There's a hole in his head.  Edges

jagged, leaking puke green puss;

a terminal infection.  Odors linger

in stagnant air, an aroma of deep

fried skin and perforated bowels.

legs the scintillating legs

pavement treadmill for the legs

Chinese corner couple entwined vine-like in their legs

transparent umbrella girl legs by business-fast with creamy toned legs

man behind me at the grocer's with lovely leaning bored transvestite legs

on the counter baby spinach, eggplants, cauli flower, beeping vegetables, good for legs?

get that ugly baby away from here rotating tricycle wheels with fat dimpled pumping legs

see how i stroll now how i kick now how i dream walk with these limby befooted legs!

full celestial glare

velvet dark yet volumes speak

awe of gaze embarked

trails of comet tears

birthed electric - splash compelled

blazed – then left to fade

lunar orb ascends

with reflected glow of day

wolfish howl full-crooned

light beyond our fears

laughed in galaxies away

made…for poetry

Here I was, thinking that the laws had changed things,

Looking upon the desires of my beating heart,

But found not satisfaction.

When I thought the war was long gone and slavery buried,

I lost it again,

Searching for my heritage as promised by the guts in my bones, the tune of sanity and the wisdom I once heard,

Then again it was gone.

I would be damned to say we found peace in Cold War,

I would be damned,

I would be damned to believe that there is a future,

I would be damned,

I would be damned to buy into the stories we hear in this new day.

Oh! How I remembered when we had freedom to move,

Freedom to think,

Freedom to accomplish our plans,

Oh! How I remembered how much fun it was going to school,

The competitions, and the lessons learned,

The riddles and jokes, even the dry ones made sense to someone,

Oh! How I remember seating by the tree listening to the tales my grandmother would tell,

Although it seemed annoying at the time, I always wanted more.

There is a child out there who believes that we would rise,

There is a child out there who thinks politics is selfish,

There is a child out there who is suffering because of the choices we made in the present,

There is a child, there is just one child,

The only child that would bring us together again.

The values of our culture has changed from what we once knew it to be,

The child that would prostrate now shAkes the hands of his father,

The child that would run into the house at the sight of his fathers car, now smokes on the street,

The father who would caution his child, now drinks beer with him on the same table,

The same look for respect and has found none.

Feel free to be displeased,

Your opinion was never heard, not for once,

When we had slavery we looked for freedom,

Now we have freedom, it feels slavery was a better choice,

We have always been young to take the step,

Now we are older we are scared to climb the stairs,

Feel free to be displeased.

The Nation strength is broken,

The Nation law makers are crippled,

How can a child of 3 say he wants to crack bones?

And yet no one is saying anything about this,

Oh! I see, they are all there for the money!!!

Of course, this shouldnʼt be something new to us.

-Rubenkells-

"This"

Served its purpose

You told me my words

Fell like poetry

And so

I began to write and

For that

I will be forever thankful

Despite the sadness

That now remains

Say, how would you like your earth?

round, flat or just an empty wide berth?

it may give a sway

to disorient your way

but be the swinging pendulum

and view your earth in a speculum

defy the diagonal slant

gravity eating plant

tipsy turvy upside down people

the pointy tip of the church steeple

revolving whirling top

you ought to put to a stop

please angle your axis

pay your taxes

yoga your chakra

and find your Agra.

I can see your soul reflected

In the blue water of your eyes

I watch your solemn eyelids

They bow when you sigh

My heart responds to you with

Its pounding and endless empathy

You watch carefully your own hand

As it touches mine and

It is though your touch

Has its own mind

I hate you for making me love you this much, but

I love you mostly for making me love you

This much

I bathe humbly in the wet folds of your mind

As your words befall dancing with my tears

I am forever yours.

I always have been.

And I always will be.

I believe in the brilliance of you, baby --

In your deep intelligence and

They way you hypnotize me with your insight

I am happily under your spell

And will forever remain.

.

The memories

They flow

A past that defines the future

Decisions made

With unimaginable impact

Stories told

That you never knew

That define your very soul

The past

So impactful

Full of people you never knew

Taken to the horizons.

The best of luck to all my friends and relatives of my life.

You are looking to get it right, now and again.

I am gone.

Fear of losing. Fear not.

I am not lost, only born anew.

I am not frozen in time only dancing in between.

I really appreciate

Midday drinkers

Disregarding the stigma

And just being real

Not pretending to be

Anything but

And the regulars --

Takes one to know one

But it is Friday

And Florida is flooding

And the world is burning

And I need a good buzz to

Knock myself out

Removed from Monotony

To be still in

The Moment

Beating down the past with

Broken pipes and

Pushing away the future

With the force of Fear

The Now is all I have

It is all I ever wanted

And it is more than enough

But they keep playing Johnny Cash

And sorrow creeps up on me

From under my barstool

With its melancholy aura

Still sticky and warm

From the last customer

And the despondent fog

Wraps his arms around me

Too tightly and I choke

So I ask for another shot

To numb my mind and

Loosen his grip on

My weakened emotions

I chase it with beer and

I am back on track

Staring at the hipster

Wearing a bun and a smirk

He is two seats down

And he loves his iPhone

His puckered responses

For the bright screen

Tell his story or

Maybe it is his pants

Perhaps they are too tight --

I try so hard to

Forget the sadness

It haunts me with

All that I have seen

And felt

But it resonates

Endlessly

And it is all around me

Despite their grins and

Their fat green wallets

My empathy moans and

My tears have such force

But I want to

Dance on this bar

Turn up the jukebox

And call myself by another name

But youth has abandoned me

And I am accepting the truth

As I drink

Faster and heavier

I watch the cars pass

Their determination humbles me

Delusion tells me

They must have more purpose

Or someone who really loves them

Must be waiting for them

But I know the real verity

We are all the same

Trapped in different lives and

Different circumstances

But troubled just the same

Looking through glass smeared with

The fingerprints of our existence

Painted with frothy pints and

Motivating words of false prophecy

Emptiness luring its patrons

To fill up like

The dealer on the corner but

We are bargaining with ourselves

To get high enough

To hover above for a while

Until strength (or obligation)

Drags us back down