The Hunted

 
Casual passersby
Send fear on the prowl
Hunting, scouring
For the meat of anxious hearts

I waver
In the muck
Of daily pleasantries

In the mire
Of placid words
Devoid of any true purpose

Silence is refuge
Aloft, in the folds
Of restless thoughts

Where the winds
Thrive only to sooth
And send away
Every thread of dismay

Static Euphoria

 
I flood my ears
With static euphoria
As the mind trails away
And my limbs course
With primal desire

In spite of the wind
I cleave, the frigid night
Brimmed with the valor
Of melodic disarray

The earth
Becomes a passing blur
As I speed undeterred
Pouring
In buckets of sheer resolve

Until exhaustion
Quiets my laboring frame
And I exude, satisfaction
Content with the trail
I’ve thoughtlessly blazed

Merely a Conquered Life

 
I am the faint pulse
Lurking in the depths
Of scarred
And tattered flesh

Past downcast eyes
Burdened with fear
I cleave for the open
With a bounty of anguish

I fade into
The day to day patchwork
Where the fortunate beckon
And the timid weave
Unseen

I am
Merely a conquered life
That quietly wanes
Far away
From the turning world

Rationed Words

His silent simmering 
Was a beacon 
For those adrift 

For those who swayed
Upon the currents of dreams 
For the far-away travelers
Engulfed, by silent peril 

He rationed his words 
Through a labyrinth of verse 
Through the treacherous bends
Of careless chatter 

Inward he dove
Unfazed and quiet  
As the watchful hordes 
Simmered 
In desperate longing

The Fortune of Slow Erosion

Life has its way 
Molding and sculpting
My fragile form 

I shape-shift 
In the passage 
Of great calamity 

In the joyous swell 
Of victory’s
Fleeting refrain

Shall I bask
In the fortune 
Of slow erosion 
Or be swallowed whole 
By a surf of certain decay

Quiet Grief

Cries of boyhood angst
Are free 
From my bitten tongue 

Yet no truth prevails
No heartache can crawl 
From the ruins 
Of my war-torn conscience 

The toll
Of harbored sorrow 
Shall beckon forever more 

Never daring to clamor 
For the waiting arms 
Of the crude and heinous world

Never to draw 
The care of roving eyes 
That have seen 
All of the same

Reverie of Apocalypse

 
A sudden flash
Tore away at the homely dark
Flooding the hollow void
With a clashing array
Of fire and hues

The canopy of night
Fluttered away
Carried, by a traveling wisp

Revealing
The eternal glimmer
Of ghostly
Constellations

I remained
Far from terrified
As I sailed for the care
Of faultless panorama

The life I knew
Was fully undone
Sinking at peace
Full, with quiet reverence

And I was
To regain my balance
For the tolling fowls
Were at their prime

I was
To gather
My scattered composure

And breathe
At ease
For the day
Was finally drawn

The Plundering Tide

 
Freight cars rain
Scattering plumes
Rich, with lives well-squandered

As nightfall dwindles
Beneath their endless
Arching cries

There are no sirens
Only a great span of silence
And the plundering tide
Brought forth, by eager hands

Havoc ascends
In murderous clouds
Heaven-bent
For their heinous jobs well-done

As tattered lives
Cleave to vengeance
Simmering with the hatred
Of legions, floundering
Within the waves of grief  

For a Torturous Memory

 
I labor from below
Tunneling
Overwhelmed by night

Where the lights cannot pry
And the silent linger
In the firm clutches of sleep

Dig out!
Is the refrain I hold
The harbored scream
Which fuels my effort

Dig out!
Claims my blistered hands
As they toil in spite
Bloodied and maimed

Home
Is a cherished beacon
Wafting through the ruins
Of a once prosperous mind

A ceaseless memory
That soothes and torments
Never leaving me to waver
Never falling
Out of favor with my thoughts

Ghostly Regrets

 
Orphaned deeds
Now flood
The hull of my conscience

Storming the gash
As I topple over
Full with remorse
Hopelessly, Overrun

I reclaim the sorrows
I've spun and left for dead
In the bountiful silence
Where turmoil, hails supreme

Quietly listing
The dark is to loom
As a vise, crushing
From all around

Father Knows

 
I cave
A hopeless wretch
As bravery nears
Having conquered
The falling, fading day

Father
He spares few words
As his eyes trace my fear
Disheartened
And burdened with worry

My nerves draw chaos
In the rising fumes of despair
At the swell
Of the morrow’s hatred
Foreseen within, his tired eyes

Father knows
What awaits his feeble son
Fully aware of the carnage
That lingers, quietly simmering

But all questions fade
In the aft of my mind
Dispersed by the fear
He once carried, long ago

“I am afraid”
Would come to pass
In a sudden surge of valor

A Crime of Apathy

Wallowing
Within placid
Half-hearted stanzas

The unsparing void
Where I’ve stranded my thoughts
To marinade in squalor
Callous, ragged, and unkempt

Time draws breath
Desperately
Tussling with panic
In its slow, horrid demise

It withers at the hands
Of titanic reveries
Coiling the windpipe
And awaiting its final tremor

When all is motionless
Frayed and silent
By my heinous crimes of apathy

The earth will turn
In prosperous hands
As I trail unheeded
Through their proud
Diverging ranks

Fire-Bred Travelers

 
The days choked
Upon the great plumes of savagery
Cast out
By the furious and frightful

Lionhearts withered
In the shrill cries of ordinance
Scattering, impaling
All brazen, fire bred travelers

With sharp eyes
Forever swallowed
Beneath the leagues
Of unsparing silence

The careless thrash
Of brother and foe
Is buried deep
In the soils of home

Beyond the waves
True chaos thrives well
Nestled, beneath the skin

As the cruel ravager
Of a quiet
Blissful slumber

Keeping Misery at Bay

 
Our time
Is cruel, to hastily wither
In a peaceful
Steady decline

As we converse
Unaware of the age
The bedlam
We know as home

In our roving
All turmoil wanes
Fearful
Of the aimless chatter

In the casual fall
Of idle words
Spent
To keep misery at bay

Beneath My Feral Hide

 
The windowpanes caught fire
And scorched slow
As I labored awake

I strained and heaved
To be clear and conscious
To coast through the morn
Unburdened, by days long lost

Still
I labored onward
Shroud
In nightmarish agony

I remained watchful
With prowling eyes
True to their search
For the cause
Of each mindless
Daily breath

The hunger
Never fully fades
For it remains within
Beneath my feral hide  

The Fruitless Binge

 
No glass was left unscathed
For the night retained
Its juvenile sway

For chaos ruled
Our trembling days
So we burdened the eves
With our harbored dismay

As the night
Teetered, unhinged
And the meek hearts yearned
For a fruitless binge

They cleaved
Each virgin craft
Through rivers brewed gold
On their fever-driven rafts

From Bloodshot Eyes

 
Like the passionate stream
Of walled in anguish
Through the fractures
Of bloodshot eyes

My words fall cold
Upon deathly pavement
Callous, dreary, and mute

These endless roads
Of solemn grey
Shall court my soul to ruin

To be swallowed whole
By a storm drain’s thirst
And leveled
Beneath the might of seclusion

The grief I hold
Falls unworthy
Of the hopeful eyes
They yearn for

The Treachery of Half-Sleep

My eyes
Remained razor sharp
Despite the fog
The treachery of half-sleep

Among roaming shadows
I scoured with vigilance
Aware, of the restless world
My limbs fully, prepared for flight

My pulse climbed
At predawn’s haunting loom
Festering
Stout with memory
Swarmed by forgotten ghosts

They yearn
Mournfully
To dwell
In the arms of my present

Yet these eyes shall not dull
They cannot waver
Nor recede
Into a nightmare’s
Sweltering furnace

War Raged in Short Bursts

 
I plunged
Into a murderous sleep
With concrete limbs
Obeying, the quicksand’s pull

Among the tombstones
Proud, grey and stern
They scaled higher and higher
In the gradual wane of the surface

Thunder and rain
Were a natural send off
Like mournful, pattering snares
With Mauser’s raised
For their unified salute

Once tame reveries
Lunged forth
With a primal hunger
As the world softly droned
In comfortable monotone

War raged inside
In short harrowing bursts
Unraveling my fabric
In every mile conquered

I recovered with haste
Through white, luminous halls
My nerves
Stewing in agony
Fearful, of the nights to come

A Traitor's Thoughts

 
I bear traitorous thoughts
In the sneering eyes
Of swift passersby

One glance
One quick swill
Is all
That is truly required

To retain the entire narrative
Of a turncoat’s cowardice
Yearning, to revise skin

I hold traitorous thoughts
Earlobes that quake
To mankind’s
Every tune

My words blossom
True to their own flair
Instilled, with their own customs
That singe away, at timid hearts

I hold treacherous thoughts
That lead frail minds
Through a maze
Of unending distress

Truth-Bearing Romance

 
They embarked gleefully
For the hopeless void
Yearning to elope
To be free of scalding glances

Beyond all voices
The shrill cries of guardians
A truth-bearing romance
Was swallowed whole
By a charitable
Merciful distance

Hidden away
Their affections flourished
As they traveled carelessly
Along the curves and contours
They conjured as one

Carnivorous huntsmen
Remained in savage want
For young romance
To be undone
Torn asunder by strife

Yet defiance bound
The eternal pair
As they voyaged onward
True to themselves alone

For the Greater Fable

 
They are black lines
Lumbering
Toward certain oblivion

Unaware of their purpose
Of the truth they bear
Within their every morsel

They march onward
Driven
By the edge
Of a madman’s quill

Sewing shut
The greater fable
Laboring, for the close
Of worlds carefully spun

Black lines
Cannot waver
If steady hands
Lead them on

The Dormant Soul

 
Nothing stirs within
In the hours I depart
Thoughtlessly roving

Among
Patches of green
Cradling
Their newborn
Springtime shades

I am boxed in
Bound to eternal grey
Trudging through
Its lifeless and hollow refrain

How I yearn to be winded
Truly, devoid of words
To be fully engulfed
By the agony of raw emotion

I must
Reclaim exhilaration
Or wither
Starved, frail, and forgotten

Ironclad Fighters

 
Falling salvos
Pummeled me with bare fists
And the earth danced wildly
Colors mingling
As I caved with haste

Forward I tumbled
Coursing with peril and shock
My bones still thundering
Ringing
As the curtains were drawn

Nightfall was brief
As I struggled to ascend
Reclaiming my resolve
To seize the faltering day

Like deafening howitzers
My arms slaved onward
Blazing with vigor
Toiling, upon mangled flesh

We were the ironclads
Consigned to our time
Boiling over
With primal hatred

We were the ironclads
Hopelessly marooned
To an isle
Preserved, only in mind

Far from Triumph

 
How easily
I become hollow
Far from the mountains
I’ve sculpted with care

So swiftly
I become derailed
A tower of ruin
Overrun by despair

Exhaustion clings
Forcefully
And the earth grows silent
Withering, unclaimed

How I’ve thoughtlessly
Disbanded
Succumbed to a fear
I've coddled deep within

Binds of Young Distress

Like scalding magma
The panic surged
Raised from the caverns
Of my guilt-laden conscience

And yet
Onward I trailed
Through the sweltering hellscape
I knew by name

As wreckless thoughts
Raved madly within
Blistering my insides
With the coursing of young distress

Still I trailed
Maimed and ragged
Toiling forward
Drenched in dismay

I strived and strived
To thrive in the arms of bliss
But the hour of rest
Lied beyond my weary reach

Thrive Faintly

 
I pass through
Graciously
Sparing the living
Of my sorrowful regrets

I loom peacefully
Catatonic
And depart with ease
Uprooted, from solid ground

My role
Is that of a timid breeze
Thriving faintly
In the aft of hectic minds

The untroubled living
Must never know
Of the trembling breath I draw

They must carry on
Blissfully driven
Sure in their roles
And true to their labor

For I am
But a mere passing wisp
A tranquil thought
That soothes and wavers unseen

Block by Block

 
It was
The fuming carcass
Rusted with passing time

Where scores weaved
Thoughtlessly
Beneath its crumbling stature

Cowering
Drew death ever-closer
Within the clutches
Of concrete misfortune

It neared without a sound
Unsparing
Sly and callous

Like a maiden
On the prowl
Seductively
Swaying with malice

Block by block
It all tolled the same
With selfish reveries
Billowing, heaven-bound

Preserve yourself
Was the endless scream
Heard from each shade
Of wayward sons

Regard your own
Was the bell’s daily toll
A cause, hoisted high
A beacon for every
Child of squalor

The Imposter

 
He is the marred
Offspring of opulence
Cleaving, moss covered trails
That yield, only strife and ruin

In his beleaguered mind
He is the solemn
Son of hardship

Yet truthfully
He is safe and sound
Beyond the reach
Of the harshest perils

He thieves mindlessly
From the cruel plights of strangers
From the daily scowls
He greets tenderly

Yet they all peer inward
To the clean slate he harbors
Seeing pastures of green
Among blistering blue currents

Clear and quaint
He is bereft
Of the mires
They truly know

Armored In Evergreens

 
They impale the skies
With spires of stone
Defiantly braving
All perils to come

Cloaked in evergreen
They soon blaze
With autumn red

And remain
Unfazed
By the scourge
Of winter’s loom

I yearn for their heights
For the courage of ancients
To be among the unswayed
Revered
For the rest of time

The Quiet Earth

 
Will the world hoist high
Its shredded banners?
Raised proudly to waft
In the foul gusts of war
Once again

For our corners of home
For the gallant forebears
That stormed sure and bold

Carnage prevails
Time after time
And no one dares recall
Never sparing a second of remorse

When the winds howl
In the final uprooting
Will clarity taunt
Our fleeting cries?

A quieter earth shall turn
In spite of
The many that were  

My Niche of Yearning

 
On and on I writhe
Without a moment of rest
Stirring
With a hearth of longing
Scattering
The embers of distress

When am I to cave
To commune
With the rising dust?

Like the shards of old
Toppled over
By the swift and tireless present

Far off reveries
Have cursed me to rot
In this niche of yearning
In these trenches of regret

By the hour they cry
Faltering shrill
Scattering the kind earth
Into flaming shards of death

The howling departs
And I’ve long eroded
Into a withering shadow
Torn away from my former self

The Luxuries I Disown

 
I cannot speak
Of the “sorrowful mundane”
Of the warm luxuries
I am swift to disown

Comfort ensnares me
And I must never weep
Nor bellow in agony
From within my homely shell

Hardship rests afar
Beyond my coddled frame
Beckoning for my silence
Yearning to quiet
My thoughtless sniveling

Until Struggling was Futile

 
The allure of silence
Was an anchor in secret
Drawing me ever closer
To the depths of many before

It was a tremendous weight
Laying claim to my weary figure
Lassoing my limbs
In the boundless haze
Of my day to day basking

Until the final gasp
I did not know
Until struggling was futile
I was not sure

Gleefully I sank
Until the surface
Was beyond
My desperate reach

Ragtime Anthems

 
I revel in the fond gusts
Of cherished refrains
Penned long ago

As the notes flare
And soar to their prime
Meeting the fervor
Of decades lost

My mind toils peacefully
Beneath the waterline
Of ragtime anthems

My mind trudges assured
And sparks a frenzy
Inside my quiet marrow

The Unheeded Whisper

 
I carry on
Like an unheeded whisper
Buried alive
By the bustle of conversation

Words gush away
Expunged without a care
As thought withdraws
From each cold lifeless grin

My world
Consigned to haze
Weaves flawlessly
Through this chattering labyrinth

As they all part
Instinctively
Adhering only
To the warmth I emit

They obey only
The shadow I cast
For a passing instant
When irritation befalls

True to Their Silence

 
Placid grey waters
Mimic the sullen clouds
Swallowed
By the unending chorus
Of mankind’s inner strife

They’ve grown cold
Dormant and silent
Never sparing an instant
Of pigment or sound

As young and old
Carry on
Hopeful for the rays
With eyes stern and vigilant

For just one strand
One glimmering
Shred of hope

Yet the seas remain
True to their silence
Sealed until the hour
Our anguish
Is torn asunder

Guiltless Sleep

 
My dreams were feather light
Safe and sound
In the refuge
Of eras past

Fluttering carelessly
Through nightfall’s hollow void
Never sparing a sound
Of agony or strife

From the brightest flare
Timid thoughts
Were cruelly swept aside

Grinding my reveries
To a useless pulp
To the falling embers
I greet as slumber nears

The Iron Gates of Havoc

 
At the hoisted day
Stomach’s churned
In the permeating oil
Salt air and salvos

The sputtering engines
Grew to their murderous drone
Wading steadily
For the iron gates of havoc

Below their toil
Hushed words prevailed
Clamoring for the skies
Through thick plumes of black

Beyond the raging tides
The iron gates sprung forth
And Neptune’s dark overture
Swallowed, young fortitude whole

Passing Terrors

 
It is all in my mind
These passing terrors
Nightfall’s tremors
Are but a transient phase

It is strife I must
Endure brazen
Drained of reluctance
Devoid of all fright

Quivering nerves
Are nothing at all
They do no true harm
For the heart
Toils in defiance

The blood shall course
As done in days prior
Charging without fear
To ensure
I ascend unfazed

 http://loftydreams101.deviantart.com/art/The-Cave-Dwelling-Soul-466448926

Swan Dive

 
Scorched days pave
Slithering paths in the sand
As the mind falls victim
Preyed upon by delusion

It has become my fate
In the safety and solitude of home
Where I burden my psyche
With only myself

Where I spiral unhinged
Dismantled and out of touch

Where I spiral unhinged
Dismantled
Out of touch

Where I spiral
Unhinged
Out of touch
Dismantled

Ivory walls
And popcorn covered ceilings
Inch close by the hour
As the mind softly simmers

Dismantled
Out of mind
Out of touch

I am tired
I have given my all
I am fully wrung dry

Dissolved
Unhitched
Spiraling
In mind

Until thoughts boil over
And melt and mesh
All the same

Out of time
Unraveled
In distress

Weightless Thoughts

 
All I uncover
Is the nagging present
As it fastens to my garments
In sheer desperation

For now
All passing thoughts
Are but hollow clouds
Content with being

Time soars on
As my footsteps meander
In search of fertile ground
And the promise it harbors

As I scour for the words
That chime honestly
The world grows dim
And I must defer away

Unable to spare
A scrap of bounty
Or a single strand of truth

 http://loftydreams101.deviantart.com/art/The-Cave-Dwelling-Soul-466448926

Evading Delirium

 
The noxious fumes
Waft about me
Each hour I stray and wander

A companion
I desperately strive to evade
With all of my harbored might

Yet delirium hangs close
To compromise my sight
And render my limbs
Feeble, drained and helpless

The dust storm revels
Having swallowed up
My writhing frame

Like live bait
Swaying in the current
Awaiting the full weight
Of total, unwavering dark

They've Always Known

They all knew
Engulfed by their silence
As gossip wheeled on
Inside the folds of their thoughts

All that I’ve done
Sprawls out in open display
To be nudged and prodded
By the searing eyes
Of fellowship

They’ve always known
Anchored firmly to peace
So kind to never speak
So kind to seethe in secret

Yet soon
I am to bid farewell
To the soothing sway of discretion
For the kind and caring
Are destined to foam

They must boil over
At each heinous crime
Fastened firmly
To my harrowing name

Midnight's Loathsome Crime

 
Daybreak hummed along
With a vicious glitter
Through slain bottles of wine
Strewn and hollow
Their secrets firmly sealed

Before scorched windowpanes
Scores cried out
From the snares of agony

Tottering helplessly
For the threshold's glare
The ominous unveiling
Of midnight's
Loathsome crime

Tried and True Currents

 
Folks carry on
Like passing vessels
Loyal to their breeze
Their tried and true currents

A scene
I retain from afar
As I flood with reluctance
In the flourish of mundane melodies

Before
Each sorrowful endeavor
I recede fearfully

Before the silent
Inevitable sinking
I retreat
With the greatest haste

Letting horizons fade
And their joyless songs
Capsize forever more

Departing from Memory

 
Finding refuge
In a haze of forgetfulness
When the mind is charitable
To spare me of the callous present

All glaring faults
Wither and wane in silence
As I revel freely
In this lapse of memory
Unshackled from the curse of daily grief

This fleeting solace
Is an isle amidst tribulation
Where I sprawl my tired roots
And swallow momentary bliss

But clarity looms
And yearns to cleave
My cherished, fog-laden thoughts

My Cherished Labor

 
Into the folds
Of my daily gracious labor
I fall gleefully
Cleansed of discontent

Marooned to my affairs
Amidst surging tides of black
The earth softly withers
So thoughts may stream unbound

Yet everything
Falls to shambles
With the greatest ease

As waning slabs
Swallowed whole
By the rude bustling
Of consciousness

Farewell
To these brittle reveries
May your transient wonders
Meet me once again

Single File

 
It was a crying shame
The smoldering remnants
Encaged in fiery ruin

Leaving friends to sway
As a single file homage
Teary eyed and staggering
For the final rose-laden altar

To recall is to drown
Clasped firmly
In the sure fall of dead weight

Overcome
By the depths of grief
Unable
Unwilling to resurface

It remains a horrid crime
A familiar fragrance
Never truly evaded

Amidst the Sullen Drone of Slumber

Thoughts wheel forth
Trapped in relentless motion
Combing the sprawling flatlands
Of the quiet, barren night

Where inquiries blossom
Moment by moment
To set craniums afire
With the glittering shards of longing

They illuminate
The swerving, shadowy roads
In their timeless strive for insight

Until then
The mind journeys
Amidst the sullen drone of slumber
Carrying on vigilant
Defiantly, sifting and scouring


I've pieced together yet another book of poems, which can be read in its entirety on the website linked below. If you like what you read then please share it with other poetry readers.
http://loftydreams101.deviantart.com/art/The-Cave-Dwelling-Soul-466448926

What Passes with Thee?

 
What passes with thee
In your hellish burden?
In the lofty quest
That must transpire

Infernal hours loom
Before triumphant plumes
Laden,with premonitions
Of shrill,unsparing havoc

May the blood course freely
Born from stoutest hearts
Full with young vengeance
Armed with fond remembrance

May hardships passed
Cry on faithfully
As echoing ghouls
Stirred conscience
By trembling earth

What passes with thee
Oh heart brimmed with scorn?
Primed and vigilant
At the steady stream of ordinance

What passes with thee
When mayhem takes flight?
To plague timid winds
And coil nature’s resolve

The Triumphant Slaughter

 
Our blind firing floods
The hull of our vessel
Until the hour
We topple over

Shell casings
Butchery
And all

Crude yearnings
Billow high and thick
Coiling the flare
Of panoramic daybreak

Yet sirens mourn
Untiring
Ever-vigilant, proud and shrill

Mountains of white
Shall surely triumph
As stoic remains
Of the blissful life that was