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.

Flesh like some

The twisting of the light while the fall,
I feel the weight of some, no all
How will you get around this day?
Someplace, sometime, someway.

The shaking of the light against the seam,
Witness the fire of the iron, against me.
How will I get over this day?
Somehow, somebody…some say.

The fading of the light into your skin,
Against the ghosts in line, so thin.
How will we get beyond this point?
Through here, through you, one coin.

Stripping your life by layer,
tearing your shame by fire.
Your flesh is not so simple to see.
The sun burning your flesh is me.

Midwest Memoir

Coffee and Whiskey
How long will you miss me

Big boned Minnesota women
Blonde haired, blue eyed demons

Truckers and silos
How far will this love go

Ames Iowa and KD Lang
Corn fields split by a train

White on Green road signs
Endless chain of highway lines

Songs about women and dixie
How long will you tempt me

Tractors for sale for hours
Weight stations and water towers

Mile marker 210
North or South you hit the wind

I came here looking for nothing
Found John Deere tractors rusting

Milo to bluegrass to concrete
From country to suburbs to main street

Stained Love

As our beauty abandons us,

You look over your shoulder with indifference

A self-centered sacrifice of little consequence

Come and go are strangers with no currency of significance.

 

You have been forced to love me,

so hate me now before motivation is lost.

This biding of time is insulting,

composed of conversations to convince us of civility.

 

Marking the beautiful as a wretch

Replacing the superficial with substance

Questioning the rational and emotional

How does one cooperate without concession?