these flavors dance
with one another
never having met before
but i introduce them
in the most unlikely
circumstance

why shouldn’t they meet
they each have their own
unique path to
my tastebuds

enjoy this limited friendship
as i don’t plan to introduce
the three of you to each other
ever again

they say that books
are always better
than the movie

how then
could a moving picture
that goes on for over 2 hours
not tell a better story than the
written word

it looks to me like
we�ve been bamboozled
all these years
and I can�t figure out
whether to look at more
pictures
or read more
books

decisions like this
plague me daily
creating forks of thought
and decisions
that shape the rest of
my life

homeless, disheveled man
standing proudly
having what looks to be
a very interesting conversation
with
himself

woman sitting next to her
children
while they make flowers
out of straw for money
on the street
as she talks on her
cellphone

large crowd pleasing
asian acrobat
finished with his show
relaxing with a
pepsi

pop lockers
body rockers
dancers from the breakin�
days

too fucking many people
offering you a temporary
tattoo

restless small child
running through the store
while dad grows tired

i have to go

i’m on my stomach
and begin to
swing my leg
back and forth

i scream with
immense pain
as a hangnail on my pinky toe
gets snagged with the covers

how could something
so small
so meaningless
hurt
so much

it triggered a memory of
an internet surf session
a while back

i pointed the mouse to my
bizarre folder under favorites
to visit a site i frequent
and found a video of a man
called the Subtractor

i guess there is a
sub-culture that has
bored themselves simply
tattooing the body
thus graduating to body modification

well Subtractor’s mods
involve self amputation of
toes and fingers

why am i telling you this
i forget

My eye catches this large ray of light
And I see the small particles of dust
Whirling within it so fluidly

I’m trying not to move
But I’m so uneasy
And my body does not obey my mind

I turn to look at
The cold glass of water
With floating ice cubes

Streaks of water are slowly
Streaking down the sides
And I pretend I am one of them
Cold and colliding against the
Warm wood below

These are the thoughts
Going through me right now
As my brain is fried by both
The climate and my life

this misguided network
causes grief on many occasions
yet creates a unique
process of thought
that allows my
navigation to areas
others only visit
by reading my words

meeting you has changed my beliefs
i’m beginning to believe in fate
i’ve come to believe in love

from the time i first felt vulnerable
to the moment you gave me strength
the seed was planted to grow my love for you

as the moments of joy happen in slow motion
and the trickles of pain barely harm us
i record every moment of my love for you

as you said our vows while chewing gum
and kissed me with eyes that cannot lie
i am reminded of my love for you

every time i touch your hand
and squeeze your fingers to draw power
i strengthen my love for you

for the times you wipe my problems away
with the swaying of your hand accross my face
i am graced by your love for me

as i watch the world change around us
without needing to chart a new course
i revolve around my love for you

as i form these words on paper
from emotion that pours from my heart
my veins flow with my love for you

and as we add another soul to join our life
with the birth of our first child
i will always be reminded of my love for you

Inspiration
I hadn’t written a poem about us since before we were married. One day while driving pieces of words and phrases started coming to me. After feeling this inspiration I sat down, wrote this, and presented it to her for our third anniversary

looking back I distantly remember
my self induced excursion
to a world of isolation
where my friends and enemies
where one in the same
where looking in the mirror
felt good and bad
but bad mostly felt good
because it was comfortable
and soothing
and there was no urgency to
alleviate the situation

i remember it well
and miss the chance
to taste it once again

yes it�s the neurons misfiring
but they are mine
they are what shapes me
and what brought you these words

burning ice
starts the firewater beads
of liquid that drip from my frow

my wet hair singes
from red hot thoughts
that keep the mind wide open
while the eyes are shut quite tight

the saliva slowly flows down
the corner of my mouth
and falls from my chin
to the puddle
on the coarse cold concrete
below me

i will awaken
from this comfortable torture
and be relieved for a while
until i realize
that i shall fare far worse
as i hear my cell door open

i spin my head
towards the front of the car
as i hear my mom screaming
our car is skidding towards a red truck ahead
suddenly there is
no noise
no light
and no school