Pride is an Inferno

trace me,

follow the nicks and scars deep down to my roots.

tilled in poor soil with not nearly enough sunlight,

yet still I grew undeterred, unwavering.

branches outstretched far and wide like my mother arms,

there to either cradle or shade you (take your pick).

no tolerance left for inaction, 

devoid of patience for justice.

trace me,

the same fire raging you see before you
has always burned hot beneath the surface,

always been a card carrying member of the “others” –
the weirdos/punks/queers/misfits,

call us what you will, but we’re leading the charge now.

buying homes and settling in your quaint little areas of town,

and that raging fire is never going out.

Currents

nothing drives you, faster, harder
than desire for the truth,
for some respite from the monotony of living.
breathe in/breathe out,
laid out on the altar,
all wrapped up in linen and adorned with spices.
caress my skin and feel my very cells flow through your fingertips,
fire in your kiss, yet sweet softness,
every second like water – devoured before it’s cherished.

Ode to New Orleans

Strolling down Bourbon Street, centuries of pain and beauty beneath our feet,
Dancing on the heels of the greats to a rhythym the city seems to make from out of nothing,
en Louisiane,
à La Nouvelle-Orléans,
We’re alive, like the jazz, and smoke, and black magic floating through the air,
we’re wild, we’re free.
I love you, I love you, Je t’aime, Je t’aime,
Down by the Bayou, drunk on Rue Dauphine, on St. Charles Street,
Tracing the footsteps of Degas,
of Hemingway, Capote, Williams,
Sweet city beneath the sea,
Hold steady, hold on tight.

revelries

break down, fever thoughts spilling out of you, try/fail, love/hate, rinse/repeat

she kisses like she knows you
your bodies all too close
her lips a strawberry paradise

ducks move past you
you’re floating in the river now
a half lit cigarette as you called him up the stairs

he tastes like dove and fresh regrets
but his hands fall in all the right places,
sins left all over the floor

sailing out to sea
skin glistening in the sunlight for the last time
the water devours you like a delicacy, slowly fills your lungs

break down, fever thoughts spilling out of you, try/succeed, love/unconditional, rinse/repeat

And For My Next Trick …Happiness

Sad songs soothe me, whether summer days spent soaking in the sun, or winters shut up indoors enveloped in a good book, warm blankets, hot tea,
My soul only knows despair with short intervals of joy.
Madness, maybe,
But you can recharge my battery in the woods, the forest floor my corridor to some unexplained source of vitality.
That or let me breathe in salty ocean air,
Drown my old self in the cold, dark, blue of the Pacific,
Rise from the waves anew.
Born again and again in and out of your arms, watch me take off
like Apollo 11.

Balancing the day and the night, the light and the darkness, emotion and might.

Couronne Moi

Days swell into nights,

We toil away cloaked in civility.

No respite from this hunger,

Soaks into my skin like the last days of summer.

Coiffed and poised for a total takeover,

Obstacles, slowly but surely devoured.

Power in my sights,

Read my eyes.