Evil Influences

Gates Picture

2010-05-24T13:56:00.003-04:00

Close-up of sculpture by Jon Gatto with the poem:

Purgatory's Gates

2007-07-07T01:39:00.001-04:00

1

to me
at this point
in time
the idea
of paying my dues
to get in through
the pearly gates
has about
as much appeal
as buying
a time share
in some vastly obscure
vacation spot
in the off-off season

with the possibility
of reincarnation
I probably
wouldn't
be able
to get anyone
to trade

2

what do people
possibly talk about
in heaven
if only the pious
who've spent their lives
talking salvation
get in

what do they
have to say
once they've
been saved

do they suddenly
develop
an interest
in cinema

?
?
?

3

I plan to go to hell

everyone
I know
will be there

I prefer it warm

I'm sure
I've already
done enough
evil
to get in

and

they can't
make eternity
last any longer
if I do
a little more

A picture of the sculpture is here.

current events

2006-08-16T08:23:00.000-04:00

how can we honor our dead
without
glorifying death

how can we celebrate their lives
without
celebrating their wars

a newsman has a lust
that must be satisfied

we are the beast he must feed

so when his voice is charged
with an ancient fervor
and when his eyes glint
with the light of old campfires
recognize yourself in his reflection

else throw yourself
before the stallions' hooves
a human wall of sacrifice
that says
it must stop here
it must stop now

for if we sit in circles
wringing our hands
those same hands
must practice the applause
we'll need to welcome home
our dead from war

Barbieshop

2006-08-11T08:43:00.000-04:00

His mid-life crisis
was as predictable
as his male pattern baldness
each time his hairline
receded another inch
the age of his current companions
dropped a decade

as things go
by this calculation
were he to get hair transplants
he would have to start dating
my dead grandmother.

Be nice to girls in kindergarten
I told my then 8th grade son
if your scalp
is like your fathers'
those girls may
turn out to be
the mothers
of your future
girlfriends.

ba-al

2006-07-07T13:48:00.000-04:00

this old god
did his best
to frighten me
he changed
from wood
to death
to stone
moss covered

still

I smiled
as features blurred
into darkness
inadequate
to task

perhaps

had he turned
to flame
he might have
accomplished
intention

I find
solace
in stillness
peace
renewal
contentment

the sight
of him there
unmoving
unmovable
only
made me laugh

possibilities

2006-07-05T14:57:00.000-04:00

I wonder how I will die...

will I be surrounded
by loved ones
holding hands
kissing away tears
propped up on pillows
incense burning
candles aglow

or

will I be sitting alone
forcing out a poem
the way Elvis died
pushing out a poop

?

Message

2006-07-04T08:25:00.000-04:00

I pick up my phone
I hear your voice
but I can't
make out the words

you are desperate
pleading with me
to understand

Do you need my help?
Perhaps
I am in danger

as hard as I try
nothing is clear
only a few words

a key

a drawer

a brown door

I can tell you are angry
at my garbled understanding
this emotion confuses me

more

I am paralyzed knowing
I will be on my own
to figure everything out

objectified objects objecting

2006-07-03T07:16:00.000-04:00

skinny bitches
on high heels
bleached hair
fake tits
mini skirted
batting false eyelashes

whining

He doesn't care about Me!

Metro men
in money cars
sporting
power suits
power ties
and power colognes
flashing credit cards
and Rolex Watches

grumbling

All she cares about is Money!

8 am embrace

2006-07-02T13:01:00.000-04:00

I'm still
crazy about you
you know
.
Are you
sill crazy
about me
?
He tore
my chest open
with a pause
...
I'm not crazy
he said
as he ripped out
my heart
and
tossed it
to the floor
!

just a taste

2006-07-01T13:03:00.000-04:00

I am greedy
for happiness

in a rush
to clear my plate
of sorrow

while trying
to save
room
for a dessert
of delight
I eagerly swallow
ugliness
despair
worry

longing for ambrosia
I often
take in an abundance
of evil
in anticipation
of reward

too tired
too full
of cares
to care
I frequently
wind up
foregoing pleasure
leaving it
for another day

bombardments' offspring

2006-06-30T06:54:00.000-04:00

this public park
behind my house
is home
to geese
soccer fields
sheriffs firing range

distant gunfire
resounds constantly
throughout my day

I have become immune
to its threat

still

when coupled
with sounds
of children's
high-pitched
squealing at goal

my heart
asks my mind
if we shouldn't call
911

rot

2006-06-23T08:49:00.000-04:00

How ugly it must be
for them to smell
the death on your cheek
snuggled close to theirs
how disgusting to feel
your dissipated flesh
pressed close to firm
how awful for their tender hands
to touch your shriveled parts
to see you wrinkled up
against their smooth

deluded old man
you mistake their youth
as your own
they are not your mirror

time's stench encroaches rapidly

they can taste it in your kiss

In contemplation of suicide

2006-06-20T09:45:00.000-04:00

It must be I want life
to go on
else why would I remain
to finish out
years that both young and old
view with such disdain

children see me as a relic
of a distant past
to which they hold no connection

mother mourned my lacks
as measured by
her generation

my body fails me

I feel time's clench
as life's cycles
fan old age's fires

I slowly turn to ash

I cannot find a good death
not the fanfare of the headline
not the agony of disease
not the languish of antiquity

so I am doomed to live forever

I will each sunrise into being
too cowardly to let go
of life
quite
yet

the Trophy Wife...

2006-04-28T08:40:00.000-04:00

was not supposed
to get pregnant

there is no room
in a Corvette
for an infant seat

she dieted
"accidently"spilled her cocktails
wore big T shirts
avoided sex
until it was
too late
to do anything
about it

avoiding sex was easy
you'll ruin
my hair
my makeup
my nails
my clothes

she knew
it was much more important
for her to look
than to be

when he found out
he exploded
how could you let this happen
don't think you're gonna get fat like my ex
what's gonna happen to those $5,000 boobs I just bought you
don't think this is gonna change that prenup

so Barbie
came down
off tiptoe

saw the world
at eyelevel
for a change

the view
was not very pretty

not
what she
had bargained for

Vetiver Thirst

2006-04-28T08:26:00.000-04:00

He knew it had gone into her brain
he knew it as well
as if
he had taken a silver funnel
and poured it in
himself

He knew it had gone into her heart
he knew it as well
as if
he had taken a golden needle
and injected it in
himself

He knew it had gone into her soul
he knew it as well
as if
he had taken his ruby lips
and whispered it in
himself

He knew there was no repair
he knew it as well
as if
he had taken it in
himself

The Uptight Men

2006-04-27T19:00:00.000-04:00

pants pulled up beneath their armpits
even then their ball don't show

you know them
they have all the answers

the uptight men

worn black shoes are highly polished
stiff starch shirts are white as bone
not one hair is on their collars

you know them
they have all the answers

the uptight men

please don't worry
they won't touch you
they don't even touch themelves

you know them
they have all the answers

the uptight men

they rail against our social structure
we're all bad to them you know
failed priests, rentacops and latent teachers

you know them
they have all the answers

the uptight men

mommy says be home by midnight
without question they comply
no friends no girls no sex oh my

you know them
they have all the answers

the uptight men

they slant the facts to suit their reasoning
as if we're all to dumb to know
their resolve is weaker than their logic

you know them
they have all the answers

the uptight men

watercide

2006-04-27T18:48:00.000-04:00

driven to the very edge
where
curb
parking meter
fence
all work in concert
to stop my final progress
over the bulkhead
into the harbor
I notice shafts of sunlight
varying in intensity
penciling down from the sky
on those more fortunate
than myself

While others bathe in warmth
I contemplate a dive
into freezing liquid
then under the ice

seabirds watch
from their creosote perches

I surface
through a hole
in the ice
thoroughly wet
completely chilled

one bird hops down
poops on my head

a well-wishing passerby
a photographer
pulls me out
then snaps a picture
for our local paper
thinking he has done
a great deed

I stand there shaking
the lucky victim
once again

debt

2006-04-27T18:40:00.000-04:00

he was a landscaper
she hated him

every Saturday
she'd make an appt.
with yet another young man
to talk things over
to get her free estimate
those young men
never seen leaving
never seen by anyone
ever again

every Monday
large black trash bags
lay ponderously
ominosly
at the curb

she had taken care of him
she would take care
of all of them

as the volume of landscapers
declined
the hated one's business
thrived

he was finally able
to pay her back
all that he owed her

then
so was she

Sexy?

2006-04-27T18:35:00.000-04:00

Will I ever forget that first time?

he there beneath me

warm

firm

his back arched

head turned to the side

groaning in pleasure

Will I ever forget that look on his face?

as my fangs pierced his neck
pulling the blood from him
in one long delicious scream

for PS -2

2006-04-27T18:16:00.000-04:00

I m the object
of all men's desiring
cause wars to be fought
alcohol to be quaffed
buildings to be burned
drugs to be injected
guns to be fired
meat to be eaten
chemicals to be dumped
prostitutes to be visited

I am the objective
of all men's conspiring

I shimmer just past the horizon

I am death

full sparrow -dedicated to P.S.

2006-04-27T18:08:00.000-04:00

last night
they called
to tell me
you had tried
to commit suicide

I hope you're happy now
they said

I asked
if you'd succeeded

when they said

no

I said

no

I'm not happy

not yet

caught

2006-04-27T17:49:00.000-04:00

He knew I hated guns

How could he bring me here
where the sound of gunfire
would ring daily
poison my ears
rattle my brain

His own guns stood silent
I hid his ammo
as if there were no more
left to buy
as if that could stop him

When he was
so sick
so crazy
I begged them
please, take his guns away

they did
but then he got them back

he is gone now

from this place
I try to change it
make it mine
but the sound of gunfire
reminds me

even now
I hear him call

Where are the shells for my shotgun?

and i shiver
lie