The city seemed endless when it was empty. Half of it, maybe more, was filled with unused treasures that lay moldering in growing mounds of dust. Long streets stayed dark, no longer powered now that no one was left to keep the electrical grids up and runn…

I can see the stars, but I don't have the fuel.

My trajectory is set, but I'm gazing off to the side.

I'm going somewhere, but not where I'm looking.

The possibilities are limitless, but my choices finite.

I started too early, and I'll be too late.

W…

When the moment came to reveal his finished product, he felt trepidation. It was time to face the reality. For better or worse, it was his alone. He had sat there by himself grunting and sweating until he was completely tapped out. His muscles quivered, s…

I followed the stream up to where I had dammed it a year ago. I was surprised it had held this long. It hadn't taken much to build, just a couple dozen rocks stacked in the right places. Looking back, I wondered why I had done it at all. I mean I knew the…

There are times when music reaches me. I'm open to it, vulnerable to a melody, a drum beat, or even the sound of a single note. It vibrates my exposed self and affects my emotional state. I become a mirror of the string that the guitarist plucks and the e…

“You have the wrong man.” he said, slowly putting the bowl down and setting his hands flat against the counter.

“You don't recognize my voice? Maybe I can jog your memory. How about these words: no, don't, stop, please, you're hurting me!” She echoed her…

She moved through the crowd deliberately, puddles overflowing around the soles of her boots as she took each step, water streaking behind her in long broken lines. Compared to the hurried activity of the people around her, she looked like she was moving i…

We are grommets along the edge of an old drawstring tucker.

You on one far edge and I, the other.

At first, though, we were close, were we not?

Life gathered fold upon fold and we together held in all the murky contents,

the feelings, the memories, the f…

A hermit crab's a humble, helpless creature

That borrows others' armor as it grows

It's fragile, having no protective feature,

And makes an easy victim, as it knows.

-

And worse than that, this poor, vulnerable chap

At times, in moments desperate and scar…

My new apartment felt like it was part of my old neighborhood. The details differed, of course. A Mexi-mart instead of a 7-11 on the corner. Out front, Carson Street stretched out instead of Fallon Street. But sometimes new streets shared the same faces, …

And please, my Lord, I beg Thee, heal

The pain in one and all,

Which I in my confusion caused.

Please hear this sinner's call.

I did not mean to harm a soul,

But to my endless rue,

So much frustration, anger, hurt

I managed, still, to do

O I was wrong s…

And one day, I will find the way,

The strength to tell my spouse,

And hope to Heaven I won't lose

My love, my kids, my house,

My inner peace; that I'll retain

My home, and if I may,

I'll ask for their consent to love

In my own natural way.

So yes, this …

I have so much, so very much

My frame can't hold it all

I'll burst if I attempt to keep

Its mass behind a wall.

I feel so guilty! I have failed

To keep the borders free

Of raging feelings, now and then--

But then, they lied to me.

They kept me from the…

No more can I control the way

I love, the quality

Of my affection, nor the strength--

Heart listens not to me.

It's true to some extent that I

Can choose how to respond

When feelings grow, until they reach

To limits, and beyond

The lines that I consider…

But no, my heart just wouldn't die,

It loved, though I ignored

Its every message, every urge

Shut down across the board.

In spite of my refusal

To allow my heart to thrive,

Love was undaunted. Finally,

I heard: "I am alive!"

And is it wrong to feel, I a…

The progress bar moves slowly still

Do not unplug your unit,

I rub my temples wearily

I know I can't assume it

Will really work. I doubt the flaw

Was ever in the OS.

My heart has always burst with love

Though I was e'er the slowest

At finding anyone to …

That's all the standard user needs--

The office suite for home,

With other users disallowed,

Not recognized--they use their own,

And I'll use mine. That's how it's done

No jail-breaking here!

No one would dare suggest a change

The cor'p'rate rules are cl…

I have all these feelings now, rolling around

Like the chunks in a hearty, thick soup.

They’re some of them toxic, and some quite sublime

But the mixture’s unstable. I haven’t got time

.To feel all of them, blent in a group.

.

So I’ll thank you to take th…

Story is marked as mature

Story is marked as mature