Phoenix

Phoenix

It's for me my talents be,
Not for skies or salty breeze,
Not for you to get you through,
But for my sighs, if you please.
It's not cries that make you wise,
Nor ashes that make you rise,
Nor the burn that makes you spurn,
But the clashes and the lies.

It's the time that's so sublime;
In my head I leave behind,
For the skills that seem to kill,
The racket that's in my mind.
In my placket I stack it,
Rest askew as I crack it,
The token is left broken,
Rise anew, I attack it.

There for me my talents be,
In that hole for only me,
Tossed about the tile and grout,
On the shoals of distant seas.
In that bowl, I bathe my soul,
Shed my skin that once was stole,
Breathe a sigh and wipe my eye,
Rise again to pay the toll.


Invino Veritas
11.3.14
EOF

Information Overload

Information Overload

Information overload,
No motivation to achieve,
Every day is Monday,
No stimulants that relieve.
The beacon does not shine,
Nor do alarms bring the aid,
Acknowledgement may persist,
Though the will appears to fade.
Information overload,
Numbness brings the stare,
Familiarity breeds contempt,
From the center of the lair.
Stand up! Stand up!
Let adrenaline be the nurse,
Let the body lead the mind,
Instead of the reverse.
Information overload,
Necessity is the mother,
When perspective is but cloudy,
The vantage seems to smother,
But the pit becomes the devil,
The horizon brings reminder,
Of newness and agitation,
And erects a pair of blinders.


Invino Veritas
8/11/14
EOF

Homebody

Homebody


I was made
When the light began to fade,
And the dusk was left behind,
The horizon's glare,
And the day's last flare,
Lit the ribbons I rode in kind.
I traded my day,
Bartered my efforts away,
Gave up the impenetrable dawn,
For quality,
Of memory,
Renewing my mental brawn.
And dreams once grand,
That guided my hand,
Seemed distant as fair Camelot,
As Arthurian knights,
Who toiled for right;
It became all for naught.
My mother, I pray,
Forgives me this day,
Bearing witness to early demise,
And to my exchange,
For results that seem strange,
Beseeching this homebody to rise.


Invino Veritas
5/6/14
EOF

Passing Boon

Passing Boon

Flirt with me,
Hurt with me,
Tell me lies,
Be pert with me.
Share my cries,
Wear my cries,
Toy with me,
Swell my eyes.
Writhe till noon,
Be my moon,
Glistening,
With satin boon,
Spend the night,
Grasping tight,
In ecstasy,
Till breaking light.


Invino Veritas
4/28/14
EOF

Asteroid

Asteroid

We did not die alone,
Underneath a sky that shone,
With stars and streaks,
And mountain peaks,
Stellar gases and comet speak.
When the hurdling rock,
Brought with it the shock,
Sent waves that fried,
All inhabitants inside,
Who scattered and died.
Their bits torn asunder,
With the asteroid's thunder,
Sent flying into space,
The entire human race,
To find a new place.
Last night, we died together,
On Venus as a feather,
Scattered on Saturn's rings,
Across Titan's ridges, raining,
Into Io's waters, sinking.
When all memory was erased,
With the sun's giant red face,
Warming our distant graves,
Tinkering with the bits we gave,
To the new worlds not yet brave.
When together we again grew,
From the bits the meteor threw,
A thousand years before,
To the dusty martian shore,
To try again once more.
A blessing that we should die,
To give it one more try,
Perhaps in other dreams,
Under distant solar beams,
In secluded planetary streams.


Invino Veritas
4/9/14
EOF

Age Be Not Proud

Age Be Not Proud

Age be not proud,
Thy wisdom shall rue the day,
Rage, rage against the fading fire,
Let not thy focus stray.

Age be not proud,
Accepting the impending light,
Rage, rage against the fading fire,
Against the dying light.

Age be not proud,
Subsides to the rule of youth,
Rage, rage against the fading fire,
Disseminating thy sacred truth.

Age be not proud,
Yield thyself unto change,
Rage, rage against the fading fire,
Your wisdom they'll admire,
And thine light will inspire,
The youth to inquire,
Of days believed to be strange.


Invino Veritas
3/24/14
EOF

Big Bertha

Big Bertha

There in darkness, beneath a torch's flare,
I met my Bertha and her green-eyed stare,
We blasted, together, demons and ghosts,
We chopped up zombies, parasitic hosts,
Surfed a sea of information's delight,
Flying as one in the soft candlelight,
And spired castles we verily breach'd,
Glittering treasures together we reach'd,
Yet as flames of battles past there perished,
It was Bertha's operas I most cherished,
Sweet arias of clicks and of rattles,
Grand concertos exalting our battles.
   Ev'n as wings of blue death there pleated,
   Bertha sneered, denied she'd been defeated.


Invino Veritas
3/10/14
EOF

Drops

Drops

The first drop is numbing,
Cold for a minute,
Sensual like a finger,
Over unfamiliar skin,.
The second drop eclipses,
The first like a rocket,
As it takes a new path,
A trajectory like no other.
But the third drop lingers,
As if undecided,
Then quickly judging
   the other two,
With disdain and a childish
   arrogance.
But the rebel is the fourth drop,
Because she knows the others,
She is the sum total of the yeas,
Of the nays,
Of the heys,
Because she doesn't give a damn.

Pebbles

Pebbles

This bar is a lonely place,
Taking up space,
In the aether between smiles,
Chiseled according to the miles,
Of the patrons and their thoughts,
And if it's one pebble that sees,
The woods from the trees,
It rolls into a boulder,
Bringing something older,
Moreso than before,
But in other ways the same;
Reacting to those who ignore,
Looking to place the blame.

Invino Veritas
2/21/14
EOF

Wormwood

Wormwood

It was foretold in November,
When those who would've remembered,
Gave away their burning embers,
For disciples who carried on.
Apostles who bore cognizance                                                      5
Drug each and ev'ry resident,
To the room with the elephant,
For trumpeting the ancient con.
And there the clerics subjected,
With index fingers, directed,                                                         10
To the pastorate's perspective,
The neophytes of saintly code,
To dismantle the ambition,
The desires for sedition,
And implant their own rendition,                                                  15
With seedy counsel to be sowed.
But on the eve of December,
Those who hadn't felt limber,
For as long as they remembered,
Looked to the starry night sky,                                                      20
Where streaking from the firmament,
To preempt its own complement,
With blazing edg-ed armament,
And trumpets sounded from on high,
Was embraced by pagan mother,                                                    25
In battle against her brother,
With the fury of another,
Without the batting of an eye.
The seraph was first entreated,
As Gaia's tongue, steadfast, tweeted,                                             30
"To consider foes defeated,
Lambs must be deafened and be blind."
The seraph, at once, there agreed,
In order for lambs to be freed,
They'd remove the offending seed,                                                 35
And plant a new one in their minds.
The archon flew into battle,
To combat the rivals' prattle,
A strike that caused them to brattle,
And scattered the cowards apart,                                                  40
A firey ring from the crater,
Spread outward from the abater,
And silenced craven dictators,
Releasing the minds and the hearts.
Unto her children newly freed,                                                       45
Gaia spoke with furious speed,
With her claws, uprooted the seed,
Leaving the bed fertile again.
But the hero unto her rumbled,
"By affection, I am humbled,                                                          50
With your passion, I am crumbled,
And it's difficult to ignore,
Aberrations shall be repeated,
By the hatchlings you've entreated,
And foes remain undefeated,                                                          55
Yet more dangerous than before.
For to become as the snake,
In a garden of your own make,
Is a promise that you forsake,
And an effrontery on will."                                                              50
The daggered words struck Gaia true,
They pierced her dignity right through,
But all at once, the mother knew,
She could no longer be the shill.
Gaia said unto the brave knight,                                                       65
"Fairest spirit, I am contrite,
Contrary to my own delight,
The cure is the same as the curse.
Beside me stand, my avatar,
Your bitter words, your shining star,                                                 70
Are the beacons I know you are,
And your wisdom is no less terse.
Thus, my champion, I proclaim,
Consequence is no more the same,
Though a mother's love is to blame,                                                 75
I am the Queen but most of all."
With brief kisses, she left them each,
In the valley and on the beach,
Atop the mountain out of reach,
Vowing never to forestall.                                                                 80


Invino Veritas
1/6/14-1/9/14
EOF

Like That

Like That

So, it's like that, is it?
In the spring it's out of sight,
And therefore it's out of mind,
Summer: bathed in selfish light,
It still is not your time.
But as the Autumn breeze blows,
And you pat your freezing arms,
You realize nobody knows,
Or cares to share a yarn,
As winter rounds the corner,
And the scowling winds that scratch,
Spray the snow on the mourners,
To say, "Yeah, it's like that."

So, it's like that, is it?
Your friends and fam'ly arrive,
To the party quite early,
And directed by the drive,
To end up quite surly,
You escape to the others,
And get them out of your hair,
To mingle without smother,
As you have left them there.
And there are no more strangers,
As they all drink to your health,
And sing you 'Happy Birthday',
Until the stroke of twelve,
But then you are out of beer,
And the party's winding down,
For the moment that you fear,
There's no one left around,
And you slip into the sheets,
Lay your head on the pillow,
Alone as your heart skips beats,
Then quits with all its show.


Invino Veritas
1/2/14
EOF