Michael J. Phunk

Who decides what’s okay whole?

What should be valued in entirety?

A rock will stay the same

Other things change vibrantly

Why are some things thousands?

Others only 99 cents?

Why do we say peace and love?

When sometimes love leads to violence?

They say “you got cold”

Like it’s a bad thing

But is that really true?

Is it always sunny somewhere?

Is the sky always blue?

Change is an action, or life’s caption.

If I tried to stay stagnant would it cause a reaction?

If I just sat here

And stayed in this very place

What’s at the end of time?

Could I see it with my stone cold face?

I swear it’s your arm I brush against

Your boots are gone

Their spot still fossilized in the floorboards

I won’t sit on that half of the couch

And I don’t care how the show ended

I read it was a let down

Not all narratives end well

The dog took your half of the bed

It’s a new bed

In the morning, we run. Put it behind us

Just before though, in my personal twilight

I miss you

Isaac Hayes is on the player

The song is lined up

I won’t ever play it though

A kingdom, a tree house or a ship in space

I filled it up with all your favorite things

Stuff that makes you happy and songs you like to sing

When you’re sad we can go there and do nothing

Just be lazy, empty and quiet

We’re together and it’s okay that it’s silent

Hide your report cards there, when you fail a test

Tell your subjects, they’ll keep your secrets

But this place isn’t only for sadness

I want to give you happiness that’s lasting

I wanna see you glow and scream “ahhh”

When you’re ecstatic

Barely existing in the blackness of its world.

Flickering, grasping at what it can to stay.

Something fuels it.

A breeze,inhalation, an inspiration sets it off.

Energy,heat,warmth, it gives & it’s beautiful.

It is also destruction.

That which gives life, expended in process.

It is not bad, not evil, it is passion.

Here I stand.Rooted in reason.Swayed by emotion.

I bend and grow.The wind gets cold.The sun low.I stay in place.

My skin hardens.Grown to withstand.Tough to blows.

Outward growth.Projecting conscious circles around. Strengthening my place in earth.

Older than men. Than families. Than communities. Old and wise.

I can’t keep digging this hole

Why do I keep trying to get closer?

Every ounce of strength, the dirt falls back where it came

Bury myself in mistakes

This deep pit in my chest

A burnt up heart

The second one that I’ve had

A moment of fusion, before it went all bad

Now my earth quakes, just to know your place

I wanna see your face

Light my chest on fire

What once was golden, now is white

A shade of gray, my day once bright

I sometimes forget the feel of warmth

The gates now closed, from months before

Here we are now, above what’s lost

In long for below, to avoid the frost

And now it’s buried, what once was bold

Tired from work, retired or worse

I wasn’t ready, for this cold

I used to be warm, full of soul

Hello? Hello?

In the woods alone

Your essence lingers when you’re gone

Smells like home

I’m not sorry for the way I acted

I’m not sorry I didn’t know how to handle it

I’m not sorry I’m sometimes too emotional

I’m not sorry I get a little jealous

I’m not sorry I get upset you choose them over me

I’m not sorry that I’m confident

I’m not sorry that I’ve been everything you asked

I’m not sorry that makes you push me away

I’m not sorry that makes me think I deserve a chance

I’m not sorry that you told me you wanted more

I’m not sorry that I listened

I’m not sorry that I’ve done everything I can to be there for you

So I’m not sorry that I got mad that you give somebody else what I am trying to earn

I’m not sorry that I’m frustrated because you said you wanted more but then seem to accept less

I’m not sorry I think I’m the one for you

I’m not sorry that I love you

vials full, empty souls

empty homes, dusty rooms

doctors doom, seeding soon

worlds end

making ends

making mothers, kid less friends

and in the end

in the end

Why do some things change and others are left the same?

Who decides what’s okay whole?

What should be valued in entirety?

A rock will stay the same

Other things change vibrantly

Why are some things thousands?

Others only 99 cents?

Why do we say peace and love?

When sometimes love leads to violence?

They say “you got cold”

Like it’s a bad thing

But is that really true?

Is it always sunny somewhere?

Is the sky always blue?

Change is an action, or life’s caption.

If I tried to stay stagnant would it cause a reaction?

If I just sat here

And stayed in this very place

What’s at the end of time?

Could I see it with my stone cold face?