Side-show Orange

His hair went this way and that
Unbound
Like choices made
Consequences excepted
In his clearly mixed
Pish-posh way of life.

He studied the surroundings
Returning to her
A final attempt
To purge the ghetto out of him
Away from him
Because someone got it in his mind
That other part of him
Was less-than.

Studying some more
He glanced my way
As they all eventually do;
Tried to look past me
But
Saw me
See him
And make the marks
To remember him
At this moment
In this place
Where I questioned
Only to seek answers
In the face of a stranger
Because I had no mirror.

Saw me
Unzipped his sideshow orange hoodie
Disappearing back into the tapestry
Of this ever-moving place.
©2011cchristopherbess

Angry Again

He'd think it all was fact
If he didn't know any better
Took a look for himself
Beyond celluloid dreams
Behind the curtains of their theatre

Might just sing their songs
Overblown
Too many notes to dwell upon
But you could say that he knew better
Had heard the harmonies
Of struggle upon the breeze
Lifted to a great creator

He didn't see the wrong
With his being
Until he stared in the mirror
The one beyond all eyes
Never seen
Til someone's staring back at you
That you thought you knew

But all those tears
It made him better
Forced him to look
At all those spaces between characters
Between words
And after thoughts finished
And forever
On to dreams
Of the greatest joke played
Upon those who stared out
And looked into his mirror
Living a one truth
Yet condoning a prison of lies.

It always is the truth
If you don't know any better...
©2011cchristopherbess

Stranger Tides

Stranger still
Fascination fades
Upon callous eyes that stare
Seek to abolish me
To a fate I once thought
Only they
Those acrchitects of history could know

Stranger conceals
masked by soil and seas
Where our commonalities drowned
Seeking to return to familiar shores;
Better death
Than division
A mantra passed down
To generations now;
A condition
Worked endlessly
First into speech
On to gods
Till it permeated
Flesh and curl
Sank the spirit
Through repetitive example
To a death
Greater than any before or sense;
Methodically precise
It's no wonder
We've spent all this time looking for heaven
As we are already living in hell.

Stranger still
Silently hiding
Behind eyes so similar
But truths so varied
One would dare acknowledge
Ultimately it is the flesh
Which matters most...
©2011cchristopherbess

Trouble's Brewin'

Clouds upon the horizon
Obscure a dampness between
Things I've come to know as truths
And those things I'm left to envision

Children waiting on corners
In packs
Hungry for a taste of revolution
Looking to be a part of something
Greater
Than the small sum of what they know
Multiplied by their shrieks

And I'm on my way again
For momentary release
At the bottom of a glass
A chance-filled roll of some dice
In this place
Where it is so easy to escape
So easy to hide and forget;
Even though they notice
They'll never see me cry

Clouds upon the horizon
Obscure a blue infinity above
Countless prayers
To what's believed to be fact;
As our race toward annihilation
Moves ever faster,
Will our gods provide answers to soothe?

People waiting on corners
Increasingly intersecting their screams
Though not a single mouth moves
Their frustration beams
Blinding me
Till I want for a place to go
Want for a place to hide
Forgotten by the approaching storm
Seeking to divide.
©2011cchristopherbess

Back to Reality

It was the hands.
Smaller
More fragile now
Between my fingers
As I held them
Wondering my own path
To age.

It was the multitude
Of collected things
Strewn about those walls;
A pish-posh of souls
Forever entwined
Despite absence
Which made me wonder
What would they do?
What would they want?
Would they even want
To crowd their walls
With the memory of me?

It was the grey.
That cold steel slate
Nature connected
To here and there
Which made me think
Reminisce
Ultimately bring me to content
And a knowledge it was time
To take a step forward,
No,
Several
To ensure my survival
Now
To then
And beyond
As I looked to my own hands
And the passage of time...
©2011cchristopherbess

First

First.
A new moment
Fresh start
As all those little things
Come quickly into focus
Upon a kiss
This side of a stare
And a heartbeat
Which beckons one to fall.

The first
In a long time
To inspire
Fear
Intoxicating to continuation
Belief
Ultimately to desire
To move closer to the edge
Of that springboard
Possibility.
Close the eyes
Breathe deep
leg up
Bounce, bounce
And dive into the splendid unknown...
©2011clarencecbess

35 Promises

Heat singes the flesh
And a new year blazes into being
As I make thirty-five promises
Wondering what happened
To the previous thirty-four

Losing count
I think intentionally
I blow out my candles
Thirty-five promises
Once virgin and blue
Now singed and blackened
Not a minute old
With the truth of it all
Of whatever happened
To one through thirty-four

Thirty-five promises
Baked onto my flesh
With the hope It'll be cooler
Tomorrow
Down the road
And maybe this will be
The right number
Where promises come true
Leaving to me to stand
In resolution and content
As I seek to devour
This sweetness called life...
©2011cchristopherbess

Peep Show

Though I watch,
I stay out of people's mouths
Unlike the woman
Now across from me
Intently staring...

She watches the papers I hear
Of the woman next to me;
Watches a woman almost in tears
Embarrassed she broke down
Here
With the man next to her
Barely seeming to care
As he hurries to answer another call
Before we dive underground.

She watches
As I glance
Taking in flashes
Interpreting pictures that remain
Which over time
All look the same
Grouped or not
People going about life
As if no one else existed...
©2011cchristopherbess

So Far Away

Between images
Of pristine worlds
And what I live in
I slip away on dreams
Things I wonder
If I should believe in
Like maybe there's a place
Where injustice and stigma
Are words to be readin'

Instead of seein'
Instead of livin'

Between what they say I could be
And what the world
Seems to have planned
For all who look just like me
I slip away on dreams
Maybe there could be
A place for truth and love
And all the good they say
But when I wake
That just seems

So far away

So far away

Between words and worlds
I hoped never existed
Beyond stories of old
I dreamed it was all a lie
And that I didn't have to die
To know a little slice of heaven
And to the children I could say
That peace exist
And it wasn't

So far away

So far away

I think I'll have to turn
Forget the way they see me
Accept the fact I'm stolen
No closer to my history
Than what I'm allowed to be
Without fear up uprising;
I think I'll have to turn
My cheek again to burn
From the sting of a world that plays
and leaves us all astray
Chocking on the exhaust
As they achieve their dreams

So far away

So far away...
©2011cchristopherbess