Cast-Iron Heart

A poem about heartbreak...ahhhhhh, what a strange theme! The simple fact is many of us have placed our hearts in the hands of someone we trusted, only to have that person shred it up and hand it back to us in an unrecognizable form. Love is a wonderful yet terrifying emotion that can cause either happiness or utter despair. It can be the greatest experience or the very worst. This poem is for all of the heartbroken who have felt the stinging pains of lost love. Goodnight....you shall soon love again.

Breathe in, breathe out,
Cool metallic click,
Makes me feel sick,
This is the steel valve that leads to my cast-iron heart,
A heart that I wish never did start,
I sit up in bed, listening to the click,
I can not hear the tick nor the tock of my bedside clock.
The palpitations extend from my chest,
In this gut wrenching sound, I did not invest,
I wish to open my ribcage like a big, bone book,
And reach in with a wretched, metal hook,
Disabling the machine that I once called a heart,
That I wish never did start,
It was not always this way,
But from my path you decided to stray,
We used to spend summers under the old, tired willow,
You used my lap for your head, as a pillow,
Softly speaking of conquering the world,
Your dreams before me, you brashly unfurled,
I would always listen with eager intent,
You could do nothing wrong,
I was sure you were sent, from the heavens above,
But, just like that you were gone,
Without a single word,
You carried out the devious con,
You convinced me that my heart was better served in your tender, loving hands,
That you had the most wondrous of plans,
And that is when you did it,
I was dreaming, in a lull, a beautiful sleep state,
You wiped it clean, our carefully marked slate,
You vanished, my heart in your grasp,
It might has well been in the den of an asp,
Left me with a rusty, iron pacemaker in the place of my warm, flesh heart,
The heart, that I now wish did not start.

No Regrets

What a way to spend your life! In a nation that places full emphasis on its economy and monetary well being, is it really a surprise that most Americans see money as the #1 solution? We all have an inherent gift that is given to us and not using that gift is, in my eyes, a crime. So, for all of you who are not happy with your major, job, school, etc., remember that life does not wait for those slow to action. Inherit the gift that has been given to you! Live with NO REGRETS.

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!

Wake up, says my impatient alarm,

O what a way he has, such wonderful charm,

My head begins to pound,

As I listen to that putrid, relentless sound,

I sit up in my all too comfortable bed and already,

I am seeing red,

Every morning is the same,

A knockout punch of déjà vu,

Nothing in my life brings promise of new,

When you get a whiff of my routine you will see what I mean.

Wake up at dawn,

No time to yawn,

Stumble into the shower,

Beneath its pounding assault I cower,

Pat myself dry,

No chance to bat an eye,

Reluctantly don my suit, what do you know?

Yesterday, I spilled fruit!

Try it again,

This time I win,

Jump into my car, phew,

It barely starts, drive into the city,

Avoid that ditch of self-pity.

Hi Jack!

I wish I had a sack,to place over my head,

So I could get past Fred…Fred!

How are you? O, you bought a Corvette?

What a surprise, its brand new!

Sure, I can keep walking,

While you continue talking, there is nothing I’d rather do then sit and listen to you,

Talk about your life, and your amazing wife,

O, and who can forget your tiny treasures,

Your children that bring you such great pleasure.

I sure can’t, pictures of those little kids are practically engraved under my burning eyelids!

As you stand and blatantly brag,

Making me wish I had a chloroform rag,

To knock you out,

My mind begins its own bout,

With a certain thought of all that life has brought,

Onto my doorstep.

How did I land here, in this boring place,

How did I become apart of this monotonous race,

The same race that I promised to never run,

No, I am not having any fun,

Life’s sweet smells are nothing more than rotten stench,

An aroma that continues to induce a horrible flinch.

A flinch of my spirit,

That can no longer bare it,

Bare this same sounding drone,

This same base moan,

Lunges from my throat,

As I realize I missed the life boat,

Now I am stuck on misery island, here with guys like Fred,

Those citizens of humanity that I will always dread,

What seems like four days later I finally escape his nuclear mouth,

But from there things only go further south,

“Those reports should have been on my desk yesterday!”

Yells my enraged boss over my shoulder,

I wish for only one thing, that item is a boulder,

A large monolith to fall and crush that devil,

That always seems to revel in every single shortcoming,

I have finally made it to lunch,

But I am still under time’s vicious crunch,

As I sit and choke down my processed heart attack,

I begin to think back,

To times of ease,

When there were so few to please,

Back when thank you and yes sir were enough to get by,

Back to my younger days when I knew I could fly,

Now I stare at that old clock,

That continues to tick and tock,

When life was good he moved too fast,

But when days were rough his time barely passed,

Lunch is over and its back to my prison cell,

Where for the rest of the day I will dwell.

I turn on my computer and open a new report,

But all the numbers and figures my mind can not sort,

This leech duty has sucked away at my tired brain,

And continued to drain, away at all of life’s excitement,

Locking my spirit in solitary confinement,

Now its a battle ‘til the end of the day,

O, please end, please end, I pray,

Somehow I manage to make it through with little damage,

Finding myself in bed at night,

Laying underneath my glowing bedside light,

Thinking about tomorrow’s vicious fight,

I think back to all the plans I had,

Where there was no such thing as drab,

Only bright, vivacious color that spilled into every nook and cranny,

To whoever reads this letter, I offer it as a caution,

An awakening, a call-to-arms, my life’s testament,

Let it act as an alarm,

Though your plans in life may be hindered,

Though your path to greatness may be war-torn,

Though the soles of your shoes may be worn,

And through self-doubt you are beset,

Live your life with NO REGRETS.

Beethoven

So, this is a little bit of a change from my usual format. I wrote this poem for a class but that isn't to say that this poem didn't mean something special to me. I've never been a huge fan of classical music but I have a great amount of respect for the musicians. Enjoy.



He felt the wondrous sound burn within,
An arsonist like there's never been, it scorched his soul,
Took complete control, his ears were shut but his mind was open,
His imagination soared in the form of rhythm and chords,
Ink descended from his heaven-sent quill,
Noise of the angels it did furiously spill,
Manifested on paper through notes and scales,
This conduit set full sail, created a new land among the glorious stars,
Built a universe out of measures and bars,
He changed the way we hear, see, feel, at our hearts he did passionately peel,
Dug in, blazed a path into our minds,
Opened the dusty, worn out blinds, let the light shine in,
Brought us to a place we'd never been,
In an intense rage he pushed the pen to the parchment,
Showed us where the bounds of love and obsession went,
This fiery passion stemmed from the depths of his innermost being,
Without music, life had no meaning,
His stage was the page, on it, he built civilizations,
Constructed the origin of symphonic nations,
Infuriated by his open space environment,
He saw it as a horrific waste, so he made great haste,
With excruciating effort worked to fill the landscape with melodic structure,
He looked to rupture, the mundane, the norm,
He sought to create within the calm, a glorious storm,
Leaving the ear forever reborn,
Rejoice o great musician,
For you are the artist’s every ambition,
A revered creator of all that is pure,
For the colorless you provided the all healing cure,
A polychromatic pallet of musical bliss, greater even,
Than a lover’s first kiss.

Imagination

I draw a line in my mind and watch as it becomes a tall, majestic pine,
The leaves unfold, fruit blossoms and begins to grow,
From this fruit comes an animal,
Of what type, I’m not sure,
It stares up at me as it comes into existence,
I reach down to pet this creature,
And it offers no resistance,
I run my fingers through its soft silky fur,
It begins to coo, as if some type of a bird,
How can this be happening?
This beast has changed before my eyes,
Become a fine-feathered falcon, as if revealing itself from a disguise,
But wait is it a falcon? For its eyes are too large, too round,
My psyche is trying to keep up but my brain begins to pound.
Is this a tiger, lion, bear, falcon, or an owl,
As I search my inner thoughts for an answer my face forms a scowl,
How can this be, what sick trick is my mind playing on me?
I look back at the bird,
His feathers are no longer what they were,
They form scales, and this bird begins to hiss,
This is no feathered friend, surely my thoughts have run amiss,
No, I begin to see a changing reality,
A deadly viper is now slithering its way toward my person,
A certain formality, this snake is no longer a serpent,
Legs begin to grow and arms swing to-and-fro from the body of this creature,
This beast is becoming a person, a child,
Then a man, he stands before me and then I suddenly understand,
My eyes while they are blind,
Have been defeated by my imagination's flight,
My mind has given me the gift of sight.

Guardian

I see you standing on the corner of that sparsely lit street,
Before this, I believe we did meet,
Yes, I’m quite sure of it, I saw you before,
I saw you stand over him while he laid there on the floor.
You in your jet black cloak, razor sharp sickle in tow,
Around you, the wind did not dare blow,
But I barred your way, I am a guardian of life,
I refuse to betray, hideously, you screamed,
As I stood there, fiery shield and sword I did bare,
Ready for your furious attack, within me no fear,
But you were smart not to be so bold,
You knew there was no chance of bringing him into the cold,
I will stand watch over him day and night,
If its what you want, I will give you a fight,
But you must understand you will not defeat the light.

Get ready.....

FOR AN EMBARRASSMENT MAVS FAN!!!!

Camouflage

As I don the garbs of conformation,
I feel as though I am clothing myself in hypocritical affirmation.
Camouflage is fitting, for so it does to my creative spirit,
Hides all individualism, I can hardly bare it
I stare forward with steel eyes, body rigid as a plank,
This robotic attitude I do despise
The orders are barked and together we march,
Our heads turning neither to the left nor the right,
We follow command all day and all night,
No shades of gray, only black and white.
The uniform sound where boot meets ground,
Greets my ears, like finger nails greet a chalkboard,
But inside, my screams I must hoard.
This sterility kills my minds imaginative fertility,
Burning up any pre-formed visions of independence,
Will I ever find a path of transcendence?
Until I do I will continue to march in the same stoic formation,
Into the sunset, the sunset of a once great nation.