The Fox’s Feast: Post-famine

The Fox’s Feast: Post-famine

Devoured by ballrooms of the arrogant machine

Clocks count the fox in time to a rhythm 

Systemic suicide that sets the alarm for a common thief 

to make her grand entrance,

resistance is key.

The minutes watch the seconds as they creep

upon the hours of gravity, owned 

towers that chime through grit and bone

We unfortunately are not alone.

The coat, a pocket for our bodies, 

the gates that take our young

the stolen mechanics, wandering concepts

impatient hands folded for unrelenting death.

I will march for my brood, sly, through the jaws 

of a union so broken and fragile.

Dirty and abused. I flinch, still I fight

I am lost and found and gone again

Fastened tightly to a wrist, my fist twists through 

the angry detours of the rabbit’s hole.

You are my enemy as I am yours.

Hatred burns with poetic inversions of inflexible proportions

I will devour you and all that you are.

JP
2017

"If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared." -- Niccolo Machiavelli

Letters from an American Soldier

Letters from an American Soldier

by Jesse Payne

Mother, father, sister, brother:

My will has been broken.

I sit nestled in leaves

branching over blood and field.

This sunset ridicules the decay

of my country’s remains.

On mountains once shared, and breakfast tables

Will we ever mend these disconnected cables?

Tents fill bottles and eyes with liquid compromise

as I’m left to read about days of old

and dream of coming home.

I’m thankful you all stayed on the family farm.

A friend of mine watched

as his brother died

On the far side 

of enemy lines.

How could the conversation stop in order for towns to burn?

War is hell and I’m faced to bring it

in bags and drop it on the doorsteps

of a backwards society.

My clothes are torn with ragged sweat and the blood of my friends.

I wish that I could go back to childhood

and start my life again.

With a form of innocence that no longer resides within me

I’m broken but held together by curse and scorn. Born

is the man who cannot forget.

Above these hills are visions of freedom

but if I jump, I will not land on my feet

nor on my knees but in a sea full of dreams

that will never be seen.

Keep my place at the table warm

for I will return someday 

in some kind of form.

I hope I can hold you all before I die

in these arms that time has denied

my enemy.

I’m thankful you all stayed on the family farm.

JP

2015

"The two most powerful warriors are patience and time." 
-- Leo Tolstoy

Biting the Towel

"Biting the Towel"

Grinding teeth becomes sandpaper

ripping the surface from the tops of piano keys.

Dissonant in nature, but in music

dissonance is beauty.

Cold blooded dogs slithering down

the back alleys of a city abandoned by the righteous.

Fangs suspended in air with foam and fear

understate the ribs and the fur that shines.

I remember when I’m in front of my mirror,

an heirloom draped over shoulder blades.

A face pressed between metal and clamp,

a Mona Lisa smile beneath historical eyes.

I can see the tears that once fell

from her chin, so fragile.

Lost in a time when no one was found,

my lungs tremble with her fragrance 

I have lost more than my life.

In a dream I was dancing on counter tops,

my toes reaching for the stove.

Courage doesn’t matter to the ill-informed,

It’s naive.

Wisdom withdraws from the kitchen, 

elegant in its transmission.

The years of a moment that will not end.

Nothing else can matter if you could never begin.

I’ll keep biting the towel

until I’m relieved

of my responsibilities.

JP 2015

"It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop"
--Confucius

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

Innocence is Forever Fleeting

Innocence is Forever Fleeting

My beautiful son, 

I wish I could view the world through your eyes

Innocence is forever fleeting

all day, everyday

May love be your anchor.

The perfect storm has taken me

but provided the waters for you to be 

My tears cannot wash away your troubles

nor will they erase my faults

but let them fill your well

so they may cushion your fall

let them hydrate your strength

my beautiful son.

I wish I could see the world through your eyes

Whatever was good in me now is with you

True gifts cannot be wrapped

nor purchased with gold

They stem from hearts, spreading through souls

but innocence is forever fleeting

all day, everyday

May love be your contribution, my beautiful son.

I bear the blame for the burdens you will carry

Treat the world with kindness

regardless its rotation

Never lose sight of your most precious dreams

be the change you want to see

Tolerate with the knowledge, evil exists

resist it with your entire existence

and may you carry on

my beautiful son.

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards"

---Soren Kierkegaard