The Flake (unfinished)

I would call you flakey
But the definitiveness of such a label
Would put you in a box that you would inevitably escape from
So I won’t group you into anything with any particularity
Since structure is such a rarity
You’re flakey like warm buttermilk biscuits
Like perfectly prepared grouper
Promises from a whino in a drunken stupor
Your flake knows no bounds
Crosses all color lines, religions and creed

More Tankas

Hangover

His walk has faltered
Into a tomb his soul falls.
How ripe fruit fades fast
Roosters no longer awake
the drunken man, his thirst does.


Root of this Rut

The somber mood of
these poems scare my woman.
She is fond of my
hands, which no longer caress.
They only secure my head.

Tankas

BREAK UP

I felt like a fool,
Like one-winged butterfly
something was missing.
I thought I found it in you,
I was green then, now i know.


UNWIND

Peaceful is the night,
when I hear the crickets play.
White shooting stars skip
in the sky taking away
the cares of the day.

Skeletons

I love her,
I think she knows it
But I’ve never said it
She’s broken many hearts before

I hear those skeletons cry out to me
From the closet as she sleeps next to me
I’ve seen the way they look at me
They envy my place

But they know my days are numbered
And one day I'll join their broken-hearted fraternity
And we'll form one lonely voice
Crying out to the next future brother

At times I hear her heart rumble
She’s a man-eater
And I know it but she has me hooked
She smells the love

I see the frenzy in her eyes
I recognize that look
I’ve broken many hearts before
So maybe she’s met her match

I’ll never tell her
I’ll keep her guessing
Now my plan is hatched
I hope it lasts

But I want what’s real,
No games but it's all I have
A life of playing with emotions,
Ghosts of my past

To be a martyr to my heart
To feel what I’ve dealt
I love her,
I think she knows it

So what happens when you're caught up in the double life...

His Side
You're as forbidden as Genesis fruit
And as far as living without you
The pain I feel when we're apart is acute
I know we should part ways
But I'm afraid I'll weep like a newborn babe
When we're together it’s like we're on an isle by ourselves
Enthralled in this fairy tale we pray never drifts away
But when we bid our farewells
It’s never fair at all
And though I wish you were there at my every beck and call
Quite frankly we never know when this shaky tower of deceit might fall
And crush our seperate worlds
Either pushing us closer together
Or have us retreating to our significant others
Trying to patch things amidst the stormy weather
Until then you're like the sweetest evil
Tearing me apart at my very base
Wishing I was strong enough to leave the one at home that's so devoted
But I forget about her devotion every time I see your face
If I could just bottle this regret I feel
Right after we part
I'd drink its shame
And keep it near
When I think of your sweet name

Her Take
You leave me
Speechless
Breathless
Longing for the next exchange of air
With you I catch my breath and lose it all over again
I live to inhale you
Hate to exhale you
You pollinate my senses
Giving birth to new feelings
A new awareness of who I am
Better with you
Listless without you
You are my greatest joy
My biggest sin
Every time you go back to her
It’s like I need life support
I wait an eternity for you to resuscitate
Me
His love
A temporary oxygen chamber
Until you return
With my breath of fresh air

God Bless Haiti

Birth of a nation
Weakened from the lashings
Drained from the tears of yester years
Leaders drunk from the sin
As cutting as the wind
Changing in every direction
Enamored by the smallest glimmer of hope
To cope.
Instability not just brick and mortar
These walls were never built to last
Came down fast
Have and have-nots affected
Maybe now these walls will talk
And forever more be resurrected
At least until our Savior comes
Broken homes and broken bodies
Here's the stage they needed
Too bad the wealth of a nation and its color
Didn't allow the warning to be heeded
Now you see through the lens of a death toll
Far exceeding
Far exceeding what your conscience allows you to ignore
God Bless Haiti
From the smallest blade of grass to the shore
Here's the stage you needed
Too bad the color of a nation
Stopped the warning from being heeded

Forbidden

You're as forbidden as Genesis fruit
And as far as living without you
The pain I feel when we're apart is acute
I know we should part ways
But I'm afraid I'll weep like a newborn babe
When we're together its like we're on an isle by ourselves
Enthralled in this fairy tale we pray never drifts away
But when we bid our fairwells
Its never fair at all
And though I wish you were there at my every beck and call
Quite frankly we never know when this shaky tower of deceit might fall
And crush our seperate worlds
Either pushing us closer together
Or have us retreating to our significant others
Trying to patch things amidst the stormy weather
Until then you're like the sweetest evil
Tearing me apart at my very base
Wishing I was strong enough to leave the one at home that's so devoted
But I forget about her devotion everytime I see your face
If I could just bottle this regret I feel
Right after we part
I'd drink its shame
And keep it near
When I think of your sweet name.

What happens when you discover love is really infatuation?

His Side:
Infatuation had me eating to live,
My belly wasn't full
And I didn't fully savor
But I partook of you anyway
It felt like the real thing
Something was missing and I thought it was me
I sprinkled romance and mystery
And because i was fresh out of misery
It tasted sweet like my first love used to make
I realized you don't have to search your soul
For a soul mate
She finds you
And then love binds
I wrestled with infatuation
But love pinned me
Infatuation got me drunk with my head still reeling
Love got me high
And on to the clouds is where I reside
I took what love I lost and replaced it with lust
I have loved and lost and it forever changed me
Then I only wanted infatuation
It was some of the feeling, none of the hurt
Until you come down.
Hungover from the cheap imitation
Pores seeping with regret
You hate love more for driving you to this place
But you're to blame
All attention isn't good attention
And good intentions often leads to the same place as the bad
Infatuation sets you up for the fall
But love conquers all

Her Take:
You are that hot stove that I’m not supposed to touch
Wasn’t supposed to touch
Touched
Now burning
Soul on Fire
Under your influence
I lost sight of my reality
A novice love-r
I was prone to believe you were
Gold
Not pyrite
Love
Not infatuation
And I bought it
I did
A fool and her heart
Are soon parted
Infatuation took me fiend high
And
then
DROPPED
Me
Ignored my tears
Didn’t return my calls
Or Texts
Or E-mails
Or BBMs
Made
A
Fool
Of
Me
Reject
Should have known we don’t really choose who we love

Merry Chrima

Merry Merry Christmas
Tis the season
And I don't know the particular reason
But I smell treason
I put 10 gifts under the tree
And someone has robbed me
As blind as all three mice combined
I should've known
Things were going as fine as wine
I have two folks I suspect
And a dollar to your dime I'll bet
They've got all ten gifts
But I haven't proved it yet.
I wrapped them oh so neatly
Everyone was in the house so i wrapped them very discreetly
It was time to make my famous rum cake
So i prepared the ingredients and got them ready to bake
So its customary that I sample the rum
And sampled the rum
heck it makes the baking fun
And sampled and sampled
until I had to make a store run
And it gets hazy after this
Maybe I was drugged
But when I woke up the theives had stolen my gifts
Well I guess my neice heard me rumbling
I heard chuckling from the other room
She came in sweetly gave me a kiss
And whispered, "Uncle, thank you for the gifts"
I'm a bafoon, I slept through Christmas
And it was December 26th

His Side/Her Take

His Side:
Father always said the power of attraction is strong
And although I’m not attracted to your physical
Your “everything else” has me thinking
Can I break the law of the physical to satisfy my mental?
Knowing my physical needs often impairs my mental judgment
Can I make you mine?
How shallow is a man who knows she has it all
Except a beauty that fades
Except a body type that eventually gravity takes as its victim
I’m a man, and I guess this vanity is a symptom
Maybe of my nature
Maybe as a symptom of this world
I know you’d make my seed strong and ready for the world
I know you’ll love me despite my imperfections
And help our potential unfurl
But
If I’m fickle with women who don’t tickle my fancy
And I’m layered like an onion
And I’ve been known to make them cry
I want all my layers to be satisfied
Is it possible or am I chasing after a lie?
Furthermore am I worthy, I’ll ask the Sky.
But I know the answer.
Your “everything else” has me pondering
How shallow am I?

Her Take:
Look at this ninja
He really thinks he’s something great
Special even
Ugh
I really want to tap him on his shoulder and tell him
I SEE THROUGH YOU
Such bravado
Faux swagger
His cologne the fragrant aroma of insecurity
I like him anyway
Because I see his potential to be so much more
I’m not perfect
I’m greeted every morning
By the welcome bell jingle of cellulite
A lil pudge on my tummy
That took residence when I chose career over fitness
Snacking over jogging
BUT
My beauty radiates inside out
I’ll never be a supermodel
But a woman I am
Beyond beautiful
Because the superficial shit
Means nothing to me
I am who I am
And
My father always said a man should love me for just that
Not who he thinks I should be
So my physical is only a partial representation of who I be
Ya dig
I’m too deep for a shallow negro
To ever conceive
The wealth that runs deeps within me

The Beginning...

HER SIDE

He said he’d call
Yet I’m sitting here
Not so patiently waiting
For nothing
I mean
It’s only been 3 days
72 hours
4320 minutes
Nothing
Did I hallucinate the vibes
Maybe he’s just not that into me
Although he should be
I mean have you seen me
It should have been his pleasure to meet me
And his honor to have even gotten the secret code
To ring my phone
And yet
Nothing
He wasn’t that damn fine anyway
Club lights create illusion
When mixed with the haze of minor intoxication
I mean who does he think he is anyway
Because when he does call
I’m going to play the disinterested
Too late sorry negro role
Could I have given him the wrong number
No
How dare he have me waiting
By this phone
3 days
72 hours
4320 minutes later
For
Nothing

- Zette


HIS TAKE

She didn’t have to get my hopes up
Flirting, dancing giving me insight into her life
And although it was dim in the club I saw her light
I was hesitant to get her secret code
I loathe the idea of “Game”
But I was genuine, but who can tell
I thought she did.
I didn’t want to call her right then and there
To see if her code was real
That’s lame.
I couldn’t even wait the customary 48 hours
It was only 32…
Just to get, “China Pan Buffet, how may I help you?”
DANG!
I was hungry so I had to order.
I wrote this poem on my napkin.
I mean who does she think she is anyway?
There was a haze of minor intoxication
Maybe I heard the wrong number?
72 hours later
I got my hopes up
For
Nothing

- Walt

9 TO 5

I tied one dollar to each side of my bed post
Since it seemed to be the thing that runs through my head the most
Id pray it wouldn't thrwart these dreams to see the things unseen
And the American American American scheme
Since that's all it seems to be
I work and live life just to work away the strife
A starving artist with love for a craft has to sit back with not
enough funds to buy a calc good thing he took calc
so he could do life's math
a subject they didn't teach in 4th period
And I'm too serious
Life's math quickly adds up to more than what's in my pocket
Because all the things I wanted don't come from a trust fund on my
rich dad's wallet
80s baby with 70s soul, now that's solid
And what's jive is the need to work a 9 to 5 to live a lie
And that's a lie that says I'm happy
Between the days i catch a glimpes of contentment
Which is the real tragedy
I live with resentment for the years i chose contentment

UNTITLED

I changed the channel on my love once,
hit recall now i'm back to
before the love was lust, lost.
Now at night I toss,
I felt a buzz as I lay there,
reached for my phone but it was a pager there,
true story.
I guess I took it back.
I awoke from a shallow sleep,
thought of you and faded chest deep.
I'm wading in the water,
but I'm fading fast,
still dreaming you haunt me in my sleep
I only miss you because I wish I didn't feel this way,
you let me go because I pushed you,
now i'm begging you to stay.
143s of the past mean nothing now,
love lost is like losing a bet,
I put up my heart.
But doubling down or losing a
round aint nothing like this

LIFE

I live life so that one day I may live the life I've always longed
I dream strong
I must or the hustle and bustle
Will shuffle my dreams between the seams
That seperate living the life I long
Or growing strong
From the toil

TIRING

I want to focus on the love
But the hate has me by the collar
I guess its got me hung
I just wanna see the light
Been in the dark so long
It seems its not within my sight
There’s no positivity when
You’ve got no pot to pee in
What good is it to be locked and loaded
When you don’t have a firing pin
It seems life is only inspiring
When its tiring
I wish I could create with no pain

Not to Mention

Now i know when you said
"Not to mention"
You meant to save that for last
As an exclamation point in your plan to stick to
And though I've had
the opportunity to
Sit through many of these

NOT TO MENTION DISCUSSIONS

I'd rather be licked in the face by a shitzu
Or only have ugly women to kick to
Or get the swine flu
And I know you need to vent
Need someone to whine to
But I'd like to
Focus on fixing this because this relationship is mine too
We're in this together and i signed on the dotted line too
And I could sugar coat this thing
But I know how much you hate to be lied to
Trust I KNOW
You're only 5'2 with enough bite for three K9s times two
Shoot not to mention you've got a 9 too
Now I know you saw how that worked
I meant to mention the 9 and frankly I did it because I was itching to tell
you the truth
That every time I hear a car backfire, after we're riftin
I hit the deck and yell shots fired
You meant it, otherwise you wouldn't have mentioned at all.
I think you just wanna rub it in
So next time mention it all
And if you forget something just say it

Bottle It

I wish I could bottle this feeling
Drink it when i fell from my senses
Meet you for lunch to catch up
Spike your punch
I once said I wouldn't wish this misery on my enemy
But you're better than that
Which is why it hurts when you fell from that
Whatever it is that love's euphoria had me engrossed in
What took me to a point so high
Dropped me from free fall
It feels like you'll lose your lunch
But you haven't eaten in days
And that's it right there
That sick feeling
Right in the pit
Amazing how the emotional manifests
Now its physical and I'm a mess.
Oh how I wish I could bottle this.
I'd sell it to those who have thoughts of going back.
Returning to the scene of your own crime
Fighting the urges you felt right before you fell.
Those thoughts like beautiful torture.
Dancing in your head
That same place you feel your pit churning
To suppress the yearning you hate yourself for feeling
I'd sell it for a little less then your dignity
So you could have it back.

Evolution of a Cheating Heart

Evolution of a Cheating Heart
A need to conquer like Bonaparte?
Two lives once together now a world apart.
Cheating thoughts rewind and replay like syndication
Ripping you from elevation
The pedestal you once stood tall on
Forever tainted because etched in her mind is the painting
Split Screen...
You panting and her at home waiting
The evolution of a cheating heart never contemplates
The sick feeling in the pit
Or the initial fit
Of rage.
Maybe one day she can turn the page
But unlikely
You tied the noose around your trust too tightly
If the initial snap wont kill it
The lingering feeling of tainted intimacy
Will snuff out the flame quicker then no oxygen
So come with me
Imagine when
Imagine how that blow felt
Below the belt
When she found out someone was playing below yours
And because when it rains it pours
It wasn't one of your average run of the mill whores
It was a sister from another mister
A bossom buddy that wanted your cutty
Day and Night
The Lonely Loner seems to free her inhibitions at night
At At At Night.
The evolution of a cheating heart
Whether slow or fast
Burns and scorns the same.
Until it snuffs out pure love's flame.

Its easy to say you got me when you got nothing
Never had, if you did
You'd be so afraid to eat those words
That whatever you had you hid
You're the worst kind
You couldn't see yourself
You wouldn't see yourself
Maybe if you were Truman and you bought the complete box set
Limited edition
With editors commentary
Special features with psychiatrist commentary
And Psyche profile
And even then I think it would be futile
You don't see it because you hate who you are
Or love yourself too much to drop yourself off that pedestal
But I promise its inevitable
Sooner or later we come face to face with our star player

Recall

I changed the channel on my love once, hit recall now i'm back to before the love was lust, lost. Now at night I toss, I felt a buzz as I lay there, reached for my phone but it was a pager there, true story. I guess I took it back. I awoke from a shallow sleep, thought of you and faded chest deep. I'm wading in the water, but I'm fading fast, still dreaming you haunt me in my sleep I only miss you because I wish I didn't feel this way, you let me go because I pushed you, now i'm begging you to stay. 143s of the past mean nothing now, love lost is like losing a bet, I put up my heart. But doubling down or losing a round aint nothing like this. So I channel search through the fish of the sea, but I always find my mind on you, 143. I know deep down you're not four me. So why when i'm in the middle of another program, I'm drawn to you, my previous channel.