The Perplexed Poet's Perch

I came for the rhythm I came for the rhyme the former was given before it was time the latter was bidden at first show of signs I came for the rhythm I came for the rhyme I picked up the inkwell I bled for each word sentenced to this cold hell with what was fostered the muses were confined kept there in the cage and all of them resigned to suffer this rage I picked up the inkwell and started to spill these words meant to dispel the weight of this will with this path undefined itself a blank page and all of it designed to make me engage I came for the rhythm I came for the rhyme all of it was given none of it was mine that truth wasn't hidden it showed every time I came for the rhythm I came for the rhyme I picked up the inkwell bled deep for each piece each cut was its own tell repeated at least once for each collection showing persistence as each introspection fashioned resistance I came for the rhythm I came for the rhyme way to breach the schism as I set to climb cliffs of unforgiven martyred in their time I came for the rhythm I came for the rhyme I picked up the inkwell picked up the habit I welcomed this old hell as would an addict the muses by design danced upon this stage the suffering sublime meant less on the page I came for the rhythm I came for the rhyme the former was given before it was time the latter was bidden at first show of signs I came for the rhythm I came for the rhyme I picked up the inkwell was then when I heard the tolling of the bell with each and every word (6/10/26)

where once I believed find now I cannot heart penned to my sleeve somehow I forgot why it was conceived I once cared a lot where once I believed find now I cannot time is ever-changing in truth, so are we always rearranging who we are to be broken into pieces time and time again scar tissue increases with reconstruction time is ever-changing influencing all with ways of estranging what's penned to the wall from its very meaning purpose is unmoored still it bears repeating this I can't afford where once I believed find now I cannot my heart sought reprieve thought it worth a shot yes, I am aggrieved gave it all I've got where once I believed find now I cannot time is ever-changing the world is in flux saw where it was aiming but not where it struck still I kept it burning as long as I could flames of hope all yearning just to see the good where once I believed find now I cannot heart penned to my sleeve somehow I forgot why it was conceived I once cared a lot where once I believed find now I cannot time is ever-changing in truth, so are we always rearranging who we are to be broken into pieces some forever lost scar tissue increases it costs what it costs yes, I am aggrieved gave it all I've got where once I believed find now I cannot (05/27/26)

I crawled into a hole could see no way out of for darkness was the goal a point I was proud of but it cost me my soul just to be allowed love I crawled into a hole could see no way out of I came here a junkie taught that love was the cure it made me feel something in that moment was sure it had to be magic panacea of mind made all the more tragic when I left it behind I crawled into a hole could see no way out of for each second it stole the heart was endowed love with pieces of the whole there beneath the shroud of that old ill-fated hole I knew no way out of I came here a junkie believed love was the cure was praying for something beyond what I'd endured such things would be magic panacea of self I became an addict for the way that it felt I crawled into a hole could see no way out of dictated by the toll I now lived in doubt of for I had not a soul no token of loud love I crawled into a hole not meant to crawl out of I came here a junkie looked to love as the cure knew it was the one thing that would always be pure I tasted its magic panacea of heart the length of my habit hell, it became an art I crawled into a hole could see no way out of for darkness was the goal a point I was proud of but it cost me my soul just to be allowed love I crawled into a hole could see no way out of needed to feel something needed life reassured I came here a junkie thought that love was the cure (05/25/26)

poly want a market betting on the strife everything's a target everything in life odds aren't in your favor house holds all the cards place your bets and savor life without regard Rob E. wants a market that still has a soul not one that's so dark it's under the control of the apathetic cogs of the machine such builds are pathetic thrive on being mean care to make a wager I wager you would we are all just players long been understood cruelty is selling always making bank darkness so compelling it's now pulling rank poly want a market void of decency compassion discarded in its infancy humanity worsens with every bet placed no form of exertion just utter disgrace Rob E. wants a market that's not so corrupt see how this all started know that we are fucked all our worst impulses fully on display finger on the pulse is feeling it decay care to make a wager I wager you would we are all just players long been understood cruelty is selling always making bank darkness so compelling it's now pulling rank poly want a market betting on each blow everything's a target the new status quo (5/24/26)

only one 86'd here is me innocent, but they ain't gonna buy it for one time she was quite the homie and though we were both children at the time it seems that Sally's last name is Comey and so I too am now charged with a crime she sold 86 be-fore day seven apparently that was all it took now the right is rolling in hog heaven labeling the lot of us as crooks anyone who's shopped at Sally's Seashells especially if you ever served then you're an accomplice that's what Kash sells and your prosecution is deserved Sally sells seashells by the seashore which I really never gave too much thought lately though life's taken a detour and now I think about her quite a lot at one time she was quite the homie and though we have not talked for quite a while Sally's last name it seems is Comey and so Sally and I are here on trial so perhaps the moral of this story that I only now have realized any can be sacrificed for glory on the watch of old Kash Crazy Eyes bid farewell to seashore shell arranging lest you draw that crazy bastard's ire he sees the beach side coups that you're staging he's gonna prosecute you for his sire Sally sold seashells by the seashore but that was before Justice came to dine she ain't selling nothing anymore and only thing she's serving now is time (05/06/26)

where once I cast a shadow I now find an empty page the light was all I had though landing on this tattered stage I've seen the tables turning and I know what those acts mean the potential for earnings cut out of here in the spring where once I cast fated die I now roll but ash and bone for we no longer ask why we just submit to the throne I have seen this errored way now become the only path gilded furor left in play only room for writ and wrath we cannot turn a blind eye and then still expect to see operators standing by who are there for you and me where once I bled in battle I now find the tap is dry enough to have me rattled but is it here I shall die I have seen hope returning have watered it with my tears the lack of light concerning hasn't been this dark in years we cannot turn a blind eye and then still expect to see operators standing by who are there for you and me hang it up, force perspective drop out of the fucking fight follow your own directive and be your own fucking light where once I looked for answers I now turn to reconcile the potency of cancers that we churn out with a smile I've seen all that tomorrow could bare if we would grow it but we breed only sorrow and what's worse is that we know it we cannot turn a blind eye and then still expect to see operators standing by who are there for you and me hang it up, force perspective drop out of the fucking fight follow your own directive and be your own fucking light where once I cast a shadow and I had long been resigned to be there but for battle now I come only to shine I have seen hope returning have watered it with my tears let's set these bridges burning not been there for us in years we cannot turn a blind eye and then still expect to see operators standing by who are there for you and me hang it up, force perspective drop out of the fucking fight follow your own directive and be your own fucking light (05/05/26)

the chorus faded out in the night their words falling like sands through the glass and the prophets blinded by the light they could never see beyond the past while our heroes are all digging graves and the poets sing out by the stones oh no, now nothing here can be saved no there is nothing left to call home we struggle to make sense of it all as we cradle that last remnant spark leaving these words written on the wall the sum of these whispers in the dark the waters keep rising around us with a volatile stain on our tongues and still we're not sure how they found us or if that brand new day has begun so we have to just keep on dancing with the spirit of hope in our hearts while this dark tide keeps on advancing we have to find new ways to impart the medium is not the message we can take the pen, draw our own arc don't have to stay within this wreckage can be more than whispers in the dark the champions are on vacation the evermore has all but expired nothing to ease, there's no placation the day we seized had long been retired and our heroes are buried under the very ground they were sent to clear once battle cries, now distant thunder barely audible, no one can hear saw reflections of fortune's favored and we believed that it left a mark 'twas not the start of something braver thus began the whispers in the dark the armaments have been surrendered the blood we spilled has been painted o'er our resignation's long been tendered and the job's been posted on the board with what's left of hope, we're still dancing upon feet both swollen and blistered still waters rush in, tide's entrancing and all that's left, are but the whispers (04/30/26)

I've been playing this role so long I no longer know who I am scene one...take one...action and the boy became a poet he cut his teeth a broken bard took a piece then, he would owe it his wrists lay open from the shard he bore his heart for all to see the rest he hid behind a mask the fragile organ on his sleeve broke without ever being asked and that was when he traced the scars to before the lines and laughter found masks extending back so far seems he was always an actor how did everything go so wrong how did this get so out of hand I've been playing these roles so long I no longer know who I am scene two...take one...action the poet became a pauper he's forever a broken ward treading in a depth of water far from any visible shore knowing that at any minute his arms and legs could just give out but he's here, he's long been in it and this is what his life's about so he holds there in the struggle turning it all into an art it is a piece in his puzzle yes he was born to play this part I've been playing these roles so long I no longer know who I am it seems this is where I belong was always penned into the plan scene three...take one...action the pauper became a fable a story told as a warning what was left upon the table would keep the lines of ants forming not sated by the scraps they tossed what with all of their strings attached as such his appetite was lost and he would never get it back all replaced by primal hungers for teeth that never took a bite is it really any wonder that he was unfit for this fight I knew the words to every song yet I was not part of the band I've been playing these roles so long I no longer know who I am scene four...take one...action the fable became an echo a broken track set to repeat he was unable to let go of that which would bring his defeat for it was part of his nature an innate rhythm, out of time was his very nomenclature the way he always spoke in rhyme growing fainter and more distant and as such, much less impactful the desperate and persistent ringing off walls of the castle I've been playing these roles so long I no longer know who I am wonder if there will come a dawn where I'll finally understand ...cut (04/27/26)

I'm not a violent person but I'm thinking violent things as the world around me worsens with all of the madness that brings and I see you breaking Justice even branding her as your own you have got me screaming “fuck this!” and opting for the sticks and stones so if not by the voice or vote then you leave us only the fist and with your foot here on our throat afraid that it will come to this I'm not a violent person but thinking of violent acts with corruption and coercion the county has gone off the tracks a dementia-ridden despot just cashing in and dropping bombs got me in my feels and guess what I'm 'bout ready to get it on so if not by the voice or vote then you leave us only the fist and with your foot here on our throat afraid that it will come to this I'm not a violent person but I know how to draw some blood and you come with this incursion and I'll fucking unleash a flood I'm a lover and a writer but do not make the mistake to underestimate the fighter who's ready to make his debut so if not by the voice or vote then you leave us only the fist and with your foot here on our throat afraid that it has come to this I'm not a violent person but I'm thinking violent things as the world around me worsens with controlled burns and suffering (04/24/26)

once a jester and a junkie written word, my drug of choice each passage was written bluntly just the way I used my voice as the years brought tear and tarnish masks were worn away to bone and the wages were all garnished to add gilding to the throne once a jester and a junkie upon this altar I bled had a back so full of monkeys lived with a gun to my head and I kept pulling the trigger with each verse I inked in blood homage paid to the gravedigger six feet down beneath the mud raise a tombstone for the poet carve the words into the stone all that he has to show for it rot that infected the bone once a jester and a junkie no other way to survive heart had no way to keep pumping beyond the lines here that I've scribed from its most sacred crimson each more potent than the last every bar here marks my prison the words of my epitaph raise a tombstone for the poet carve the words into the stone all that he has to show for it rot that infected the bone and hope that rendered him useless left him longing, out of touch open to the pen's abuses with the pages filling up once a jester and a junkie just an old romantic fool fragile like my name was Dumpty falling like it was a rule every year, they cut with cunning yet the blade was in my hand long empty and yet still running toward the grave as was planned raise a tombstone for the poet carve the words into the stone all that he has to show for it rot that infected the bone and hope that rendered him useless left him longing, out of touch open to the pen's abuses with the pages filling up once a jester and a junkie written word, my drug of choice each passage still written bluntly just the way I use my voice (04/23/26)

he learned how to pen a picture but it came at such a cost for his skin would burn to blisters 'fore the flames would scorch it off for the verse, his fated scripture penned to pages, made a pyre he learned how to pen a picture but not to avoid its fire and he woke within the darkness found it to be his vocation it is what would first spark his introspective articulations he burned just to pen a picture he held the pages aloft thought if they became a fixture he'd somehow avoid the costs for the verse, he'd blend a mixture two parts blood and one part tears he burned just to pen a picture and he stayed that way for years there he woke within the darkness found it to be his vocation it is what would first spark his introspective articulations returned now to pen a picture treading the path of the lost it proved a potent elixir no matter what it would cost for the verse, his fated scripture he would dare to chance the flames returned now to pen a picture but the words all ring with blame and he woke within the darkness found it to be his vocation it is what would first spark his introspective articulations he learned how to pen a picture on that day the line was crossed left no captions nor descriptors too overwhelmed by the costs (04/23/26)

start the revolution without me I've no faith left in my fellow man where I once believed so devoutly that inherently good was the plan well now I see things much more clearly your actions have spoken so loudly currency is all you hold dearly so start the revolution without me it took place over generations with avaricistic sheen doth it shine and it came to govern our nation by the will and whim of bottom lines life subsidized for the interests of corporate check writers and boards who once upon a time thought it best that life be something most can't afford spread the strain 'cross the plain in their reign until their will just became the way gave us targets ill-fitted with blame while the system moved to pay-to-play so the days were filled with the struggle that would leave little room for much else forced into this financial muzzle as each of the daily blows were dealt so start the revolution without me I've no faith left for my fellow man where I once believed so devoutly that inherently good was the plan well now I see things much more clearly your actions have spoken so loudly currency is all you hold dearly start the revolution without me it took place over generations to drain all the hope from the reserves to break us down with these frustrations that you would have us think we deserve infighting and so much division key parts of this dark intervention fuel poured on the fires of derision with the greediest of intentions with a slate full of hate you would bait those who sought someplace to put their rage the infection, it proved far too great to be confined to a single stage as such we witnessed tables turning that we long thought unable to turn we also saw some bridges burning that we had been warned not to let burn so start the revolution without me I've no faith left in my fellow man where I once believed so devoutly that inherently good was the plan well now I see things much more clearly your actions have spoken so loudly currency is all you hold dearly start the revolution without me yes, start the revolution without me I cannot bare this weight or its pace where I once believed so devoutly I think the same lines would be retraced our ideas all trapped in boxes no insight passed what we've pushed proudly tides so full of pox and toxins start the revolution without me (04/17/26)

let's bridge the divide the unartful schism we'll build it so wide this Arc de Fascism there's no triumph here nothing that is sacred traded it for fear to cash in on hatred policies made clear objectives laid naked in less than a year all good will's been wasted let's bridge the divide this unartful schism we'll build it so wide the Arc de Fascism there's no triumph here just cowardly cronies paid to interfere and give the child trophies he rides them with cheer all his little ponies derides them with jeers on whim of neuroses let's bridge the divide the unartful schism we'll build it so wide this Arc de Fascism there's no triumph here no longer viable since it became clear we're not reliable sowing distrust steers bonds to be friable there's no triumph here that's undeniable let's bridge the divide this unartful schism we'll build it so wide the Arc de Fascism there's no decorum it's all tantrums and tears same with the quorum who would govern by fear people? ignore 'em they've no voice at this tier not in the forum there is no triumph here (04/16/26)

well we bid farewell to the crown with its cold, cruel disconnects and blood was spilled to hold that ground a fight that today resurrects with a tyrant in the White House his enablers on the hill staying quiet as a church mouse the nation suffering his will for the greed of corporations who know just how to pull his strings so they bow in subjugation to this mad, infant puppet-king do whatever to appease him for they believe that is the way to spare themselves of his dark whims long as they can still pay to prey proving what we have all long known exposed to such malice and vice the one percent will gnaw that bone while We the People pay the price two hundred plus years just to fail to cede it back to wretched crown to let some narcissist just flail and burn all of it to the ground with so little constitution here now the body bends and breaks figments of the institution wash upon the shores from his wake just remnants of the forefathers those sad impostors in their stead there siphoning from the coffers and presiding over the dead fealty to their crowned ruler they pledge themselves to the confused they sold their souls to this loser to walk a sad mile in his shoes now the scales they lay in ruins and the foundation's full of cracks speaks to the nature of humans collectively we turn our backs on the virtue that is mercy on our compassion's majesty perhaps we were never worthy of the gift of democracy double, double toil and trouble with 47 turns at bat now we stand here in the rubble ground was solid, when just like that system folded like was paper all its fragility laid bare beneath promises of greater so ignorant and unaware two hundred plus years just to fail to cede it back to wretched crown to let some narcissist just flail and burn all of it to the ground (04/14/26)

looting at the fall the empire's burning most useless of all sycophants yearning for some of the scraps from master's table sitting in his crap playing an angle instead of the role you've disrespected was kinda the whole why you're elected to give up the checks forfeit the power like some sad sack flex in our final hour more grift for the grind more blood for the gears I think that you'll find been like this for years the people stay blind fed to the machine they follow behind and pick the bones clean looting at the fall the empire's last gasp the shape of it all fashioned from the past where it was condemned known that it was wrong and now you pretend it somehow belongs in these hallowed halls that can yield magic saw fit to install this hate-fueled addict jonesing for the full weight of destruction a dictator's tool sack of corruption more grift for the grind more blood for the gears I think that you'll find been like this for years the people stay blind fed to the machine they follow behind and pick the bones clean looting at the fall they instigated no wonder they all seem so elated while everything burns as was instructed dictated by terms of the inducted the puppet brigade the Washington reds and we stand betrayed the People are dead lambs to the slaughter eyes glued to the screens won't see the water the gears or the strings more grift for the grind more blood for the gears I think that you'll find been like this for years the people stay blind fed to the machine they follow behind and pick the bones clean (04/11/26)

and now the welcome is worn here as the chaos erupts our very fabric is torn the threads themselves are corrupt and we will live with his scorn while we marvel at these ruts for democracy we mourn so oligargle these nuts find ourselves at a crossroads right here approaching the edge between acts set to implode and the allegiance we pledged toxic touch meant to corrode the fish, it rots from the head got us a taking a loss bro and now democracy's dead find ourselves at a crossroads at a point of no return seems there's nowhere left to go for all the bridges have burned a clown shoe chorus of chodes all confidence there unearned see all the matches they hold were there as each table turned and now the welcome is worn here as the chaos erupts our very fabric is torn the threads themselves are corrupt and we will live with his scorn while we marvel at these ruts for democracy we mourn so oligargle these nuts find ourselves at a crossroads we thought we'd been at before when we gave the old heave ho both to the crown and King George but Putin's puppet erodes the checks and oh so much more that we built into the road to keep the crown from these shores and now the welcome is worn here as the chaos erupts our very fabric is torn the threads themselves are corrupt and we will live with his scorn while we marvel at these ruts for democracy we mourn so oligargle these nuts (04/08/26)

foundations in tatters, yet painted in a familiar hue the warm colors of war crime crimson and broken dreams blues activated by the tears of the damned and the cries of the dead canvases made of the streets of Mashhad, bodies blooming fresh clouds cover the mushroom growing o'er a fractured horizon it's springtime in Ardabil and the pollen of patriotism is falling see the tears on the faces of the children who knew they were allergic what pustule of gangrenous ooze and infection bashed open their skulls feasting on their futures, their minds and imaginations Washington! imperialist ugliness behind the mask of misguided altruism and holier-than-thou rhetoric spoken with forked tongues and forced charm Washington! Washington! Nightmare of Washington! loveless purveyor of cruelty and diabolical desperation venomous bite concealed in the cold-blooded cadaver of Capitalism's creation Washington! bloated bureaucrats beneath the hoods the whimsical dunce caps of white supremacy Washington! where the jury's still out on jurisprudence yet the jailer stands tall, cold as ice, lording o'er the wastelands Washington! Washington who summons blood so crudely cold cannibals feeding on their own corpses bathed in the fuels of forgotten fossils Washington! where the children are the future accusers warnings of the wrongdoing, the red flags waved openly in full view of the public whose eyes were glued to their screens and their memes and so nothing was seen semaphore signals and other dead language confessions lost in the night Washington! the aftereffects of the affected inflicted on the afflicted, a hallucination of the artificial no intelligence here Rumi's anguish! I'm with you in Minab where pedagogical targets are felled with hate and flame I'm with you in Amol where the reign of rockets will never reach the shores of resolution I'm with you in Qazvin where anguish begets anguish and sin negates the win I'm with you in Semnan where tomorrow's dawn breaks like the hearts of a nation I'm with you in Kashan for the merciful hand holds a future the whole world needs even as it denies and decries the peace that would pave the way I'm with you in Tehran where I am mad as hell and I'm not going to take this fucking war where historical precedence portends a dark turn as the only nation to have ever dropped the bomb rests uneasy instability at the wheel Jesus was asked to take howling at the moon like a madman in the light of day button beneath the thumb of a dementia ridden dictator standing in the shadows of congressional cessation of checks ceding the balance to the domestic billionaire barbarians at the gate (04/07/26)