man

poetry

jobs to big for you
i can man tain
water too cold for you
can be held in my
man teen
you eat bananas
but i eat
man tains
you do things ten times
i do them to the man teenth time
and people are impressed

you carry a multitool
but i carry a mantool

and you drink beer
i drink maneer
and poop
manooer

i’m more manly and drink
man 2 – oh
while you stick with hydrogen
and my manercise
makes your pilates look even more feminine

i do one-armed man ups
and man presses in my sleep

but usually i only feel
mantastic when i’m around my woman

A Tribute to the New X-Files Movie, in Five Stanzas

poetry

I find myself surrounded
by Mulder’s mantra,
both on my computer’s
background and on my mind.

I want to believe
that everyone can think
that everyone is smart
that everyone is equal.

I want to believe
that I can help
that I can teach
that I can make a difference.

I want to believe
that people are good
that the world is good
that God is good.

And out of my want
I will make reality
I will choose my reality
I will believe my reality.

i’m the sieve and the sand success story and they’ll say “hey give me a chance to read that poem,” they’ll say…

poetry

what i would kill
to command this language
in the way you do
to bring to life the light
you’ve chased
(and yes i’ll chase it with you)

to have mastered the crescendo to
bring to life that which we have forgotten
taken for granted

your worship (whether you’re aware or not)
it brings Him glory as you have mastered
that which He created

set laws to govern
skill to feel
grace to
embrace
master

for a guitar
and a stage to lead people
to Him like you do
to glorify
the savior you dont even seem to
know
recognize
serve
bow before

but your gift
(so obviously supernatural)
brought forth from the sun
endowed by the father
graced with the spirit

if you only knew whom you worship
how you yourself would bow
prostrate
before His glory
waiting for eternal glory
you are

need an invitation? you must

her it goes (and what)
i would kill for your skill
with which you’ve been graced

waiting for attention
i’m not
yea
but His acknowledgment of who you are
and
amen

The Bad Summer Daze

poetry

O how many summer mornings shall be filled with anger

When cooperation can be the first solution ?

*

O how many summer mid days are filled with joy

While pain exists so deep within our souls ?

*

O how many summer evenings drag on in dullness

Without distraction or relief from all the hurt ?

*

O how many more days must I wait in the heat

While time continue to pass me by ?

I Have Died for the First Time

poetry

“I think of you as a brother,” SHE says

The words-like a spell-unlocked FEAR

Which attacked my heart relentlessly

To the point where I have now died my first death

*

I am dead inside

My heart bleeds profusely til the blood is no more

MY FEAR has taken solid form

And now exists to torture me

*

“I think of you not as a sister,

But something much more than that,”

I wish to say, but

My heart’s voice is being strangled

*

Did I speak far too soon?

Or did I speak far too late?

Did I release myself too quickly

Resulting in not relief, but the emptiness I feel now?

*

The Hurricane of Tragedy has broken

The Levees of my heart

Which suppressed my innermost emotions

Now the light which should guide me

To safe ground, has been Relinquished

And through the dark I must move alone

quality poetry? for the first time in weeks

poetry

rime:
fabled lake of western lore
blue, green moss of sandy shore
joy and smiles none the more
laughing at my face of bore

hike you:
loss came to me once
with blackened raven – ed poe
he stabbed it dead

limb er… rick:
although i never kicked him down
along the river did he frown
by brook and stream of moon so bright
bore he my burden in pants so tight
and smiled as he ran aground

cup lit:
epics are oft too long
to ever be made into song

tripe lit:
carp on log
and cooked with frog
smells like bog

and fine all lee:
on discovering chuck norris could whoop my ass
i discerned my calling was not to ask
him if he could or not.

The disunity of 3

poetry

creature born out of spite
contemptuous flesh of mud
How long before the garish sun
turns you to dust?
How long before the teary sky
washes you out?

contemplate him not,
Heed not his shrill cries,
abomination is upon him.

creature born out of grace
luminescent piece of heaven
The jealous moon turns pale at
the sight of you.
The wind weeps in awe at the
touch of you.

Revere him,
seek his warm soothing embrace,
God is on his side.

creature born out of a random drop
innocuous crack on the surface
Puppet in the circus of life
Pauper on the floor of the world

Trample him not,
feed not his ravenous sorrow,
time will spit him out.

I shy away from …

poetry

There exist
stares, glances
which break silences
or spoil mornings
when she seeks a soft word, a loving word
at the foot of the bed
where only used slippers should lie adrift,
out of choice.
She said she dreamt a hope and hoped a dream
where I could be her protector.
I grimaced a smile while shamefully wishing
her to fade somewhere beneath the pillow or the carpet.
I can’t even snore in peace anymore!
She is always on the lookout
for a slip up, but
I was a faux pas from the first day we met
She mistook my drunken cheerfulness for a pleasant personality
She even thought me a sweet thing or maybe a sure thing
These days, she just pokes, pinches me at the crack of dawn
hoping to catch and squeeze my vulnerable self before the sourness kicks in.
In my long short life I’ve never been big on refunds or exchanges
once something is in my hands,
no matter how chipped, dysfunctional or useless,
I still keep it.
But that painful light
so heavy under her eyes
she calls it love; and I want it away.
I want to bring her back to that street, to that time
where her smile was full and her eyes less needy and sad
I could bathe in chocolate and strawberry creme
but I would never be the satiating treat she craves;
all I can do is give her up.

keyboard!!! the new and improved pen of the future

poetry

They say that the pen is mightier than the sword
and while that may be true
it is unfortunate that no one uses pens anymore
at least not for any important business,
except for signing documents, created on a keyboard.

So I’ll interchange the words,
pithily creating a new truth, saying
the keyboard is mightier than the sword,
albeit much less sexy and less like a sword,
for have you ever tried to stab someone with a keyboard?

hymn

poetry

the darkness of my blackened soul
what fear of love
and shame of loss
that i should forth my self its lame
but wallow in this earthen fame

you grace my heart rejoice my weakness
given my pride
and forthright guile
if i should seek myself once more
you should turn your face and me abhor

oh life of loss
so filled my fears
that i called out in shame and tears
to know my life a passing shame
to know your son for me he came

Why I should (but inevitably won’t) teach the poetry of the sieve and the sand

poetry

Beginning tomorrow,
for a limited time only
I will for the first time ever
teach two groups of students about
poetry.
And while I write a poem
nearly every day I do not feel
that i know the first thing about
poetry.
Except that it sounds good
when rc creates beautiful phrasing
when roger plays with words’ meanings
when ned tells poetic stories
when freaky challenges expectations
when tucker speaks from his heart
when josh creates vivid images
when tim stops slacking.
Thus I look to the sand and the sieve
for most of what I know and like about
poetry.

The man in black

poetry

The man in black walked along the highway
swinging his black cane with each step,
not for stability but for style,
searching for what had not yet been found
along busy highways, possessing only
haste, pollution, and trash,
feeling the hot sun furiously
beating down on his black, leather jacket.

here’s to you mr. and mrs. r.c. ribay

poetry

seems like only yesteryear
you wandered on to a field
of tall uncut green
to join us in a game
while wearing your fatigues
thrilled you had fulfilled
your calling to the ROTsomething or other
and hoping for a future

music and poetry
made you dream of
leading young pupils
to find the truths you were taught
did not exist

but you dreamed big and up you went
in status and down you went
in location
from mountains to crime
you found your home

and in teetering on the edge
of destruction found something better
perhaps even smarter
(spit out of harvard afterall)

but i still remember
you asking if i had seen the turtle
you found by the lake
and thinking you vulgar

but friendly
as we toured the scum of the earth
and dreamed of better times
you no doubt
have found.