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...