I procrastinate everything,
Like going to the dentist.
Especially going to the dentist,
It’s been twelve long years
Since I sat in that sterile throne.
Now I’m left tonguing nothing
Where teeth used to be.
Better false teeth
Than a false smile.
– Vagabond Prophet
Tag: spilled thoughts
Campfire Thoughts
Heat taking form so long
As it has something to climb
And eyes to sting.
Standing on the shoulders
Of noble planks gone black
In the name of warmth,
In the name of romance,
In the name of mesmerizing
Souls like mine for hours on end.
Quieting and emptying
A restless mind.
Oh to surrender to that
Unstoppable goodness
So much harder than evil
Which always molds to your fancy.
– Vagabond Prophet
Captain
This house will be full
Of heads needing rest
And mouths needing food.
Every bedroom window being
Fogged by steady breathing.
At the break of dawn
Seven souls will be stirred,
I’m the captain with an
Ever growing crew
And I need some wind at my back.
– Vagabond Prophet
“IF YOU’RE READING THIS AND SHOUTING IN THE PRIVACY OF YOUR OWN MIND YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT THE MOST DIRE NEEDS, THE DEEPEST URGENCIES, ARE whispered.”
— Vagabond Prophet
Backtracking Majesty
I am arrested by love
Incarcerated by affection.
I once walked the withering sands alone,
Burning these pale soles black,
Sweat stinging these blue eyes shut.
I used to tread the coals of hot regret
Until I noticed some backtracking majesty.
I saw still morning lakes
Reflecting things much deeper
Than themselves.
Saplings with supporting rods,
Even twigs need a father
Something to grow in the shadow of
Learning not to turn all blooms
Away from but towards the sun.
That trees need no language,
Soil needs no tongue
They speak to each other
With yearning twisted fingers
And thrive upon the embrace.
The sun has no agenda
Yet the mountains bow
Before the glory every morn.
Rain that kisses the land
To lend a helping land
When the fields cry out
With dry lips and parched throats.
No paperwork, no formal requests
Only simple needs simply stated.
Every rockslide applause
For the sky it could never reach,
Every thunderstorm a parade,
Fireworks celebrating
The end of another drought.
Finally the people who dare to trust,
Loving and giving to people
Who can never pay them back.
Working fingers to the bone
To help others find a home,
In this world full of shadows
Finally shedding some light
By trusting and striking
Some matches on the rocks.
So yes I am not my own,
By love I am arrested
My deepest sins contested
And at times even jested,
That I would be such a fool
As to sojourn alone.
By grandeur so big it’s hard to see
I am swallowed whole
And spat back out a whole person,
With a whole soul
That is freely yet completely
Given to the one who soothed
My aching feet and breaking heart.
– Vagabond Prophet
Grip
Grip tightly to the bravery
Caught at brightest noon
When your form casts no darkness
Behind itself.
Grip tightly through
The long evening shadows
And the deep black of night
Until the sun boldly climbs the hills again.
– Vagabond Prophet
Wardrobe
Beware the song with steps danced slowly
With melody so sweet that each word
Eagerly leaps from your tongue,
Do not let beautiful mantras
Robe your mind with lies.
Beware the wolf with wardrobe full of deceit,
Having spent its days learning your itches
Content with scratching before biting,
Not all pleasures good
Many dipped in arsenic
For hunted animals,
In dead of winter of course
He calls you precious.
A caution for the new tenant
In the old house
Unaware of the boards that creak
To wake a sleeping beast,
Know where you are and be on guard,
Mindful that home is a place nobody has been.
Careful with the man who never plays pretend,
Never trying to be somebody better than he is
To make it fit by force, always at ease
With a spirit malnourished.
Traits so wonderful never fit naturally
But in time you can grow into them.
– Vagabond Prophet
Thanks @josy57 for prompting @mildreflections and I with “Hunted Animals.”
Hope folks like it.
Kamikaze
I have no blood
I have no heart
Only a red sea in my chest
Tide in highs and lows
Every single second
At the beckoning of a moon
Behind the very sky.
Pulled by things unseen
Plucking feathers clean
Pruning vanity clipping pride
Silencing remarks so snide.
In the end I’ll be a nomad
Walking ever inland
To where the gardens grow
I’ll have no grass to mow
Only seeds to sow.
Come with me
Come one come all
Untie the dreams safely moored
Let them risk open waters
And swift unseen currents.
Be swept away by the music
That’s played in the background
Of your dreams.
Be the kamikaze
That forgot to say goodbye
Overwhelmed by the importance
Of the task at hand.
– Vagabond Prophet
Unleavened
You can crush me you can mold me
You can tuck and fold me
Draw me taught or leave me wrinkled
Letting time spread its ripples
To each and every shore.
Leave me flat or by grace let
The wind impart a trace of wild yeast
To this unleavened soul
That I may rise.
– Vagabond Prophet
Ebb and Flow
Welcome to the ebb and flow
To the sporadic spells of rain,
To the workload that swells to meet
Your well rested vigor.
Good day to the hat
You only notice in its absence
Hello to the fireworks
Hope exploding for a future
Less volatile than the past.
Welcome to the ebb and flow
Of weather that scalds and chills
In the same day.
To the violin bringing
Tears of joy and sadness
In the same melody.
Greetings to the planet
Where hearts of men prevail
And the only chance at redemption
Lies outside the world altogether.
– Vagabond Prophet