Notes from a Genius

"The Congregation Has Been Altered" Sometimes one line is all we need It is the boundary between You and the girl of your dreams If only you could muster the courage Enough To speak it It could spark the greatest love affair Of the 21st century Known to man Sometimes it's not just one line But rather the words we say In the frame of reference That we take It could be those penultimate three words As big as the landscape As heavy as the cross you bear To say them Such a load to carry No one hopes to walk alone I once knew a girl In the better years of my youth (pretending) Who asked "When do you know you love someone?" The best advice I could give: "You just know And if you have to ask..." We were sitting Perched in placed positions Upon rocks At Land's End Her, looking out Across the expansive sea "I think I love you- But I haven't felt this feeling Before And to be honest it scares me" Pause, in between, "Do you know what I mean

"You're Never Too Old For Advice" I was once told By a friend of my mother That to believe in love Was as foolish as To believe in Santa Claus I was only a child In the years of my youth When my wit was as sharp as my tooth But I took what she said To heart And it tore all I believed apart She was only thirty-one Divorced And the mother of an only son He was a friend of mine And I felt sorry For the prison she'd kept him in The inability to love another For fear of rejection Is a cage No one should inhabit I told my mother In the years to come What her friend had told me When I was so impressionable and young To my surprise She didn't get upset Angry or mad She just took my hand And very patiently said, "To love is to live Even if that lost is lost You can know that your happiness in life Was worth the cost" And she kissed my cheeks Now I see her beautiful soul In the eyes of my baby And I know How right she was That I'd give my own life For my baby

"I Stole the First Line..." Your love is the size of The tumor inside of The cave of my chest Your love is the size of The bed that is Empty and rests on its side On the curb in the Alley adjacent to my building Your love is the size of The body of water Which I Christ myself at And walk upon to Make it to the other side Where I'd find you If I only knew You'd be there to greet Upon my arrival in bare feet Your love is the size of The weeds that grow in The vacant field Next to the house We used to live in So content and in love, once So I ask, humbly, now Where is the size of your love Once the darkness has come Do you cast it aside Or will you cast a light out To catch me coming back Your love is the size of This white blank page I release a plea upon But when the ink sets and dries I'll still be here Sitting at a desk When you're off doing God only knows what...or who I'm afraid you don't feel any remorse For the words we said And the way we left it

"I Knew You Better From the Back of Your Head" The anticipation of undress Leaves my heart in duress Standing inches apart If my heart were a vessel You'd surely have no escape Breathing becomes so shallow Yet deep, filled with desire For each other's bodies Your hair remains Tied back Revealing your ears to me I am reaching for the straps On your shoulders Set slowly to release them From their stage You breathe A sigh of relief And your eyes beg To release you from your clothes' restraints I appease Ever the gentleman I pretend to be I do it with the greatest of ease As if my only duty now is to please You. I am the man Who'll bring you to your knees The light reflects Off your golden hair And rests upon the crests Of your breasts I've never wanted a girl As much as I want you In this, the perfect moment Between you and me and a promise When the crescendo of our song Hits its final note I am yours. You are mine. Together, our bodies entwine Tied and tangl

"Ahead of the Curve" Michelle, you won't see me tonight I'll be on the other side of town By the time you read this You won't be able to read me, either So, please, don't try It's easier this way Anyway, No one to blame No use pretending our love was some fictitious eternal flame When I'm sure you won't remember my name Michelle, we both got what we came here for Who could ask for anything more Let's be honest This would never work As anything more Than what it was A one-night stand (in the rain) And if, if I could employ a marching band You better know that I would They'd play me out of the carnage As the blinking 8s on your clock radio Light my path to the front door Oh Michelle, why didn't you get the door fixed So that it doesn't creak When I want to leave ...Is this the way out? And Michelle, why couldn't you leave the keys in the door Like you always used to do It'd be easier that way To come and go As once-lovers do .

"What You Can Do When You Die" Time cannot erase The mistakes I've so carelessly made The least of which Being, To fall victim to your careful smile And even more precise words My actions only left a suppression of guilt For the other mean to come across your path Other whores have known their place Among men willing to risk the thought of disease When they lay your body down But I, I couldn't be less convinced Of your body as a fallen temple Where the stones have been scattered Among the rest of the wreckage A girl who'd sell herself, short, Is no woman to me A girl whose body is trashed and tattered and torn Is no lady I'd lay my health on the line for I'd rather dig a hole To the center of the earth Than be known as the boy Whose last ride was in a hearse Bought and paid for From one lonely night Spent with a local girl At the end of the bar Who spent more on the occasion Than quite possibly her dress Which would inevitably find its way to the floor As

"A Plea for Misogyny" I want to do something important Not for the self But rather for the selves Set forth in a universe Too big to conceive Like when God gave birth to Earth Trees burst from the ground The sky opened her mouth And spit out the seas and oceans Birds set to flight in the air Underneath the spread wings That's what I wish for me To find a purpose To share the joys As well as the disease Of never knowing Just how little we all know Of the birds, bees The dirt and the trees Water, air, seas, And all the in-betweens Days like these are long And lead to reprieve Or contemplation The nights are even harder to take When taken alone The table set for one Looks so pathetic From my constant stance of being On my knees Especially when the truth is shown That I have known The comfort Of one's body next to mine As we blanket each other And our bodies become the only warmth We have ever seemed to have known On a cold winter's night The whites of our eyes The on

"Latest Mistake" They say Life can form From a single cell When two lives converge To complement an attraction Neither party is willing to deny Instead they forge ahead Built upon a foundation of lies and deceit Held together by coffee and nicotine One says "I love you" The other one crumbles From the utter need to feel In the truest moment of passion In a moment of ecstasy They create their latest mistake Which will forever tie the two together Any excuse to feel love And give it away, so easily For just that single, solitary moment Of idolatry Leads to a kiss on her cheek Although she could be admired by anyone She chose him For his chiseled jawline And the way his eyes met her From across the room And the joke he told to break the ice She was lost When he undressed His body bathed in only the light shining through The window by the stereo Playing their new song, on repeat And their bodies fit together Like a puzzle She feel victim to his charms Like a snake relea

"My Favorite Weapon Is You" I'll leave compassion on the street Like a dog on a leash Indifferent to defeat And offer up condolences To a mother-less child strapped to the backseat As the car careens into the ocean We act as bystanders to the side-show attraction I'll set the fire If you'll light the match At least we both know how to pour the gasoline And walk away in victory We will become famous as silhouettes Like the last brushstrokes Of an artist's sweet rendering of Life, or what it was supposed to be Forever earmarked with watercolor Upon the protege's canvas of blood and stone Since marble is too difficult to sculpt Keeping his posture straight And his composure intact As the maniacal artist resets the bone structure Of the beauty standing before him I'll be the fountain Always in motion Releasing tension Youth disguised by the psyche of Playing "Forever Young" on piano One last time

"Who Said Hospitals Are For the Dying" Hospitals are fortresses of solitude Where you barricade the sick or nearly dying A quarantined few, a stone-walled arcade Of access-denied requests for peaceful sleep We are all dressed up in the formal attire Our attendance has been requested to a lacquered party Planned with the same precision Taken by the surgeon in his impenetrable mask and gloves The sounds imitable of a monitor Just off the screen Runs the consistency of your ability to breathe Deeply, breathe shallow Or maybe your weak heart's ability to beat Cast in stone, set the bone I'm here by your bedside When you deem it the right time to cry I will watch you die For love means watching someone you know die A true man doesn't hide Behind the cage of the bathroom door Until all pain is relieved In the catheter placed at your feet Head in hands Praying for a simple act of charity Like, albeit, defeat My body is the cage That will set love free When the time comes

"I Will Use the Word Obscure" You're doomed to be Just another obscure reference In a long-list of traders To the men who afford boats and bonds And baggage to load As they travel up the coast In remembrance of the ghosts of girls Like you Whom they loved and lost In a long-fought battle of wits Lost in the end To the blanket of stars That overcast in the dark sky As everyone said their good-nights Hoping they wouldn't turn to good-byes But men who travel For lengths at a time Know better than to put an (...) on an encounter To pull all the lonely strings Once the feeling of attachment tugs at worn-out hearts Better known for the mattresses They've laid upon And played their tricks Baring their souls for just a taste of what's been forbidden By fathers and mothers Of daughters with futures ahead of them Chalk-full of ideas Bur their emotions get the best of their intentions When desire burns brighter than the sun Their hearts speak lonely truths No other fool

"Your Protector" I want to get lost Between the white space Of your shadow and the pillow The creases of the pages You so delicately turn Between the tips of your fingers The identification of who you are Found on the surface of Your thumb's imprint Pressed upon the ink That drenches the map Of the creases of skin I long to be within Held in a warm embrace By arms so heavy As if they regret ever moving And legs so long, never-ending, and thin Don't move, but a single inch As if to extend an invitation Just then, she says, "come on in" I fight the urge to caress Instead, I play the role of Your Protector As she lies Beside me, all in due time A sweet melody plays Everlasting words, on repeat Over a chorus of trees Swaying in the gentle summer's breeze It seems so right To lean in for a first kiss But she acts surprised Like I've waited too long To be the one Who sweeps her off her feet And we play the roles assigned us I am forever in debt To be Your

"The Uniquely Stolen Parts of the Best Songs I Know and Can Play" Laura, when you came over To spill the truth about you and I I couldn't help in not believing The rhyme to your reason Because, Laura, it's the ones with the broken hearts Who've done all the talking Laura, if you'd just take the time To set aside for a session of active listening You'd soon begin to realize I'm the one here for the long-haul I don't want to be the boy To break your heart I want to be the man you can count on Even in your sleep So Laura, if you know me at all You'd take my hand in your hand As a gesture of my anticipation to participate In this thing once called love By all the believers Oh Laura, how'd you come to be a non-believer among the greatest of crowds For it is in giving of ourselves That we taketh a little piece of heaven As we die in the arms of the one who claimed to love us this whole time But when left to decide The truth being such that She

"Sometimes a Four-Leaf Clover Isn't Lucky" I want to be Where the shadow Meets your feet When you walk away from me On an empty street Caught between the cracks in the space Where the double-yellow lines never meet An intersecting pattern-against-user's defeat A relationship on command in parallel alleles Weighing heavy on a mind Such as mine A recorded last conversation left on repeat To remind the conscious self This was never meant to be Synapse to synapse In dire need to a release But as shadows are forever linked To the object of their obsession So am I, forever linked to The woman I find myself recounting The days spent lurking behind In a backwards pattern of a number sequence Only an intricate computer could begin to analyze Lather-Rinse-Repeat Water cleanses my sense of defeat Talk to me as if I was just a child I only wish my life were as easy/mild Maybe then, love would set ablaze in the wild

"The Devil Hides in the Details" You are the poison in my bloodstream The reason I can't seem to shake this disease You come at me with the slightest of ease And strike like a thorn in my side As you sit perched so high up on your throne So quick to rush to judgement Of the loyal subject on his knees I'd call you a liar If I had a mirror And the backbone to take the heat But we both know I'll just cower at your unforgiving feet And crawl as you administer the pain of words That cut so deep To leave a gaping wound A hole that's open up No other girl will take the time or effort to suture It remains easier to admire your stature From a cold, safe distance Up close, your attacks are more personal in nature To maintain the strength I have left I cover my ears at the harsh tone your voice provides I cover my eyes at the cold stare your look sends And I brace myself for the arsenal Your tongue will unleash I am yours, you are mine, at least No matter what kind of lo

"The Loneliest Fish in the Abandoned, Forgotten Sea" To be one among the many fish In the sea Is a plague to the ever-evolving prototype Of a fish, Like me With bold black stripes And well-cared-for, evenly smooth skin And the ability to stay, head-under-water While I navigate the world in front of me All it's offering, to me, nothing No matter how many times I'm set off course Towards the charming sound of propellors Near the water's crest Approaching to meet the bright afternoon's sunlight Bathe in my breaching victory Only to be caught in a net or worse baited by the sharp end of a hook Line, And sinker A fate remains so unknown to me Here I am, at the bottom of the ocean Plagued by the intrigue of mystery Or the fleeting glimpse of another fish's bold and bright colors Against the darkness of my sea I continue my search for a better view A new school (of thought) to swim among Finding only reprieve And I sense depraved indifference to my cause Among t

Love's Year Zero This tower was built for two But the infrastructure is rotting From a lack of care-giving or even a second-thought A warm gesture in a heart-felt confession To better days spent locked away In the tower's single room, alone, together No sunlight, to peek through Sets the mood for solitary confinement No torturer's steady hand Could inflict more pain Than what's in your head Guilt-stricken and bed-ridden An adjustment (or refinement) of attitude Better left unsaid Her lips mark the grave Of my unforgiven soul To tell the truth "I never cared for you" I only liked the way you breathed Underwater And looked down from your ivory tower But the view of the whites of your eyes Was so flattering When you begged for me on your bruised knees I just assumed you were willing to please When pleasing caused confusion of mind over matter What did it matter If we were drowning in each other's misery Now the ivory tower Built to honor the likes of you

Executioner's Eye It stands to reason This being the metaphor of The execution of all things Considered you and me As some bold act of charity Seen only as treason I am The pilot of this radio-tested program Sent over airwaves In the middle of an air-raid Targets holding steady In full range and explicit view Of the finger on my trigger Ready to unleash the unspeakable pain of destruction Self-inflicting and self-imposing I've never known the likes of bell-tower girls Such as yourself I am Trigger-Happy You were a wolf in sheep's clothing Everyone ignored my pleas And used me as a scapegoat Now I'm left to find myself In the wreckage of this unchartered forest I mistook for just a landmass of trees, scattered Homes for birds, bears, and bees Here I am, left to crawl upon my weighted knees Weighed down from the knowledge of your existence How's the view now, dear From beneath the remnants of your crumbled ivory tower As it seems to be Only pieces Much like the pie

Normandy for a New Generation of Lovers It's only 50 degrees on this night In October in a small New England town Where a party of local, strangers mostly, Have congregated To discuss love and life And laugh at the prospects of being in their twenties, really A time for happiness of living in the moment While life works itself out around you Decisions can be made To determine your future The thirties and forties, anyway, the nearest of futures But who cares enough to think That far ahead When the drink in your hand Is half-empty And these hipsters are all half-full of shit We find each other From across the room With knowing glances Of what's to come next A brief encounter becomes A long-drawn conversation Out on the back porch overlooking the bay Where the exchange of mundane details As to who we are, what we do, Where we want to be Suddenly shifts to what we see What we are witnessing Standing together, hands grasp the railing Then grasp each other You say, "Can we take

Summer Hints She spreads herself So thin, wide-open Begging onlookers to "come in" Her legs like mountains Whereupon a successful climb Will be justly rewarded With entrance to her otherwise forbidden cave And oh yet, the treasures to be found Her teeth leave sharp marks Scars to be reminders Of the fun we had The night I decided to lose inhibitions And throw caution out the window And not just to the wind "Once more and to the breach my dear" I played your willing, bloodied cadaver The patient to your doctor Who upon the successful treatment Was experimented on We learned each other's bodies Through trial and error I've made mistakes before With girls of less experience You don't seem to mind, though As you take over the reigns I just gather up the courage To look you in the eyes Taking full advantage of Being taken advantage of That's my curse My weakness has always been a girl With eyes so dark and deep, blue And a smile so inviting I fall for eac