What are feelings for, I ask the night,
why do they burn so sharp and bright?
Why give a heart the will to care
if pain is always waiting there?
What are emotions meant to do
when all they seem to do is bruise?
They rise like storms inside my chest,
then leave my thoughts in such a mess.
Why give us love that breaks in two?
Why trust a heart that once was true?
Why let hope begin to grow
if loss is all we come to know?
For a while I thought the cure
was building walls that would endure—
to silence every fragile part
and lock away my stubborn heart.
But empty rooms are cold and wide,
and quiet echoes live inside.
No joy can bloom where none remain,
when we erase both love and pain.
So maybe feelings serve a role—
to wake the beating of the soul.
For though they hurt and make us bend,
they help our broken hearts to mend.
And maybe every tear we cry
is proof our hearts are still alive—
because a life that feels the sting
can also feel the joy love brings.
Tomorrow waits beneath the hush of dawn's first flush.
It listens for the promise of a guiding hand.
To cleanse the taint of all those yesterdays panned.
Hope strikes a match that burns away the remnants of regret.
A flare of faith that last night's darkness has extinguished.
Knowing that the sun will rise afresh tomorrow as well,
In the cycle of timely rebirth that comes every day.
I fear no wrong, knowing I learn from my mistakes,
that I can submerge and lock away, beneath the covers of night.
As I sail forth, buoyed and excited, by what could go right.
"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow
is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?"
As morose as it may sound
I know I’m really just another
Death row man.
No,
I’m not locked away
For a crime I have done.
I’m free,
But that doesn’t mean
I’m still not on that row.
And that also doesn’t mean
There isn’t some crime I could have done
That would have me lock away and unfree.
I’m sure there are stacks of crimes
I have done
Just all in different lives.
And some of those lives
Are in the past
And some are in the present.
And those guys
Are now locked away
While here I am still free.
Death row, in the here and now,
Free or not
It matters little in the end.
What matters is our willingness
To be redeemed
And the peerless opportunity to be free.
So you
Who are on death row too
The question is, what are you going to do about it?
(7/27/25)
I don’t remember my dreams.
I wake with a vague sense that I’ve seen
something more
of my brain
the consciousness of my inner self.
Or maybe the madness that I
lock away during the day
breaks down the walls at night while I’m asleep
and dances
leaving only a trace–
footsteps in the mud of memory.
keep on hurting me and keep on cutting me, make my blood flow like the greatest river, this eternal heart has never seen past winter, for i have embodied all the disease within me, i am the rot, soot, and grain that flows fiercely on the ground, the vermin and pigs feast upon me until nothing here is found
may the rats find nourishment in this heart that you have not, may they love the breath i take as i gently tie this knot, may the flies find salvation in the bones within my body, and may the maggots find peace in a brain that once loved somebody
even if you won't love me there's plenty of things that will, because ill find my peace 6 below where everything is still, the frost chills and grows up my body once more, i guess its time to turn the key and lock away my door
You think this is quaint, a case of the blues
A handkerchief for a dainty cheek
But I want to howl, I want to shriek
I want to tear the world in two
As you safely stand
In your well-dressed land
Handing out ornate soliloquies
Like pennies
yet neglecting to understand
The poverty of agony
While my dark demeanor
is dismissed
I will burn buildings
If you insist
On painting glitter
over rage
On labeling my pain
a phase
An inconvenient rite, a blight
On your ladylike
well-mannered path
My wrists bleeding
As you correct my math
My words are not petty, not obscene
I am not a robot, not a machine
To defuse, deprogram or debug
Or merely lock away and shrug
In your placid belief
that compliance is peace
What is prison for
If not release?
When I am tumbling through
Unstable skies
And need a roof
To calm my eyes
Bring me more than
A structured reply
Just sit with me
And ask me why
6/24/22
Oh, please give me the month of June any time!
Summer flowers, butterflies and busy bees,
Out in the garden with a glass of iced lime!
A shady oak tree blowing cool breeze sublime,
I walk around in flip flops, shorts and bare knees,
Oh, please give me the month of June anytime!
To the music of ABBA I dance and mime,
as I relish salted chips, sour bread and cheese
Out in the garden with a glass of iced lime!
January marks the end of winter time,
Then come March and April with their rainy tease,
Oh, please give me the month of June anytime!
Long summer warm days spent in music and rhyme,
My Beatrix Potter hat sport rabbits and geese,
Out in the garden with a glass of iced lime!
June is the month where leisure is not a crime
I lock away work and throw away the keys,
Oh, please give me the month of June anytime!
Out in the garden with a glass of iced lime!
Month of the year I like most contest
Sponsor Mohan Chutani
Written 2/July/2020
Lonely nights, hugged only by the moonlight,
Waiting for my prince to make it home alright.
Sitting alone on the edge of my window,
As he turns the corner, I see a second shadow.
He brings home a new girl every Saturday night,
I just hope this time, he didn't cause a fight.
All alone, I will lock away my pain,
It can't be washed away, not even by the rain.
My biggest pain is the blade that cut his veins
No matter how hard I try, I can't rid the stains.
If only you could feel how much it hurts,
Watching the one you love act like he's cursed.
I'm dreaming of us, while he's dreaming of dying,
All I want to do is stop his heart's crying.
The wall he built around him, I swear I'll break it down
Then, he'll be able to see, he's worthy of his crown.
Hook: (like a church hymn)
hum, hum
hum, hum
oh! hum, hum
you were my cup
of joy
my cool drink of water
the love I, needed most
and, It was so long ago
oh! it was so far into my past
and I, still can seem
to let you go
and still I,see your face
and still I, feel the pain
of having you,
not there
I,can't remember
was it
the love in your
eyes
(stronger and deeper)
or was it, your golden boy
lady killer charms
that had all the girls
knock-in at your
front door
but memories do fade
and time plays new
games,
and each new year
it,
get harder to remember
your angelic face
but this hell
keeps me
lock away
(self-anger and pain)
not knowing
how in the hell
did I, let you
get away
Hook: (like a church hymn)
hum, hum
hum, hum
oh! hum, hum
you were my cup
of joy
my cool drink of water
the love I, needed most
and I, could not
stop time
from taking you
away
The second hand smoke
Of a relentless pursuit of peace.
Projects the burned out forest
Of my soul. My tired trembling hands
That I return to my pockets
Because of the blood stains under my
Finger nails. Never finding anything remotely
Close to home, I am a careless visitor in my own skin.Black sheep,the shame swept under the rug.the claustrophobic cataclysm that nobody talks about.The dirty secret hidden in a box lock away
In shadows.Shame I have always carried to the name that never was mine to begin with.
Systematically hell bent on finding something worth what fight I have left.This battered broken glass heart of mine, the glue oozing
From the cracks is the metaphor of my whole life.
~JAZ~
Her name slipped away
Her shadow disappeared
An empty frame on the wall
That use to hold her face
No perfume smells or
Smells of dinner all gone
No nylons hanging to dry
No more, do I look to fat in this
Kisses missed
Opportunities for forgiveness
Gone
Memories faded away
As if we had never met at all
All have disappeared
All stored and lock away
I have lost the key to our love
I struggle with my demons daily
this ain't on no religious
because I'm the only one who can save me
but when I speak on demons, I mean my past
it's like I can't detach from the pain
even tho it's just for a moment
I can't shake this omen, I wasn't always this open
but transparency has always been key
to lock away everything that has taken a hold of me
Red brick walls lock away
within rigid structures must stay
rules seek to contain
dreams of youth running free
empty words upon the wall
equations that nothing contain
teaching the words of long since dust
seeking to stifle youthful dreams
seconds move upon the wall
counting time that never does change
endless hours of endless days
too long years till running free
longing gazes cannot be contained
flights of fancy running free
dreams of that which will never be
unseen by those who would contain
too many die and do conform
crushed by traditions long
death of dreams of youthful days
things that now will never be
kept alive by some not known
youthful dreams hidden away
till the day they may run free
till then born may be
Hot summer sun in clear blue sky
golden light pounds down on pavement black
searing heat reflects on walls near
boiling hot the wet summer air
shingles of white reflect to sky
captures the heat that lies beneath
wire screened windows were no wind blows
moist searing heat in stillness lays
cold clear water now called forth
shocking contrast within the heat
freely flows running down
too quickly lost into the ground
weaving mesh of shocking white
clinging tightly on moist curves
trapping holding moisture there
growing warm within the air
quickly dancing within the flow
chilling frigid unbearable cold
washing the heat quickly away
coldness clinging within the weave
cold white linen clinging tight
to quickly warming within the heat
briefly cooling what lies within
giving form to what responds
searing heat wrapped in cold
shocking message boldly told
slowly fading diminished away
moisture hot lost in summer air
suburban walls lock away
burning heat on a summer day
frigid cold of waters clear
cannot long the heat contain
, italics , and center
I felt it before he uttered it
The breath of undiluted love
Blowing away my fears and doubt
But leaving behind the scene of impossibilities
I knew it before it was denied
That some dreams are to be locked away
Despite the strong feelings
They are never coming to reality
Now that they are beyond reach
I nurse in my heart my blur daydreams
Hoping to go back in time
And make sure I lock away every possibility
, italics , and center
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