Hello, Hello There and Have Some Tact

As a new one approaches and the old is put to rest
Let gods let there be lights and let's all for the best
hope and joke and up the choke and croak cause it's a test
of life and mine is all but shining eyes and rhymes to mess

A mess of shreds and beds and shards and cuts and mutts and bruises
Of nooses tied too loosely, loosen, lose them, try to lose me
A mess of threads and colors weave and wed and I get woozy
Of noodles dropped into the loop of soups; I'll find a muse here

Hello, hello there and have some tact
crack, track and react, blackjack's far too fond of that
Backtrack, I'll be back before the muses crack
Cracked acts reveal that there's something that I lack

Is it love is it fear is it something in my ear
Could it be what I need is right in front of me

Klee, clee, cliche, bless bless you you sneeze of death
Arrest this mess and let the rest attest to what is best

Unless there's nothing left.

Wicker Withers Warm

Wicker rocks and whispers on the wood that's creaking bitter.
The sun gleams golden soft and warm as air gets stark and crisper.
The breeze tumbles and twirls and rustled leaves they speak in shivers.
The season's cold is bound to show up and let us wither.

All Those Wolves

This is insanity,
a late night tragedy,
a graveyard shift travesty,
a tour in moonlit fantasy,
words winding rapidly,
a something that's so sad to see
a place so bland and vapid
lifeless nothing, limp and lacking.
Still I'm tracking. All those wolves
still are packing, and no good
can come from passing
all this time with still no action.
All these rhymes, but still I'm lagging.
All these crimes will still happen
until I find what was lacking
from my side and fire wistful shots.

Alive from my acting up,
eyes so wide I've woken up,
tried and tired but not torn up,
wild and wired and acting tough.

Would you come and see me with the lights turned down?
Or should I shine a light? You'd grin and show up in my town.
See the glow and think a win, but heed to this I'll vow
to blow your misconceptions to the furthest they'll allow.

And out so far your beginnings will be
that no one in town will care to lead
you back to where you'll want to feed,
and when hunger pangs start suddenly
you'll try to fight it, but, you see,
when I've ignited so intensely
you'll wish you never did cross me.

Diabolic

Oh, she ripped those words straight out of my mouth,
tore them into shreds and filled me with doubts
of whether she would relay what I said in the way
I intended it to be read in words that I would say,
but I don't know what she would do when left to her own thoughts.
It brings a little apprehension, makes my stomach turn to knots.
I just need some rest to get this out of my head,
but I can't get to bed until I hear her voice; instead
I'll write a couple lines about how I can't keep my mind
straight and focused all the time when she still hasn't chimed
in with what is supposed to be thoughts coming from me.
Oh-oh, I can't wait to hear. Oh no, I can't wait to see.
But. What? Just. Let. Me. Slow. Down.
I'm living like an insomniac in an antiquated town.
The lights go out at seven, but I want to make a sound.
I'm hallucinating heaven, but I feel the flames around,
surrounding me. They're abound I see. This can't be.

OH! She ripped my thoughts straight out of my head,
left me struggling to sit up and gasping for my breath.
I didn't, no, I couldn't have made an endless pact
with this creature pulsing evil with her lipstick still intact.

_________________________________________

Hm. Here's a little something I never finished.

Pretty Pretty

you're pretty pretty
but i can't promise you
i'll be pretty too
because i'm pretty sure
I'm a sick and somber fool
my eye for pretty pretty
is pretty shot
and i'm not pretty
i'm not witty
and all my thoughts
are gutted cold and lost

Evolve and Defile

Constantly evolving, for worse or for the better.
Inching towards the window to check out the weather.
Is it sunny? Is it raining? Are the clouds out? Are they waning?
If you find out what you're looking for, please do start explaining.
Is it wonder? Are you happy? Is it passion? Can you grab me?
Toss me to the floor, kick me, and the stab me?
Have at me. Laugh at me. I won't stand down.
Kick and turn and toss and learn I won't make sound.
And when you learn, I know you'll burn and down and down.
Your ashes pile will defile the naked ground.

A random little script.

she's a killer, i feel her
crawling up my back and reaching over my shoulder
fingers cold as steel not growing any warmer
stiff and stiff and rigid, frigid, rid it
i can't

Ons and Ons

Oh my god.
I don't know
whether
to weather these
rickshaw ruckuses around the wily wings of my
smiley surfaces with a certain golden gleam
shining, singing, slowly showering suds of
soapy, soupy, stupid, stup-ed, lucid,
putrid room-bas suck, suck, sucking up
sad spills of a sick shepherd, she heard

what words were working to make sense...

no, not these, not me, not needed,
no knees kneeling, knuckles kneading,
no, no nimrods reeling...
righteous revealings, repeating, retreating
really unappealing, I'm feeling

perhaps

if I babble on and on, a flow uncertain,
not too long, and on and on and on a certain point
along the lawn, and on and on, and on and on
I'll find laying on the lawn, and on and on,
a pawn, wide open, arm in arm, and on and on,
and on an arm, a song that's not too long,
and on the lawn, and on and on, i sang a song
a certain song, on and on and on and on
til my breath was off and on and on and off
and on and off and off and on and off and on
and off and off and off and off
so I turned out, off then on

then off

then on

and I tuned out

off
not on
and I passed out
not on
off

and I turned on
not off, but on!
in my head I'm on!
and on! and on! and on!
lift a finger, I can't
but send me off, my head is on!

and if I babble on and on just stop me
til I'm off, but brain is on
and I'll tell you

If I babble on and on I just might find
something certain among the (ons and ons)
with some sort of tact and thought
I'll let you know I'm not just mindless spawn.

I'm on.

I'm off.

Three Breaths

breathing for wits and breathing for steps
trying to find a bond so i can save my breath
unless you can take what's left and then
throw it into bed til dawn and when
sunlight reaches breath one i'll lay down again
i'll lay down again
lay down again

sleeping for tips and sleeping for drive
teaching all my self to keep up inside
to keep up and stay up and to forge my fire
to light it all to burn it up but keep it right
when fire reaches breath two i'll stay up all night
stay up all night
up all night

eating with lips and eating with fools
try and teach a twit to eat without drool
or pass it off and take off and save that food
for the stomach the soul the heart the dry one too
and when hunger reaches breath three i'll know what to do
know what to do
what to do

i'll live

I'll tread your trail with pride.

Song: "Epitaph" - Badly Drawn Boy

Please don't leave me wanting more
I hope you never die
There's no need to say why
Just promise that you'll try
-Badly Drawn Boy

Take Him Away

Song: "My Thoughts Take Me Away" - Big D And The Kids Table

Separate tracks can lead to the same truths:
Black or white, pink or blue;
I choose
The one with less stairs.

an elaboration of my procrastination

so.

this is technically my first post here on lyric & canvas. a little late, i admit. but better late than never. right? :)

anywho, to be honest i really shouldn't be posting at all. i should be studying, writing, and memorizing for my sociology test in the morning. but i'm not. not one bit. so in the mean time, i decided to look through a few old boxes of memories in search of some inspiration. let's just say...i found some. here's an extra credit assignment i did for my junior year english class. i won't give away any insight or other comments about it---you can just take it as it is. enjoy :)




"the stale, stagnant humidity hung in the lush jungle air of the island. we laughed and talked as the sun played peek-a-boo among our faces while taking a break from the exhausting hike up the powerful and seemingly unconquerable mountain. i lay back for a moment on my own to close my eyes and enjoy this peaceful yet lonely little world that the island seemed to envelope you in. the grass tickles my ears, the sound of the tide rushes in as a distant but fierce sounding bird calls out from just over the hill. i notice a ladybug resting in the hollow of my neck. her wings flap nervously as she flutters up, as if anticipating a deadly oncoming fate. i sigh and relieve her of this fear as she flits up and away. and i make a wish before she flies out of sight, reclosing my eyes before continuing our journey.

i wake just minutes later to find my companions gone. i jump up, my eyes darting all over the surrounding areas as i hear a rustle of leaves, and some close but jumbled sounds to my left. my fists clench and my heart races as i get ready for whatever makes its way out from the underbrush. i sigh with relief this time when the rustling turns out just to be my friends, coming back with armloads of tropical fruit and a canteen of cool, fresh water. joe hands me the canteen and i take a long refreshing gulp before passing it back. we decide to carry onward and upward after that delightful midday intermission.

after working our way up, we finally arrive at our destination about an hour later. the sweat runs free from our brows but at a time like this, we pay no attention to menial details like that. we fumble for our cameras and finally are able to capture the scenery, the detail, the beauty and simplicity of this place we have come to know so well. after a gratifying photo shoot atop the mountain, we exhale simultaneously and give each other a nod of affirmation that begins our journey back down. down, down, down we go, rushing the death of the day as the sun fades to none and we are soon left with a dark backlit canopy of stars; the constellations that tell the stories of our lives."

----------------
Now playing: Bob Dylan - I Want You
via FoxyTunes

Little Camera

Song: "I Turn My Camera On" - Rock Kills Kid (Cover of the very good Spoon song)

School is over and I'm nocturnal again,
sleeping all day and doing this all night.
I need to find myself some sun,
and perhaps a bigger camera.

Daft.

I can't tell you why I'm feeling so daft and petty,
sitting in this dark room all cold and scary,
waiting for a little light to shine and hold me,
whispering some little things to brighten and console me.

But am I really the one that needs this bright and shine
and 'wakey.' Wake me
Up from this makeshift low I'm feeling
Up and out too far from feeling 'nakey.' Naked,
raw, meaningful, stop we can't go 'takey.' Take me
down a notch, I can't just watch, I think I need some action.

So I can act and react to the loud commotion,
act and react to the show of emotion, the ocean.
It puts the notion on it's skin and watch
he'll rub it right on in and watch
him painting on a grin and as he paints his way to sin,
grimace.

How can I finish? I haven't witnessed
tragedy, oh fragile me, don't hide from me
I need to see this image.

------------

Randomly sparking up a conversation with an outcome from left field, I sat not knowing what was real, or how I felt, or how to react. So I took out my book and pen and started sketching out my words, thinking what I was feeling was completely absurd. Maybe it was a wrong reaction, but how am I supposed to know? I've never been in a situation like this. My life at home seems so tame at times. I feel left out of some of the more drastic things. Like I can't take it? I feel like I live too far away for them to be including. How am I supposed to cope with these kinds of things when I encounter one in my ballpark? I'll just sit there blankly staring and my emotions will flounder. Will I cry? Can I cry? The last time I did was for a cartoon dog. And so many things keep happening around me; I sometimes feel bogged down under all this weight and pressure I can't comprehend. There are some other things that I need to say but happenstance won't bend for me. This is what's making me feel so foolish and petty and cowardly. I need to find the guts and out and say, "I'm ready." I feel like I'm being too selfish in my thoughts and I can't think of how to help it.

Hokai.

So this is the deal. It's been almost a year since I updated this. Frankly, I forgot about it for a couple months there. I feel like this can be a really good, conveniently shared outlet for some of my own endeavors. I've actually got an idea running through my head. I saw a project similar to this idea, and I really want to bring in my best friend in the whole wide world, a little miss Samantha A. Russell IV.

The idea: An artistic, photographic, musical collaboration between she and I.

We couldn't be more alike and different at times. We'll go to the same places and photographic completely different objects, notice different things around us. We'll listen to some of the same music but of course have some distinct differences in taste. We'll write, albeit with different styles.

The idea, (expanded):

• We take turns with the entries. Me one day, her the other.
• The posts shall consist of one photograph (or other piece of artwork,) one song by whomever we choose (possibly inspiring or inspired by the artwork,) and perhaps (as in optional) a few words ,be it poetry, an explanation, or some random thoughts.
• We do this until we get bored or forget, and hopefully that's not any time soon.

So stay tuned!

-Joe