After the Revolution

A Light Went Out

The Clutch

The Ribs of a Dynasty

Awaking in the middle of an idealist dream
The kind of fantasy that is perfection
To a world builder
Employed by a world ruler
Suddenly aware his pillow of rose petals
Are steel beams
Suspended near the clouds
Looking down, he sees a massive framework
The most ambitious project to date
Looking around, he sees a great pedestal
The skeleton of a masterpiece
The ribs of a dynasty
The hallowed dining halls
Of king makers, playboys and savants
Looking up, he sees no end
To where this massive construct is growing
But knows no matter how solid the base
This building will never be tall enough
To exist between the worlds above and below
As a permanent memorial
A reminder of its own decadence

The Liquid and the Creature

On a subtle outline of absence
Is a pale comparison
Contrasting her youth, her beauty
Her foreign delicacies
And domestic pleasures
She carries a covered pot of steam
And a glowing liquid
To a sleeping creature
Who lives quietly on the other side
As she crosses the divide
On a trail to another time
She stumbles and spills the meal
Of the sleeping creature
Fearing it will awake
And find the evidence of her error
She buries the pot at its feet
Then she kneels
Then she prays
Then she crosses back in time
To the other side

The Divide

A foam covered mystery
Of her comedic pleasures
A glass seemingly out of place
With a treasure it cannot conceal
And a golden figurine
Swimming through lavishness
Decadence and prose
Laughing aloud in an empty room
She twirls in strange patterns
To an unheard rhythm
Yet her eyes are steady
Fearless, menacing
For all of her mockery
And lighthearted moments
Her fingers neither tremble
Nor do they pause
As they reach for a sharpened edge
Nor does she bleed
As she passes through a blade
Along this streamlined form
A diamond piercing curve
Cuts a path across the two worlds
An unreconciled divide

The Starry Light

At the entrance are a pair of eyes
With a painted warning
Entering into a dark mouth
Leading to an extinguished fire
Resting places for the underworld
Where homeless men
And feral stays
Sleep alongside broken glass
Cigarette butts and plaster
Overlooking the old park
And the new highway
The ceilings and roof are gone
Creating a courtyard
Of fire stained bricks
Corroded steel beams
Painted warnings, cryptic signs
A star lit passage to heaven

Let Loose the Hogs of War

An armored sounder
Marched along the razor wire
Curtailed and corralled
Temporarily held
Against their will
Cloaked in a cape of razors
The leader grunted and groaned
Promising victory
Upon his release
And swift retaliation
Against his enemies
His confidence high
Knowing no prison
Can contain this army forever
The guards at the gate
Abandoned their posts
Believing it was better
To flee the path of an unspeakable evil
And hope for it to contain itself
Than to be trampled and mauled
Once the swine
Finally break free