un-solitary confinement

if i were there i wouldn’t care

          about the lack of time

i have to hold you in my arms

          in moments so sublime

your hair is red; your hair’s been black

          your hair was often blonde

no matter what the color is

          i always will respond

where skin and breasts will find no rest

          within eyes that linger

where touching you is my behest

          with each and every finger

and better days are here to stay

          within my stay with you

where you alone become enthroned

          a goddess in my view

 

your soft full lips i’m not equipped

to quench my thirst with just one sip

your open arms and tender charms

have brought me to a place of harm

where i’m imprisoned with a key

i toss away to never leave

the confines of your curves and lines

where i seek nothing else as mine

 

***

 

what i have written i have written

punched bowl filled with fuzzy navel

i fill your cup with a ladle

the dance d.j. plays a slow song

cup between as we sway along

i look into your eyes and see

a slight buzz and your love for me

a couple in love that’s on display

my recent book published today

and no one at this party knows

the lost and found has had my soul

which you retrieved, gave back to me

a stray dog leashed and yet set free

content with colors in your eyes

no sacrifice or compromise

i sing of solace and serene

you eyes landscaped with fields of green

red solo cup that i refill

i hand to you in hopes you will

never read my most recent book

even i will never re-look

for you have erased every word

blank pages now cannot be heard

as i write now without a past

about a love that’s come at last

and years that filled my yesterdays

upon the dark streets of decay

become a haze, untraveled maze

where i no longer wish to graze

as long as you are in my arms

and i am lucky in your charms

i’m still me but i’m with you

so envied by the chosen few

even if i wake hung-over

the dark streets of decay are over

 

***

 

 

the last song at every dance

dancing with a diamond that divides me from the dirt

i say a prayer to salty air a beach towel as your skirt

holding hands on weathered sand we wade in pass the surf

hoping it will cool our skin until we’re blue as smurfs

skin as wet as skin can get is silken to the touch

caressing an electric eel could not affect this much

the beauty of the scenery has no seductive charms

cause all i want surrounding me is flesh upon your arms

invigorate the lost debate that love is all you need

i give my neck unto your breath so both our souls can feed

where the divine makes all align for moments just like this

as promise of a paradise is found within your kiss

where all the dark of noah’s ark leaves with returning doves

and all the thoughts i’ve ever brought disseminate in love

till you and me within this sea erases cleansing storms

meaninglessness that i could see makes all my love conform

with rules unschooled in advents that are abdicating answers

i simply dance a romance where you’re the only dancer

 

***

a day away from yesterdays

the ocean breezes bake the wind

with salt that’s dancing on the skin

the sun is laughing on the sand

while i’m amidst your gentle hand

and lips that glitter from the gloss

i kiss them and then feel the loss

in moments that i will not know

the kiss your lips just might bestow

i touch and then i touch again

where all beginnings have an end

then right back at the starting line

across from you as we both dine

your skin is white your hair is red

your eyes are green my heart is fed

with fare much finer than the plates

before us on this dinner date

then back to stroll along the shore

i am content while wanting more

then at the fairgrounds stalls abound

we sample foods that we have found

i snap your picture ferris wheel

i laugh as if a doctor healed

my laugh box that has long been sick

you are the flame and i’m the wick

we take our leave without question

bedroom rooms at hotel westin

where kiss and touch begin again

as beauty bathes your silken skin

and beds designed for travel sleep

is where i pray my soul to keep

in your embrace caress your face

like seraphim bestowing grace

green apple seas of ocean eyes

is where i drown in satisfied

 

*

 

in early morning 3 a.m.

i watch you sleep beside my whim

the crow’s feet white around my eyes

my constant smile made them hide

from sunshine soaked in yesterday

where laughter etched my hair of gray

and darkness dancing with my heart

had nothing left but to depart

the china moon now hides it glow

cause on your skin it’s come to know

it pales against your ivory flesh

that holds my eyes and takes my breath

i long to wake you with a word

like echoes from the morning bird

to stop the hateful rest of sleep

wherein this poet longs and weeps

to know the charms that will disarm

this longing that will do me harm

the sun will come upon this day

you’ll wake and we’ll be on our way

in checkout time and breakfast plates

where whispered words no longer wait

to talk of beauty you possess

your breasts dancing with suppleness

that after you god broke the mold

such beauty could not be foretold

or re-imagined on another

all secrets now he has uncovered

as evidence of the divine

no greater witness one will find

to steal’s a sin but steal a kiss

is worth hell’s fire for such bliss

you’re like a web in which i’m trapped

all manly strength is slowly sapped

your soft inhale of sleep’s dark veil

move’s your breasts, my heart’s impaled

for in the darkest part of night

i watch you in angelic light

the beauty of your face inspires

embers of my burning fire

my words disturbed and left unheard

pour in your sugar slowly stir

 

*

 

the day is here, your wake is near

i want to make it very clear

that love’s the story of this tale

but will this poet finally fail

to find the words to make it known

that you’re the wings on which i’ve flown

to the sun and back again

bouquet of sunrays on my skin

best day ever will not sever

all my words that will endeavor

to capture images of you

wrapped in everything you’re due

until the stars both near and far

align and become what you are

a constellation glowing bright

illuminating sleepless nights

for who can sleep while you possess

the cause of all my restlessness

beauty untold i now unfold

and paint the canvas bright and bold

hair afire will inspire

all these dances with desire

soft full lips and ivory skin

to artists’ muse you are akin

for god created paradise

then in his wisdom and advice

formed you as the centerpiece

so i could fall into increase

and make a mountain out of words

till every ear has finally heard

and every heart is made aware

of beauty with which none compare

 

*

 

you awake and with your lips

where nectar of the gods will drip

you kissed me like the morning dew

till all i ever need is you

sundrenched solace soaks my soul

just by your waking i’m consoled

a son of stardust satisfied

and in your waking i abide

just like the sun whose sole purpose

is to shine upon your tenderness

so take my hand in gesture grand

encircle like a wedding band

the flesh that frames my fragile form

and be my port in every storm

wherein with just the sight of you

no storm can dampen with its hue

calm the waves and still the sea

and with your kisses set me free

till all i am is that which knows

the kisses which your lips bestow

my hands upon your tenderness

as more than just a welcomed guest

and like the broken ferris wheel

we saw last night within a field

that was made whole just by your touch

with children laughing amid such

you bring me joy until i spin

my dizzy steadied with your skin

 

***

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a limp is still walking

(it’s a long life full of long nights – adam duritz)

 

ended up in the e.r.

they addressed a need to repress

cigarettes, booze, weed

and my treatment of water

as if it is the poison

of an ancient egyptian asp

 

i said a lot of “yes ma’ams”

paid my tab

stopped at a liquor store

drained the bottle outside the door

ate an edible

lit a smoke

and started walking

 

have an appointment today

with my publisher

left a message

i won’t be there

breathe in the smoggy l.a. air

remove the gauze over a vein

they profaned with blood tests

 

i’ve never confessed

that with my last breath

i would beg and apologize

for me

with a, “just kidding

i’ll be everything you approve

if you just make this bitter bile

bake in a different oven”

 

shakespearean coven around a cauldron

“double, double, toil and trouble”

bending the will of the universe

to not bend to the universe’s will

 

neither inspires my verse:

the witches’ swill and curse

or the recollect of intellect

for a complacency chloroform

 

my only conform

is when i form

my lips around another cigarette

 

in l.a. i’m explained away with labels

which enables court jesters

to appease the merciless king

enthroned in the castles of consciousness

 

“you mean i’m gonna die doc?”

no fucking shit sherlock

but riddle me this batman

do you really call this living?

if there really is an answer

then why isn’t every dancer

dancing to your pied piper tune?

 

what do i really want?

your fucking cunt

spread for my need

until we bleed

among frailty and greed of friction

 

don’t like my diction?

this poetry blog

is not an advertisement

for my books

take a look

without being a fish on a hook

nothing is worth the price of admission

 

i write on commission

but not for money

art exacts a different payment

which will only cost you

everything

 

don’t call yourself an artist

unless you’re willing to pay

 

i gave art

the dark streets of decay

but art is still wanting

with unsatisfied scorn

that i be bruised, tattered and torn

 

history may adorn memorabilia

with estimations

that i was the van gogh of poetry

while art merely mocks

chuckling, “sucker”

 

as all the reasons i ended up in the e.r.

make me stop

brace myself with a hand

against concrete cold los angeles building

and try to catch my breath

as my heart pounds in my chest

 

all the drones on their way home

ignore the homeless hospice on hard concrete

because no one really cares

and words are just a mask

that hides the side

of you that is only working

for the benefit package

society has to offer

embarrassing coffers pass

your empty hand

unless you’re convinced

of the recompense

of inconvenience

beyond being able to sway others

thereby yourself,

“i did my part

the play needs to be carried

by the lead actors

a role in which i was not cast”

 

my sails may be at half-mast

but whether you sprint or crawl

the 100 yard dash

the finish line will always be

when your ship sinks into the ocean

the headlines reading,

“lost at sea like the graphic novel

by brian lee o’malley

 

***