To Be Continued... Or Not

Erase yourself,
and then...
silence.
   - mce

Daunting Task

To restart
the clock,
you must
unlearn
and forget
your entire
life.
  - mce

A Pirate To His Lady

Pour me a drink, lover.
My heart is stricken;
my rage is mounting.
I want to feel my blade
slash the throat of the past.
Pour me a drink, lover;
soothe my anger
with your smiles.
  - mce

Requiem

He knew great joy
and embraced it.
He knew dark despair
and accepted it.
What destroyed him
was the roller-coaster ride
of his helpless mind
careening from one
to the other.
  - mce

Sappho: A Lyric Fragment

   ~ Rendered by mce

The pale moon
and the Pleiades
have dissolved.
In the darkest moments
of the still night,
I lie awake,
sleepless and alone.
  - mce

No Regrets

Only
the young
and
the dead
have
no regrets.
  - mce

The Meaning Of Suffering

This world
was designed
to make sure
we would
never want
to live in it
twice.
  - mce

Linguistic Certainty

In the language
of love
there is no word
for impossible.

Improbable, yes.
Unlikely, yes.
Uncertain, yes.

Impossible, never.
  - mce

Bad Luck

If I began
selling coffins,
people would
stop dying.
  - mce

Guerrilla Epistemology

Although
running short
of ammunition,
he continues
to skirmish
hopelessly with
the unknowable.
  - mce

Woman Of Power

Wild, witchy wench
whirling naked
beneath a full moon,
conjuring me
inevitably
under your spell.
  - mce

Beyond The Veneer Of Reason

Love remains
inscrutable
as prayer;
not something
you understand,
but something
you do.
   _ mce

Egotism

The belief
that even
the weather report
is about you.
  - mce

Sitting

Make a Zendo
of your hovel;
it doesn't matter
where you park
your lonely ass.
  - mce

Hubris

Four years spent
demanding answers
to questions
that have none.

The desire
to know too much
dangerously
transgresses
the territory
of God.

And the world turns,
regardless.
   - mce

Dietary Question

Obviously,
the human heart
can subsist
on hope alone;
the question is:
for how long?
  - mce

Teetering On The Brink

At some point,
either you evolve
your own
private religion
or you risk
falling off
the edge
of the world.
  - mce

Three Days Without Whiskey

Alcohol provides
a place to hide
in a life where
real hiding places
are far between.
  - mce

Dream Lovers

Black silk and white wine;
candlelight and incense.

The secret sounds
that only lovers hear:
the throb of heartbeats
in the velvet night,
silky sighs
and throaty gasps.

Come to me, Love.

We will writhe
like two horny angels
fluttering our hearts
like wings in tandem
as our souls float away.
  - mce

Children

The permanent
scar tissue
left by
a momentary
biological collision.
  - mce

To Do List

Wake up.
Have a drink.
Make coffee.
Smoke some
cigarettes.
Ponder the
vacuum of the
pending day.
Walk out
to face it,
numbness
incarnate.
  - mce

The Futility Of Meeting New People Late In Life

You already
know
they will
abandon you,
betray you,
break your heart
or die.
  - mce

Two Poems By Hermann Hesse

    - Rendered from the German by mce.

The Days Press Down

The days press down.
No fire to warm;
no sun to laugh.
Only barrenness,
chill and unforgiving.
Even the dear,
crystal stars stare
bleakly down
since my heart
discovered that
love can die.


Evil Time

In the silence
there are no songs to sing.
We tread heavily;
this is the inevitable night.

Give me your hand!
We may still have far to go.
Snow and more snow;
hard winter in a strange country.

Where in time
does a bright fire burn for us?
Give me your hand!
We may still have far to go.

Siren Song

 “The thought of suicide is a powerful solace: by means of it one gets through many a bad night” - Nietzsche

He slept alone,
the nights were long;
suicide
sang its song.

Walking in
the light of day,
its melody
seemed far away,

but in the night
the song rang clear,
tantalizing
in his ear,

promises of
rest and peace,
oblivion
and sweet release.

He slept alone,
the nights were long;
suicide
sang its song.
  - mce

Preemptive Strike

Time is
the enemy;
strike first
or all is lost.
  - mce

Melancholy Paradox

The one thing
he wanted
in the world,
the one thing
he could
never have.
  - mce

"Everything's Made To Be Broken"

Saddest
fact
of all.
  - mce

Terminus

Every rope
has an end;
the question is:
do you hold on
once you've
reached it
or do you
make a noose?
  - mce

Dessert

He tried to concoct
a feast of words
from madness,
misery and despair
until he lost
his appetite
for dark vapors,
and tasteless air.

The last course
must be served;
he only got
what he deserved.
  - mce