here you are, Woman
in the black night glowing
a flame of hope burning
in your soul, your earth
awaiting the Light, Forever
the Ever Before the Ever After
for the sake of children, Adam-darkened
for us children, Jesus-Brightened



sometimes
I march forward in fear
with the strings in my drawers
struggling to hold me back
but I move on
forward
not sure if I'll remain where I'm heading
or slide back into the straight-jacket of my comforts
where uneasy is the norm

long have I lived with this fear
long in the chair of death
electrocuting me a thousand times
sharper than needles poked in my flesh

but this morning I rise
to something new it seems
a way of might
a way of bright
a new possibility of conquering
that which has held me back and down
o'er these numerous years

I rise and leave for the challenge
knowing not whether life or death will champion me
as I strive to be someone new
stretching to fly and taste the air



Basquiat
you poor dead man
played over and over with
like a plate of glass
cracked and scattered upon the grass
where the non-touched fall
breaking the stride
striving toward a goal
that the boogaloos placed upon their heads

you are them
peering through the the eyes of monsters you shared
through the canvasses you spread
o'er the thin entry ways of the seething world
wondering why you made these ugly screens
staring into their eyes their souls
wondering how you arrived
as in heir to their stores

and I look at you hoping
hoping for another suck of weed or vice
another key to open your soul to the world
of acceptance of funds of fabulosity
that your daddy would know it's you
you
and no other that you
who etched a stretch of life
to free your inner gasp
formed in black and colored stripes
running loose and flowing free
toward a day when you'd be someone
before you're dead

but death grubbed you before your time
deformed your breath
before the day you thought
you'd be walking the earth
famous
graced
without a stitch

yes you're dead
truly dead
while many rave the screens
you slew and left behind
filled with stories they'd never hear
they'd never hear