Two Sentence Tuesday #33

            “I wonder what it’s like in California,” he muttered, scraping the thick, frigid blanket off of his car. “I bet they don’t have to put up with this shit…” 

Two Sentence Tuesday #25

He found it strange that trees should shiver away their leaves at the approach of winter’s icy chill.

“Only the foolish strip naked to play in the snow,” he thought. 

Heading to a Gig

Heading to a Gig

He stands beneath a stop sign…

            …waiting for his ride.

He tugs his jacket tighter…

            …to leave the cold denied.

He left one gig behind him…

            …with one left on the side.

A six-string in his hand, now…

            …some music in his head.

Just waiting for a bus, now…

            …until he walks, instead.

And when the sun lies low, now…

            …he’ll know the day is dead.

Put one foot on the sidewalk…

            …and now it’s time to roam.

Playing blues inside a gin joint…

            …beneath a neon dome.

And when the clock strikes 3AM…

            …he’ll finally make it home.

Oneiromancy

Oneiromancy (The Surprise Party)

February’s final days had diminished

And I dreamt apocalyptic dreams

Of hellfire threads weaving infernal

Tapestries throughout perpetually

Unbroken raven-hued clouds.

I wandered without the slightest

Breath of hope as the ground shook

And snuffed away beneath my wary feet,

Cascading into the molten abyss,

From where all life began,

And closing the circle.

Around me, crowds of broken people

Despaired at the unforeseen end;

The lunatics ran rampant through

Arkham,

While the children curled up

On the streets in the pouring rain

And wept for Neverland… forever lost.

Then there I was, awash in shame,

Staring down at bloodied, bone-bare

Knuckles… my badge of rejected honor

After a moment of weakness,

And wondering if we

Deserved this horror in obsidian and fire…

Did we reap what we had sown?

And yet… as flesh melted from my limbs,

The sun broke on a raw

February morning and I found myself

Not standing at the end of all things,

But walking a continuing, sign-less journey

To the middle…

…happy birthday to me.

Spring Forward

Spring Forward

Wait for the turning point; we’ll reach it soon

And the icy fingers will lose their iron grip,

Pulling back from the pain of an invisible searing edge,

Raw and peeling… sunburnt.

The air will be thick with a fragrant blossom-haze

Intoxicating us with whimsically dizzy fantasies

Of infinitely rolling oceans of ivory clouds,

And we’ll lie upon a park bench,

Watching the floating tides break upon piercing slivers…

A million resplendent splinters of molten gold.

They’ll glisten and glitter; they’ll excite us with the warmth

Of tantalizing promise

And the unbearably cruel sting of January will fade

Into memory; a passing recollection of a harsh, gray world,

To scarcely be believed as the sun sets on July.

Heat-Sick

Heat-sick

Sweltering aura

Surrounding me… piercing my body;

Poisoning me; I’m weakened…

Lying, immolating, on the carpet.

It boils my insides; burns my soul…

I’m sick to my stomach

And spitting out fire.

Water… my sweet relief… my only hope;

Fight back the dizzying supernova

And rush icy relief

Through my smoldering atoms…

Help me find my strength again.

September

September

Chilly raindrops

Pound against my window panes…

Autumn showers.

The Cold Light of Day

The Cold Light of Day

By Brandon Palzkill

Cold, sunny Sunday

shining a balmy mirage

though our

safe haven windows

to coax us

from our hidey holes,

out into the falsely

warm frigidity.

We follow the sun,

like inquisitive lemmings,

and step into the

beckoning glow,

finding frosty rewards

to meet and greet our

natural curiosity.

The refrigerated day

played upon fond memories

of inviting summers

and teased our sensations

yet  even in the face

of folly,

we never felt betrayed.

We embraced

the brisk wintery air;

we joyfully strolled around,

accepting all it had to offer

and as it filled our lungs,

we felt ourselves renewed

and briefly knew

what living truly meant.