by Steve Wands
The Joke's on me
delete doesn't work
Can't make you disappear
No matter how many times I strike the key
You're still standing right there
Like a shadow puppet with a mean streak
What does it all mean
Don't I get a piece of the pie
I bought in to the American dream
Like a robot that doesn't work right
Thinking outside the box
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It never works
There is no
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Why doesn't it work
Fuck my life
This dream's a nightmare
Where nothing really bad ever really happens and everything is just mundane
IT'S ALL JOKE BUT NOBODY GETS IT AND EVERYBODY LAUGHS BUT IT'S NOT FUNNY
The city screams
No one listens
Headphones turned on
He/she's turned on
Everybody screams
Such a rush
Such a fuck
The sirens roar like a serpent's hiss
I don't care as I step in piss
I love the city
I'm just kidding
SOMETIMES
There are days, good and bad
There are days full of numbing boredom
There are days I feel nothing at all
There are days I feel the earth underfoot
Sometimes I write shit thinking that any of it means more than nothing
Usually it means nothing
Sometimes I want to end the world just to see if I'd survive
Usually it means nothing
There are nights I look at the sky
Nights that are clear
I feel humbled
I feel small
I feel like dust
These are the greatest of moments
The time in between seconds
The time we never have
We're so busy doing something
Usually it means nothing
Sometimes I repeat myself because I've already said everything I need to
Sometimes I don't know what I'm saying
THE COLD, BLUE-EYES OF THE MARBLE MAN
His wife's gone for the day
She had a thing to do, lucky for him, cause he did too
A terrible thing, a thing you never speak of
The kind of thing that only the Marble Man can do
He puts on his special shoes and tucks in his shirt
Marble Man combs his hair so his looks don't hurt
His pockets are full of change, hair, and dirt
He's got a bag full of marbles
Each marble a miniature-sized world
A world big enough for one, sometimes two
The Marble Man likes to play with the kids down the way
A game of Ringer or Rolly or something off the cuff
But if you loose, as most kids do, The Marble Man walks away
In his bag, a new kid will stay, waiting for the man to loose
PUNCTURE
That look pierces my skin
The look of absence, lack of self
A refugee washed ashore, wasted by sun
Desperation will make a man an animal
Ready to brave a possible wet grave
Just to bring a message in a bottle
To nail that message into my skin
I get it, I get it
Now, swim back and die
The dream is a lie, and I
Must stop the bleeding
CATCH AND DISEASE
Throw out the line and wait
Play your game, I'm sure it's safe
A new day for a new disease, why not, right?
If you can make it, they can make it worse
Reel it in, I see it, Bob
Something's on the line
Give it a name before we see what it is
I need a name, something catchy, something sticky
Make it stick, quick, quick!
It's breaking the water, I know her
My neighbor's daughter, they call her Candy
Throw her back and clean your hands---she's dirty
Filthy
Let's try again, I need something to ruin
FINE WORK, OFFICER, FINE WORK
Morning news, the boys are at it again
High speed pursuit slows down to a tumble
The van flips and the culprit spits out the window
Fuck his safety, I need a hit
Unmoving doesn't move me
Swarm of hornets stinging away
The man didn't move and the camera caught it all
Fine work, officer, fine work
The boys that make me hate
They aren't all bad, some are just terrible
Plain, simple, terrible
BURNED AWAY
A shift in the wind
North bound breeze just off the coast
Dust settles on the road
The street tar melting
Gutted cars look like dinosaur bones
The earth now rust-colored
The only sign of man left is bone
Brittle, decaying bone
KIDS WILL BE KIDS
The playground is full of screaming heads on little limbs
The merry-go-round spins out of control
Mothers and fathers push kids to the sky
Monkey bars imprison the daydreamers
In the distant fields kids are kicking what looks like a ball
They are covered in blood but smiling like sinners
The ball is not a ball at all, in fact it is a head belonging to the undead
It winces with every kick and it's teeth are nowhere to be found
BLISS
Staggering backward, blown away by words
Flickering tongue and cold inflection
Eyes narrow and cheeks flush
We'd kill each other in the moment
Instead, the dust settles and we realize
This is love
ALL THE REAL PEOPLE LEFT
Plastic face, stolen smile
You witch, burn for me
I want to watch your face melt
You've got another one
The real one, green face and hooked nose
Even that's a mask, born to be hidden
What beats in your cold shapely chest
Is the heart of a beast
The heart of a plastic queen
The heart of masquerading witch
A target for my dagger
A wet, pulsing, beating target
Calling me closer, whispering
Bulls eye, now stagger
Stagger, clutch at the gaping wound
Inhale, exhale, look at me and then the hole
It was nice meeting you
The drinks are on me
DRAMATIZATION
Stabbing at reality with a dull knife
Composing experiments in social circles
Tonight, I'll play the fun loving drunk
Tomorrow, the human with a heart
This weekend I'll be doing things, epic things
Come Monday I will be so drained
Drained from a series of fictionalized accounts of the life I never lived
I swear, if I ever get out of this rut
I'll live like the dead
Wait, I've already done that!
INHERITANCE
This time tomorrow, time will stop
The eyes of a nation will stare at the sky
As bombs fall like acid rain
Our children will inherit a wasteland
The barren desert of our dreams laid wasted
Our children will live underground
Burrowing like worms
Crawling on the surface like roaches
O
ur children will be insects
To be crushed by giants
THE SHALLOW PITS OF THE DEEPEST HEARTS
Instant communication and gratification
Flies on shit as usual
The buzz astounding, the meaning not so much
Attempt at thinking deep thoughts doesn't apply
Not all robots are capable of pondering
And that's what you are, aren't you, robot
No, that's right, you're a humanitarian
The deepest of the deep, the deep brooding variety
The opposite of Vanilla
What a wonderful thought, robot
Truly, wonderful, and let's not forget deep
Let's throw it out there and see what happens
Watch the buzz saw do its thing
Think and let the world know
A voice in the noise, a noise nonetheless
Your most magnificent thought is rubbish
Truly, wonderful rubbish, the flies are buzzing though
But isn't that what they do
NONE OF US ARE PERFECT
You spread violence
She spreads her legs
You're the whore
I'm the hypocrite
The difference is the motive
We search for peace in our souls
To fill all the holes from our vices
And our empty sacrifices
YOU LEAVE THAT MAN ALONE
Staring at walls, staring at screens, I can view them all
I got it now, got it by the balls, voicing a silent scream
Planning an escape, booze and pills, just like the greats
I'm not great though, where does that leave me
Bored stiff with a beer in my hand and my dick in the other
Jack Burton had it all figured out, let the road call the shots
SMOOTH
Walk tall and fast, all business and dry-clean only
You're living it all right
Well groomed with the latest designs
You're not fake, you actually love it
You're sincerely shallow, without a fault
I'd say you're full of shit but you smell just fine
Too good in fact, you've got me hook and line
Where do I sign?
...HOPE TO DIE
One more drink to end the night, last one, I swear, cross my heart and...
RITUAL
The alarm clock stings my ears like a swarm of hornets
It can't be morning already; my eyes burn like cold air on a cut
Tongue sticks to the back of my teeth; tastes like I kissed a corpse
Nausea for breakfast followed by a shower that puts me back to bed
Coffee pulls me by my nostrils up the stairs, a sip followed by another
Got to get ready, get to work, things have to get done
Things, important things, you wouldn't understand
People depend on me, have to get ready, start the car, grab my lunch
Kiss the wife, thank her, mix my coffee, cup filled to the brim
Shouldn't have drank last night, seemed so right, lost track of the night
Tuesday night to be exact
Keys, check
Book, check
Wallet, check
Pass, check
Life, undecided
AN INDIAN GAVE ME THIS
The American dream is just that
Apparently, this year brings hope and change
All I need is a rope to swing from
You can keep your pennies and put them on my eyes
I'll meet you across the river
Things-done-wrong would be my name
A Native American on the plains
I'd last a New York minute
Six shooter to the face is all it'd take
A campfire joke to teach the kids
Don't be like me
Don't be ungrateful
You're better than that
NOSFERATU DREAMS OF BEING A PIRATE
Brow furrowed and eyes squinted
The sun has pulled the earth closer
The pain of the day is like a stake to the heart
Not that I've ever felt such a pain
A hole in the earth is where I allow sleep to come
The nightlife breathes like a dying man on a respirator
Mornings peaceful, the moon is unable to cool, however
Thoughts of an underwater city cross my mind
Fangs swimming the deep recesses of the ocean
Trenches the sun has yet to find
Giant squids and fellow creatures of the dark abound
We can sail the depths in ghost ships and search for gold
THE GRIM REAPER FEARS IT
It is waiting
It's desires patient and far from pleasant
It thrives on suffering
It drives on murder fumes
It is waiting
It doesn't dream or feel
It thinks and it moves in ways man cannot
It has no body nor a color to be called
It is not just
The hand of God trembles in its presence
It sees things that are and makes them not
It is the blackness beyond the stars
It is the thing that even death fears
TO MY YOUTH, GOOD RIDDANCE
The little things have begun to change
And the dreams once dreamt have come to pass
Age can make a boy to crazy things
Shit-house-rat-crazy things, like planning retirement
Though I'd love to retire now, working is for the birds
At least that's what I've heard, not from the birds of course
What happened to living forever and never growing old
What happened to the imagination of a kid who never needed
Now kids need, the grown ups need, everyone needs
Caffeine and cocktails, designer clothes and big homes
Fast, flashy cars to make up for dull, slow lives
Can't we think and experience, must we buy it all
Kids have it all
They've got the time without the cares
Everything is new to them
Everyone's gambling on an afterlife to finally live
A vacation on a cloud with all expenses paid
I've never been a gambling man but I've started dabbling
I'll be a father soon, so that's new
That doesn't mean I'll be like you
To my youth, good riddance
To my grave, I'll see you soon
The rest of you can go to hell
SIGN BY THE X
Your name scribbled on the bottom line
A signature in exchange for magic
Nothing to lose, no such thing as a soul anyway
Think it over if you want
Scribble, scribble, dot, dot
The world is yours, here's the keys
Just remember, when it's time to collect...that's it
THE CADAVER SPEAKS
Her body cold, stiff, and deadened blue
Her wounds tell a story to the examiner
The bruises on her wrists are a kiss from a lover
The needle-sized holes are teeth marks from another
The examiner is painting a picture
Coagulated blood is his paint
Blocks of color and vague shapes begin to form a picture
She did nasty things and died a nasty death
Though her vices didn't put the slices in her neck
She was a broken girl that no one bothered to fix
She liked it all and thrived on excess
Her profession was questionable
Her hobbies work-related
The examiner checked her toes and found more tiny holes
She certainly enjoyed getting stuck
The examiner paced and paced
His picture was nearly done
He dropped his brus
h and whirled around
"Can we do that again," she asked
THE CADAVER WALKS
She sits up and asks for a smoke
Her cut flesh hang in strips, dangling in the air
The examiner gives her what she wants
And she tries to pull a drag but her lungs refuse to work
She lets it sit on her lip
Her movements are slowed due to Mr. Mortis
A rigorous bastard, the examiner jokes
She doesn't laugh
She can't feel her heart
She can't feel anything
Stiffly she moves toward the examiner
They find some clothes and he takes her home
They reenact the events that got out of control
MAPLE STREET
Nothing like a moonlit stroll through abandoned suburbia
The streets are torn due to the beasts on wheels
The holes left from their savagery fill with rain water
Bats fly over head looking for dinner
The street lights flutter and the power lines crackle
Music to mosquito ears, damn the bloodsuckers
Homes lie in need of repairs, the dire kind
Roofs dilapidated and windows a thing of the past
The creepy hands of the giant trees wave in the wind
Spiders have crafted the most beautiful displays