unlived lines

don't fear wrinkles
upon yr face

they exist
simply from living

rather fear
the missing lines

from living not
quite enough

except for pablo neruda

if yr happily in love
there's most likely
something missing

something overly satisfied
something murdered
something erased
de-fused
healed
saved
&
choked
etc...

if yr happily in love
the odds are
something's arrived
& robbed from you
all those hungry parts
that you need to make
great fucking art

screw love
take back yr scars
unlace yr sutures
kiss yr spleen hello
get back up on the ledge

why isn't everybody screaming?

buddha said: the world is on fire

tennesee williams said:
we are all in a house on fire

i say: we are all in a body on fire...

flames w/in flames w/in flames

(love only fans the inferno)

the smoke reaches heaven

but there are no saviors

after screaming
i light another cigarette

& just fucking wait...

construction over a grave

you build a house
perhaps even one of joy
upon the plot of loss

you raise beams of laughter
tall 90 degree walls of relief
a sturdy roof seals out gray rain

but there is always a foundation
of tears beneath
a forever-leaky cellar of grief