Empty Room

--4 February days in a mental hospital--beginning with the day of the 24 inch snowstorm.--
There's a shadow over there
one or two cast by my hair
the window shows gray
I'm by myself today
There's no one else in here
to lay their head upon my shoulder
I cock my head in the mirror
am I really that much older?
Arms wrapped around my knees
as the sun stumbles down the sky
maybe I should stand and run
or then again I could lay here and sigh
I've been brought here to cry
I feel like I came here to lie
The mirror wants me here to die
There's a shadow over there
it's just me and it
it has a steely-eyed stare
and I don't care

Daddy

Sitting at the kitchen table
chin resting on my knuckles, exhaling....sharply.
You've been long gone....
Daddy, I have questions
What about that alternator I need your help with?
What about that life-changing situation I have to ask you about?
Where am I supposed to go with this....
sometimes I pick up the phone like you might actually be at the other end
I'm a crazy bastard.
Big things are happening
and I can't find that crack of light under the door
and you're not there for the answer
I'm helpless and hopeless, daddy
I turn in circles
sky of blue
tears of clear
hair flies around
and the tears sling loose
and there's not a safe place for me to stop
or for the tears to drop.
Daddy why aren't you there to catch me anymore?
Your tools are gone
Your smell is gone
I've got a picture, and a few of your toys,
but I stand in the living room, I can feel you there
Please say something, Daddy.
Because it's your answers I want
because I can't make a move without them....
Daddy?

Absolution and Retribution

Cain carried in his cracked and
weather beaten hand
an Iris as beautiful as the falling sun
and the beach's twinkling sand

He gently showed the flower to some nearby little girls
with it's delicate, brittle stems, leaves, and twirls
he then squeezed his hand tight
and blood flowed through his fingers and dripped

dripped down into the grass.....

Cain said to the little girls that this is what
God does to all beauty
He bleeds it dry, turning it into
whores and manual duty

Cain then dropped the Iris and walked away
as the little girls laughed in their curious and naive way
they attempted to fix the mangled Iris
for the remainder of their day

Cain walked chuckling through
a great and heavy door
Where a flick of the Morningstar's wing
slit his throat from neck to floor

As Cain gurgled and breathed his last
Lucifer knelt down low
Putting his fingertips to his lips
and breathed....

"It's not for them to know."

Claws and Sleep

It comes at 330
rifle shot, lightning bolt
sometimes I remember
More often I don't

but I always cry

I don't like to look
at that door
every damn night
what's in store?

but I have to see

because no one can live without sleep