For G

You stack paper like a rapper’s cliche,
Bound book and loose leaf completely covered
In dense deep dreams, like a burning bouquet
Of the future. They say you discovered
Some secret corridor to a place where
Poetry falls from the sky in torrents
While epiphanies dance like Fred Astaire.
Each wild wonderful word you write warrants
Careful consideration. Because you
Did discover the perfect poetic
Place. It’s all around us, you just cut through
The bullshit with razor-sharp aesthetic
     And expose all the wonder we forsake,
     ‘Cause you are the motherfucking CUPCAKE!

Death of the Sonnet

Is the sonnet dead? Has time finally
Claimed this calm configuration of words?
You find so few of them in the wild, the
Sad specimens hobbled like awkward birds,
High-school homework littered with archaic
Language and dusty turns of phrase that serve
To create a pitiful mosaic
For any that that take the time to observe.
Will this form die along with the old man
On the radio and his audience
Of English professors? Is there a plan
To fight furious for the form's defense?
     No. There's not. Compose the sonnet's obit,
     But know this sonnet lives while you read it.

Beating Back the Burlesque

Well here we go, it looks like I have to
Adopt my nelly queen persona if
I actually want to converse with you
On a human level. You catch my whiff
Of flaming homosexuality
And slowly set aside your weaponry
That razor-sharp sexy smile you see
As a way to dominate guys like me
So that they know they cannot control you.
A target since puberty, you just don't
Approach until you know I won't pursue.
Now we can just be two people, you won't
     Treat me like the predators of your youth.
     Sometimes it takes a mask to show the truth.

My Best Request

The most virtuous thing that you can do,
Perhaps the highest calling of our age
Is to disarm an idealist, and to
Speak the nuance of the truth to the rage
Of those who only see in stark contrasts.
Expose the lie of the simple answer
That's twisted a million mistaken pasts,
Created chaos and been a cancer
On our path to a better tomorrow.
Let there be passion for the pragmatic.
Remember we're all fallible, and go
Teach them how to see the problematic
     In all that claims to be the one true way.
     Let doubt weed out absolutes that betray.

How Long is Now

You walk on a motherfucking high wire
Each step an intense task, each new footfall
Ecstatic victory. We all admire
That you proudly show us you will not crawl.
But each triumph gives way to new tension
Another chance to fail, to fall, and find
Yourself beaten by the wire. Suspension
Such as yours was only ever designed
To last so long, one end to the other
But you tight-rope-walk a trail without end
You let temporary tension smother
Long-term planning, a fatal flaw, my friend.
     And I know you can't tell that this is dire
     'Cause you can't see the forest for the fire.

Warning

You're setting yourself up for disaster
When the only things that you pursue are
The ones that retreat further and faster.
The best way to make sure that you never
Get what you want is to only want what
Doesn't want you. And the best way to stay
Most miserable, like, punch-in-the-gut
Pained and agonized, is to change the way
You are in hopes that you can make someone
Love you, to adopt a completely new
Personality and hope when you're done
The one you want will suddenly want you.
     It's pointless to point out this misery
     'Cause I know that's how you want it to be.

No End In Sight

The problem with love is that it's no end.
It's just another step forward on the
Journey. As much as you'd like to pretend
The credits will roll and you will be free
When you finally share that climactic kiss
The only thing I can guarantee is
That once you come up for air, all of this
Will still be here, no matter what she says.
And as long as your love may last, the earth
Will still be spinning long after the last
Memory of you has passed. So what worth
Is there in love that's destined for the past?
     It has only the value you give it.
     So don't try to capture love, just live it.

Prince Charming's Campaign

My charm is a siege weapon, designed to
Wear its way through her walls while I wait with
Patience just outside her gate. I undo
Her defenses and make myself a myth
Of everything she needs but can't have yet.
I'll become the person that she's always
Pictured at her side. She will frown and fret
With worry while thinking of all the ways
She could mess up and miss out on her chance
To be with me. And in the end I won't
Have to beat down her gate, she'll let me dance
Right in. That's when I'l leave, because I don't
     Want her. I don't want anyone at all.
     What I want is to watch defenses fall.

Bit By Bit

It's all right there, sitting in front of you,
The tools to create countless works of art
And publish them for the whole world to view.
They're waiting for you to pour out your heart,
Waiting for you to start using your voice.
So why aren't you saying anything? By
Just sitting there you've made the choice
To not create, and that means it's a lie
When you tell yourself that you could make it
If you just had the opportunity.
You can't make it because you can't commit
And because you lack the ability.
     My computer gives the world bit by bit
     To remind me I'm not worthy of it.

I Represent

She claims that I don't speak for anyone,
That I act out of pure self-interest.
But she can't see the way so many run
To take my side, to join me on my quest.
We're ready to find a way out of this
Swamp of suppressive shame, leaving behind
Those who would wallow in their own abyss.
We will evolve and become a new kind,
We'll use the gifts we've been blessed with, and leave
Ruined the hate that used to make us doubt.
We'll triumph, because of what we perceive.
Next time she says I'm alone, I will shout
     A truth that you can mount on your steeple,
     I represent the beautiful people.