Self Portrait 1

These poems are from a series of new poetry discs I'm working on entitled 'Self Portrait'. There are 7 CD's in all - ten poems on each disc.

1.

Took a walk around the block
Looked straight into the sun
Heat soaked into my skin.

Made eye contact with a dog
When I turned around it was still there
A woman chatted with her daughter.

A squirrel charged toward me
Bees buzzed like a symphony
A bird chirped hello.

Charlie
June 15, 2007


2.

Tell yourself a secret
Don’t tell anyone else
Seal your mouth shut
With black electrical tape,
Pretty flowers or a devilish
Grin.

Visit her when she’s gardening
Don’t wait till she’s in the hospital
And you can not find a place to park.

My story is not a tragic one though
Sometimes I like to pretend that it is
I told her I was a delicate flower and
She told me I was full of crap.

Tell yourself you only have 6 months
To live and see what, if any, response
This elicits from all the inner children
You refuse to speak to or support.

Charlie
June 17, 2007


Unclasped

No one owns your body
Not him
Only God
Only you

No one owns your mind
Not anyone
Not God
Not you

We are flying in the face of adversity
Clawing at the tiger’s striped skin
Staring in the face of a brimming volcano

No one can or should tell you what to do
Not him
Only God
Only you

No one controls your thoughts
Not anyone
Not God
Only you

Charlie for Joey 7/17/07 12:02 AM


Grounds

Drink the coffee
Goes right through
Too much sugar
Too much cream

Watch the news
Too much intolerance
Too many broken heads

Try to love you
End up alone
Try to love myself
End up loving somebody else

Alone too long
Selfish, stupid, a child
Wearing an adult’s skin
Alone for too long
My behavior insufferable
Praying for another type of sin

Drink the poison
Goes right down
Too many I told you so's
Too many daydreams

Charlie July 2007


Den

The lions aren’t hungry
I’ll surely be ripped to shreds
When they will be is anyone’s guess

I’m not a lion
Not even a wolf in sheep’s clothing
I once was a snake then I shed my skin

We aren’t here to fuss or fight
Aren’t here to be wrong or right
It’s pretty obvious if you just open your eyes

I’ve lost my appetite
I never cared much for apples or oranges
The fruit of knowledge an oxymoron

Come closer
Don’t worry I’m not going to kiss you
This time you wont get off that easy

The lions have gone south for the winter
Something about plummeting property values
I want to be cremated when I’m born again.

Charlie July 2007


needs and wants

I need to write another poem
About my ear and how it listens to the Earth
I need to say something I’ve not said before

I want to contact her
Stop confessing my sins
Just love her once and for all

Yes I am dissatisfied
Yes I question what went wrong
No I never had a master plan or hidden agenda

I need to decide once and for all if it's destiny I'm heading toward
I need to figure out how when I feel like I’m ruined if that is a strength or a weakness

Yes I very much want to live
Yes I very much need to give

Charlie July 2007


We must ready ourselves to fight

White snow turns black ash
White light turns black light
Bright day turns blackest night

We know black
We know white
We must diffuse the grey

We know life
We know death
Limbo must be erased

You are never out of your depth
No matter what you may condition yourself to believe
Hope does not lie dormant – fear a waste of time and energy

Time does not exist
We outlast past, present and future
There are no remedies until we fight

Snow turns to ash
Day turns into night
Sun protects us – moon deplores us

We know God
We know ourselves
Introduce yourself to possibility

Charlie July 2007


King of Kings

He was singing a song.
He was wearing a paper crown.

Charles
8/4/2007


Judas Saved Jesus From A Life of Perpetual Crime

No one was betrayed
No one was forsaken
No one sought refuge

No one died in vain.

Jesus Saved Judas From A Life of Perpetual Shame

No money changed hands
No blood on anyone’s hands

No shifting winds reclaimed any one Kingdom.

Charles
8/4/2007


A Pocketful of Posies

I like you like I like the sun
And I ain’t telling anyone
I like you like I like the flowers
No I ain’t telling anyone.

I believe in you like I believe in the Sacrifice
And I’m telling everyone
I believe in you like I believe in the Cross
Yes I’m telling everyone.

Charles
8/5/07