One hundred twenty one thousand, Seven hundred Seventy-seven

I’m the only one left in this sushi place Servers keep glancing at my face There’s uncensored CeeLo Green, six scenes on one screen And me, alone with them all on a Sunday night I miss my dad, more the old presence He was. Not just the sake leaving me abuzz. Asked if I want more If not, it’s the check and the door. “Another round then,” on a Sunday night I miss my dad, even the fresh husk he is. Cannot tell what’s mine or what’s his. Made me a martyr Left us as nonstarters And me, less and less, on a Sunday night That hard stuff displeases my beer gut But my flesh is not one to spare it The duels and trials of my distant exile “My last one, I swear” on a Sunday night I seek more ideas to twist Tap my right knuckles, soft fist Darkest night before dawn Weak end almost gone Me, and cute words on a Sunday night Not sure what followed drink five But by a dumpster I revive Brush aside gravel on my cheek As the Monday sun starts to peek Me, and the false tail of a Sunday night

How unfair we have so few hues That my memories can’t help but transfuse Why did your hair share its colors with rust A subtle clue how all love turns to dust How do my neighbor’s roses already know All the same words as your blood in the snow That wretched briquette I wish to forget And yet I’m still met with this debt at sunset I wouldn’t burn the world’s wonders away But can’t I keep my shades of sorrow at bay Each morning I see, My neighbor how she Bends down on bruised knee Tends those blood blooms I see And so those secrets stay with the flowers and me

I wish I could ignore The clothes strewn on my floor But they say so much more Than I can Oh how my scattered socks Do prove our walks and talks So when the clocks flummox They deadpan My pants and T’s Dance as they please My pleas But a breeze Though they defy my appeal After Twilight I know that we’ll Enclothe our ordeals The floor feels Threads worn til we’re worn I hug them and warn Though others may scorn We’re Real

Do you think that it’s Stupid Trying to pair with Cupid? Even though I love you deeply, No matter how I coax, I can only finish cheaply. You will always hear a hoax. You’ve trapped me in the vortex Of my neo frontal cortex. What more do I need to say? I’ll resort to using gerunds and obtuse jargon in herds if it helps my love errands. Please take my bargain bin words. My brilliance, resilience I don’t dispense a lick of sense But for you I’ll plead some way. I would cherish you til we’re perish due. We would be the only two who never face a lonely view. Because although this medium traps me in some tedium, when I see how you illuminate I’m willing to ruminate. If English dislikes my veneration, I’ll still find some stupid generation. There’s only one rhyme for me And I’ll phrase it so it’s you A fool for love I’ll be But at least I’m foolishly true

Black and white, perhaps Heritage of flight, it flaps The Birthright Collapse

I dream of days finer than fine Good days unprompted by indulgence of wine Some say satisfaction must be sought out Others think the pursuit leaves you without It’s ok to say “It’s ok to frown” But how ok am I really, all the way down Want to want? Need to need? Every permutation leaves me ill at ease. Is poetry a way to help myself cope Or a crumb for a malnourished mope? Maybe if I closed the blinds I’d seek some sunshine Whether I have a lot Or I have a little I fear I’ll feel stuck in the middle So many questions, no answers real, I want more than this one way to feel

Inter me within all my garbage So when I enter heaven My garb shortens the wait The weight of all my sinning Mistakes in my beginning But how the middle thinnens As flaws’ ends have yet to near Much too near my nadir A day near still inside me This I know will sigh me On some future day My mother names me humble And then she grumbles humbug Because I dare to mumble “It’s easy with no virtues” Followed by a shrug I’d try to end this better But this I threw together Through 3 AM this morning Mourning our hours past Passed another minute An other way to spin it Knitten from the loose strands Those thoughts left in misused and’s And so I’ll leave an ‘and’ for That second chance I’m after Til all the questions dance more And I finally say the ans-

A boy and a turtle and a stream Together, happy as sun beams They swim through shallow waters, Sing sad songs about fathers A boy and a turtle and a stream A boy and a turtle in the sun The days, they relish one by one Sounds of splashing laughter And cozy naps right after A boy and a turtle and their dreams A boy and a turtle on the rocks Both worried, both thinking ‘bout the clock When will the waters cool down What’s happened to my hometown A boy and a turtle as time streams A boy and a turtle hold to hope Together, they help each other cope This isn’t what I wanted But won’t live a life so haunted A boy and a turtle and extremes A boy and a turtle and a pond Quiet, who knows what lies beyond I hope that it’s enough for you A lovely place, there’s room for two A boy and a turtle and their seams A boy and a turtle intertwined Those days, they had to leave behind I wish you were here with me My love is more than memory A boy and a turtle and a stream