Just picked up this shirt. When I wear it, am I required to show as much chest hair as possible? I mean, I got some and it's not gray. I think I could really rock the old #hippy look. #fashion #groovy

Don’t tell me what to do I just want to sleep Immerse myself in ritual Concoct a recipe A dash of humanity A sprinkle of human touch Colored with the shade Of eyes I have nearly forgotten Flavored with a tether to humanity Don’t tell me what to do I just want to breathe #vss365 #immerse #tether

Someone I once knew A return of awkward memories Followed by a trail of husband wives lovers A tether pulling false spring Back into winter I hovered over your image The button that said ‘learn more’ Then swiped away A cliché sigh What wasn’t meant to be then Is not meant to be now #vss365 #tether

Words #linger on old paper Never addressed never sent I imagine you looking down Reading the rough script Wondering why I couldn't ever say I loved you to your face If perhaps the words had been meant for another I'll see you again soon I'll tell you I loved you then Say I love you still #vss365

Excited Walden is featuring my #poetry on their From the Ashes, We Rise blog, and to be in the company other great poets highlighted. All the poems appear in my book More Than a Whisper, giving you a taste of what to expect when you order your copy #poems www.fromtheasheswerise.com/features-poe...

I was never allowed sweet cereals No Sugar Bombs or Toxic Colored Blues I had fits but to no avail We ate moms choices like Mid-Life Crisis Existential Angst and Daddy’s #Betrayal I resented it but was prepared For the life I would have to lead As adulthood took me kicking and screaming #vss365

Thinking I should make this my new author photo for my #poetry books. Might increase sales. #poems

No calm before the storm It was intense Was not my intent You trapped in a tent While I lived rent- Free inside your head Your stare filling me with dread Eyes wishing me dead I never mistook The meaning of that look “It’s no wonder you sell no books” #vss365 #intent

Auburn hair of the feral child Red tinged eyes of the village elder You had a touch both gentle and fierce Needs waiting to be released I wanted to hold you You demanded I push you away I told you tales of love and sighs You read to me from a book of lies #vss365 #feral

More Than a Whisper. Not #poetry I'll be rapping at a slam. Not poems you need look up what words mean. No tortured rhymes. These are #poems you can relate to. Poems where you will see yourself, your life, your loved ones. Bonus: all poems cat tested and cat approved. www.amazon.com/dp/B0GSJLQ8D...

Morning light Another trip to the clinic God is an injury lawyer We pass underneath Armed with a hammer To protect the weak On a billboard high above Rt 66 God is #luminous He blinds my eyes He shines in your heart I see him from miles away You have dozed off I press harder upon the gas #vss365

I warned you I was barren of body Barren of soul Could love but not feel You liked The way my hair looked Framed before the ocean That I'd comfort a sick cat That the dog could make me smile You believed I cared But you had no way to know If it was just rain on the hot soil #vss365 #barren

You call it evenfall From your chair you watch As the rabbits disappear The evensong plays In a church overhead I can feel the bells The dust stirred by their song Different music plays for me I don’t try to explain Your eyes glaze over At the dimming of the day #vss365 #evenfall

My dear wife Christine @christineadele.bsky.social got a Nadja doll. I was already pretty uncomfortable with the activities of the dolls at night. This is not going to make it better. IYKYK.

I'm pretty darn excited to have 2 poems included in Issue 39 of Door is a Jar Magazine. Thank you @maxwellbauman.bsky.social for placing my work amongst so many other great poets. Pre-orders available now! #DoorIsAJar #DoorIsAJarMagazine #DoorIsAJarMag www.doorisajarmagazine.net/issues/summe...

Cut grass summers suburban child Didn’t know the girl who went missing Sorry mom I couldn’t hear you I’ll be home before the moon rises Cut knee bleeding suburban child Other wounds hide where no one sees Sorry mom I didn’t understand you Only fleeting moments of crazy #vss365 #fleeting

One year ago. I wasn't looking for a serious relationship, but I didn't expect to find Christine, someone so wonderful who fed a part of me that had been starved. Someone I could hold close who held me in the same way. I love you @christineadele.bsky.social. Here is to one year and many many more.

Scattered on the floor Lodged in cracks Puzzle pieces None of them matched Haunted misfit thoughts Of what never was A single photograph Dewdrop caught in a tear You never looked that way An image of an idea Of how in another world Everything fit together #vss365 #misfit #haunted #dewdrop

Not jealous She had pride & dignity But she was resentful Of the fate nature had bestowed her If born white She’d be a symbol of peace Not a harbinger of loss A voice of melancholy She was viewed As just a ground feeder The mourning doves only desire Was the respect granted her sister #vss365 #dove

Shag carpet captures moonbeams Holds them tight Waiting to cast them up into the air Released by the shuffling of my dancing feet Lighting my way in the dark of night When only god can see And maybe you as well If you look up from your book Or down from your perch above it all #vss365 #moonbeam

I went with you into darkness Memories you hold #dear Times of glory and infamy Times when all I knew of you Were the mystery shadow That licked around edges of my dreams Had I known you then Would there have been less pain? I would've held your hand But wouldn’t be the man you love today #vss365

In childhood my aunt would visit Not the cool lesbian Not the gray-haired Stevie Nicks fetishing witch Not the board room bitch Who mom claimed to hate but really envied By the #phantom aunt Moms sister Sadie who died when mom was 7 She came to me leaving gifts I felt but no one could see #vss365

Dreamed we held hands Affectionate touching innocent kisses Silent but for thoughts of each other Dreamed there was chaste love As we exchanged knowing glances Dreamed I spoke you turned to rage Friendship cast away illusion shattered Never again pressed in innocent kisses #vss365 #affection

Together Nothing I'd do or say Would throw the switch Emotions remained flat No light in your eyes I could never find a way to turn you on Apart I activated your rage Fury and anger consume you now You say you’ll always love me You rarely showed that passion When we shared our days #vss365 #fury

You said before you were alive You knew me That wind always whispered to you You heard me That night chill would coat your skin You felt me Before you ever imagined my name I was inside you You'd sit alone amongst the stones I'd comfort you Death doesn't separate us I lay with you #vss365 #name

A #lion witch and athletic trainer Out to prove who was the best sailor Lion worked the sails Witch stirred the wind AT flogged himself into a frenzy Must be a dream I thought As I looked about the room before passing out Women next to me not impressed Why did I think I should go to the gym #vss365

On your arm a tattoo A lightning bolt Pointing toward the image Of a piercing eye Storm clouds swirl above Sometimes that is the way You gaze at me A clarity of purpose Few will ever know I hear a man once crossed you His face in a final cry of pain Is tattooed upon your thigh #vss365 #lightning

Feline Local 2010 was on strike again Said No Kings unless it was one of them Read our future from the entrails of a rabbit Foresaw the fall of man The cats wanted to keep us around So the budget for treats need increase Or they'd sign a pact with the rodents And let the chaos begin #vss365 #cats

The myth of the wolves No alphas at their dance They ask if the children Can come out to play I set two aside Someone must ring the bells To call them all inside When the weather turns I tilt my head You smile Some call it a snarl Like my youngest You will always be misunderstood #vss365 #wolves

Jaded Not by love By loving My heart has much to give No energy to give it Rings upon my fingers grow tight Swollen as my feelings That no longer flow forth There is more of me But less for you to see You knew the best of me At night Will you share stories Of how I used to be #vss365 #jade

Across the room Across the years Mist of rising water Salty as tears What lived #undersea Curls around our feet Braids our hair I thought they were extinct Once a lighthouse Now a taillight A hand dripping with remembrances A smile of #trickery A lost eddy of desire A piece of a broken wave #vss365

We will all be Taken by the sea Put afloat When strength fails us Feed the waters Drift in rhythm Tossed in harmony Earth turning In the end I know you are there Seafoam Sighs in the wind I miss Smell of the ocean Scent of your sweat On summer days #vss365 #seafoam

You keep 3 hammers in a felt lined case 1 you'd used to break barriers 1 had destroyed things left behind 1 for a future you saw coming I had a wrench and screwdriver To loosen what was stuck Affix what needed tightening Between us we were prepared To face together a world crumbling #vss365 #hammer

I’m there When nightmares come The cat has fled Hate’s when you flail Make sounds She doesn’t understand I remain Lean in close Whisper just one word You sigh Slowly grow still Tomorrow may be no better This ritual We will repeat again For now Sleep will ease your pain #vss365 #word

Poems for everyday people. No pretense, no thesaurus words, just real tales of real life. Some pull at the heart strings. Some bring smiles. All immediately relatable to anyone who has lived. Get yours today. #writingcommunity #poetrycommunity #poetry #readingcommunity www.amazon.com/dp/B0GSJLQ8D...

Always thought someday I'd loop around to you Promises made when young Too naïve to understand Or we understood too well I moved you married Phone calls became texts FB likes soon all we had left Now too old to travel Too scared to call Time has stripped us Of what our dreams once held #vss365 #loop

I read the messages you wrote in 1986 Fine petite script a computer cannot recreate I have pen and paper to express my words Try to capture handwriting I once had I have examples from letters you returned unopened Now all I need is to find a soul Who I can share my thoughts with #vss365 #letters

In the last month I've had #poems accepted by 3 different publications. Also published my book More Than a Whisper. Pretty satisfying run. It could only be made better if you all rushed out and bought the book like the gentleman in the picture (note me eagerly pocketing his money). #poetrycommunity

You flowed A gentle stream White water around the bend You carried me Thought I was afloat Your eyes smiled from the depths A sirens call I hoped to sink Dead man's float Never learned to swim #vss365 #water #sink

In the otherwise undisturbed dark The hum of highway cars sing Songs of the distant traveler Heart racing late night lover Wandering soul going nowhere Overdue midnight laborer A child mesmerized Wonders of the world The mysteries that call him Beyond his walls his yard his home #vss365 #sing

Rhythm of your breathing Shuffle in your steps I could be blind I’d still know it was you My gnarled hand slides roughly Over the aged folds of your skin Muted laugh revealing a smile I don’t need to see to feel #vss365 #blind

Put memories away Love and loss earning interest Growing the hope the pain Bank the belief in near forgotten dreams The fears tucked away Hold the combination keeping them safe Savings built on things lost and gained Silently churning Until they are ready to be shared again #vss365 #bank

I didn't marry the lovely Ms Christine @christineadele.bsky.social because she had two copies of this album but I have to say, as doweries go it's not bad😁. Only #vinyl I have of any real value and it's a pretty good album too #vinylcollection #vinylcommunity

Turned off the news Voice of Tom Leher in the air Pigeons in the Park had flown the coop They won’t wait up for me Dropped an ink bomb Word flowing forth While paper is less than gas Gas still less than food I’d say the thoughts bled out But that is cliché Even when it is true #vss365 #ink

You gently took my arm There was care in your eyes I wished you'd take my hand But that is not the way of friends Lovers we would never become I felt your warmth Grateful for even this touch More than anyone else offered I knew not where we were going Trusted you not to lead me astray #vss365 #arm

Love the things we have now In the world where research grants Are handed out no strings attached Spare limbs are the latest craze I bought an extra hand I can flip you off in traffic While the others are at 10 and 2 Scientists are allowed to do anything But driving fines remain insane #vss365 #hand

A blank canvas I’ve learned how to give Not how to be Walking on eggshells Maintaining illusion Fighting for what you say you need I am what I have always been Moments of pleasure Blisters raised that cannot heal As the light fades I cannot be the rock When I am only made of sand #vss365 #sand

God no longer speaks to me Yet I'm filled with calm When the church bell rings In the street the murmur of voices Those made whole by faith Journeying where I dare not be Long ago forsaken I have no strength of belief Though my heart is still drawn To the place where I once would sing #vss365 #ring

Don’t type at me Your texts offend Missives that pretend to care When sincerity is not there You can raise a pen Search carefully for words That push toward new beginnings Not ugly ends Place your heart on paper Where you can't unsend Don’t use words that vanish With the brush of a key #vss365 #pen

You said you'd never be with another Time has made you a liar It’s not the gray hair Or rolls of life lived Packed around my waist The free spirit has died Smiles turned to sighs You look at me Sorrow and pity and regret Knowing I will never again be The man that that you once loved #vss365 #man