Here’s another graphic art piece I created on Canva. The original photo was taken in Philly in the spring of 2020 when the pandemic first hit. I distorted the image and shapes to turn it into a “Nightmare Alley.” I like how the image in the center almost looks like an alien spaceship or something you’d see in a science fiction movie.
the only freedom I want
is to break my ego’s chains
which confine me in cold cemeteries
to the dead,
who rise each night & breathe fire
only I can see,
who speak in a language
only I can understand,
telling me with certitude
I’ll join them soon
& also haunt the living
(Photo by Scott Rodgerson on Unsplash)
when day becomes night
people tuck into beds
drop their heads
on puffy pillows & blankets
back from coal mines & factories
of fear, soaked in mud
smeared with oil of
dire times –
they were once in their primes
these working men & women
but now bones hurt
spines shatter
blood splatters
when day becomes night
The river meanders
dividing line of Philly & Jersey
fog drifts off blue-black water
on the way to the concert
you can hear music reverberate
feel chilly breeze on your skin
men & women pulsing with
sexual energy
some of them tipsy
touch my hand
tell me you understand
let me know I’m alive –
the warmth of your body
the coldness of steel handlebars
ready for a night of euphoria
(Photo by Matt Power on Unsplash)
On the eve of the funeral, there was a knot in my stomach –
his death was so sudden
a Friday night phone call + he’s gone forever
I felt panic, a wave of grief that threatened to demolish me
my sister stepped into the summer night + screamed
a primal shout that began long years of healing.
(Photo by Richard Burlton on Unsplash)
Bask in nighttime blues
stars dot the sky like flecks of white paint
Mothers moan for lost children –
we want rhythm, but not the blues
the aqua blue of deep seas
the blackened blue of bruised eyes
the blues guitar of the Mississippi Delta
the crystal blue eyes of your lover –
sing the blues, young one
sing ‘em while draped in a blue dress
drowning in muddy waters.
(Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash)
The faceless woman chases me through vacant city streets –
lights on in every home, but no one’s there,
just us, running in dreadful silence
my heart beats so fast it feels as if it’ll burst
from my sunken chest, plop on black concrete +
continue to beat to the rhythm of the pulsing ground,
as a brilliant moon looms above, hangs over us,
shines blinding light on my ghostly skin –
I’m living in sin + if the woman catches me,
I’ll surely suffocate + gurgle black blood
from a wicked mouth –
No! my mouth is gone, covered by slimy skin,
+ I’m gone, in her cold grasp at last,
the world collapses inside of me +
I wake as a newborn in some
distant jungle landscape.
(Photo by Gabriel on Unsplash)
