Rituals.

Why did God invent crap? Seriously. Phenomenal cosmic powers. Could have made the universe any way he wanted. And he included crap I think it was for the toilet humor. Fart jokes must be divine.

The Kings and Queens gathered around the lake, the Bloody Lake. Trees lurched to the waters’ edge to dip in the tips of their roots. Their spring blossoms painted red where once they had been white. The hunters from the forest, the Wolf, the Puma, dipped their muzzles in, their once-white teeth now gleaming red. The Hawk and the Eagle dipped low from the sky and scrapped their talons along the surface. The Wheat in the field swayed with the bitter tempting song that echoed in the wind. And along the bloody lake I sat and dreamed of better things.

Three Fires: Torch A picture of the sun hangs in my window, setting the room on fire My bed is bursting into flames I am burning My skin turns black and leaves lines when I run my hands through my hair From the tip to the heel, I can feel the fire swell and grow I hold my muscles taunt and wait to spring into action My heart races The blood pounds beneath my crispy skin The breath dies in my chest and I exhale smoke and ash Through the haze of heat, the world shimmers and shifts around me I am out of my place and will be burned at the stake There is so much at stake Run Run from the fire Run from the flames Run But my voice has died in my throat and I exhale smoke and ash The flesh burns away The organs cook I whither to ash and cannot move Three Fires: Forest When sorrow breaks like waves the time has come to end it A tree of bright white wood stands gleaming on the hill The sun sets behind it and lights it on fire The grass burns away leaves the ground covered in ash A white sky, as ...

I don’t live in a dream I live in a land forgotten Once, the words poured from me like water Always in a straight line Sometimes silly and awkward But a straight line Now the words pour like a curled ribbon twisting around like a stick with one end My mind drifts and sways on breezes like kites When I try to hold it still, the world seems to shake instead and I wonder if I will ever be able to go back to what I once was I look through my mind like memories and I try to grab hold But they are still water and slip through my grasp I want to wield the words like bricks and build a great building that everyone will want to see I made this choice, you see, once long ago, and I cannot bear to think that it was wrong I still do love it so But I cannot get my mind to stay And I rhyme to words forgotten I look back with confusion like the words of someone else I cannot remember how I got them But I can see them in my head But they do not glow like they used to Once the words poured from me like...

There is a heavy howling in the air A muted glare I seem drawn to these people The tidal forces of Newton’s gravity They’re not the people I want They’re not the people they seem But inevitably they are But maybe it’s my paranoia Built in me since birth A faulty sixth sense It cannot seem wholly accurate It seems impossible to think that it could always be true That I could always be right But who am I to determine When I ask, I think they lie When I don’t, I think they will The paranoia in me Where eaves are ears And I catch what I drop They know that I am standing there So it’s a mere fraction of the mass Hysteria But assuredly, I am insured For riots Plastic shields control what I regret to unleash The peaceful demonstration The silent protest Who is shamed by what I’ve failed to do? And now Months after I have begun this undertaking It is all brand new Windex on the window of my mind And sometimes I can see the footprints of where I’ve been And sometimes, like this time I cannot se...

The pleasant whistle of war As I surge across the line The mud tries to steal my feet and the rain beats against my helmet I carry a gun I surge across the line The ground around me explodes in fire and mortar Barb wire trembles in the thunderous roar and reaches for a man to hold The back of my mind is screaming Telling me to run, flee, run, flee The training tells me to run So I run with fear and purpose mixing into a single stream of thought I surge across the line In the madness and gray and dust and smoke I seek an enemy I find a man and whip my rifle to his head I shoot him when he’s down The dirt beside me pings I drop to the ground I look for a target and take a shot I survive He does not I jump to my feet I surge across the line When the day is done I slump in a ditch I close my eyes and dream of far away places But all I see explodes in madness Gray, and dust and smoke A man asks me if we won I do not know so I give no answer Darkness settles Where gray turns to black The ord...

Seated on her throne, she is a dark queen Shadows splayed behind her in a semblance of blood, cloth Her eyes have scanned the stars for the signs of her salvation But it will not come in time She is her only hope The warrior inside her wakes A cruel creation of the vital fluids She has bathed in it since she was a child A sword in her hand A spear A blade Tendons cut like meat Bones broken with pale white chips Flung to the heavens The hearts that ceased to bleed She’d hoped that he would come He could have saved her enemy His way with words, he could have swayed them But he has not come And she cannot wait So her fate is sealed She will wipe them from the earth And the others will kill her for it “I am betrayed by those who say they are friends And should I defend myself, I will not only be turned away I shall be turned against” But she will not yield The warrior inside her makes her stand The shadows pull with her A dark, dark cloak But it gives her some comfort This reflection of th...

I sleep on a bed of flowers They are gray and suit me well I sleep and dream for hours They are real and waking up is hell I took a chance on the medicated dance Now I’ve gone and lost my partner I took a pill to break my will Now I’ve fallen even harder I have too much time to think But my thoughts don’t stay together I have flesh that will rot and stink But my head will stay forever Oh woe, oh woe, will carry me Oh woe, oh woe, why can’t they see Horror, horror, lurks behind my eyes Horror, horror

~~~~~~~ Words, words, like candy Like bins of gummy bears and licorice whips Like Saturday morning rainbows on the kitchen floor, claimed with a bare foot Like when the floor is lava Words, when a pen is a sword in your hand and you write like daggers When the letters spiral and carry When they leave a trail of blood Words, words like magic ~~~~~~~ My thoughts are rain They pour, but can only fall so far ~~~~~~~ Horror In the mirror Horror Reflected in the screen Horror Sometimes I catch a glimpse of such Horror ~~~~~~~ If poems are flowers Then I am a hummingbird I jump, I stray, I cannot stay. ~~~~~~~ This is an oppressive cloud Of dirt and age Of trash and rolls of fat Where turkey tetrazzini sings and my body is on fire ~~~~~~~ The castle gleamed with white stone walls Laughter and music rang through the halls and voices were like angels They spoke my name I found myself there, in dark corners And the voices pulled me free Some with potions, some with magic They worked together lik...

Tell me. Give me my reaction Tell me. Am I to feel ashamed? Am I to stay broken? Am I to cower in the corner of my bedroom and feel your presence hover over me? Tell me. Because I do not know if I am to feel these things. I want to feel screaming, wild joy. Not the touch of your hands. I want to feel exaltation at the dawn of each day. Not a chain around my wrist. I want to see the world wake into shimmering light, with a sunrise of peach and cream and carmine. Not disbelief in the faces. Not you walking past my house as though you live down the street. Not, not, and not. But I do. Chains and yokes and stocks. A noose. A strangling hand. The thrust of a knife. Tell me. Is this forever? Am I always-broken? Never-mended? I will find a voice in the darkness you’ve given me. I will adjust my eyes to this inky night. I will find fireflies and stars and moonbeams to light my thorn-path You have beaten me with my memories But I’ve still the chance to win You’ve beaten me and beaten me and mad...