Author Aaron Echoes August

Storm clouds hover over the ancient Nazca Lines in the Nazca Desert of Peru. He looks at his watch as the clock balloons float him over the barren land But no land is completely barren Even barren means something A scrape of desert, a scorching salt flat, a burned forest Seemingly ugly can be beautiful Even Texas at twilight There’s a fine mist in the sky The air is humid, thick,…

A blue duck stands on a lone black bed that rests on cracked red earth under a moody twilight sky. At the large house at the end of the block that serves as an apothecary and home of a weird man named Fielden Mousen, an ogre sits atop the chimney and stares out at the smoke-rimmed world around him. Fielden is riding in the tiny elevator, and the house has an elevator because it is so tall, red,…

Shoppers move between floors in a bright, modern mall using multiple escalators. Carousel-lighted crickets sparkle like breath gone astray Birds of flight spinning the tune: It’s hard to be happy when you’ve ruined your life Oatmeal at a diner in the desert, sugar, a small silver pitcher of cream Reflections of firetrucks racing to the scene At Casino Celebration Gambling…

A medieval-clad man gazes over a lush garden toward a castle at dusk. Prince Hawkwind of Leafdom stood alone in his private garden. He looked down at the stone pathway. The spaces between the pieces glowing green with moss. The sun was shining and some of the light fell onto the leaves there and they cast foreboding shadows at their edges. He knew this was the day that they would likely take him…

A lone person dressed in dark clothing stands inside an empty city bus at night. Exodus Tangier stood at the precipice of a freight train as it rushed through the night. The tracks ahead ran straight like a zipper, trees leapt up on either side, trees like blue spruce, dark and embodied with a scent of Christmas. The wind poured across Exodus’ head. He was crying. Something had made him so sad…

A whimsical food landscape features hikers exploring a world made of sandwiches and vegetables. Sometimes I don’t want anything to do with anything I feel blank The pencil tip is broken I’m in prison Sitting on the edge of a bunk Someone else above me is snoring I can’t escape Always noise, constant clamor I can’t stand noise Noise makes me shriek inside There’s a sandwich that looks…

A lone home stands on a hill as lightning strikes nearby during a stormy evening. It’s silent among the weeds of the fan whir. The sun teeters on the edge of darkness. The growing, green trees splinter light. Stars and planets wait offstage for the curtain of night to come down like a new dimension, the darkness swirling, the celestials stirring, and I in a coffin of the mind easing nervously…

A silhouetted figure is dramatically struck and fragmented by lightning on a cliff. He liberated his wounds with liquor At the bus depot on some side of Manhattan Haunted memories pipe forth from a calliope on acid Lingering hooks in skin pulling Exposing fragile pulses running down the limbs Suicide scars dancing in a lightning pattern way And I am silver surfing in the French bakery…

An astronaut floats toward a futuristic lunar base with Earth exploding in the sky due to the ignorance and greed of people.  An epic dawn retreats Daylight splayed Like circus knives on a wooden table Evil clowns playing finger slicing games Like ancient gods with the sharp edge of a lightning bolt I am falling from the moon Slipping off the Sea of Tranquility Land me upon the dark…

A cool, wet street The sound of tires splashing through the rain One lone car up the road, toward the hill, and the gray church that stands there like some great Lord of life, overlooking the world Neon glowing, gold and red, reflecting A butcher shop on the sidewalk Fine Meats it reads As streetlights vape And loneliness aches Shop windows aglow Bourbon blues And anatomical greens The…

The sting of a memory’s rain Blind, blindsided, like a car crash The hurt leaps back up Like whiplash Like coma wash Like devastation sequel And the modern moment feels old As I wait for the new appliance My glittery mind All puffed up and racing It moves like that Back and forth From stuck in mud To the flames of a starship Had a little bit of sleep Dreams like a Rorschach…

A serene bedroom with a cosmic ceiling mural and a green goblin sitting on the edge of the bed while a ghost peers in from outside. It’s the edge of night and my eyes hurt Too much heavy looking and breathing at the world On this chaotic day of rest and wonder and all torn asunder I dream in comatose fits Mind flashes of impossible places But then there I am Crawling around in it like an…

A watercolor painting depicting a winter forest with bare trees and snowflakes in blues and purples I miss winter’s dusk How the last of the cold lemon sun Lays down its rays like a blanket upon the barren crop field The lights are already on In the few scattered houses of stone and dark rooftops Inviting and warm Wood smoke swirls out from the chimneys The barren trees stand like crooked…

A vibrant abstract painting with gold accents over deep blue tones I am rich in pain and confusion at times. I glance over at the glossy blue plate where the crumbs from the buttered zucchini bread lie. The sky is sunless and dim. Silence calmly breathes. I wonder what will become of me. In these days of roses and war. The stupidity of it all. I grow weary of the fights and the calamities. I…

A metallic space bird flies over a motel They even had a Keurig on his crotch At the funeral Where someone thought it would be special To set up a small buffet on the deceased’s body In the coffin A glass bowl of pickled beets with a serving spoon Rested in his dead-blue hands Potato salad balanced on his face A platter of cold cuts and olives on his chest Bread, cheese, and table water…

A vibrant, dreamlike world where time flows like liquid across a desert landscape under a swirling sky. It’s tick-tock o’clock In the morning of sun and blue sky Fingers in quicksand Mind in a bog Body in a fog While the truth hands of the insane Are tacked to social crucifixes Mangled bone and muscle Like bombs on schools A candy stain burns away Catastrophe brains steal the…