Too Much

"I'm so alive.
I'm so enlightened
I can barely survive
A night in my mind,"
Doesn't begin to touch
A way to describe
How much time
I spend thinking too much.

My poetic personality presents that problem,
Though my two-line-a-day habit
Is hardly too hooked to quit,
It's at least a part of who I am.

I was, before I wrote, but somehow less,
and if not more, as much a mess.

I grabbed the wrong plans,
Or Something's Missing,
Or some men just weren't made for kissing
(If you can call Telemachus a man).

Shipwrecked

She comes  to me with problems of the heart,
To reason, not to whine.
I lend an ear and do my part,
Though her heart troubles mine.

It's what I do, and who I am.
Falling in love wasn't part of the plan.
I've got nothing to say and no one to tell.
Wouldn't talk if I was going through hell.

All the world's an Odyssey,
and Men and Women merely shipwrecked.
Come get me off this island
and I'll make it worth your while.

Why I Write, Part x+23: Verse Puppet

I am not my writing.  It's bigger
Or smaller.
I write with my head in atmosphere
Or lower,
Animal desires,
Finding new ways to speak the passwords
To a culture
I've grown to believe such hatred for,
Invoking old masters
Of my infant forms,
Doing honors perverse
To my teachers,
Friends, pretty favorites.

I am The Pretender,
Verse puppet.
Pick a string and pull.

Beside

You beside me
Sweat beside skin
Skin beside ecstasy

Touch beside desperation
Words beside breathlessness
Calm beside inspiration

Nowhere to go beside nothing to do
Time beside time beside time
Beside you

Awkward Situation II

The things I say to you, for you,
Or hear you say, grow,
Live a life of their own.
So I write them to my muse.
Thus grow the vines of conversation.

It's an awkward situation.
The muse
Is so much bigger than you.
It is no thing,
Or many in combination,
Imagination's spoors.
But you, the real friend,
Mean so much more.

Awkward Situation

I saw you again this afternoon,
Said “long time, no talk,” but it wasn't.

Either that's the joke,
Or I missed you that quick,
Or I missed you that quick,
and That's the joke.

I know that we're just friends.
Life's an awkward situation.
Think I'll make myself at home.

Running Leap

You told me to take a running leap
As if you knew I long to:

Long to leap any way, from anything,
Twist anyhow, land anywhere,

Long to feel the thin-line rumble
Of wheels underneath me
As I throw caution (and the brakes)
To the wind in my face,

Long to walk the razor edge
Of Death's scythe,
To see the drop on either side.

I learned long ago
You're never too old to test your balance,
Test your balls,
Until you learn what happens
When you fall.

Introductions

Thank you for introducing
Me to that band.
They cover most of the things
I feel.  They suit my
Emotional range,
Unless they defined it.

Thank you for introducing
Me to that music-man:
Songs that, for a second,
Make me think things can be right,
Even if I'll always be wrong.
Tonight, I'll sing along.

Thank you for introducing
Me to that style.
You said I wouldn't like it,
But it's worth a try.
The music is the best thing
You gave me, those nights.

The memories that aren't my fault,
The music, is the best part.