Cliche

It’s all so run of the mill
It’s all so commonplace
The cigarette in your hand
The look on your face
but here we are again...

Just A Soldier

I’m a soldier
Just a grunt
Been here
Thirteen months

Just wanna go home
And see my family
Just wanna go home
Had enough
of this insanity

Boots on the Ground

Who’s a civilian?
Who’s the enemy?
Don’t wanna be
No casualty.

Shoot first,
Ask questions later
Ain’t quite ready
For the undertaker

One Piece

i have come back

in one piece

lucky to be intact

in spite of the sniper's bullet

that pierced my left temple

and splattered my brains

on the inside of my skull

i am glad to be finally coming home

to a country i love

where

after a proper burial

i can rest easy

once again

Married to...

she slips out of her pants
& slowly unbuttons her blouse
she's just a lonely woman
in a big ol' empty house
waiting for her man...

Stupid

he may be dumb
but he ain't stupid
took a girl
like you
to prove it

Worn Out & Born Again

the old forms have been demolished, exploded
smashed to pieces by the jackhammer of innovation
but not entirely, they're still around, moving
slower in dishevelment, like a beggar at a train station...

let's push the envelope of language until it signifies
what? the newest poem, the unimagined utterance --
nothing more than the individual ego smashing like a sparrow
into the glass of tomorrow, crashing through...

bleeding words all over the floor, syllables puddling
at the feet of guests, vowels scurrying under the refrigerator,
nouns slithering into crevices, embarrassed... exposed...
happy with the freedom to disappear again and again

Got Me

you got me
tossin' in my sleep
you got me
squirmin' in my seat

you got me
thinkin' thoughts
i can't repeat
can't repeat
can't repeat...

Well Acquainted

haunted by your memory
& tortured by your touch
try not to look too pretty
& i'll try not to stare too much

Time's Failure

my love is stronger
than anything that can pull us apart
i'll love you longer
than the calendar in my heart

Animal

the lion's been caged
& the lamb's been eaten
the war's been waged
but who's been beaten?

Imperfect

things could be different
only if we tried
i know i'm not perfect
but something inside
tells me
you are
you are
to me

Big Ol' Damaged Heart 2

My windshield might be a little cracked
and my engine stops and starts
But there's a plenty of room for you
in this big ol' damaged heart.