One Art

September

2009-09-08T23:02:00.000-07:00

September,
Remember?
It was her
Or was it her?
I'm not sure.

September,
September,
I can't forget her
Could you forget her?
You're not sure.

September,
Remember,
It was right next to her.
Why did it have to be her?
They couldn't be sure.

September,
September,
What could you have want from her?
And why, oh why did you have to leave her?
No one knew for sure.

September,
Remember?
You had to take it away from her.
You knew you could not have her.
But you were sure.

September,
September,
I can't remember who it was for,
And I can't remember, remember, remember.

The Little Prince

2009-07-30T23:40:00.000-07:00

...on ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.

2009-04-29T20:04:00.000-07:00

There's all this land between us now
All this time, all these skies, they
All lie between us, separate us, tortures us.

Burning

2009-04-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

The clouds melted,
From above our heads
And fell, onto our world.

The leaves drenched in grey,
Hang limp from mossy limbs
And looms, over our heads.

But how long must we stay here?
Beneath their world
Beneath it all?

The melted grey doesn't reach
Our hot world, and our
skins keep burning, burning

Burning.

Farewell

2009-03-30T20:26:00.000-07:00

Darkness falls, darkness crawls
Shadows creep and I must weep.
Scarlet life in my vein
How many more must die in vain?
Death, lined against the sky,
More must die, more must die.
Fire overhead, and in my hands another head.
One more pump is all you get
Don't waste it, don't you forget.
Cower in fear, I am here,
In my hands all life must fade.

Feel my tears on your skin, feel it burn, feel it hurt.
Feel the fire beneath my feet, fell the fire on your skin,
Feel the kiss of the fallen one, feel your heartbeat just once more.
In my hands your life I hold, your precious life that I fold.
Watch the stars, they all burned,
Shameful lust filled your heart, and for that you are condemned.
Walls of heaven all collapse, walls of hell all collapse.
Time escaped my finger, but your heart will always linger.
Shadows creep and I must weep
Darkness falls, darkness crawls.

Kiss me farewell just once more
Make my heart beat once more.

Return

2009-03-28T10:16:00.000-07:00

It fell through my fingers,
Like sand. I tried to hold
Onto you, onto it, onto
Anything at all.
But still it escaped me.

So I waited beneath the yellowing
Clouds and the fading sun.
I waited silently, patiently,
Thoughtlessly.
But it never returned to me.

The Earth, it seems, now stands
Quite still, perfectly still.
And I'm still standing, still
Waiting. Patiently.
And in time I too shall

Return.

This thing

2009-03-28T10:15:00.000-07:00

It crawls beneath my skin
It makes my skies purple
It sets my flowers on fire
It turns my dreams to bubbles.

It crawls beneath my skin
Turns my brain into a whirlwind
Sets my fingers to sand
Makes my knees collapse.

It crawls beneath my skin
I see it in your eyes too
And it looms over our heads
Dictates our every move.

This thing
This thing
This love.

Daylight

2009-03-21T22:50:00.000-07:00

With limbs wrapped tight around each other,
My skin melted onto yours, and yours onto mine,
Our hearts racing as one, side by side,
Your lips kissing its way into my soul.
All the mountains crumbled into the sea,
The sun dropped into the desert,
And the rivers sank to earth's core,
Time stopped running, and I stopped chasing.
With you in my arms I close my eyes,
Run my fingers through your hair,
And smile for all the world to see,
Look at us basking in our imperfection,
Fighting all their doubts and fears.
As the moon sank lower into the ground,
The stars shone with all their might,
So that we might glow just a bit longer,
Held together by nothing, and kept apart by daylight.

Here

2009-03-19T10:34:00.000-07:00

where the angels weep blood
where your warmth leave my body cold
where reality doesn't exist
where the sky melts in your hand
where the sun grows pale
where your kisses burn
where the rain falls like sand
where you swept me off my feet
where the stars turn to ashes
where you left me
where the moon burn my eyes
where you don't exist
is where I fall.

Incognito

2009-03-17T20:51:00.000-07:00

incognito I stand in the corner where the undistinguishable crawls where
the stars look away and the heavens frown down upon the
unnamed sin and the shameful lust that lurks beneath me me standing here all
ready to die ready to give up to give in to collapse unto the unforgiving
ground that so readily swallows the dead the undead and the living into
never ending darkness that envelopes everything in sight in reach in mind to
torture the living soul into the infinite penitence and the
night turns into a knife that cuts that spills crimson life and the
red rose stain the dirt and slowly fade away like the smoke from
the fire I set in my sleep in my nightmare in my head where the gasoline and the
match in matrimony create a deadly creature that takes away everything everyone and
incognito I stand in the corner where the undistinguishable crawls where
the moonlight begins to fade and the sunlight betrays me into denial

Hope

2009-03-16T11:09:00.000-07:00

Pluck my wings off my back and
let me fall into the dark, where
the rejected and maimed lie without
hope, only despair and sorrow.

Salvation lost, never granted, forgotten to
you and I, so we must endure all
the darkness and loneliness, alone, together
alone, forever, for all eternity.

Doubt fills my heart as it does
your, full of doubtful hope, full of
unfounded hope, full of longing
full of maybe, perhaps, and...hope.

Dead giveaway

2009-03-14T19:06:00.000-07:00

He's blind. I know, because he is walking with one of those thin white sticks with a thick red stripe around the tip. It tells people he's blind. It tells the world he's blind. And people either look in the other direction and pretend he doesn't exist, or stare in awe at the surprisingly graceful way he maneuvers about all the people.

Maybe he doesn't want anyone to know he's blind. Maybe he doesn't want to be ignored, or stared at. But the stick is a dead giveaway.

Today

2009-03-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

I was walking where werewolves walk when
Pink pandas pounced powerfully, proportionately
Blocking by backing backwards backed by bears.

Today together, tougher, turtles think thoughts
About abundant aardvarks adjacent as aardvarks are
Crouching cowardly, crowing creepily (at) cows.

Invincible

2009-03-11T20:42:00.000-07:00

When the stars burn and fall from the skies
When the grounds fall apart under our feet
When the heavens collapse onto us
And there's nothing tying us to these lands
I'll be by your side.

When the colors fade to nothing
And the red Earth explode all around
And chaos descend upon our worlds
Obliterating life as it should be,
Don't fret, my dear, I'll hold your hand.

When it feels like the world will certainly end
When it feels like time becomes meaningless
When everything and everyone falls
When you're left in dark with deafening silence,
I'll be the hand pulling you to light.

iii. fading

2009-03-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

the stare in the night stars start to fade
as the sun starts to rise from his hiding place
slowing pushing away the jealous moon
and slowly illuminating my world-
silhouettes against the night sky
start to take familiar shapes once again
and with the fading stars, I fade.

ii. hoping

2009-03-10T11:31:00.000-07:00

The clock takes one step forward two steps back
The starlight that once shone bright now a dim speck
The heat of the sun couldn't bring him down
One woman brought destruction to two great nations
And another turn men to stone with a glance
Pandora's box should've never been opened
But hope endured through it all.

The clock takes one step forward two steps back
The pale sunlight create silhouettes along the horizon
Of a fallen angel with great desires
Of limp bodies littered over brave blood
Of frozen shock and reflection of death
And remains of destruction that brought sorrow.
How did hope endure through it all?

i. love

2009-03-09T00:28:00.000-07:00

Standing in the darkness
Vast emptiness spread
Head into oblivion

Pained touches pained tears
Suppressed pains suppressed fears
Closed eyes unknowing eyes

Eternal fall eternal devastation
Salvation lost

Degrading stares unfaithful lies
Questions unanswered questions denied
Cold shoulders cold words

Lost love lost hate lost hearts
Broken love broken lives
Growing hate

Mended heart hope renewed
Warm touches forced warmth
Oblivious words fading heart.

Litany

2009-03-08T11:22:00.000-07:00

The stuffed animals
The black and white pictures
Of you and me
The gray sweatshirt
That still smells like you
The brand new cinnamon candle
The Christmas cards
The red Valentine Cards
The pink anniversary cards
The purple birthday cards
The half-eaten ham sandwich
The empty beer bottles
Is all that's left of me
After I kicked you out
Of my house.

Color Fades

2009-03-06T14:05:00.001-08:00

Red lust
Orange skies
Yellow lies
Green faces
Blue moon
Navy sun
Purple hearts.
The shameless lust fills
The hopeless skies
with deceitful lies
Told by faceless faces
Under the fading moon
And the cold sun
That broke hearts.
Two more kisses
One last glance
One last word
One last look
No more light
No more heat
broken hearts.

Colors fade.

Heart in thousand shards
in cold hands
Sight becomes useless
Expressions are forgotten
You spoke silent words
Saw right through me
Pulled me off my cloud.
Broken hearted
Cold
Dark
Lost
Deceived
Hopeless
Shamed.
Purple hearts
Navy sun
Blue moon
Green faces
Yellow lies
Orange skies
Red lust.

Life fades.

Prince Charming

2009-03-04T22:30:00.000-08:00

Dashingly smashingly
Handsome Prince Charming
Brandished his sword
And took on the bet

But when the beast came
Antiheroically
He ran with his horse
Into the red sunset.

because

2009-03-03T10:48:00.000-08:00

i
lost
feeling
in my l
-imbs
to-
da
y
i
think
becaus
-e
you
ha
-d
to
walk
away f
-rom
me

The post card

2009-03-02T11:07:00.000-08:00

The postcard simply read "I love you, come back to me. Shell." I stood frozen in the doorway, unable to take my eyes off of the familiar handwriting. I got one every month, and every month I stood frozen in the doorway. Every month I stared at the jagged handwriting, I stared at the words, willing it to say something else. Willing it to say something more. But it never did. The picture on the postcard was always the same- the same ornate ivory comb sitting next to a silver coin, surrounded by pink and red ribbons, and a hand mirror decorated with tiny pearls. The postcard had no return address, no names. It just had my address and Shell's desperate message. I contacted the landlord after the third postcard, asked for the address of the former tenant; the former tenant, a teacher at a nearby private school claimed to have never heard of a Shell, and decided he wanted nothing to do with the postcards. After the seventh postcard, I started looking up the name "Shell" online and in phone books, first starting out in my city, then my county, then state. But nothing came up, as I had expected. No one named Shell. I had figured it was simply a nickname or perhaps even an elaborate codename belonging to a CIA agent- or a cruel joke on the part of his or her parents.

I didn't, couldn't, tell any of my friends what I was doing, they'd simply think I was crazy for not telling the post office that I kept getting wrongly delivered postcards. But I couldn't go to the post office- what would happen to all those postcards? It was like clockwork, every month, around the 10th, I got a postcard. The same exact postcard with the same message, in the same tight handwriting. Call me a hopeless romantic, or maybe just hopeless, but I expected that one of the days, I would come home to find a man sitting on the stairwell waiting for me. Telling me he's been waiting for me, telling me that I was the one he had been looking for all his life. Telling me that I was wonderful, that I was perfect, telling me how he was going to love me until the skies collapsed and angels fell. Of course this wasn't possible, surely I would remember someone named Shell.

On the days the post card came, I stood on my porch with a glass of wine, watching couples, young and old, holding hands walk in and out of the Italian restaurant across the street. I imagined what it'd be like to have such a persistent lover, and why this person had left Shell. A month went by when nothing came. Then two. I missed the familiar ribbon and comb layout, the familiar handwriting, and the hope that filled my heart every month. Then three months passed. It quickly turned into five, then seven months. I imagined something terrible had happened to this Shell. Always the pessimist, I felt great sadness at the possibility that Shell would never be with his love again. Or that Shell had given up. I couldn't bear the thought that after two years, Shell had to move on.

On Saturday, I shuffled out of the bedroom for a cup of coffee, and noticed Friday's mail that I had simply tossed onto the dining room table at night. I couldn't believe I had missed it. All I needed was to get a glimpse of its corner with red ribbon running through it. I quickly lifted it out from under the bills, and held it in my hand. My heart started racing as I flipped it- "I'm sorry I've been away. I still love you, come back to me. Shell"

End

2009-03-01T11:21:00.000-08:00

It was i. you. us
But he. she. they,
Came, appeared, disappeared.
Appeared.
and our, your, my
Love, hate, trust?
Vanished. Vanquished. Vandalized.
And you, me, we,
They saw. us. our. we.
They see him. her. them.
But i, me, eye
Tricked. Traced. Traded?
Somewhere you, he, i
Stand and weep. sweep. keep?
Promises, lies, promises.
Words. just words.
I lie.
You die. cry. sway.
We end.

The answer to the ultime question of life, the universe, and everything (in 100 words)

2009-02-27T11:16:00.000-08:00

After reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, I went in search for the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything myself, because I am a skeptic. What I found is nothing short of shocking- the answer is definitely not 42. In the last thirty years, I climbed a pyramid, visited the Louvre, ran with the bulls, walked on the Moon, circled Mars, and ate a chocolate covered cricket. But all this time, the answer was so obvious! And finally, the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything is-

I wasn't in the mood for wichita

2009-02-26T20:35:00.000-08:00

My limbs turned red
Under the orange sun and
Even the leaves turned yellow.
But I wasn't in the mood for wichita.

The grass smiled green
At the perfect blue skies
Dreaming of navy nights,
But I wasn't in the mood for wichita.

Now my limbs lie stiff
With dense purple sky overhead
And I can't stand the chill
Of the damp purple night,

But I wasn't in the mood for wichita.
So I linger where I land
And wait in silence
For that orange sun to turn my limbs again.