Saturday, October 31, 2015

JUST SLEEP

JUST SLEEP

Now and again I want to just sleep.
Sleep like a baby awash in the womb,
Sleep like a dead man alone in his tomb,
While the world and all its busy minions
All around me scurry, in some goddamned hurry,
Climb their mountains steep.
Like some glorious has been,
Whose life has met a nasty end,
Like a spoiled child 'neath the Christmas tree,
Denied one last surprise,
I want my end to come quietly,
Eternal rest to touch my eyes with slumber,
No one to bother or encumber
With these salty, shady tears,
Mark my words and mark my years,
With a single granite stone.
Mark my final days,
With a dark and dismal haze.

Let me like the ivy around the tombstone creep,
Mark the spot like the ring of the oak,
Like some guarded prophecy
The soothsayer bespoke.
Let me like a garland
Wrap my body around the sky,
Leaving you alone to ponder
The wherefore and the why.
Shrug it off, shake it off,
Like a garment you no longer deign to keep,
Welcome me to the land,
That soft and velvet sand
Of bright cascading sleep.

Sleep that covers the bitter torn eyes,
Eyes that close in a soft velvet line,
Sleep that will burn a body to ash,
Sleep like a demon this earthly party crash,
Sleep like a harlot assured of her guilt,
After all her last secrets are spilt,
Nowadays I seem to fail every test,
And all I want is sleep now and rest.
Sleep like a baby awash in the womb,
Hormones and toxins await me.
In some great primordial soup,
That has thrown me for a loop.

Sleep like a dead man alone in the tomb,
With the ghost of predestination,
Already planning the next incarnation.
There is stiffness and failure in every breath.
So much stiffness and failure and yet,
In between the burial and the purple shroud,
The will to rise again screams loud.
Maybe I will be okay, hold on for yet another day,
To rise again tomorrow, take my pills that quell the sorrow.

'Til then just close these tired eyes and feel the misty tears
That arise and pool from somewhere deep.
Close my eyes to the precious final years,
Close my eyes and like a waterfall weep,
Dim all the lights and just sleep.

-Bruce Potts
Copyright 2015
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Saturday, October 17, 2015

RIB CAGE CRACKED ON STAIRS

RIB CAGE CRACKED ON STAIRS

Falling, falling, out of time,
Out of sight, then out of mind.
We all have a cross to bear,
Mine's a rib cage cracked on stairs.

Everywhere I go, I stumble,
Recklessly i slip and tumble,
In the winter, in the snow,
In the springtime, in the grass,
Watch me as I bust my ass.

Falling, falling like a star,
From the heavens tossed so far,
Look for me in every beanstalk.
But you'll likely find me on the sidewalk.
Moaning, groaning, struggling to rise,
A newborn colt who needs a nudge,
Just help me up but please don't judge.

Falling, falling, down the slope,
Lost amidst a flowered hillside,
When you fall from high and aloft,
It helps to find a landing soft.
Sweet the smell of the wildflowers,
As I await the savior,
Who will lead me from these desperate hours,
Showing me some favor.

Falling, falling into your sweet arms,
Falling victim to your charms.
Alone with you at close of day.
I stumble yet I find my way.
You hold me close, you bind my wounds,
Here inside this quiet room.
Falling, falling sweet as sin,
Falling deep in love again.

Falling, falling, drifting far,
From some lost forsaken star,
We all have a cross to bear
Mine's a rib cage cracked on stairs.

-Bruce Potts
Copyright 2015
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Saturday, October 3, 2015

TODAY I NEED TO CRY

 TODAY I  NEED TO CRY

Sometimes I just need to cry,
Pay no heed to the teardrop
That is forming in my eye.
Leave me to my lonely room,
A radio playing a lonely tune,
Across my dark and vagrant sky.
I could not even tell you why,
But today I need to cry.

Sometimes I need to fume and fuss,
To behave just like a sourpuss.
Best not to mess with me when I'm like this,
Stay on your side of the dark abyss
Into which I'm falling.
Do not mess with the mission of a motionless man,
Who is following his calling.

Sometimes I just need to wail,
To curse and cavort, to let out my sail,
To wobble my way far from dry land,
To fall with bare feet into the hot sand,
Like a baby colt in the desert sun.
Sometimes I just need to wail,
Beyond earshot of anyone.

Sometimes I just need to drown,
In an ocean of my own damn salt.
If I should cry myself to death,
Heaving out my final breath,
You mustn't think it your fault.
Give me room to move about,
To hissy fit, to scream and shout.
If I should drown in my own emotion,
There are far worse ways to die,
There is no tonic or no magic potion,
Just give me leave to fly.
Into the heavens, into the stratosphere,
If only for a day to be anywhere but here.
Stuck inside a stubborn body who does not care to move,
Perhaps I have a stubborn streak of which you don't approve.

Just turn out the light and close the door,
Leave me to this padded room,
A radio that comforts with some tune of long lost sorrow.
My tarnished thoughts turn toward the morrow,
Toward the sweet by and by.
I could not even tell you why,
But today i need to cry.

-Bruce Potts
Copyright 2015
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

SERENADE OF TWILIGHT

SERENADE OF TWILIGHT

SERENADE OF TWILIGHT The stars in your eyes, love, I tried them on for size. They shone as bright as diamonds, how they mesmerized. And when...