Burn Up

There's a fire 

in my limbs,

in my lungs,

and 

'round my ears.

Flames like fingers

wrap tightly around

my neck.

The air tastes 

like acid

on my tongue,

down to my gut.

All the while,

I remember your face,

your eyes,

and those words

you never quite said.

I've made the bed

in which I'll lay

and burn up in your

ever-present shine.

I am your

mistake

to make.

*******************************

"And it's not what we're owed, but it's what we've earned and it's closer than we realize and it's time now to burn." Kevin Devine Another Bag of Bones (Time to Burn)

"I would start a fire to light you up...to light you up." Maritime Light You Up

Faking Reformation

From the air

caught in my throat

to the tingling

in my toes,

I know 

there's a word

for which I search;

you've already found.

Me

in my dark corner,

balled up and shaking,

faking reformation,

but it's only the shadows

creeping up from the floorboards

with chips on their shoulders

who've nothing to say.

********************************************

"So, what do you think of me now that I'm sick?" Winston Audio Recovered; In Recovery

Twinkle

I heard your voice tremble;
you said that you were lost.
You couldn't hear your heart
beating hard over the noise.
So, I showed you my face
in the gleam of the moon
and I begged you, please,
look up.
I need to see my twinkle
in the oceans of your eyes.
I promised you my light
would lead you home.

*********************************





"And you know I was lost when I found you." Copeland Like a Lie

"So, what was I supposed to do? Just keep on trying through sleepless nights? Fuck am I supposed to choose? 'Cause I begged you everything, everything." Bad Books I Begged You Everything

If Only You'd Try

You let go of the rope

and I took a tumble.

You said that you bled

over the struggle

with that unsound string

that caused all this trouble.

"It isn't my fault!"

You weren't too subtle.

I see nothing but sand.

Not a drop to drink.

I guess I could use 

all this time to think.

You walked out of range,

leaving me on the brink

of a brilliant breakdown.

You're letting me sink.

There are crows overhead

and clouds in these skies

and I think that you could reach me

if only you'd try.

I'm trapped in this hole here.

Listen out for my cries.

Or maybe I belong here

where everything dies.

***************************************************

Lazy Poetry

I taught you how to read

my lazy poetry,

but I couldn't make you know

what was plainly there
between the lines.

So, I never really knew

if you ever really heard

my heart beating

in these measured words

for you.

******************************

"I spoke bad poetry." Sunny Day Real Estate 5/4

"Drink up baby, look at the stars. I'll kiss you again between the bars where I'm seeing you there, with your hands in the air, waiting to finally be caught." Elliott Smith Between the Bars

"Let a vast assembly be,    
And with great solemnity    
Declare with measured words, that ye   
Are, as God has made ye, free."

P.B. Shelley The Mask of Anarchy

La Beauté de la Mort

In my verses,

I saw you bleeding.

Little curses.

Always pleading.

Needing and screaming,

your veins burst.

You aren't dreaming

and it's getting worse.

This love was poison

upon your tongue,

but it was chosen,

burns your lungs. 

I'm an itch you scratch 

a little too hard.

I'm a stricken match

that leaves you charred.

I'll kiss your neck

while your breath goes short

A wondrous wreck:

la beauté de la mort.

************************************************

 

 

"Oh, falling leaves should curse their branches for not letting them decide where they should fall and not letting them refuse to fall at all." David Bazan Curse Your Branches

"I try to will myself away while shouting habits plead their case." Kevin Devine You'll Only End Up Joining Them

Plain as Mine

Utter the truth.
Just this once.
Feel your muscles
rest.
Don't bite your tongue
for everyone.
For your gut,
that isn't best.
So sing it in
a fragile song
or scream it from
your chest.
I bet your sins
are plain as mine;
but here,
mine are confessed.


********************************************

"I'd give myself a hand if I were you." Kevin Devine Confessional at 6pm

Keeps My Veins

You've made quite a mirky mess

with those words you wouldn't say.

It doesn't hurt me any less

and, no, it's not okay,

but still I stay, I acquiesce;

I count the hours of the day;

and when I finally confess,

just please don't run away.

In the ruins that remain,

sleep the hours poorly spent,

but the rest is always worth the pain

if our hearts were warmly met.

Here, the stars will know our names;

they'll dance for our amusement.

You are the flesh that keeps my veins,

the tongue that keeps mine wet.

************************************************

"My cotton mouth was wet with you." Kevin Devine A Billion Bees

Knots

I know that it's hopeless

and you know that that's true,

but death is just a promise

that someone made for you.

I'll wrap myself in darkness

if you're wrapped up there too.

And, if we're being honest,

I'd love no other view.

In the ever-long interim,

while we watch the same sky,

please sing me our hymn

as the clouds pass us by.

Then, I'll kiss your eyelids

and you'll kiss my thighs.

We'll be lost in our limbs,

in the knots that we've tied.

********************************************************

"If you wrap yourself in daffodils, I will wrap myself in pain. And if you're the queen of California, baby, then I am the king of the rain." Counting Crows Goodnight Elisabeth

"Remember that the only things we need sometimes  are chilly nights and warmer thighs, 'cause there's nothing like being held." Saves the Day Hold

Dance with Me

There is a wind

that whisks me off 

to you.

I twist and twirl,

soar and swirl.

I will not lay

until I've bridged.

When I graze your cheek,

like fingertips

or soft lips,

dissolve into air

and dance with me.

****************************************

"So, will you dance for me?" Kevin Devine Fingerprints and Photographs

May the Light Always Linger

Lock up that secret

on the tip of your tongue.

The practice is frequent,

tightens your lungs.

The fire you breathe

shuts the vitriol inside,

but growing is the need

to let your heart confide.

Leave your doors open

and leave your lights on.

The planets are in motion.

and soon we'll be gone.

Welcoming eyes

and warm, lover's fingers,

find me in your skies,

may the light always linger.

***********************************************************

"I'll give you my heart if you can keep the door open. I'll give you my heart if you can keep the door from closing." Rocky Votolato Sawdust and Shavings

Shook

I need all of your dark clouds
and the smell of rain.

My brain is talking far too loud;

she's trying to explain.

I need the falling of the leaves

and your long-sleeved shirt.

Perhaps I really am naive

and so it always hurts.

I think you're in the wind now.

You whispered out my name.

You kissed me quick atop my brow

so that I would remain

the one who's always waiting here,

so wishful and so willing.

Right and wrong are so unclear;

it's just my guts I'm spilling.

You are the pages of my book.

I am the stars above you.

When the ground beneath me shook,

I knew that you felt it too.

****************************************

"In my dreams I can hear a voice, a call, a withering echo. And it sings, it sings all-knowing words, but ones I can't understand." Radical Face From The Mouth Of An Injured Head

"You can quake at the thought of it. Shakes you up quite a bit. And all you do is think and thinking gets you nowhere." Balance and Composure Quake

And I Will Do the Same

You confess so very little

with so much still to tell,

It turns your tongue to brittle

as your lungs begin to swell.

The music in your fingers

sings a different kind of truth

and if my words still linger

some might find it uncouth

to dip and dabble in a dream

so real and yet so distant

that has me ripping at my seam:

so biting and so brilliant. 

It's real if it floats through our air

down to our blood and bones

and no one promised love was fair

just that it would be known.

I want to see what your eyes see.

I want to know your name.

So, keep your arms outstretched for me

and I will do the same.

*******************************************

"All my life I've watched you dance along to music that I can't hear. I ain't equipped to hear those songs." Radical Face The Moon is Down

"If only I could stretch across the depths to hold you." Copeland Chiromancer