everyone’s crazy 

some hide it some parade it 

all suffering with it 

a few monetize it 

everyone’s crazy

 just give it three months

 for the masks to drop 

and the moves to run out

 that’s when things get interesting 

that’s when things get real 

we acknowledge the three-sixty view 

and then we start to deal 

that’s when we start l...

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Our initials 

I wanna believe everything 
without discernment 
travel the universe 
of your moods 

I’m just so happy 
not to feel alone 
even if this feeling 
is made for fools 

we flatten initial 
differences 
digging them as friction 
that finds a groove 

we intake 
all these indulgences 
knowing full well 
they’ll be paid for in full

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Mechanical Bull

you know how it goes
it just goes to show 

entitlement blinds
you to its outcomes 

oh the ride 
doesn’t stop you 

thrown again into those 
special circumstances 

remixing old
strategies in a way 

that flatter you 
riding on fumes 

back home 
reworking scenes

in your mind 
until you’ve won 

while a hope 
for tomorrow
 
pleads for 
another shot

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some instrument

my interests take me 
outside myself 

fill me with fear 
I shape into questions 

held close to my heart 
when no one else does 

inhabiting this space 
vacated by romance 

like a storefront 
in the rust belt 

I fall to the ground 
then I want to walk 

I fall to the ground 
my eyes are silent 

I follow that sound 
that takes me home

eminating from s...

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where do they come from 
where do they belong 

inside out upside down 
wrapped around and around 

you get attached to them 
you blow them out of your head 

some people get buried under them 
others throw up their hands 

do you take them out to examine them reconsider them or just replace them 

are you wedded to your opinions 
will you fight for them to the death 

or just lea...

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these are my records of seduction 
those what’s left from the divorce 

there are a handful 
from my childhood bedroom 

mixed with some that 
just arrived in that box 

I’ve carried these crates 
through stints as a deejay 

there are many that I can’t spin again 
I’ve sold half several times over 

then I think 
there are many worst sins 

I don’t need your condescension
your ...

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Your Budget

Your budget gets me without wardrobe 

appetizers provided only for the first dozen guests 

one (1) poem or song written about your most endearing hang-ups 

3 (two) weekends per calendar year doing things I can’t stand without as much as a shrug 

and one hundred (35) days in the first four months of unlimited customer support 

Other packages available upon request 

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Elone

trillions of cells 
dozens of friends 
thousands of characters 
at my fingertips 

hundreds of words
pass over my lips 
windscreen bugs 
don’t make a sound 

I’d trade it all 
for the prison of your heart 
betray a world 
to be held in your arms 

hundreds of rules 
millions of souls 
wrapped together 
in plastic mold 

how long until 
I won’t feel so elone?

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this adventure has gone on 

longer than predicted 

stranger than I could’ve written 

deeper than I thought existed 

that fear that you thought 

was just your own 

was a type of alarm 

to let you know you’re still going on  

the unknown 

the only place to go 

what we’re meant to explore 

where we feel at home 

we’ve always felt this feeling 

alw...

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Everything for nothing 

as if your desires were driven 
by someone else 
and you were hidden 
from yourself 

and the scripts written 
by an obvious hack 
and you were just supposed to 
deposit the check 

but you trade everything for nothing 
without looking back 
because you’d rather be sleeping 
with yourself  

no matter the publicity 
and organic hype 
you’d rather be list...

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you take black; I’ll take red 
now we can’t still be friends 

ideological differences 
ideological differences 

maybe the truth is in between 
everything we’ve ever seen 

let’s split the family 
we never liked them anyway 

kill you; kill me sex is hotter 
when we disagree 

spying for the other side 
“it’s a living” he lies

she gave everything to the cause 
that was later p...

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The world needs more of you 
it’s been asking for your number 
I said I’d talk to you 
the world said “whatever” 

and I can only tell you 
what you already know 
I think you’re beautiful 
I mean your soul 

the world wants to hold you 
just to itself 
use you, abuse you 
it gets away with that 

I think you should meet it 
despite the objections 
try to seduce it 
if it insists ...

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I like the people I hate 

they have their points

they have their say 

they go about their lives

the opposite of mine 

sometimes I can’t find 

the differences 

at which time 

I hate the people I like 

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hope is the last thing 

to go I remind myself 

as we ask too much 

from this world of talk 

not today, devil 

no thanks, rebel 

I’ll pay this bill 

in full 

I keep working 

I keep learning 

how hard it is 

to be good 

should I eat this 

do I kill this 

would you kiss me 

should we leave 

I’ve got to live with myself 

that’s the...

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I’ll find you again 

with another name 

different face 

in another age 

we’ll remember 

this circumstance 

on hearts’ pathways 

lubricated and well-worn  

we’ll cause good trouble 

take a pause from the war 

seconds out from the struggle 

to acknowledge our plots 

we’ll cause good trouble 

always worth the cost 

after all we always take it w...

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As he threatened 

me with the knife 

I thought, 

“this isn’t the time” 

I had just come back 

from my shrink 

ready to do more work

on my things 

As he growled, 

“Give me your money!!!” 

I snarled, 

“I don’t have any...

...but if you want 

the debt on my cards, 

feel free for 25k!!!” 

I then assumed the pose 

part Shaggy-part Grou...

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Assume good intentions

everything’s misconstrued

without directions

in the world that contains you

I strive to be honest

decent and true

in a life of temptation

none sweeter than you

I might go on longing

for the impossible

as my imagination takes me places

I want to show to you

I might go on being wrong

in what I see in you

but I assume my ...

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Confessions

I think 
I’m perfect 
i’mperfect 
I'm imperfect 
for you

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I am the world

I feel tired, neglected 
misunderstood 

I just wanna get some sleep 
because I am the world 

I’ve tried, pretended 
it’s all good 

but there are so many parts 
rotting amongst the pearls 

when I get enough sleep 
when I make love with the moon 

that hope springs eternal 
rising with the sun 

when I look over the cities 
when I look over the fields 

I s...

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The hot core 

everything flows 

everything goes 

about its way 

stays and fades 

it feels nowhere 

perspective 

changes, we 

reorientate 

everything 

can be in the air 

at once 

without holding on

falling back into our 

hot cores 

our knowing souls 

melt back into our hearts 

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Studies in Transgression

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prove you’re human 
accept all cookies 
select the images 
with bicycles
you've left the meeting 

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let’s paint our insides 

with flavors of home 

mixing colors 

with this decor 

we might recognize 

something we know 

mixed with something 

brilliant & unknown 

we could realize 

what’s in our hearts 

we could dance

with this rush of blood 

interior lives 

need to come out 

dreams and futures 

are making love

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Everywhere 

we know everything we’ve done nothing 
we don’t even know 
who we are 

we’ve seen a vision 
perfect life we’re wanting 
even pornography doesn’t go that far

I’m here 
you’re there 
we’re everywhere all at once 

I’d just like 
to be 
somewhere with you all alone 

my tomorrows could come undone 
they could all 
roll on the floor 

I wouldn’t care 
if they get ...

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kids can feel it 

are real with it 

the future’s 

in their eyes 

so we’re careful 

with the lies 

chains of causation

waves of confusion we ride

causing all this 

dissonance 

we help them 

with the lifting  

their hope 

is our own 

we pass it on 

so it grows 

their determination 

the oxygen 

that makes 

the glow 

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she can’t come to the phone 

for a while

could you call 

back in two years 

She’s going through 

something at the moment

and it’ll take some time 

she’ll see you on 

the other side of the process 

if you’d like to leave a message 

you can speak 

after the pause

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Henrietta 

we would go shopping in Henrietta 
the sprawl near our town 
parking lots stretched forever 
watching from the left side of the car 

it felt like another planet 
fluorescent and asphalt 
its monotony broken by signs 
the kind you’d find in airports 

I’d get nauseous in Henrietta 
from the traffic and ice cream 
the dazzle of a new toy to take back 
to Penfield 

we a...

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I will do the wrong thing 
I’ll do it with style 
just to prove 
I’m alive 

of course you’re correct 
of course you’re clever 
that’s why I’m burning it all down 
just to start over

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Like a human 

love takes off our pants 
leaves on our masks 
settling on lands 
claimed by earlier peoples 

running our rackets 
offering blankets 
reading histories 
to learn about our evils 

as Sinatra plays 
we go on our way 
smirking at prayers and players 
in the chapel 

We call it a day 
robbed of our fates 
unsure if anything we did 
was ever helpful

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On Vibrate

vibrate the metaphors

fly the songs 

attack tomorrow 

with all you’ve got 

sex the silence 

dazzle the verbs 

eat the film 

cos there’s no cure

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I want to take you 

to my bodega for

baconeggandcheese 

pressed thin and hot 

you won’t want another thing

we’ll ride to Orchard Beach 

feeling good on the bike trail 

we’ll have mushroom iced tea 

start feeling things sail  

tanning on the beach 

unbothered we’ll stay until 

we’re as brown as 

my dark body hair 

we’ll go back to my place 

p...

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there’s what you want 

what you need 

what you feel 

what you believe 

what you eat 

what you breathe 

darling we’re 

living things 

with beautiful objections 

nice problems 

keeping us occupied 

within this life 

there’s your time 

your need for space 

your desires 

your need to be correct 

your morals 

your parents’ photos 

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I’ve become someone else again 

under the influence of a film 

something I’ve read 

and the weather 

I just can’t understand how 

I do this job 

pay the rent 

why we’re still together 

leaving is always strong 

quitting never feels wrong 

familiar disappointment’s 

my secret drug 

my favorite superhero movie’s 

the one about people 

who wake...

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Where did it go-your promise 
to yourself or the world 

you’d held it; protected it 
for all those years 

to release to 
an audience of fools 

it flew like an untethered balloon 
or a deli bag on the wind 

the sense of loss or regret 
tempered by the beauty 

of the dance 
of life’s currents 

all promises to the wind 
as you wake up 

and recommit yourself 
to the presen...

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this is a limited edition 

short print run 

there’s only one 

extant copy 

you’re the one

there’s an invisible mission 

you can’t understand 

you get a few breadcrumbs 

that fall out of your hands  

and most won’t know 

a thing you’ve been told 

and many can’t see 

what you can truly be 

this is a limited edition

it can’t sell out 

it onl...

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I’ve spent a lifetime  

seeking validation 

from eyes 

of strangers 

fighting impulses  

gaze meets gaze 

 dreams, desires, experience  

 communicate 

vertigo pulls us away  

as a recognition 

dissolves fears 

I thought were only my own 

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I ate everything you said 

I bought what you made 

you became a voice in my head 

I followed to a point 

there’s an emptiness ahead 

pain in the back 

I take the vow to become 

everything myself 

we’re blood of another kind 

flowing through like minds 

suddenly destiny’s not so abstract 

with decades barking in the back 

blood of another kind 

...

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Try it on how it suits you 

make the words your own 

feel how it moves you 

it’s all open now

to interpretation 

this could be you 

not as I know you

but something new  

get lost in a name 

as it whispers to you 

you won’t be the same 

through these fields of view 

you could ruin years 

afraid of what you don’t know 

crying tears over someth...

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crab grab 

all you can

scuttle sideways 

into the pan

lobster you mobster 

buttering up 

while the boiling planet 

does what it does

crayfish one wish 

see your children 

grow big then go

into the okra gumbo

nation of crustaceans 

civilization of the shellfish 

all wanting it all 

you can just 

come in my mouth

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over a whole lifetime 

a little every day 

so nobody notices 

just a bit of poison 

through years 

of indecision 

agree with everything

always say “fine” 

vote republican, marry white 

 ignore the experts

indulge yourself 

with little things 

socialize frequently 

and take advice of colleagues

until thoughts 

are safel...

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you turn off the lights 

and greet the past 

making a small prayer

to the night to be gentle 

you were warned you’d have 

to live with yourself 

regardless of whomever’s 

with you in bed 

one day you’ll know 

you were told

one day you’ll know 

now you’re old: now you know  

every transgression 

act of vanity 

there in living color 

in you...

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While I clip my nails 
and trim my nose hairs 
I think of those
former friends from war zones 

how uncomfortable they were 
we couldn’t have a civil conversation

without an attack 
on my girlfriend’s perfume 

it was too easy to kill the vibe 
polite society requires 
everything said a provocation 
circling back to unspoken traumas 

the effort to squint and enjoy the narrow band...

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craving certainty 

you tie your lot 

to the past 

with a future knot 

the moment’s not 

welcomed here 

armored money 

for nightly fears 

you do everything right 

you marry well 

mouthing slogans 

you’ve made up yourself 

and if and when you 

miscalculate 

you attack with an authority 

that won’t break

Certainly there are 

more ...

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what a stunning debut 

dream come true 

coming out nowhere 

I remember every twist  

dubbing’s a bit off  

giving it charm 

actor looks like me 

why are his lines so dumb 

I was so happy to see 

your first film 

am I allowed to be proud  

I certainly am 

thank you for using 

this song at the end 

and I understand 

why it’s dedicated to hi...

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as I wonder

what became of you

I ask the question

of myself

time’s knife carving out

a stingy portion of my heart

leaving me with

a bit of meat and fat

years wiped off the blade

polished surface

I still recognize my reflection

still insouciant

it sounds better

in French

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I didn’t do it 

you didn’t 

see me 

throw it 

why are you 

looking at me 

when you know 

who did it 

I’m innocent 

as the day I was born 

I didn’t make 

this stuff up 

I’m innocent 

ask anyone 

they’ll lie of course 

they’re all wrong

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stick around 
see how it comes out 
what blows up 
how it goes down 

this all can’t be right 
suckers just having a good night 
as time goes by 
even simple recognizes

a bad thing that can’t last
all things must pass 
ashes to ashes
dust to dust

I’ve done my time 
with lessons that weren’t mine 
wanna sit back awhile 
watch it all burn down

how the mighty fall 
leaving spa...

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it’s this or it’s that 
could be anything 

no, 
it can’t 

it’s how you frame it
what you name it 

taxonomic chills 
nomenclatural walls 

what do you take me for
 “why” explains it 

one day they’ll drop the labels 
and the names 

this against that 
white against black 

dog versus cat 
all cliches 

the only thing that matters 
as you prepare to battle is how it’s fra...

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you got that thing 

everybody wants 

simplicity; innocence 

you can’t bottle up

truth comes late 

quickly turns hard 

some say 

it cant be regained 

few know 

how to hold on 

I say it’s in mind 

don’t sell it out

you know what it is 

don’t think that hard

I take and give it 

the way I love

hey 

youth

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Plot reversals

burned my tongue on you 
words hot 
how the smoke rose 
from my pockets  

I broke my head on these
very thoughts 
concussions echo
losing the plot 

things have been flipped 
I seem to be in your film 
all my assumptions
on the ground

middle class artists
hesitate and miss
cowardice 
haunts them from above

what am I without these tools
these indulgences 
...

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