if you need an ear, i am here
 

when the darkness
no longer served me,
i lit a candle,
becoming a checkpoint
for the lost boys
dying to find their light.

 

​

we’re still good boys (terrified little children)

they called us good boys.
     beneath the frozen blankets,
     behind the wooden spatula,
     over the pulpit and under the cross,
they called us good boys,
     before the pins in our bellies dropped,
     during the quake of what little family
     we had left,
     and after the blisters from their scorn
     began to pop
     when the puss began to drip,
they called us good boys,

we "obedient young men". . .
No. . . we terrified little children
they called good boys.

​

​

between me and the mountain

some of us have no choice
but to look up,
baring the arduous weight
of imagination and gravity.
(s i m u l t a n e o u s l y)

some of us don't make it,
i have friends that have fallen
during this mandatory expedition,
while i haven't made it to the top.
(i f t h e r e e v e n i s o n e)

getting windier these days,
that's what this climb's taught me,
sometimes i forget the point of this odyssey.
(i f t h e r e e v e r w a s o n e)

so i cry onto the stones
between my fingers,
whisper my secrets of doubt
into the heart of this vast rock.
(k n o w i n g i t d o e s n ' t h a v e o n e)

​

 

i am here, i am real

one day
this name will type itself.
i will not “ignore once”
nor will i “add to dictionary”.
the red lines of this world
will learn that this name
is not the one
needing correction.
that this name
has more meaning
than Webster.

​

 

blink

between the lights
and the switch,
i am the shadow
that never flinched.