Second Chances

Closed eyes hide steaming fury.
Muscles in shoulders tense.
Looking calm, so “what, me worry?”
Making a fist, no common sense.

Burning inside to rip your head off,
Crossing that line with a dangerous pitch,
You look behind and cautiously cough,
As you mumble to yourself, “you son of a bitch…”

Looking at me, if eyes could kill,
I would be dead in a hurry.
So, I stepped back and said to you,
“Chill, you have no reason to worry.”

Second chances come sometimes,
And I was hoping for mine now.
I would pay for all my crimes,
But did not want to know how.

“Let’s be friends,” I said with a grin.
“We don’t need to fight.”
So you relaxed, all said and done.
And these days we are tight.

An End and a Beginning (Chapter 1)

Peter leapt off the cliff into complete darkness. His ears caught a phrase being screamed at him a second too late.

Suddenly Peter felt something catch him in mid air,
Something soft, with feathers and wings.

Is it a bird? Is it a human? It didn’t make sense. It tilted back so that it felt like it was climbing to a higher place.

Still holding on tight, Peter started to relax.
“Where are you taking me?” he asked.

No answer.

Finally the steep climb was over and the creature came to a slow stop and landed, laying Peter down in the grass. Peter couldn’t see much around him, as it was quite dark. He figured he was probably still far away from any people, as there were no lights to be seen anywhere. The moon was just a crescent, barely showing the trees and bushes around him.

“What were you trying to do up there, kill yourself? That is a drop of several hundred feet, with jagged rocks at the bottom.” It was a female voice.

“As far as what I was doing, that’s my business. Who are you, and where did you come from?” Peter shouted.

A flash of light appeared in front of the creature, revealing the face of a woman with short, blonde hair. Although she had wings on her back, the rest of her looked human. She held a round, glowing sphere in the palm of her hand.

“I am Leah, from the sky people. We live near that dangerous precipice you jumped off from a few minutes ago. Our home is in the caverns inside the mountains. I have seen you, over the last few nights, walk up to that cliff and stare out into the darkness, always at night, when there is nothing to see.”

“What do you care where I go or what I do?” Peter growled. “So what if I was trying to kill myself? What difference does it make to you?” Peter scowled at the flying woman, embarrassed that she had seen him go up there several times, and then, which was worse, when he did finally muster up the courage to jump, she interfered with his plans by saving his life. “Now,” Peter thought to himself, “not only am I still alive, but I suppose I am also indebted to this woman for saving me.”

“If you are worried about me telling someone what happened, you don’t have to worry,” Leah soothed. “I won’t tell a soul,” she smiled. “But you have to promise me one thing: that you will not try again.”

Scuzz Ball

Cleaving to your skinny feet,
I dig my nails into your ankles.
Dragging me down the sidewalk
Should be considered an Olympic sport.

“I just want to be with you!” I cry.
But your ears are closed to my
Desperate pleadings. You don’t care
To waste your time with a scuzz ball
Like me.

I’d like to be your friend, or maybe
An associate, but my efforts are
In vain, I fear. Nobody loves a loser.
Maybe later, I say to myself.

Perhaps when he is in a better mood.
Perhaps when he loses everything,
One day, he will come looking for me,
And when he finds me, he’ll thank The Lord that he has me.

Maybe.

Checkmate Elegy

Cremate your lactate so we can elevate
Your fruitcake for checkmate.
Leave somber selves upon crowded Shelves, including my bells.

So, what is true for you, so candidly?
Where do you come from so quickly?
Do you have what it takes to make a cake? Do you dream of better days?

How does the angel fall from such lofty
Heights? What the hell?
Sneakier sounds were never recorded.
Come to me and see me freely.

Sweeter tastes come through insane.
Jungle gym teaser pleases me instantly.
Happy-go-lucky friend rescues the repeat. Do you see the meager gently?

Follow sinking semblance of swordplay.
Fell today on top of elegies.
Do you desire a brighter day?
Come quickly, on your knees.

Endings

Candles burning through the night,
Bathing my face with their warm light.
Teeth clenched under trembling lips,
Tossing stomach doing flips.

Anxious brow, concentrates.
Future only seals my fate.
Serendipity,
Speechless leaves me.

Quivering from head to toe,
Running round, to and fro.
Guessing games puzzle me,
Scathing answers set me free.

Endings come so quickly now,
Testing thoughts and senses follow.
Catching me unaware,
Staggering, I stand and stare.

Take me there against my will,
So that I may drink my fill.
Climbing truth’s window sill,
I catch my breath, standing still.

For a Season

Closing doors to open others,
Climbing mounts to descend again.
What’s in store for my future?
What will change, what stay the same?

One thing for sure,
That’s nothing’s for sure.
Things are bound to change,
Eventually.

Suffering will last for a season,
Meaning wanes in hard times.
Tediousness is predictable
To outlast interests.

Thrills are few and far between
For creatures of habit, like me.
Stability and comfort dominate
As discipline works its magic.

Repetition smooths out the wrinkles
In the rhythm of my soul.
Aches and pains raise their ugly heads
Occasionally,

But nothing lasts.

Jumping Up

Jumping up to touch the sky,
I feel the wind blow in my eyes.
Bending low to stir the soil,
Keeping close, crouched in a coil.

Walking ’round this hallowed place,
I feel a spirit touch my face.
Is it God or just another
Of those demons that always hover

Near my body when it’s tense?
I could use a holy fence
To protect me from these ghouls.
Would be nice to bend the rules.

Sometimes I can see quite clear,
What it is that brought me here.
Sometimes I don’t have a clue
Why it’s me that’s close to you.

Do you think God has a plan?
Do you know the Son of Man?
I’m not sure, occasionally,
What is true for you and me.

Where will you go when it’s time?
Will you pay for all your crimes?
I hope not, for your sake.
We won’t last, with all our hate.

Hovering Now

Happy leaps cover frolicking weeps,
Colors turn this way and that.
Do you have the keys to reaping
Silent mutters in the dark?

Which one tells you what it’s worth?
Why are elbows sort of worse
In a salad seeping turf,
Leaving me to mine the earth?

How’s the weather where you are?
Asks the sleeping breeze to the gun.
When did clocks turn back the stars?
Why did where turn into when?

Will you come this way to sing
Lullabies to all my friends?
Shrug and give a hoot for me.
Angels wear your fine jewelry.

Real talks placed around the cape,
Mere wrongs close the gap to here.
Several words fall from the sky,
But only one when its time to die.

Encounters

Trampling down a rambling way,

I stumbled into what I’d say

Is nothing short of night and day

To one like me who’s in the fray.

 

One might say I was not gay,

But would be wrong about me.

I like to play most every day

With whomever I come to see.

 

Would you like to follow me

About this dingy city?

There’s not much to catch one’s eye.

There is nothing pretty.

 

Almost every person here

Remains alone sometimes I fear.

Always needing someone near

To speak so softly in their ear.

 

Would you like to talk to them,

Be their audience or their friend?

Would you care to spend a while,

Hearing of their times of trial?

 

I can say right here and now,

It is not fun out in the sun,

One feels one is about to drown

In nothingness, it weighs a ton.

 

Pushing one down below the waves,

One claws and kicks to try to save

Oneself from all the bitter things

This life sometimes to us brings.

 

Is there hope, you chance to ask?

Maybe so for some.

But I’m not counting chickens unhatched.

I’m one prone to run.

 

Out of here I bolt with speed,

Leaving things behind I need.

Never caring what comes to play

With my mangled spirit today.

 

I will find something new.

I will discover a kind of clue.

Will there be a happy end

To my strife, you might portend?

 

I don’t know what will come,

But I’ll continue fighting on.

There is no point for blaming some.

It is I that must get things done.

 

2013