Cracks the in Plaster
There's one above my head,
stretching from walnut door frame
to bare bulb. It bows from
Missouri rain
long since evaporated.
Houses aren't built like this anymore.
Lath and plaster takes too much effort.
Drywall is cheap. Time-efficient.
Another crack festers
a floor below
in my father's study.
"Too much roughhousing."
Nails are used to break the joints.
It curbs the chance
of future rifts.
Preemptive separation.
The ceiling in the spare room
used to have a crack.
Before it collapsed.
This house is not built for my father.
Too many parts to fix
to fit into his schedule.
He is not a patient man.
I cut myself
tiptoeing around
pieces of plaster.
No one was around
to clean up the mess.
I tried to fix the one above my head
once, but I had the wrong tools.
I stirred up 21 year old spackle
instead of reinforced fiberglass tape.
Now the ceiling is just a patchwork
of “not good enough”.
I wait for the day
pressure shifts
and I collapse under the weight
of a decaying, bungalow-styled
family.
Coin Toss
Theoretically,
I have a fighting chance
to take on the world.
But no one told me
I’m playing by someone else’s rules.
I squint at my reflection as it sneers
in disappointment of my poor attempt
at covering flaws.
I wonder if my smile has
enough wattage
to outshine my personality,
or if the price tags in my closet
outweigh my body mass.
If the scales teeter and topple,
how will I keep score?
I leave the house and face the world
I’m supposed to conquer,
but with my head held down,
I only see a world
of different colored sidewalks
with jolting cracks after every footstep.
Ready, set, flip.
I keep saying just one more round,
because maybe one day
I’ll beat the odds.
Heads you win, tails I lose.
Happy Bluebirds
Pursuing happiness draws relief,
but inspiring happiness can
pack tension.
Some become paralyzed,
trying to reach harmony.
Some fear failure.
Some resist redemption.
They wish to escape
chaos, but give up
adjusting their sails
when they find the
winds have changed direction.
Finding the Bluebird
will come with failures.
Welcome them.
Failures sharpen feelings of
miraculous scenarios.
They collect memorable moments
and create an alarm
of their symptoms.
Today is the day to
support existing.
Today is a dare
to give up the wheel.
Become satisfied with the unpredictable.
Optimize possibilities.
Tackle the junk that
clutters all the room in your soul.
Polish it, and strive to
keep it beautiful.
Boost yourself and
discover dignity.
Appreciate others,
possess the capacity
to value enemies.
Live to maintain relationships and
focus on strengthening bonds.
Deposit sentimental feelings
among those whom you love.
And through any circumstance,
always hope.
It strikes out illumination
into a dark mind.
It lifts a broken heart
out of the cracks and sets it
into a joyous melody.
Trapped
Words never spoken are simply left and tossed aside.
You give up the right of their beauty and grace,
From which is taken and slowly fades, as the day dies.
You give up the right to complain. Who hears your cries
when a mask of contempt hides your face?
Words never spoken are simply left and tossed aside.
When fear excuses your absent voice, you can't cower behind lies
you've spun out of deception, like a spider leaves its trace,
From which is taken and slowly fades, as the day dies.
You're tangled in this web of delusion, like a poorly made disguise.
The more you fight it, the tighter you're embraced.
Words never spoken are simply left and tossed aside.
Your silence screams out in agony. You're running out of tries
to get the story straight and to find a peaceful place,
From which is taken and slowly fades, as the day dies.
The decision is yours, to challenge the storm in your eyes.
To take the chance to speak your mind and end this chase.
Words never spoken are simply left and tossed aside,
From which is taken and slowly fades, as the day dies.