Storm Warning

draw something like a warning

on the sunrise

in the morning

washed up

the way waves do

on the shores of the mind

carrying shards of memory

like shells

and sharks' teeth

long since given up

Andrew

You're a South Carolina soul

and I'd forgotten

until just now

I hope you don't mind

or take issue

as I unwind

my memories of you

trying them out

in the beach weather

to see if they sing stronger

than under a

northward sun

Next of Kin

are you my

next of kin?

shocker

I'm hawking your

mind

on a market

that can actually

afford it

or so they think

let's drink to possibility

discrepancy,

philanthropy

old lies and tea

drawn out and dried

pool side highs

that leave you lower

than you can go

on your own

even when your zone

implodes

something shows you

which way to go

what flows out

from in

what's gold, what's silver

and what's too thin

to rely on

no steel, concrete

no reason for the

madness

nor lesson in the sadness

nothing beyond

fine walls

bathroom stalls

and stagnant air

were you there when

breathing ceased

when these

became those

and a person knows -

it's all in the game

if names mean anything anymore

who you know, not what

but rebounds

and ghost towns

are all around greatness

emptied less

than they were before.

truth tells and you're

still in that

fine-drenched hell

I put you in

when we first began

to wander off course

no return tonight

is in sight -

just long lines

going nowhere

short tempers breaking

everywhere

emptied, somewhere,

out there -

sullen, angered air.