Company

Paste things
as haste brings all things to an end
Create waste
Not chaste, saving face with your friends
Held in place
Disgraced stranger in his own skin
sharing caves
Ignoring brave times when both shall win
jealous of his neighbors car
Ignoring the daytime fog
of your mind
Sometimes it's hard to find where you began

~By BC, GS, NS, PL, and AA

Morbid Obesity

Like a clown with his frown exposed
He shoved the shotgun barrel to the back of his throat
took it out briefly to take a sip of coffee
and then one last show, Your Majesty.

A smile means nothing
Punches to the teeth
Thats not the only way they are seen
pliers work, too.

With sand in your eyes
you gaze at the moon
Its easy to plagiarize
like dying too soon

Glad to be at that point
blade ready to eviscerate
Let's leave this joint
better time then now

~By NS, PL, and BC

.38 special

she told me that she wants to have my children

i told her they could not wear brand name sneakers
but she still held my hand anyways.
i put in a cd and skipped to track 4
turned up the volume as .38 special came on
"Lately I'm learnin' that so many yearnings are never to be"
i've always been a wild eyed southern boy
You've always worn the same red underwear
we always knew we were a well-fitting pair

for the third time this week i went outside
Only to find out that the mail wasn't there.
I almost asked you if you really knew me
We both know that wouldnt be fair
I gave up telling the truth before we met
Maybe thats a lie too
Like I said, we know it wouldnt be fair

~By PL, BC, GS, NS

Yielding A Kite

Are we tangible, edible and if so, delectable?
Are we on our way out, and if so from where did we begin?
A line allows progress, severed branches and twigs
A word like love gets overused and underappreciated
(most words are)
(less words you make)
HOW TO AMPLIFY!?
Such a thought cannot be explained rather deteriorated
Progressive downward spiraling- is sober somber?
Repeating for the sake of learning
Experience it twice, never forget
But forgetting what was once remembered and lost
What were we thinking?
What would we endure?
We would endure poinsettias, brown sweaters, endeavors to please us.
Not forgery or coin trickery
No salvation in adapting to a world which is crazy
Did we lose our sight for small things?
Did we find a taste for fine china and lace?
Are we left drunk and blind from cinematic love?
The credits have become a thing of the past.
We held on to the wrong things and they start to decay
Like the languorous leaves from late fall lessons learned –
Brittle, they fall to pieces in our wrinkled hands
(melted icicles come with spring)
The leaves, at least, know their purpose
while ice shards on the roof dream haughtily of greater things.
Dive bombing and derelict descent
Engines idling mid-air
Two innocuous smiles, without a care
One of them thought there might have been a chance
poor humor biting on seeds of happenstance
Again, how to live through what so many could not endure?

~By BC, AA, PL, MM, NS, GS, JMH, and O'R.

Red Light Night

She smelled like the morning after, and her face looked like guilt
seventeen tattoos that etched nothing into memory
He always made himself a career out of taking dives
"Damn thing's broken," I said, "take it out of your mouth, Ms. Po-tato Head."
Where can we go from here
We go to the liquor cabinet to loosen our tongues
Jager, Absinthe, Vodka and Rum
Nothing of substance. Just detail.
Getting undressed didn't look like it was supposed to
Another shot, pause, stare. Repeated as necessary
Eyelashes zippered to make it go quicker.
Feel with your hands, not with your heart
For the heart twists sensation with it's own agendas
The only truth you'll ever know changes as your limbs embrace each other
But stays the same in scent and sound,
Especially after the whiskey sweats out
Then you can leave with your hand to your mouth and your eyes to the ground.

~By BC, AA, JMH, MM, GS, O'R, and NS.

Caja de Corazon IV

April is the cruelest month
its evidence washed away
something strange tastes of blame
punctuation was useful once
now wanton words wax poetic again
budding as eustoma petals purple
does not know dying is imminent
still crosses himself before meals
yet sets his feet below the table

Lying as March Lions malinger mendaciously
unreserved in truth as lucid bears grumble May
Seeing Dust in a handful of fear
the forgotten lamb's darling stands
a most inconspicuous spot
a patch within patches
pound for pound the better craftsman
shaven wool facade for a depilated attic
that Delilah once knew

February brings answers falsified in three
blind cries to god; a response: "je suis"
at the bottom by bound feet
Countertops wake only to flee
from December's death rattle discomfort
His cold is only a dream
an unraveling sweater: mental disentanglement
A thread remains hidden in the undertow
Like the suicide note set off to sea
in drowning bottle bent bewildered
Gone...

~By MM, NS, O'R, GS, and TS Eliot

High Coo Average

Day train rider gone wrong
Wrote out of his own song
Kid keeps watch on the sun
His eyes smolder over
Time always comes and gos
Dial broken- explodes!
Come for the view. Don't Stay.

A line break on his page
Same place that he sleeps in
Framed space of his dream den
Inane envelope seal.

Lick the ridge of airships-
Content feeling of age:
decaying wrinkled face
Forshadowing the steps
to his left-handed loft.

Can He Find The Way Out?

~By MM and NS

Wednesday Is Like This

Kellar's experience has placed him in the "Reluctant" pile on his desk
The outgoing mail has always been a thing of the past
(Shuffle the cards, pick one from the middle)
Systematic chance answered riddle
A grimy window glimpse ahead
As clear as the everything and anything you might have said
Take it- it's your only chance-string.

Hinder the way they walk if it makes you feel alive
Take it all in, each moment in each stride.

~By MM and NS.