

My Old School Crippled by shadows, wait in the dusk for nightMy Old School by =Bark
Playground ghosts move the swings gently
Trees bow their heads and sigh goodbyes
This is how it is, here, now
Pale moonlight rises to show nothing new
Its been this way for so long, far too long
Pinebranch fingertips drop needles, stars twinkle
The moon turns its attention to the tides
Old bricks, overgrown with weeds, murmur
amongst themselves about children now old
Nightbirds keep reverently quiet and dream
This is how it is, here, now


Home Pink flamingos and garden gnomes, bright sun, long shadows across the lawnHome by =Bark
A screen door slams and a fly buzzes in, through my ear into my brain
Jesus Christ walking across a puddle, something in my sweet tea, minds a muddle
A car horn honks and a mother yells, "Y'all come get these groceries!"
The TV's on a soap about lost love-bones, a queen sits in my dad's chair, fizzled and stoned
Light a Newport and try to forget the static on channel Z
Help me Rhonda my hat-heads flaking off, the dust on the dresser grown fat and soft
Who'll fry the bacon when I'm gone? Who'll remember this day?


Soul Juice Squeeze out the last drops in glorious colorSoul Juice by =Bark
The rind is mashed, rotten, ruined
But the juice is beautiful
When I dream of myself, or others, we're
always in our prime
and beautiful.


A Blazing Hat A blazing hat, a tattooed heart, he walks through the crowd aloneA Blazing Hat by =Bark
Today was going to be a good day, but now the sky is green
and everyone is speaking a new language
Whitebone orb over the merriment, his clothing reeks of sadness
Too late for the releasing of doves, or for happy farewells
when strangers wear blinders and greet shadows
The newest tattoo reads "poet", which may as well read "isolation"
The simmering stew of vaguely familiar faces in plots of earth
waiting for burial, or arrival, or knowledge
These are the days of broken-down carnivals and fly-away balloons
The days when your face is not in the crowd, not anywhere at al


Cartoon Sky Cartoon sky, fold and tear along the edges, see whatsCartoon Sky by =Bark
beneath the carnival atmosphere, the loopy clouds
and finger-painted sun
Behind the balloons and love letters and candy apples
Beneath the everyone's-a-winner lies
There is
Tar-black night, cold and carnivorous, stars waiting
to swallow your dreams whole
Preying monsters, from the backwoods of consciousness
Cracked plaster iron-bed institutional rooms, under
dim moonlight and swinging bulbs
This is
the never-ending night of life, unpainted, unadorned
Beyond the illusions painted on by windmill minds
Cold, isolated, too real to comprehend without
the cartoon sky and paste-on


lethality (i don't sleep)lethality by ~Starrysue27
broken and strange
walking this path again
i live in a world that doesn't exist
mind bends, cogs turn, brain ticks
speak my name
but you might choke
my past thick with decay and ashy black smoke
i will read your thoughts
soft spots
dark parts of town
strangers, symphonies, rusty metal hinges and me
i might just drown (in) my own dream disease
drive faster
this is a forgotten disaster
how did i even get here
stuck in the shade
my life is a series of motions
i've already made
drip on the night sink
i think i need a drink


decay mental cariesdecay by ~Starrysue27
breed soul devouring fairies
long sharp teeth
eating my fall asleep sheep
>HELLO YOU!!<
my mirrored image, it's someone else
i don't recognize myself
i remember this
the sounds, the moans, the hiss
a human conduit
head cracks, sides split
building my bridge to freedom
outside the metallic hum
memories inside dreams
inside memories
that have built the
mental caries


Stray Orphan-Plea against the windStray by ~PoetsHand
Mother and Father lost
Leaving you to hug yourself to sleep
The night was meant for tears
Orphan-Worthless
Turn against the wind
Belief and Hope are voids
Each day is a futile search for acceptance
Orphan-Home is the center of despair
Lost in the Storm
All you remember is death