collander
some days writing is like catching rain in a collander some days the bucket is overflowing others they just trickle to the dirt i have been drowning as of late but know the arid days too well
Tag: poetry
tea time with kafka
kafka and i shared tea while hiding behind the thick dusty curtains as burroughs banged on the front door he had a haunted look in his sunken eyes as ginsberg ran naked from behind a bush with a shrill cry i saw a cockroach the size of a large dog scurry into the kitchen with […]
some rivers never meet the sea
not all rivers make it to the sea though some are born of lakes far inland from the ever shifting oceans step into the shadows slide out of your clothes let me run my fingertips softly along your tributaries in search of your hidden inlet sip lightly from your abundant waters while your thighs against […]
fugue
between the wind chimes and the neighbor’s songbird i feel like i am in a tornado of disharmonic nausea an orchestra pit this side of hell with demons clamboring a serenade to the chorus of the damned wailing all being played in a coffin on the back of a horse drawn carriage down a cobblestone […]
sighs
she sighed as she stared at the clouds forever is temporary the dream is just that we won’t live eternally she looked at me and smiled a sad thing but we have right now so there is always that i suppose
spacial
spending so much time in the cold reaches of space lately that the world around me feels foreign the sterility of the words has numbed the discharging life that circles ever so frantic sound travels oddly in the lack of gravity no atmosphere lungs shriveled like prunes i gasp loudly in a panic as if […]
tsunami
feeling like another abandoned dream on the side of the rural road between wholesome and winsome watching life turn to ash blowing through the trees on another bench in the center of nowhere it was me it was me it was me then it wasn’t in a flash it just wasn’t left to rot like […]
too tired to hope
damn the laws of nature that keep the waterfall from flowing back up the craggy spires of time damn the laws of physics that make it impossible to understand the bumblebee’s majestic flight damn the stars damn the sky damn the infinite cosmos with it’s immensity in the face of reality ever expanding with the […]
she loved
she loved like a haunted house incapable of letting go the past she loved like a tombstone faded by the wind and rain but she loved oh, how she loved she loved like a carnival thrilling with every new sight she loved like the spring sun nurturing with abundant light she loved sweet mother mercy, […]
10/7
today marks the day poe died the ravens circle the sky autumn falls as the world begins to slumber to dream a restless sleep filled with haunting cries the chill wind carries the smell of burning pitch brick by brick the amontillado beckons that cursed eye unblinking as usher falls leaving mortar to coat the […]
in summary
sum up two months in one paragraph to convince the world your words are worth reading sisyphus smiles at the fool with sweat on his brow depression regression obsession a subtle denial of the sorrowful mindslate wiped clean with unacceptance the rattling jaw of a skull picked clean by unempathy’s murder of crows
lizard on a rock in blue jeans
it isn’t existence i dread on an early sunday morning at the laundromat no it is existing as a part of the wider world i dread with every fibrous cell in my aching body i want to go back to bed then the nightmare is one i can awake from have some modicum of control […]
high to low
two months of a constant drip of cbd kept the ship even keeled on the seas now the razor edge of mania is speaking in dulcet tones never feel as alive as when the madness gets you high but the precipitous fall is always one step away it has been so long since the last […]
deflate
it was so quiet you could hear a heartbreak echo through the night i watched the poor bastard deflate like a balloon run out of helium unaware i was staring in the mirror
a legacy
kerouac was anti-semetic lovecraft was racist bukowski was just another liar poe was an addict and shakespeare was a thief all i hope is the world looks at me with the same disregard for fact one day a crumpled pack of cigarettes next to a coffee stain on the table by a worn copy of […]
mercurial nothing
she sighed like a smiling buddha one step removed from screaming fuck nirvana in the sad mist of sputtered inconsequence i hear horns car brass train all mixed into a cacophony of sullen morose the type you only get when the last good day is three days past expiration we break open thermometers to swim […]
too tired to sleep
exhaustion like a robe made of angry ants wrapped around the pink skin of too much scrubbing to remove the stain of soul deep sin so tired that sleep excuses itself to the other room to drink whiskey while soft jazz plays plucking notes of longing from the emptiness to build a nest in the […]
courageous/contagious
i am not courageous no i am contagious just with symptoms that don’t affect the normal effects of living in a monochrome daydream of the american scream the worn carpet beneath my bare feet with black painted nails feels like the threadbare soul of hope stretched down along commerce street around where kennedy got shot […]
why not
the typical question i get when someone finds out i write is why. what else is there? i respond with a quizzical look painted on my normally scowling face. some people see the face of god in the world around them some see inherent beauty some people see wonder. i don’t see any of that. […]
the rat king dances for scraps
his big toe sticks out the hole in the filthy sock hanging over the edge of the worn out matress on the floor of the last motel this side of newark empty cans litter the floor with moldy take out containers scrounged from the dumpster behind the korean restaurant next to the flashing neon cross […]
cricket chorus
they race down the street with coffee can mufflers drowning out the music the equalizer lights bounce in time with the rpms all the while the cricket chorus goes ignored in the bushes outside the window
as the night settles in
the demons rest in heaven as the angels bask in hell the sink drips all night long the sound of drooling idiots fighting for the remote fold a pillow over your head maybe then the voices will cease the infernal racket it is too late for apologies far too early for sleep there is a […]
commiserates
he stares blindly listening to the silence of the world on fire it is another thursday his phone tells him another day in agony the only difference between weekday or weekend is where he commiserates
saint vitus
they dance up and down the street in twitching shudders bare skulls in the pale light of just before dawn saint vitus smiling through gap toothed longing unkempt the witches cackle as they tug the strings of winsome marionettes
glass eye
sometimes i see life as reflected in a glass eye stuck in a wrinkled face that once held youth like a hostage a prisoner wasted in the hope it softly fell in love but that glass eye rolls across the floor under the couch to never see another sunrise
mariposa
ella era una mariposa montando en la capa negra de la muerte sangre goteando como una lluvia de verano de sus colmillos ella era el eclipse proyectando sombras invertidas con cada aleta de sus alas en el aire quieto she was a butterfly riding in the black cape of death dripping blood like a summer […]
fool’s gold in silver
the fisherman casts unbaited hooks in hopes of catching supper in the reflection of the moon on the shimmering waves fool’s gold in silvery light while his stomach growls another empty net to sup at the table of scraps alone
siren’s tale
she sat on the trash like the mermaid of the dump watching the wind blow garbage across the dusty land oh siren oh siren of the municipal waste did you imagine this was how your life would eventually turn out once the prettiest girl in her class now the trackmarks run down her arms like […]
currents
it is october i find myself dreaming of the ocean but the lapping waves are her kisses all i want is to drown instead it is too hot in texas while she lounges at the beach letting the waves kiss her toes as the sun shines down i put rocks in my pockets and wade […]
jack
with shaky hands he grabs the knife cutting through scooping out the slimy innards to be tossed in the trash with yesterday’s hope with blurred vision he stabs leaving jagged triangles for eyes an open wound to breath through before slowly sawing a perpetual grin he is covered in sweat gore the rancid scent of […]
eutrophic
her presence fills me with eutrophic wonder consuming all the oxygen in my blood burning herself into my soul she is all there is every thought every labored breath a necessary offering to her
(un)titled anatomy
under translucent skin lies a roadmap from heartglass to brainflurry in the cold marble statue of silent defeat
coming and going by way of iceberg
she says hello like the sunrise on a perfect morning of the first day of the rest of your life she says goodbye like the titanic as the band plays slowly in the ever freezing waters
check please
death is a bus ride down the lost highway to the last diner in the bad part of town all you want is a slice of pie but the waitress just pours old coffee while the fry cook scratches himself with the spatula now you’re left with the option of paying the bill for a […]
another crumb of languid regret
her smile fleeting like a shooting star caught in the corner of your eye during a sandstorm i wonder if that is what the dinosaurs saw before the earth was covered in dust another crumb fallen to the carpet of her languid regret only to be vacuumed up
a flower or a clock
it seems like a cliche to say she spread herself for me like a flower in bloom that i circled her blossom like a bee in need of pollen but as i gently explored every inch of her with tongue teeth and fingers i was far too busy to think of metaphors her moans of […]
(un)titled rhyme
at least at last dreams fly at half mast there is no end to forever but the promise tends to die there is no second chance just memory to deny it’s the fall before the landing it’s the lack of understanding it’s the promise of tomorrow it’s the truth painted with sorrow at least at […]
turgid
the dolphin smiles in the moonlight, yet darkness is sheer in it’s mute glare. finally a finale of finite fair for friendly forces find fate folds feeble flair duck and cover in the poignant madness of irreversible tides never once has the void seemed as appealing as when hovering nigh never once has the void […]
(un)titled depression
i had the oil to keep the beast at bay but rent rendered that purchase null and void so welcome back my friend the silence is to your liking yes the emptiness your domain the sweet sorrow falls beneath your dominion swaddle me in your itch hold me with the cold dead truth did you […]
boomarange
overcast underwhelmed out of range of normal skittish little creature with jittery eyes twitching in the shadows of tomorrow hackles raised in response to yet another whispered chant of mayhem undercast overwhelmed within range of tantrum
a story on repeat
they sit holding hands sharing secret smiles is there anything at all more insipid than young love better have a first aid kit handy young fools the tenuous ache sits ever patient on the flipside of beauty i have to pull over as sobs overtake me it seems i have read this work before
euphoric misery
the weeping eye casts stardust throughout the cosmos in euphoric misery i think the milk has gone bad but i cannot be bothered to go to the store instead i shall lie here with cold silence in the spot you should occupy staring at the ceiling while that weeping orb watches through the clouds
tea and conversation
i had tea with a vampire it was delightful sitting in the study sipping earl gray surrounded by books with yellowed pages the leather spines broken from centuries of reading it was nice to sit in a room with no mirrors as neither of us care for the damnedable things we talked through the night […]
an economy of words
it requires an economy of words to write poetry while writing a new novel penny pinching from one to add to the other while trying to maintain the stimuli needed for both yet still the next story has me in a fiercesome grip that requires the patience of a virgin at a nude beach as […]
don’t sing to me
don’t sing to me of forever when your voice cracks at the thought of one day you were never a songbird just a mockingbird feigning the words i was never a captive audience just a captive trapped in your cage turn the television off i have a long day ahead and you need to plan […]
flash fried
he clutched his fists either like a man about to scream at the heavens or the way he would a newspaper with the announcement of his former flame’s engagement it didn’t matter which there was a fire of loss so intense in his eyes as he stared out into nothing that anything caught in that […]
riptide
she is the calm harbor while i am the tumultuous sea but in that brief moment where we crash into one another there is magic lying in the reef the currents swirl as eddys of love swell to drown all who get swept past the breakers
acid rain
the rain sizzles as it falls from the sunny sky tendrils of smoke rise with every significant spatter on the dusty gravel parking lot my skin has raised blisters my umbrella reduced to a metal skeleton hanging forlornly as the world burns pain erupts on raw skin yet still i stand spinning in the acid […]
lasso
the oatmeal bubbles in the pan the last gasps of someone fallen into quicksand like all the heroes of the movies when i was a kid sinking slowly in congealed mush panicking only hurries the end who has a goddamned lasso in this day and age
still the squirrels chitter
it’s late yet your threats of bodily harm still echo in my mind it isn’t often someone announces the pleasure they would take in stabbing me i just don’t really know how to handle it i hope you are well you’ll have to forgive me but i shall cower over here still the squirrels chitter […]
missing you
it was like a stack of pancakes drizzled with real maple syrup a pat of butter running down the side with the face of a sad clown in the nooks and crannies that made the whole thing taste like batteries thats what sitting alone on the couch missing you is like a wilted flower hanging […]
strands
she leaned forward to kiss me there was motion in her hair a spider scampered along her scalp through the forest of black strands she smiled she never harmed a soul just to be safe i refused the kiss and went on my way
gap
i find myself sitting perfectly ensconced in the gap between two stars in the nighttime of another fetid dreamsliver i imagine i appear as a wraith to any passerby as i tap my fingers on my thigh it wouldn’t make sense to them the light doesn’t actively ignore them and they cannot hear joey ramone […]
being a poet, pt I
being a poet is similar to having a heart attack on the toilet when your family discovers this factoid they leave it out of polite conversation oh yes, he was a writer or oh yes, his heart just gave out there is just no easy way to explain it
calf cramp
loving her was like a calf cramp at three in the morning long after it was over there was a fear of moving the wrong way only to reignite the pain
pavlov’s tongue
sweetness spills from between her legs like honey dripping from the comb a sheen of sweat gives her erect nipples a taste of salt she coats my tongue so perfectly i have a pavlovian twinge when she walks by
see you next fall
i wasn’t pushed down the elevator shaft i let myself fall sometimes the darkness is all that is there to comfort you sometimes it takes plummeting to a certain death to see the world for what it is the impending anxiety whispers softly it is all you can do to take that step
in a glass
she frowned like a flag draped over a coffin when she smiled her teeth looked like tombstones she had three sons two of which were spread out across the sands the third was twitchy and inherited her mouth when she died her teeth floated in a glass on the bedside table
in shame
one day the aquarium will be filled with plastic while the ocean is set aflame we will go to the museum wearing blinders averting our eyes from the dinosaurs in shame
afterimage
death is a park bench on another muggy morning as the sky erupts with the fire in your eyes all that is left of me is a puddle of regret congealing in the frigid wind of your absence you:above hiroshima me:the crater after we both know how that feels you freefalling me going about my […]
city mouse
the miles tick by nothing but trees along the roadside no buildings of concrete glass and steel i feel as lost in the countryside as i do surrounded by millions in the city
right now
right now as i lay in bed the fan blowing across my skin the windows blocked to keep the cantankerous sun peeking in at dawn the soft sheets under me the ceiling staring down oppressively the clouds thick from the tropical storm to the south the taste of cherries on my lips the howling dogs […]
old man hank laughing at the fool
hank had the race track to fall back on even if he had shit luck he had the redhead fried chicken debussy on the stereo wine in a glass a cigarette clenched between often angry lips he quit the post office to follow his dream of being a poet seems you could do that kind […]
matches
i always carry a book of matches with me in my back pocket in case the signal is given the riot begins the sins of the fathers lay the new way for the generations to come i always take notes on the world around me scribbled in lines of pedantic prose to remind myself of […]
laughing all the way to the crematorium
we used to play poker while drinking vodka stolen from our parents like we were big shots without a care in the world we would ride bikes shoplift lunch to eat while smoking cigarettes yelling at the old people that shook their fists in anger poor kids with no aspirations other than to not be […]
blinking out one by one
the moon gives no answers the stars died long before we saw their light yet every time i look up a sense of wonder fills me in all the burnt out glory one day the constellations will take new shape the north star will be a wives tale no one will believe us when they […]
burn in hell
to hell with you your tarsoaked innuendo visceral leanings with indecent scripture covered in the grime of too many back alley dealings in the form of hypodermic wherewithal burn in hell with all the other quasi-humanoid fiends that suckle on the teat of tomorrow while ravaging the days gone in a pathetic gasp at commonality […]
ten eyes
she has too many eyes staring from her too small face as she glares at me across the pond hatefilled spite shoots from the too many orbs something slithers just beneath the surface of the water that lizard part of my brain screams to run but rooted feet pay no need to terror yet part […]
a spade, a ladle and too much time
he sits on the shore watching the waves roll in amazed at the pull of the moon on the oceanic tide he digs at the soft dirt with a spade shaped like a heart gripped tightly in his callused hands a small hole becomes a pit becomes a trench as he slowly moves down the […]
paralytic
her gaze was a paralytic poison across my feeble resistance cannot feel my still heartbeat as it spasms in my skull i am nothing without you but we both know i was nothing before you either just another statue in the emptiness of a fenced cemetery
a view of cypress
she cast her gaze upon the cypress the letter clutched tightly in her hand the setting sun drifting to sleep in lazy pink across the encroaching night sky somewhere out there he lies moribund surrounded by strange faces alone while a part of her is dying inside just as surely as the insect chorus plays […]
forlorn
does the tree dream of being cut down turned into paper for another insipid poet does the wildflower dream of being trampled by steamrollers to be made into a road does the dreamer dream of waking up to a world where nothing is like they dreamt i don’t know a half bottle of vodka an […]
direction(less)
call off the dogs frothing snarling beasts sheathe the blades hidden under pink tongues running through mudpuddles in mismatched socks as the bite of the whip finds fresh skin to furrow this labyrinth is one straight hall leading ever forward into the loss of direction as the magnetic compass spins furtively
creation(emptiness)
and behold the icy grasp of death burrowing further down into the soul of art of word of expression hear the death rattle of purity in every faded verse as insincerity lifts it’s bloody muzzle from the corpse of poetic nuance yet on the stillborn hands of shaky wordsmiths lay claim to title of bard […]
autumnal tanka
another refrain written in bittersweet ink of summer’s demise penned by quill of anxious doubt held tightly by fall’s firm grip
lovespurs
her ivory teeth gnawed the bones of past heartshatter with a ferocity that blurred insanity and obsession hollow crunches with marrow flavored lies filled the dingy room with the pungent odor of bitter lovespurs like a thick malaise
pressure
the pressure builds up inside like a steam pipe in a victorian manor a rupture in waiting inflating on a sense of doomy dismay
peace in our time
they keep their eyes closed for fear of going blind their ears blocked for fear of hearing truth yet let their tongues flap like flags in the breeze spilling opinion as if they understand what they refuse to comprehend and we let them lead with our shoulders hunched deaf dumb and blind with no willingness […]
golem
the sound of an anemic necrorhythm cast out from the dessicated remains of a leper’s soul draped in the cadaverous heartbeat of solemn drought the organ haunts the bloodspectre of reminscence the tock ticks as brass gears bind against the coppertinge of sweet regret a golem of bone staggers across the uneven heaving shadow of […]
the stars
she hung the stars carefully in the sky as ebony absorbed the azure an atypical zeitgeist brought on by an unerring sense of order in the chaos above
strength in a tired smile
you would think she was ready to flee with those heavily packed bags under her swollen eyes you would think she could stop the tears that danced in her vision like a perpetual mist yet she kept moving forward with the weight of the world dragging doggedly behind her every step say what you will […]
ride
ride me as if the world is frothing rapids and i am the last seaworthy vessel afloat let the bastards watch in envy as the riptides slowly pull them under
la luna distaccata
he stood naked in the tall grass firing shots at the moon while growling about unrequited love it was not nearly the stretch it should have been between my disbelief and my total understanding the brass fell hot to the ground while the goddamned moon just hung in the sky fat and aloof part of […]
either way
the church bells toll clear across the empty night assuring another day will dawn or the end of everything as we know it either way it is calming to know as one or the other befalls us it echos through the warm summer air
clung
when everything else fell from my feeble grasp sorrow clung as tightly to me as dream
[(un)titled]
hack away on lungshit dayspasm take comfort in the absent rays of ultraviolent light filtered through tenebrae huddle deeper into the shadow of forgotten shame
obsidian gaze
in the congealing bloodblack of evening the wretched roost in rapture a squawk of pain erupts like a geyser of flame from the slit throat of the rooster day is not certain in the spiralling maw of hunger beset by the gaping orb of madness a fox in the henhouse of idiosyncratic indecency mislabled joy […]
the number you’ve dialed is no longer in service
the tumbleweeds roll across the desolate landscape of a mind in crisis screaming into the void until blood on the vocal chord lining makes it all a hoarse whisper nothing calls back or if it does it falls on deaf ears deadened by the day grit blown by the constant gales shreds through flesh through […]
from stray dreams of demons
has thou pierced the veil of light soluble vision permeating the perennial vestige of sinladen disbelief the fair maiden throws scraps for the knights to battle over like a handkerchief drenched in perfume a beam of light like a spear thrust into the breast of man from on high with devilish intent the stench of […]
scant
the rabid beasts dance intricate waltzes across the fleshy floor of insomniac brainspatter greengray pus pours like the angry tears of virgin whores to stain the pristine pillowcases of one last fling in tartarus scant the whispered sighs of last goodbyes that haunt the cathedral of her heartprison
sirens mean nothing to the willfully deaf
she penned her intials onto the anchor fastened around my neck wondering why her sudden absence dragged me under with blue lips and wrinkled fingers. we both knew she would be the death of me or of some facet at least but the joy she got in that knowledge should have been a warning. maybe […]
haze
she wrapped chains around my torso forged in the flames of hell to bring forth the lights of heaven tossed me down the well long dried up due to drought conditions in the arid wilderness i must be hellbound because the wings on my back were blackened by promises of love ever lasting that i […]
lost
lost in thought in traffic on the winding streets of another insignificant town in another sprawling metroplex surrounded by others just as lost as me
9.12
running through the briars as the world burns to a cinder two steps behind of lust of rage of anger of desire the needle pierces the cornea of cataract collusion the blind men point in various directions leading down paths fraught with peril still running as the flames lick bare heels the plants scream unheard
bartering for berries
seething, she draws the knife from the small of her back and prowls across the rooftop like a crazed cat on a mission to cause havok, all the while smiling with sharpened teeth like the mouth of a shark with nose full of blood and jet black marbles for eyes a catatonic ambulance driver with […]
of spotlights and line dancing
i exist in the shadow your spotlight of beauty casts down upon another dreary day in purgatory a shimmering effervescent sheen on the cardiac arrested development of spatial anthems in binary ten thousand kazoos paying an homage to pioneers of black metal while pantomiming line dances for the blind everywhere you step the world glistens […]
the last tree
the last tree in the city stands defiant in the embrace of concrete and poisonous smog a lone green beacon in a desolation of gray arms raised on high to a burning orb that expands exponentially in a nuclear embrace of insatiable hunger
of sorrow’s virgin lips (sorrows pt IV)
a rivulet of blood down the pale earlobe doth run a sinuous stream of hemoglobin lush in copper scented wishfulness to pool on the collar of inadvertent misery her eyes meet mine across time across space yet no recognition frames the vacant stares artificial gravity beguiles the broken another inkstained demagogue draped in lacey reminders […]
solemn wind (sorrows pt III)
there is a breeze unfelt by human skin unkempt by nature’s law it sings of storms unfulfilled whispering dreamily through the nettles of another sullen sunset sun baked earth sighs contentedly into the morning light unheard by human ear untamed by breathless devotion lost in the breeze
where ravens sing (sorrows pt II)
there is a cyst on the ganglia of dreamspit’s wasted youth dally forth on nightterror dally forth as the womb of soft goodbye dematerializes into heartdust dally forth on straightrazor dally forth a bucket of freshly plucked painfruit precariously sways onward deathsteed dally forth onward, on to dusk where ravens sing for pittance
Mike's Manic Word Depot 