My Drive

Bumper-Sticker-Nasheville-TN-Using-Rights
I see you
Mr. Millennial
with your horned rim glasses and neckbeard
the wind whistling through the bike rack on your Subaru Outback
while you sing along to Mumford and Sons
I see you
Mrs. Millennial
with your cup of Starbucks and cellphone
texting away while your kids watch Netflix in the back seat
where did you get that stick figure family sticker?
I see you
Mr. Generation X
with your goatee and Ray Bans
the sun reflecting off your bald head and white teeth
are you late for golf or a cross burning?
I see you
Mrs. Generation X
with that desperate, unsatisfied look on your face
the shine of your right blinker, left on for the last 3 miles
the edge of your “I love Wine” sticker is peeling off
I see you
Mr. Baby Boomer
with your tan face, thin silver hair and sun spots
keeping death at bay with your window cracked while you smoke
I didn’t realize they made a Mercedes station wagon.
I see you
Ms. Baby Boomer
with a genuine look of confidence and control
checking your make up in the rear view mirror
thinking of him seems to only verify you are better off alone
– TLF 02/17/2016

Guardrail

Darwin has shown me more than the father of the son.
A father’s fate the time is done.
This ridiculous belief in something beyond the sun.
Some cordial solace in how quick came the end.

Its way passed time to drive me home
Its way passed time to go on alone
Its just this easy to slip my mind.
Its not that simple to swallow my pride.

I’m not who I am, who you thought I would be.
Strange are these days between you and me.
A violent end to this fragile trust you can’t see.
The guardrail settled nothing between us.

Tell me something then drive me far from here
Tell me something am I wrong to hate this?
Tell me something to ease my mind, dear.
Tell me something what did I miss?

Your draining me of good, make me what I am
Dahlmer, Gacy, the son of Sam
The ridiculous idea of what makes a man.
Your hypocrisy the marrow of the bone.

Validation Mr. Young

I had to travel very close to the end to see I am still viable.
What was in question has been answered, for the moment.
What was in question was simple and innate.
The answers just as simple and innately dangerous.
I have seen my very real fears subside through a simple show of interest.

The path, like that of Dante.
The reprieve, like that of a recent parolee.
The power, like that of sunshine.
The guilt, like that of too much wine.

It was not the prize, but the confirmation of potential.
It was not the attainment, but the seeking.
It was not the right, but the threat of wrong.
It was not the overt realization, but the subtle reckoning.

Reasons for a sinner’s words, a sinner’s way, a short walk on a burning pier.
Disaster averted by a well timed exit.
The absurdity of a long ago stated phrase to Mr. Young,
“I never make universal statements”…

The Best of Misery

I’ve seen a man too lame to stand.
A strong man to weak to take my hand.
Bridges, boxes, and dogs,
dodging, sleeping and grinding the cogs.

I’ve seen the hair to fucked to comb,
I’ve seen the man, talking alone.
Carts, crates, and water,
Fathers, mothers, sons and daughters.

This man, arms to the sun
This man, no name, no gun.
This man, he’s the prophet’s voice, make the choice,
This man, making the best of misery.

What have I done, how far he’s come?
Sell me something, before the light is done.
Oranges, flowers, and beans,
Selling, begging and paid to bleed.

Where has he gone this man I know.
First and last time I’ve see his show.
Bullets, bats, and knives,
Running, hiding, saving no lives.

That man, iconic eyes to the ground.
That man, ironic smiles all around.
That man, he’s the martyr’s muse, forced to choose,
That man, making the best of daylight’s love.

A Formed Loss

It seems your world is broken
This time its torn open.
You can’t fix this pain, its all that must remain

It seems you can’t take anymore
At this moment your hoping
I won’t refuse your embrace, this race, your face

You know this feeling, loneliness,
A misfit’s last caress
You hope it is soft, so sharp, so quick.

You hate the way its changing
No real hope in claiming
You see things are real this time, no lie, in time

How can you let it bury you, just you, by you, for you.
How can you let it tear in me, righteous me, to me, from me.
All this form lost in the translation, between you and me…

Its true insofar as it remains,
The bones, the blood, the stains,
Its remains so long as its true,
The tears, the lies, the tear that is new.