Broken Palette

"Broken Palette"

I tried to leave a painted picture

without destruction

I loved the imagery and context

but without the frame

there is no security

I combed my hair the way you said

without questions

I tucked in my shirt and counted my blessings

without fear

there can be no love.

JP 2013

“Slander is the revenge of a coward, and dissimulation his defense”

--Saint John Chrysostom

Punchlines

“Punchlines”

Time catches 

us all

in a fist

of rage

a graph 

designed for 

devouring 

its prey.

Reconstructing 

veins that twist 

like oak trees

shackled beneath 

laundry and dirt

Parallels of action 

separated from thought

nothing falls that isn’t forced

Blessed are the eardrums, 

they’ve been through hell

material comforts

shoulders for shelter

and moments of triumph

until the mind sinks from the weight

of knowledge and space

wormholes and a hefty court case

Time catches 

us all

in a deep 

embrace

a graph 

designed for 

devouring 

its prey.

JP

2013

"In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same." -- Albert Einstein

Scales of Obstruction

Scales of Obstruction

I forgive the death of those we bury

curses are the shovel, cruel and twisting

behind the walls of swollen words

like investments, handmade and worthless

a wicked black downfall

taking control of our central trees

Threatening our way of life

hands of the owner

messages deceive

when written from beneath

I hesitate before I breathe

Loneliness, the whiskey of defeat

tears from the ashes of tyranny

the lawless violently aiming

with crooked souls

Condemn the scales of obstruction

and tell the stitches to project

We can criticize leverage

of autographs and crevices

while surveys search the random wire

creating sparks

Threatening our way of life

hands of the owner

messages deceive

when written from beneath

I hesitate before I breathe

and the lawless violently aiming

with crooked souls

JP

2013

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up.  The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time" - Thomas Edison