Beauty and the Beast

You were good to her 
'til you weren't.

Your moon,
cast too great a shadow.

She couldn't out run your wolf
So she left,

Choosing 

Dignity over passion.

Smoke and Sand

Smoke and Sand

They greedily grabbed at the insubstantial stuff

hoping it would fill the void.

Neither bothered to wonder which state was better,

the familiarity of emptiness and discontent

or the unsatisfying gluttony of feasting

on what could never sustain.

With abandon, they grabbed their forks

and gorged themselves;

holding reality and oblivion back

for just a little longer

while praying for a stone or splinter

to chew on. 

Street Life

 
Raised voices, horns, sirens and barkers
Proof of Life
this steady din of life with its
trebles and rhythm
discordant yet belonging
concrete and weeds
 
Abandoned lots
Abandoned buildings
makeshift playgrounds
labs
and Koch
 
Kicking cans and “working girls”
pimp walking on the right side
jaywalking was a way of life
 
Latch key kids
staring around corners
waiting for the dolls to move
 
Jungle gym construction sites
Spalding handball and boomboxes
new concrete and skateboards
 
Flickering street lights
in the city gloom
turning all grey, blue
 
Grey walls and graffiti
Hell’s Angels and Encampments
Artists and hucksters
 
Raised voices, horns, sirens and barkers
 
Yeah, the city may have slept
But its denizens didn’t

The Alchemy of Sound

Remembering

Songs of seagulls picking at the ocean

Wind wafting through willow trees

Sprites clapping the leaves

The wushhh of tall green grass dancing in the wind

The loud silence of the stars

The Alchemy of Sound

Closing my eyes and pretending the breeze is green

When the melody must be enough