Die-hard

don't bother telling me when the show's over
because i'm gonna be the one standing around
an empty room
looking toward an empty stage
wondering where the rest of the audience went
and what happened to the guitars and amps

dancing alone in the abyss of a dream
shouting "Encore!"
for another song that isn't going to be played

when the band has gone home
when the lights are all turned off
i'll be the guy refusing to call it an evening

in the spaces between me and the end
i will keep the night alive with the set-list of my soul 
never ready to go home

Spirits

Anxious lips pucker for that stinging poison kiss;

spirits of the damned that host a hell of a good time.

No cost is too great; all the money, away, we piss.

Shun the days worries; of responsibilities we're remiss,

and it all goes down so smoothly with just a squeeze of lime.

Vodka

I do reminisce that clean burn;
tasted like baptism every time.
When the perfect mix I did learn,
it eased my mind, and my concern.
It made each and every night sublime.

Danny Gets Hooked Online

with a keyboard made of wood
i'd be surprised not to have a splinter yet
doing less than i could
more hours than i should
wasted on the internet

i blame it on this town
but still, i need to log out
shut the computer down
instead of looking for renown
over something that i blog about

The Snowman Blues

Freezing is all that ever I felt;
Carrot and coal fall to the ground.
Sadly, when Spring comes, I will melt.

As well goes my scarf, my coat, and my belt;
Death comes upon without sound.
Freezing is all that ever I felt.

I do not pine for the cards I was dealt;
Always this way when a year turns around.
Sadly, when Spring comes, I will melt.

Memories of youths, snowballs they'd pelt;
Months ago I was made from mound.
Freezing is all that ever I felt.

Clumps of ice, skin it could welt;
Forever and only to Winter I'm bound.
Sadly, when Spring comes, I will melt

Weather will warm, and I will grow svelte;
Soon just a small puddle on the ground.
Freezing is all that ever I felt;
Sadly, when Spring comes, I will melt.

Sweet Undying Moon

Sweet undying moon,

I offer you my song.

With the stars in tune,

heartfelt, i will croon

to you the whole night long. 

A Poem for Mom

i will never know why you hurt the way that you did

but i have always known how

it is hard to recover yourself from the debris

when disaster is all around you

when the rubble is thick and heavy

most days you just don't have the strength to sort through it all

overlooked in the mess of everything

in this world full of broken pieces

you were lost

i don't blame you anymore

i don't resent you anymore

i forgive you

i have to

because i am you

we have the same heart

you and i

and it's that kind of heart that wears you down

crashes into the wall and puts a hole there that takes so much work to patch up 

it is just easier to live with the wreckage

simpler to ignore the damage

than to try to fix it

we'll both always have our regrets

there are no do-overs

there are no second chances

so we just have to deal with it

as it is

we have the same heart

you and i

though our minds may be quite different

and we will never understand each other

but i still love you anyway

and i hope that someday the darkness will lose us

like we lost ourselves