Don’t You Wanna Know?

But don’t you wanna know

What I wanted to tell you
On my back porch that day

Don’t you wanna know

That time that you decided to

Let your tongue get in the way

Don’t you wanna know

My eyes were tense, I

Clearly had something to say

Don’t you wanna know

Why I brought you there

To talk to you that day

Don’t you want to know

Or did you already say

Everything you had to say

Double Entendres

hoping to get aroused

knowing it could be a ruse 

I choose to follow it anyway

it’s not everyday

I get a chance to smile

in fact it’s been a while

so I carry on 

speaking in double entendres

waving a wand with hopes

my spells will cast out

to catch a live one

and reel in some fun

but the waiting

is excruciating

while the bait hangs out

and gets tangled up

when I start looking 

for implied meaning

when no other meanings

are sewn in-between in

the lines I’m reading from

so I look dumb

raising my eyebrows

to a confused crowd

like I’m in on a twist

that doesn’t exist

but I insist I’m hip

to the jive as I slip

into a zone alone

of imagined entendres 

The Damage

I thought of you today

and the promise that I had made to you

and I wept bitterly

because I knew that I would keep it if I had to

I sobbed until my chest throbbed rhythmically

as I gasped for air

between the tears

It felt good to cry

It made me want to think of you even more

and the promise

and the damage

It made me want to wallow

in the idea of your pain and fear

which I could only begin to fathom

The tears soaked my beard

It felt good to cry

I imagined your pain

as worse as I could

I drenched myself in the idea of it

until I could take no more

As I recognized my own weakness

a ray of realization burst through

the clouds of my misconceptions

and I saw you for how strong you really are

your defiance never broken

You are a warrior

wounded in battle

but still continuing to fight

and winning all the time

You will never be defeated now

You will have the victory that you deserve

Unspeakable

When acts of war have become unspeakable

either because the violence has become so brutal

or because the citizenry has become too sensitive

or some convenient combination of both

When valor is shunned because the name

for which it’s done has been desecrated

So what in the past was a source of pride

now becomes something unmentionable

A dark secret instead of a brave moment

festering while it yearns to be informing

conforming while it could be inspiring

Cold censorship to what was intended as heroism

But what drives this fear of hearing about the acts

that our monetary contributions have afforded

to be done so violently in our stead 

for what we are told to believe is our benefit

The Prototype

I received

what I believed

to be information

on the creation

of a prototype

but it was just hype

for something they meant

for me to invent

for them 

                in return

for the chance 

to learn

how to do it

I said screw it

Just Following Orders

We’re not to blame we’re just following orders

These are the laws that we’re told to enforce

They pay us to stand here protecting the border

If we don’t comply they won’t pay us of course

Then how will we pay to have fun with our children

How will we afford to buy food and new clothes

We must follow the orders like good little minions

Or imagine the horrors to which we’d be exposed

Like Vampires

They suck like vampires 

wearing high collared cloaks

to hide their teeth as they tell you 

whatever you want to hear 

keeping your mind occupied 

so you don't recognize 

them swooping in 

closer to your neck