we retreat
to opposing
corners
lick our
wounds
meet again
somewhere
in the middle
fight it out
all over again
both of us
defensive
trying to be
right
both of us
losing
looking
for a way
out
(D. James)
Monthly Archives: May 2009
black wave of frustration
this night passes
through me
like a black
knife
no way
around it
I must
stay up
’til dawn
breaks me
only then
will I fall
to sleep
(D. James)
the one they call by no name
I hold tight
the reigns
and like Atlas
with the world
on his shoulders
I struggle
and raise hell
above my head
to find my
flat blackened soul
laid bare
would if I could
pick it up
but I’ve not
a hand to spare
(D. James)
it all amounts to nothing in the end
when we were young
we talked, naively
about being older
because that’s
all we wanted
when we were older
we talked, longingly
about being young
because that’s
all we wanted
when we’re
dead
will we talk, knowingly
about being alive?
or will we finally
be content
with where we are?
(D. James)
why a poet writes so many poems
to write something
of import
just once
a line
truer
than the truth
that makes
someone
think twice
pierces
their heart
it may be
in me yet
have to keep
searching
keep writing
to find that phrase
that stops the world
from spinning
if only for a moment
(D. James)
little messes
a mess here
a mess there
little piles
of my life
laid out
on the floor
and I wonder
sometimes
what is it
all for?
(D. James)
this is why I’m alone
spent the night
on the surface
of sleep
worrying about
my own
self interest
come the morning
hungry, ornery
horny, and angry
there was
nothing to do
but fight
maybe I’m not
cut out
for this
relationship thing
(D. James)
defenses down
come to me now
in the dead
of night
so that I might
hold you tight
come to me now
let me whisper
in your ear
and feel you near
knowing no fear
come to me now
so I can touch
your skin
let me drink
you in like raw gin
make me believe
in a god
and heaven
and all the angels
who sing
crush me
with your look
silence me
in a kiss
hold me
until the sun rises
and tomorrow comes
like sweet pain
(D. James)
alley of deceit
I told lies
hiding
in your shadows
crept along
your fetid blacktop
lost my soul
and almost
my mind
but come
the morning
I found myself
on the other side
(D. James)
did you say something?
you want
to say
something
but like a dog
with limited language
all you do is bark
of all the words
of all the sounds
of all the languages
in the world
you bark
because you realize
if every word
of every language
were known to you
they would all amount
to the nothing more
than barking
so go on
you dogs
make your statement
sing your song
bark your fucking
ass off
it’s all the same
in the end
(D. James)
worn weary
sat up
half the night
with unhappy thoughts
come morning
they were still there
in a chair
by the bed
pulled them on
with my jeans
wore them
all damn day
till they
wore me out
sat up
half the night
with unhappy thoughts
determined that
in the morning
they’d be gone
moved the chair
into the kitchen
just in case
(D. James)
disposable poetry 