“Dying is Easy. Comedy is Very Hard.”
As the days pass and the nights and the mornings
We place the comedy masks over our faces
And the stage is set and the choir sings
And the bell always
Rings
As the curtain opens and the audience and the spotlights
We blind ourselves to perform
And the act begins and the director smites
And the crowd always
Delights
As the trap doors open and the falling and the “quickly!”
We plummet into the desolate darkness
And we land with a crack and the masks break off cleanly
And our faces show always
Tragedy
The Shell (Lost at Sea)
A simple gesture
You handed me a shell you found
Far from any body of water
It was out of place
My judgment began to blur
I quivered with my muscles astir
This empty little home from the ground
With no occupant around
I kept the shell, like pirate treasure
Wondering what this gift did infer
But there was only a smile on my face
I listened to the ocean
With the shell to my ear, I heard
Us, out at sea, our adventure began
The ship did not seem to float; it flies
Across the water my eyes did always scan
You at my side, a face so genuine
Something shrilled out like a dying bird
“Help!” was the only recognizable word
We rushed to the sound, as fast as the boat can
To someone drowning; I reached out a hand
I was looking into my own eyes
I never listen to the shell anymore
It is now back where it belongs
Because now at sea, the rain will pour
But now everything is upside-down
And I sometimes leave the shore
Wondering alone like an unsolved metaphor
The whales fly along, singing sad songs
Melodies trying to right the wrongs
My boat sits in the sky, an unwanted visitor
You struggle to swim in the vast, blue corridor
In the clouds, you drown
The Lie
Protected with flimsy armor
Attached with plucked heartstrings
Only attracted by a snake charmer
Only flying with gilded wings
Sift through carefully chosen words
To make the story fall together
One stone for many birds
One would not rustle a feather
Protected from the certainty
By being fed only lies
Only given courtesy
Only paper doll allies
Who We Are. Who Are We?
This image will not leave
Eyelids have become light-sensitive emulsion
With a face burned there, slightly overexposed
I knew I should have looked away
A crafted reality trying to weave
For my mental state will decay
Thinking solely on compulsion
Leading my heart to an inevitable convulsion
Ignoring my blatant revulsion
Our lives have been superimposed
Just the kind of person you would loathe
Against all I wish I could become
I would change
For the eternal embrace of an ampersand
The intrusion of a Hippocratic Oath
Criticism I could stand
Claiming to be numb
Accusatory pointing fingers, rule of thumb
Impossible to escape from
It is less painful to just learn to estrange
Homage to the Tenth
Watching as the ghosts stumble home again
And discarded calendar pages become
Impromptu, suburban tumble weeds
Embrace all that is gray and profane
Experience the quotient instead of the sum
Watching as the big wig bleeds
Watching as the tears fall like colored plastic beads
Waiting as the cars speed toward red lights
And inquire why nothing
Ever seems to let us go
Wager your wars and copyrights
With courage and hearts that sing
Waiting as the dotted lines to treasure show
Waiting as the bleak, serifed “x” becomes the foe
Watching as the world gets down on its knees
And not just for mercy
But for it is naturally a whore
Embrace the holiest disease
Experience the loneliness of the philosophic nursery
Watching as the detective won’t find clues to look for
Watching as the bugs still fly into the abandoned screen door
Waiting as the kids give up their hand-me-down toys
And line up to permanently leave
Their carefree childhood and riant recess
Wish to perish with the most perfect poise
Walk empty streets to find what to believe
Waiting as the inepts learn finesse
Waiting as the maniacs find new obsessions to possess
Watching as the dead man’s pockets are emptied
And its contents are misread
Because eyes are so hard to find
Everyone goes unpitied
Each new life told to be nonunique and misled
Watching as the seers become blind
Watching as the saviors leave the disciples behind
Watching as I finally lose my mind
Let My Ribbons Travel To Far Off Oceans
When they say it was such a shame
To live with such doubt and despair
What they really mean is
That they don’t care
Some people just can’t inject the fame
To finally get out and repair
Floating on the champagne fizz
As flashbulbs stare
Getting lost in a blur of faces
With the feelings of loneliness and irrelevance
To eat but never savor
Life’s true decadence
If only by your good graces
I would strive for homeliness and opulence
Sculpt my own savior
And fake repentance
Maybe I’m just what I thought
A tangled mess of veins and emotions
Thus; I unravel
A pile of thin devotions
Sift through me for the strings you sought
Stymied by pains and motivations
Then let my ribbons travel
To far off oceans
The Season
Spring was finally freed
I could feel the shattered remains of winter
Fall through me, and I bleed
I bleed honey and nectar
A feast for the bugs returning
To swim in my arteries and clog my veins
Fill my heart and keep me yearning
For life and attractive remains
A sound from outside arrives
Might be the churning sea for someone elsewhere
Or just the turnpike with midnight drives
Maybe going nowhere
They shout from the mountain tops
That I have to keep going, that I can get a finale
But my movement always stops
Because I'm still down in a valley
The insects fill up this part
This usual organ almost seems to pump again
I just want to start
Again