Discounted Poetry

The cost of her prior mistake, The smidge of frosting On another birthday cake, The ants in rows advancing... Morsels Of her life That rise and drop On top the tides, The currents ever flowing Slowly down. Some days While driving home She fantasizes Oven air with Him against her mouth, The house and family impossible, A twitching jerk that sends the car Into the concrete wall Beneath the bridge That's always under repair. - 4/23/26

My father Sat me on the fading vinyl-covered stool His grandfather sat him upon And placed the order exactly the same As then, Lime sherbet, The impermanence of objects  - Like a vector hallway -  Only outlines green Yet possibly sweet. Her grin entices, Tempting, Promising nothing But a moment's sugar tang On top the tongue. The seat beside me At the soda fountain countertop Is always empty. - 4/22/26

We bow before The polished mirror, But it never speaks. It never says a word We need And we are thirsty. Stars are forming Beyond the night, In galaxies we can't imagine. By the time we see their light, They're dead. - 4/21/26

The sun has pinned the sky Against the hottest unforgiving heavens, Bluest butterfly Now fallen out the jar. I see you clearer now Than we can ever see ourselves. I read your life by braille. The ocean only earns its reputation for awe In thoughts beneath the recovering moon. The sweeter air Is creeping quietly Across the morning mountain trail. - 4/20/26

The honeycomb, A hanging mess Delicious. Scrape it Bare. She's still not sure. The buzzing is surprisingly Entrancing, Ensnaring. If you choose to flee, Escape Will not Be painless. - 4/11/26

He floated to the surface, Top of the manosphere cesspool, And with his gelled-up hair and racist tattoo, He is taking her from you. He offers you a bourbon, Smirking, "Me, I never touch the stuff now," As he takes a quiet sip. In minutes, He will challenge you to pushups After interrupting questions and criticisms. She is hanging on his arm Beneath the AR-15 ink. He muses, "Who'd have thought... They kicked me out, And now I'm back to rule With lists of names, Girls, Minorities. You bleeding hearts, You think a peace is possible Without a final ending, When enemies are still alive," He sneers, And still, I cannot understand Whatever she is seeing, Leaving for this little boy, The tiny fake pretending, Heading for a gossip column And a vicious entry In history books. She'll regret, Deny it all one day Escaping to her next mistake. - 4/16/26