youth – Every Breath Poetic

before the lights go out

before the lights went out,
we told each other “I love you”,
those words became our wards,
our incantations of life against night.

before the lights went out,
we would make each other laugh,
we would push back our bed time
with spiteful, sleepy eyed humor.[…]

before the lights go out

before the lights went out,
we told each other “I love you”,
those words became our wards,
our incantations of life against night. 

before the lights went out,
we would make each other laugh,
we would push back our bed time
with spiteful, sleepy eyed humor.

before the lights went out,
we would tell each other stories,
we would relive and enliven,
we would relish as much as possible.
  
before the lights went out,
we always said “good night”,
because this has been a good day,
and this will be our good night. 

M. L. Michael 
11/03/13

About…

she brings to mind a frozen time,
when we played outside with Winnie the Pooh,
or stayed inside with Scooby Doo.
without meaning to, she smiles, and she inspires,
a time ago, when you set up yarn lines from branch to branch
and readied four tiny plastic green men for their launch.
you let them go. you watch her go.
every which way is beautiful.[…]

‘she’ remains undefined

she brings to mind a frozen time,
when we played outside with Winnie the Pooh,
or stayed inside with Scooby Doo.
     without meaning to, she smiles, and she inspires,
     a time ago, when you set up yarn lines from branch to branch
     and readied four tiny plastic green men for their launch.
you let them go. you watch her go. 
every which way is beautiful.

she brings to mind a frozen time,
when the golden-green density of a summer day,
taught us the freedom from living in a flexible way.
without meaning to, she smiles, and she inspires,
every wish or dream you’ve left desired.
and despite what I have in mind,
she remains undefined..
\\
12=14=06
M. L. Michael

About…

suburban causality

she cries “woe be gone” with her woebegone eyes
huddled rejected on cold Cathedral steps,

hugging her dejected self, it’s a bit too tight
cuz’ her belly protrudes a bit too round
and everything seems lost, just after it was found.[…]

suburban causality 

she cries “woe be gone” with her woebegone eyes
huddled rejected on cold Cathedral steps, 
hugging her dejected self, it’s a bit too tight
cuz’ her belly protrudes a bit too round
and everything seems lost, just after it was found.
she cries, “woe be gone” with her woebegone eyes
as an understatement to an overstated cause,
heard so much no one listens –or no one cares-
;just stares…and condemns this teenager’s plight
as if they’d done better…they slink into night.

she screams “woe be gone” with her woebegone dreams,
fragmented rainbows at the bottom of her battered sole;
-her other sole she lost- sometime after she got the news,
that lovers always lose, and cheaters always prosper;
empty handed in a game with the chips stacked against her.
she screams “woe be gone” with her woebegone dreams,
turned beautiful liars with butterfly wings
taunting by flutter almost within grasp. Then-
dart impossibly far away with each kick in her belly
in a beat that she is beginning to see is a beautiful melody.

M. L. Michael
07-01-05

About…

Bursting

Just within your proximity,
I cannot stop grinning,

I’m your idiot for the evening,
Here to bathe you in compassion.

I had survived Hell,
Because I witnessed your Heaven.[…]

Just within your proximity, 
I cannot stop grinning, 
I’m your idiot for the evening,
Here to bathe you in compassion.

I had survived Hell,
Because I witnessed your Heaven.
I died by my own devices, 
To be resurrected by your image,
Fighting my way through shadows,
To be lying in your light.

If I could go back,
I would sacrifice everything again.
Fall from grace to rise again,
I would face torture again,
To come out with you on the other side.

You are reason
To wear that smile despite the odds,
To continue fighting despite the pain.
You are the reason
I cannot stop glowing,
Cannot stop smiling. 
You are, you are, you are.

M. L. Michael 
01·10·02

About…

Berceuse

Cry, my little soldier,
For what has been lost,
For what has never been gained
Cry it out to set yourself free,

Never forget, my little soldier,
The tragedies that shaped you,
The mistakes that matured you,
Never forget what has hurt. […]

Cry, my little soldier, 
For what has been lost,
For what has never been gained,
Cry it out to set yourself free,

Never forget, my little soldier,
The tragedies that shaped you,
The mistakes that matured you,
Never forget what has hurt.

Love, my little soldier,
The friends you hold dear,
The family that holds you,
Drown out the sorrow with your love.

Embrace, my little soldier,
Pain and all its brethren,
Disease and all its chaos,
Embrace to let go.

March, my little soldier,
Proud of what you are,
Of the life you had lead,
March with your head turned high.

Now sleep, my little soldier,
Revive the memories you cherish,
Let go the restrictions of this world,
Sleep sound and rest for tomorrow.

M. L. Michael 
11·26·01

About…

Trevor/Forever

Were you sacrificed
To make us listen?
Are we destined to die
Before we are destined to be?

The echo of your death
Resonates strong today,
Opening the gates
To a flood of tears.[…]

Were you sacrificed
To make us listen?
Are we destined to die
Before we are destined to be?

The echo of your death
Resonates strong today,
Opening the gates
To a flood of tears.

I remember your beauty,
Your guiding light, 
Your radiating humor,
And sadness chokes my words.

Two years back and still I cry,
For your impact went deep,
And your memory even deeper.

I hate thinking in past tense,
Remembering you as you were
And not as you are.

I feel your death was unfair 
On an infinite level of planes.
A treasure was stolen from us,
A person greater than life.

I love you so much
That I’ll never let go.
I miss you so greatly
That I’ll keep that candle lit.

M. L. Michael
11·22·01

About…

RIP Trevor

The Man in White

I married the pen
To escape your tyranny,
Fleeing into the night
In a moment of ecstasy.

Just so I would forget
The pain you slid beneath,
Hushed whispers and murmurs
As I cried to God for relief. […]

I married the pen 
To escape your tyranny,
Fleeing into the night 
In a moment of ecstasy. 

Just so I would forget
The pain you slid beneath,
Hushed whispers and murmurs 
As I cried to God for relief.

Prayers were never answered,
Lies became generally given,
Sliding off forked tongues,
Dripping with acidic venom.

Stealing from the hurt,
You worthless little crook.
Dictating the meek
To fatten that checkbook. 

I wish you would know
The diagnosis you try to “heal”.
But maybe I’m wishing too much,
Believing that you could feel.

Never in my life
Have I hated so much. 
Congratulations you take the cake,
Repulsing me without a touch.

M. L. Michael 
11·14·01

About…

Weatherman

Weatherman weatherman
Why is this my forecast
What has happened in the past
That leads this rough road ahead?

Purity is destroyed
Leaving the way for impression
Swimming in it’s wake; depression
Well being is forgotten
Lost beneath the chaos of ills
Giving you the shattered remains[…]

Weatherman weatherman
Why is this my forecast
What has happened in the past
That leads this rough road ahead?

Purity is destroyed
Leaving the way for impression
Swimming in it's wake; depression
Well being is forgotten
Lost beneath the chaos of ills
Giving you the shattered remains

Weatherman weatherman
Can nothing break the rule
Doomed to miss the love of a Sun
Victim to the tormenting rainfall

Too far beneath the earth
Darkness eats away at hope
Your ladder is an apparition
Linked to the invisible strength
You so blindly search for

Weatherman weatherman
All I want is Summer
Taken away from my youth
Before I could raise a word
All I want is Sunshine
Flooding me with it's radiance
Drying up the lake of tears
Weatherman weatherman
Pray for me in the end

M. L. Michael 
09·26·01

About…

Tags: #weather #coping #chronicpain

Children Dancing

The experience I cannot hinder,
By mere words of explanation.
The beat I cannot resist,
By any form of limitation.

Hungry eyes ravish the lands,

Drinking up the scene
With childlike innocence,
Awed by the caring teen.[…]

Dedicated to Thuy ~for opening my eyes to a beautiful experience~

The experience I cannot hinder,
By mere words of explanation.
The beat I cannot resist,
By any form of limitation.

Hungry eyes ravish the lands,
Drinking up the scene
With childlike innocence,
Awed by the caring teen.

The bastard son of Torment,
Pain reveling inside.
Flashing lights pumping,
Radiating the ache outside.

Head down,
Feet dragging,
Suddenly bombarded by love,
Then healed by their helping.

Despite the troubles,
Regardless of pain,
I let myself go free,
Beat exploding within.

The environment was beautiful,
Joyful tears I willingly weep.
My smile stretched into forever,
As our memories guided my sleep.

M. L. Michael
09·24·01

About…

Written after Houston’s Cyberfest 2001 Rave. I was lucky to experience one of the last big raves before they all became banned.

Veil

I’m sitting here
portishead weaving between my ears
My mind is searching
Going through the fog of my thoughts
Seeking some semblance of stability
Like fingers through smoke
My search leaves only vague trails
Soon dissipating into sheer nothing[…]

I’m thinking
There must be more beyond the hill
Outside the hopeful view
I’m thinking
I’m really scared

What purpose do I serve?
God rescues yet leaves the phone ringing
Dare I pursue a life slave to the pen
Or is my life destined for the help of others
Questions find me
Answers elude me
While the owl keeps asking the same damn question

Poetic form not much of a better veil
Than my free verse to my kinship
Yet I find more comfort
Hiding beyond these metaphorical words
That so blatantly reveal my true intentions

So becomes the constant struggle
To stay afloat
In this tar pit I call my existence

M. L. Michael
08·25·01