I see you
In the eternal neon twilight
Of your artificial magnificence
And shimmering facades
...
We were just fifteen-
you, me, and my best friend.
sitting inside the cool of your house
playing Dungeons and Dragons
...
Sometimes it is
the low clank of the dinner plate
striking the stainless steel sink
followed by the ting
...
Full bone moon pinned
To the night like a broach
On her soft velvet gown
Of stars and pearlescent skies.
...
I am your priest
kneeling before
the altar of your temple,
the sanctuary of our bed,
...
A few years ago
I promised myself
to stop my silly suicide games.
At least while my parents
...
If at the end of all things we could stand
upon the darkening shores of the last twilight,
...
As the night waited expectantly
with its thousand disappointments
...
If you have ever been aboard a ship,
no, not a boat on a lake on a lazy Sunday,
...
One day
he noticed the way
words pass from lips into air
then fall onto the floor
...
If ever the world could stand still, then it would be now.
If ever there was something to call beautiful, then it is her,
Sleeping, occasionally stirring, beside me in this bed,
Her lips parted in the knowing half-smile of contentment.
...
If you have ever been aboard a ship,
no, not a boat on a lake on a lazy Sunday,
...
I am a fading shadow
Leaning in a chair against the wall.
My dreams have been blown like
...
Welcome to my world. This collection of poems, if it were to have a title, would be ' A Short Candle in the Long Darkness.' If you are wanting to know more about me, then get use to disappointment..... Dedication: All that I write is always dedicated to all of those I have found that have struggled to find their answers, as well for any in this world who somehow keep going, even when they don't even know why. I carry all of you in my heart: My family Randy & Jen Nadine Annie Brian Jo (Maiden) Paula Peggy Jeremiah Robert Alisha & Craig Stephanie Stacy C. Stacy M. Camille Sarah To those musicians whose songs and music have sustained me and given me strength, or has taken me away for just a moment even in the greatest despair: Collective Soul 'Shine' Live 'Lightning Crashes' Peter Gabriel Shelia Chandra Tori Amos Henry Rollins Eva Cassidy Diana Krall Holly Cole Toni Price Nanci Griffith Yoav A Fine Frenzy and all the others... To Henry and to all those I have known who eventually lost the strength to keep up the fight; and to the lost I have not met still out there searching in the darkness.: Do not ever think you failed or were cowards: you had a strength and courage to keep going as long as you did. I light the candle to keep your memories alive, and to light the way of those still wandering. You were and still are loved. -Joseph Martin III 6/2/2008)
Vegas
I see you
In the eternal neon twilight
Of your artificial magnificence
And shimmering facades
Rising from the dark flat sea.
Our Lady of Opulence
The faithful come to you
Seeking their instant salvation
In the fanfare of clanging bells
And flashing lights.
But you are vain and indifferent.
How many of your followers’ prayers
Have gone unanswered!
From Fremont to Flamingo
The heretics push shopping carts,
Your defrocked priestesses sell
Themselves for needles and pipes.
The excommunicated are on hands and knees
Combing dingy carpets in cheap rooms.
At the Greyhound station scared-eyed
Teenage runaways await your judgment.
They are doomed to go unremembered
Like so many two-bit gangsters
Buried in your desert.
3/31/2005