Let Me Out of Here

When did these four walls materialize?

Could I have been so hard asleep

I did not notice the carpenter’s hammer

Banging and framing? Closing me in.

 

No door, no window, no staircase to climb.

Nary a toehold to boost to the top

So I might peek the other side to

Spy my accuser, determine my sins.

 

 Trapped in a prison, not knowing why or

When or if I’ll deserve a reprieve.

Silently praying, petitioning Heaven to

Send down an angel to rescue my soul.

 

Wond’ring if anyone knows where I am,

Cares that I’m gone and alone in my shame

As darkness descends and I cry in anguish,

Plead for deliverance from the cold.

 

Lost and alone.

Bursting with fear.

Will someone please

Let me out of here?

 

Basic Evil 101

Born of serpents to the darkness.

Raised in shadows, out of sight.

Stalking stealthily the night

To prey on poor unfortunates.

 

Creeping out from under rock just

Far enough to test the air.

Lashing out at those who dare to

Cross your wayward slitherings.

 

Don your pretty plastic mask

To hide the fire that otherwise

Comes flashing forth from flaming eyes of

Grand deception, burning lies.

 

Pity those who cannot see

The heinous horror in your hate, who

Shake in fear when it’s too late

To simply turn and run away.

 

Vigilance its own reward

To spurn the serpent in his lair,

Lock the door and keep him where

His poison will not kill.

 

Suspicion

Hovering just out of reach,

Sightless shroud of malcontent

Waiting, lingering on the fringe

Trying to look innocent.

 

Hoping to create some doubt,

To find a crease into the mind,

To wither any self-assurance,

Rip it, strip it from the vine.

 

Such a beast, jealous mistress,

Such a greedy, seedy slut.

Bastard of the first degree

Plunging daggers in the gut.

 

Mixing potions with your poisons

Stealthily distributing

In lethal dose to unsuspecting hunted prey.

You close your ring.

 

Silent gestures still the night,

Fill each chamber with despair.

Nations tremble,

Kingdoms fall,

As suspicion fills the air.

 

I Fear…

It’s not snakes or hour-glass spiders,

Angry dogs with snarling fangs,

No, not reckless breakneck speed

Or deadly drops from desperate heights.

 

Not the threat of godless cons who

Battle brave behind a gun

Conscience bare of any shred of

Civilized humanity.

 

Not wind or water, hail or blizzard,

Nor any form of nature’s force,

Though nature is a frightening bitch

To be respected, if not feared.

 

Not the sound of cannon fire

That rings a distant knell of death, or

Storming troops in battered streets

Killing anything that moves.

 

Rising up in silence on a morning

Fresh with golden sun,

The thing that I fear most of all:

Waking without you.

 

Pursuit

Must be at least a thousand beats per minute now

Thump-thumping pumping radically

As though it might explode.

 

Endorphins flying high on the adrenaline

Reaching out emphatically

To take the overload.

 

Elongated light curves out ahead of me

Bending back so I can see

Pursuers closing fast.

 

Reaching out with claws to slash and tear my flesh,

Teeth to gnash and grind my bones

To powdery repast.

 

Shifting all my power into overdrive,

Find the means to stay alive,

Keep the bloody beast at bay.

 

No bold rescuer, no cavalry

Swooping in as savior. It’s only me

Desperate to get away.

 

Listen To the Lies

Wrestling with the grave predisposition,

Clinging to a trusting nature,

Wanting desperately to find

A simple something to believe.

 

Hoping that the fangs have been retracted,

Waiting silently in shadows til

The shackles turn to butter,

Yearning for a fast reprieve.

 

Walk into the den of fire and lions,

Leave your weapons at the doorstep,

Slide the deadbolt from the outside,

Blindfold covering your eyes.

 

Judgment takes a permanent vacation,

Blinded by the situation.

Pavlov’s pet in its creation

As you listen to the lies.

 

Gulch Jumpers

We use to jump through puddles

In the springtime

In the rain.

We laughed and then got yelled at

When our mothers saw

Our soaking shoes.

We spent our teenaged summers

Jumping gullies

Falling short.

We laughed and we got yell at

For our dirty

Dungarees

Our chasm grew much wider

When the leaves

Began to fall.

We laughed a little less and yet

The yelling

Had been stilled.

Now wintertime approaches

And our gully

Is a gulch.

And I don’t have the energy

To jump

To laugh

To yell

To cry.

 

A Heavy Price

Danger is a constant force

That presses ever closer

When goals come into focus and

The prize lies just ahead.

Tiptoeing around it would be

Prudent if not easier than

Bulling past with helmet lowered

Striking head to head.

Lying dazed and shattered

Hazed and tattered from the battle,

Hearing sideline prattle wanting

Desperately to know.

Did I cross the goal line as

The seconds ticked to nothing?

Will I ride on shoulders or

Is this the final show?

Heroes are just suckers

Offered up for sacrifice,

Willingly forsaking as

They pay a heavy price.

 

Scary, Scary

Monster faces…

         Scary, scary…

Moaning, wailing

         In the night.

Bloody hands reach out

         In darkness

Searching for a

         Throat to squeeze

Til every ounce of

         Precious life

Has left the soul to

         Take to flight,

Every thought snuffed

         Into blackness,

Life stilled with

         Delightful ease.

Damn you, Monster!

         Damn to Hell

Your crass satanic

         Evil ways.

I defy your

         Midnight revels,

Stand with dagger,

         Sword and shield.

Ready to defend

         My castle

With my last

         Remaining breath.

Breathe your fire.

         Do your worst.

I shall never,

         Ever yield.

 

Low-balled Again

Blanked and bewildered by

Low-ball deception,

Cranked up and shanked with

A shiv to the gut.

Offered up lamb-like to

Bare pagan ritual,

Left like road kill to

Rot in the rut.

 

You might have thought I would

Learn by now to

Stay out of the waters where

Sharks tend to tread.

But blinders and short-term

Memory lapses

Beckon for strangers to

Crawl in my bed.

 

I take exception,

Protest in anger.

No matter the offer from

Stranger or friend.

My eyes won’t falter.

My will won’t wither.

I will never be

Low-balled again.

 

Ambush

Who would have guessed it? No one suspected.

You, so lucid, so docile, so meek,

So filled with scruples, so bent on tolerance,

Never suspected of vengeful bones.

 

But truth is a bitch who knows no remorse,

And facts lie before us in humbling rote.

You, in your passion, committing atrocities

No one who knows you could ever foresee.

 

Now in reflection I see you rehearsing,

Running your lines again and again.

No room for error. No turning back now.

Focused obsession your only meal.

 

Keep your head down and be very still.

Become invisible. Don’t make a sound.

Silence and stealth frame an alliance

Able to bring down the largest of prey.

 

Wait for your moment to leap from the shadows.

Pounce with a fierceness that overwhelms

The bravest heart, crushing resistance,

Crumbling will like an axe to the skull.

 

Old Man

Look at you. You are amazing.

There must be a thousand stories buried deep

Behind that face. Every wrinkle proudly earned,

Every crease a battle-scar.

It wouldn’t launch a single ship,

But tells a tale of odyssey.

Furrowed deep by sun and smoke,

Brow and cheeks reflecting but a memory

Of taut and toned.

The mirror can be so unkind.

Burying the past behind a mask so heavy

That it’s only seen in pictures taken somewhere

Far away.

Long ago.

Hard to picture in my mind

You running, skipping, hurdling,

Making sweet love in your prime,

Bent to set the world on fire.

Beg me listen to your story.

Let me nestle at your feet.

Teach me. Guide me to your wisdom.

I have so much yet to learn.

 

Tic Toc Tic

Ever forward, stepping out.

Are you enemy or friend?

Able to repair great sorrow,

Only to delay the bitter ending

That is sure to come.

Measuring in constant cadence

Ticking, tocking, ever so.

Far too busy to look back,

Never stop to find a home.

Bold and brave you sally forth,

Never known to shed a tear,

Wear a frown, laugh out loud,

Stone-faced bastard that you are.

Can’t you stop? Slow your pace?

Catch the fragrance while it lingers,

Or are you too busy trying desperately to

Reach your star?

Tic… No pressure. No emotion.

Toc… On board. No turning back.

Tic… No warning. No deception.

Challenging to raise the bar.

 

You Can Run, You Can’t Hide

Darkened corners offer little comfort

As a hiding place.

Secret spaces so remote that no one

Knows your name, your face. Your alibi is

Suspect, just a rubber band that’s

Stretched to snap with one last tug.

Eye’s cast down trying to deny disgrace.

 

I was there.

I was witness to your folly;

So unwise.

Gambling your very soul, for what?

The odds of winning any prize were

So remote, stacked against your favor

From the very start.

But I could not convince you or

Erase the stardust from your eyes.

 

Now the knock upon your door

Coming to collect your debt.

Paying with a pound of flesh.

Sad conclusion.

Hard regret.

 

Great Divide

We are just two bull rams seeking

Dominance among the herd.

Reason long suspended, vanquished

To some craggy mountaintop.

 

Now the only sound for miles is

Two heads butting with a crack so loud

It splits the crowded stillness,

Shattering the great divide.

 

Neither prone to letting go.

Neither one can walk away.

Hurling bodies seek to crush with

Fist-filled verbiage soaked in heat.

 

Blow-torch madness reaches fever

Seeking to crack skull to skull.

Who will finally succeed this

Caustic catastrophic game?

 

Neither bade such confrontation.

But it came,

No warning signs.

Evolution’s revolution,

No surrender…

No retreat….

 

Manhandler

Think you’re tough?

Think you’re rough?

Acting such a rogue is just your bluff.

Storming from the table,

Cast your lot into a Cain and Able fable.

 

Alibis disguise your lies.

Still your dastard hand, you bastard.

You’ll not handle me in conquest,

Not without a heavy price.

 

I have seen your heavy-handed 

Grand manipulations landed squarely

On an unsuspecting jaw

Just like a Billy club.

 

Bullish in your swank and swagger.

Swooping, storming in a lather.

Total disregard, no conscience.

Lower than the lowest grub.

 

Someday you’ll get your come-uppance,

Though it may not be from me.

I just hope to be around.

It’s something I would like to see.

 

Killers on the Loose

Hide the children. Cloister all the

Innocents who stand defenseless.

Warn them. Teach them to be wary.

There are killers on the loose.

 

Beast who stalk with stealth precision,

Stealing lives without remorse.

Monsters born to know no conscience,

Feel no pain, bear no grief.

 

Murders planned and carried out for

Recognition, nothing more.

Seeking blessings of hereafter,

As if God would have it so.

 

Twisted minds. Twisted mentors.

Twisted sheep in sacrifice.

Wake the giant from his slumber.

Judgment,

Justice to be served.

 

No Escape

Doors locked tight in deadbolt fashion,

Windows barred. No latch. No key.

Trapped inside this prison fortress,

Waiting… yearning to achieve.

 

Duped by longings long forgotten,

Lulled by enigmatic pride to

Seek the comfort of your lodging,

Never thinking I may want to leave

Someday. Prideful, stubborn,

Hopeless to the bitter end.

Contemplating thoughtless choices.

Touching tear-stained eye to sleeve.

 

There was never time for singing,

Dancing, laughing, ploy or play.

Only cries of desperation, No escape.

No time to grieve.

 

There must be some far off refuge

Where the hopeless may aspire.

Forced to live in fruitless foil,

Waiting, yearning for reprieve.

 

No Exit

You’re in it now right up to your knees;

A quicksand quagmire of coarse confrontation.

Stagnant in stalemate with no end, no exit,

No friend or ally to help share the load.

 

Faced with a frenzy of cautious confusion,

Flashes and firefights flooding the fray,

Beastly procession of angry antagonist

Rise from a distance to roar in your face.

 

Every angle meets staunch opposition.

Every side sidles out, closes in.

Flanked by the forces of fragmented evil,

Stench of his hot breath close to your throat.

 

Praying for miracles, waiting for angels to

Lift you and carry you out of the storm.

Raising your sword in final defiance.

Duel to the death.

Freedom at last.

 

Enter Here

Welcome all who dare to enter,

Care to take a look inside.

Candles flicker introspection;

Murky depths where monsters tend to

Hide from unsuspecting prey,

Shadow stalking building to

Last minute leaping, thrashing slashing.

If you venture, you must pay.

Asking price? A soul or two,

Or perhaps your dignity.

Brazen is the caretaker who

Sells this medicine to you.

Cross the threshold of this manor.

Plunge to darkness. Rise to light.

Hand on dagger, eyes and mind

Wide open, challenging the fear.

All are mortal in this kingdom

Where eternity begins.

Voices call out through the gloom,

Hope for all who enter here.

 

Let It Go

He said, "We will last forever."

She said, "'Til death do we part."

He said, "You are my everything."

She said, "You have all my heart."

He bade, "What more can you give me?"

"I have no more", she replied.

He said, "This is not enough!"

She said nothing as she cried.

"I don't know what you want from me,"

She uttered through her bitter tears.

He mocked and scoffed, "I shouldn't have to

Tell you after all these years."

She clings with hope for some resolve;

Confused, bewildered by his take,

But both are silent, mute out of respect

Each for the other's sake.

But they both know that it's over,

Curtain's fallen on the show.

The end has come...

No curtain call...

It's time to let it go.

 

Watching the Freak Show

Now, I'm no raving beauty, it's true,

But there is one thing, for sure, that I know.

The freaks are alive and they live everywhere,

And they never fail to put on a show.

They travel the halls and they frequent the malls

Aimlessly roaming the streets without fear,

And I wonder and ponder as they pass me by

Is it possible they own a mirror?

If they do, do they use it? For I just can't see

How they hope to be understood.

Do they stand there before it and think to themselves,

"Damn it all! I'm looking good!"

It seems that they've really gone out of their way

To tickle the fringe of the truly absurd.

My thought is to laugh, but I hold it inside,

And just shake my head... Don't say a word.

Oh! To be different! To stand from the crowd.

To totally be so unique.

The price that you pay to have people say

As they point at you, "Look at the freak!"

 

Putting Out Fires

Sometimes the flames crowd

The distant horizons as though

The sunset is scorching the Earth

With her dazzling brilliance

Consuming the hills and the forests

Surrounding in every direction.

Little to do, when the fires lose their mercy,

But stand back and watch

As they dance in the dark.

Hoping they stay at a tolerable distance

Lest we are caught in her horrible rage.

Ready to run as she grows ever closer,

Feeling the brush of her heat on my cheeks,

Praying the Heavens to open their bounty

And drown her passion with torrents of rain.

Standing and staring transfixed

On her beauty. Longing to know her

In intimate ways, yet fearing her fury

That grows ever stronger.

Torn by emotions... Lost in a daze,

A groundswell of longings that grows ever higher.

Do I become one with, or put out the fire.

 

Stop! Thief!

I used to have a heart, a soul,

A spirit filled with promise that was

Blind to passion's overfill, the overkill

That cuts the vein and

Lays it open 'til the flow

Of heavy blood has paid the toll,

And the heart is starved of precious life

Drowning in a sea of pain.

 

I was happily naive,

Exuberantly overjoyed

Until you made your entrance like

An actor walking on a stage;

Pondering your audience,

Lines rehearsed, emotions packaged

Waiting for the moment to

Unleash your frightening fits of rage.

 

You came stalking with intent

Leaving my heart filled with grief,

And then you stole my innocence

As if you were a common thief.

 

Standoff

Barricaded!!!

Trapped behind a wall so high

That I must struggle on my keep

Around the clock. Her fortress mocks me

As my eyes refuse to sleep.

Sailing off into the sunset

Is a haunting distant dream

That lingers near, never clearly

Focused as I plot and scheme

To free these bonds, escape this prison,

Throw my jailer to the ground

And run to freedom somewhere distant

Where the fruits of truth abound.

 

If I only had the strength to

Face the showdown up ahead;

Bold to face the consequences,

Fearing still the flags of red

I sit quiet in my armor

As the stalemate lingers still,

Testing every ounce of metal,

Every measure of my will.

 

So, the standoff must continue.

Neither side will acquiesce.

In the end, just who will win?

Who will come out second best?