happier ever after silly isn’t it me ending up with you unpossible really but it was one of those nice dreams the kind you wake up from with a grin and an ache in your chest when you realize nah it was just a stupid dream
the rarified air of wanton stupidity is the nectar of the gods to some the best thing that ever happened to me was telling her it was over in the now eight years after it becomes more and more clear i should have done it sooner
my disinterest is like a hammer and pinion upon the rocky crags of your tainted disapproval i shall continue to climb escape your feigned emotions cast like a net but as vapid vacant as your eyes we both know i was just a passing fancy a pitstop a temporary fix until the next marker on […]
Mike's Manic Word Depot 