one by one

they realized

we can’t be embarrassed if the faces shamed are left down with a carpet-eyed stare hoping you don’t call their name, or reach through your memory files and throw it away

i stepped over another body on my way to claim the one prize we have left in this intercepted breath atmosphere that straddles your beckoning beauty

in-and-out

puckered lips waiting for a prom night kiss so he can justify tearing off her clothes

leaving another generation never wanting to have kids

at least not those kind

the ones who never would be brought home to mom cause they’re already in her kitchen eating curly fries and sucking down soda-pops that splash on the floor from their careless transfer from here to there

or, they ‘shook em’ up real good’

i’m tired

tired of searching for people to hate

i ‘you fucked up’ a car for wanting to go left today

he probably lived there

all day, relaxed smiles and reassuring words

i pound through the doors and see stripped down metal bullshit erector set architecture that doesn’t live up to my expectations

i roar

inside

it’s hard to let go of the frustration and pissed off feeling that bangs around every corner where lexus driving mother fuckers are making mistakes

it’s not the lexus

not the shoes

not my family that sang these blues

i’m not satisfied

with me

indelible marks of childhood laughter

at me

because i couldn’t climb a tree

that was my brother up there

i reached

he fell silent

never again would i reach a top

of anything

what i don’t see

doesn’t exist

the opposite then, must be true

if i believe

anything