Best Codeine Poems
your love was pure
pure like fire
ephemeral and fleeting
and bore a desire
now lost and broken
contemptuous of what's cheapened
I dream of illusions
though I am not sleeping
your love was ephemeral
illusive or illusionary
like daydreams
my love was craven
unsure imasculine
or maybe just craving
now lost and contemptuous
of being cheated
by promises I made myself
nightmares that stop me from sleeping
and thoughts of you
so pure and vibrant
and fleeting
all that disappointment
all that potential
all that could have been
and thoughts of sleep
codeine to cleanse
and wash away the pain
and thoughts of you
cruel and callous
not to feel the same
my heart is pure, pure like fire
warn-down in its beating
for you forlorn and broken
with unfulfilled, unworthy desire
Almost everyone who came back from Korean War
plays Piano now.
All around that lounge were cognac glasses
being used for tip jars.
The customers were either runaways-fugitives or
here for a cheap getaway.
Red could play Piano for days hooked on
saltines and codeine.
After the evenings set Red new it was back to the sidewalk
laying next to a warm cup of coffee and the memory of being told how good
he was.
He was startled by voices that begged him to play more songs
"c'mon Red give us a song
that old favorite,the song
that makes us forget".
I figured they were kings.
After all what's a king to do
At a party where the guests had
Bad breath and rain splattered invitations.
By the way,
They looked like giants by the mantel.
Swirling a wine glass never
Held a tune quite like this.
I watched a drunk old man
Attempt to swivel his way
Into a date rape drug based teenager.
God bless the man who held his tongue.
God damn that woman by the host
With her cat hair covered Christmas massacre.
She was sweet enough in nature.
I moved back against a table edge
And became a wallflower
With too much lipstick for her skin tone.
After drenching myself with
A shaky glass of gin
I could spot one of the kings devouring a peach
And I could see why the ladies loved him,
Seduced him,
Disowned him,
And whatever else they did.
So I sat and watched.
I became a queen amidst
A cornucopia of pluots and plums.
I was a gift to the race of men
And a goddess compared to narcotics.
Pleasing was just another hobby of mine.
It goes great with a red dress and whiskey.
Codeine, my Codeine
Codeine, my Codeine
Why must you be so small?
If you were any smaller
I'd not see you at all
I've lost you in the shag-pile rug
And underneath the bed
If I keep on losing you
I'll take Ibuprofen instead
The sky shatters with a crack
like dawn breaking in early
Swelled nostrils
Senses sharpened and blurred
The jezabel wind scatters
the flame as I go to ash
out the window
Codeine river in my mind
The moon shines
from behind
heavy clouds
toward the end
of twilight
The hazy self
elclosed by noise
as the world expands
Codeine river, take my mind
Codeine river, take me away
Codeine river, elixer of damnation
Feeling pathetic
yet feeling so free
Codeine river, carry me home