Peanut Butter

I was like a peanut

Stubbornly intact

When you started to cut me.

Then torn asunder

In an instant

Split wide open

Laid bare just for you.

Now you can do what you like

Making butter or milk

To have with your bread

I’ll be smoother than silk.

– Vagabond Prophet

Wolf Hunting

I heard a story once about people up north.

Where there’s long days and long winters

And the snow piles higher than houses.

They hunt wolves in winter,

Finding ways to do it safely.

Horrific and brilliant methods.

Take a knife and dip it in blood

Freeze the blood on the blade,

Do this over and over

Ten times over.

Until the blade is deep beneath a thick coat

A winter coat of deepest red.

Leave it in the open blade pointing up

Saluting the sky

Taking a bow before the grand performance

The great seduction of the beast.

Curiosity can be wonderful,

Curiosity can be devastating.

A hint on the wind

And the scent makes itself at home

Amongst happy memories

Eating dinner with family.

You come out of the trail

Seeing this tower of scarlet

Amidst this ocean of white,

You remember this shade of red.

It wasn’t the first lick that killed you

But it sealed your fate to be sure.

Those that live by the sword die by the sword

Those that thirst for blood drown in their own.

Niceties we say to excuse our guilt,

You never stood a chance against this trap

It looks like food

It smells like food

And it even tastes like food.

Your tongue swarms into every crevice

Made by the swirling vapours

Of your hot breath excited

Panting with desire and hunger.

You lick and lick and lick

And endless fountain of your favourite flavour

You denied yourself nothing.

The blood just kept coming,

First from the frozen blood

Thawed by your warmth,

But then it switched and you didn’t notice.

Did you?

Can’t pinpoint the second but sometime

Your tongue met the steel

Blood now spouting from many sources

And you swear it’s the best day you’ve ever had.

You died in a garden dyed crimson,

By the fleshy brush jutting forth

From your strong jaws

Bathed in your own paint.

I just listened to the story,

Dumbstruck.

I’ve never understood

A wild animal better than now,

I’ve been betrayed

By my longings too.

Curiosity can be wonderful,

Curiosity can be devastating.

– Vagabond Prophet

Sleeping Bag


You Queen of strife

Me only faithful enough

To make Thomas look good.

Me with strong jaws

And weak teeth

And you with the nightmares.

The nightmares of people

That almost cared and then didn’t,

Of people who cared

And then stopped.

He’ll use even us

For something never expected,

We’ll slip right into it

Fitting perfectly

Like a sleeping bag for the soul.

– Vagabond Prophet

If I close my eyes
Could I see my inner workings?
See which gears are turning and which ones are rusting
See the parts of me about to break.
Could I see the edges you’re sharpening
And polishing when I sleep?
Making me ready for the task
You created me for.

Vagabond Prophet

Oil Paintings

You taught me about oil paintings

How they’re always drying

Colours evolving

To find their own beauty

Hidden deep within.

I’ll be that for you

Never perfect but improving

Peeling off my layers

To find strength down under.

As I let the sun embolden me

Year after year.

– Vagabond Prophet

High Hopes

What goes up must come down

And I’ve got high hopes,

Shed that swollen husk

Off my barnacled soul.

I don’t need that anymore,

Clinging on to my injuries like trophies.

All the best athletes know

It’s all about fear reduction,

That’s what’ll win the race

And keep my hopes from crashing down.

– Vagabond Prophet

Hoarder

I’ll take peace to go

With a side of simple wisdom.

I’ll mull it over when I get the chance,

Like the kale turning yellow in my fridge.

I save everything for later,

Dreams and aspirations,

I even save my voice

For belittling my loved ones

When they ask me about

The hoard piled up high

Of wonderful things gathering dust.

– Vagabond Prophet