Dilapidated, by Amory McKeever

She sat down at the easel
with a brush of imagination
Turned out a grand cathedral
the inheritance for her enation
If love was a magnum opus
given away without restraint
with patience and understanding
she would be the patron saint

Well, since this wasn't our canvas
it could never be our masterpiece
Couldn't stand what we were handed
that slowly drove us into madness
Then like such a little hellion
we took all of her paint
and in a moment of rebellion
turned those colors into pain

A splash of yellow here and there
green and blue with orange medallions
such happy snow capped mountains
explored by daft rapscallions
who never seem impressed
so we took all of her paint
and in a moment of protest
turned those colors into pain

We couldn't cover it in black
though we've tried a million years
So we go on the attack
and prove the truth of all our fears
Then during that haunted lunacy
we took all of her paint
and in a moment of mutiny
turned those colors into pain

There was no lack of splendor
on this work of alla prima
It just needed a defender
not some small conceited divas
with the most selfish of reasons
we took all of her paint
and in a moment of treason
turned those colors into pain

She sat down at the easel
to see what became of her foundation
That church burned down in the upheaval
the squandered estate of her creations
If forgiveness was a magnum opus
given away without complaint
with patience and understanding
she would be the patron saint

*image/painting by Yuumei*

Promise Lost, by Amory McKeever

Where is the country to which we pledged our honor
Where are the husbands we had hoped for our daughters
In this democracy of crank callers
It seems we've fallen much farther
Instead of knights in shinning armor
We've got some make-believe ballers
Wearing bling on their collars
Buying votes for a dollar

Where is the future we hoped to build for our babies
Where is the love we had promised to our ladies
Because lately we've just become crazies
Like a pack of dogs full of rabies
Shaming ourselves for the dailies
Like and share so much that we're lazy
Our sacred vows became maybes
For better or worse are just sayings

Where is the war we said would end all wars
Where is the mother who sends her children no more
As we turn into whores
For the heat of rifled bores
Our brothers in a desert of gore
While we lose our freedoms on shore
And we'll never settle the score
Until we're all in the floor

Sawdust, by Amory McKeever

(image courtesy of Aida Makoto)

Cut down in our prime
split in twain
discarded like pain
to make something fine

So here we are
in mountainous piles
you can see for miles
carcasses of poplar

A graveyard of timber
the scraps off a table
the skeleton of a maple
going out with a whimper

Plea mercy from the saws
no justice no peace
to know we've been fleeced
we can hear the applause

They took what they could
to craft what they want
like idiot savants
but we're more than just wood

We're living things just like them
they bloom from our work
we're the sun through the murk
there's no flower without a stem

And gathered in their rooms
among adorned furniture
they spared no expenditure
to ignore our doom

To forget they were us
that the shine of their polish
is because we're demolished
they shall never discuss

They are merely what's left
when you shave away the damned
the poor and the scammed
their value is a theft

So here we lie
in mountainous piles
you can see for miles
the tree of life left to die

Totally Radd, by Amory McKeever

When the devourer came for his next meal

a common man made him a deal

To save his lover Shalla-Bal

and his planet from it's curtain call

The man would serve the titan well

and act as his own dinner's bell

He'd soar the universe near and far

for planets to eat like caviar

The titan agreed to this arrangement

and took the man as his new agent

The man was given enormous power

the kind that makes green monsters cower

After leading his lord to many planets

filled with energy, even organics

This herald who had proved his worth

stumbled upon a tiny blue Earth

The noble citizens who resided there

reminded the man of the home he spared

So the man rebelled against his king

and stood prepared to lose everything

Fought mightily with cosmic thunder

to keep the Earth from being torn asunder

Some fantastic heroes came to his aid

and soon the ravager became dismayed

After saving the Earth from certain disaster

the man was banished here by his master

Though still one of the most powerful beings

he searches now for deeper meaning

Protecting the galaxy from deadly threats

trying to make up for all his regrets

That human condition seems so familiar

even to an alien covered in silver

The Weighting Game, by Amory McKeever

Spent four long years

living in my locker

hiding away

from a Letterman stalker

The things they said

cut me so deep

It was a miracle

that I didn't bleed

If this is my skin

why does it make me sick

How can I fit in

when it's so damn thick

No club I could join

with other people like me

Forever alone

the biggest fish in the sea

A punchline walking

the focus of their jokes

No matter what I said

it's like I never spoke

If this is my skin

why does it make me sick

How can I fit in

when it's so damn thick

Sadie Hawkins dance

might as well be the moon

No one asked me go

Limos don't have the room

Or that's what they say

just before the laughter

that same old torture

carried on the day after

If this is my skin

why does it make me sick

How can I fit in

when it's so damn thick

Welcome to the future

It's been years since then

I guess I'm stronger now

Than I've ever been

Is it because I survived

or because I got thin

That nothing gets to me

not even love gets in

If this is my skin

why does it make me sick

How can I fit in

when it's so damn thick

Erased, by Amory McKeever

I can't see the lights
and I can't hear the speakers

but I can feel what you said

right down to my sneakers

I am overcome with dread

You say you're leaving me

That love is blind

but just not technically

That love conquers all

except the lack of chemistry

That I have a beautiful soul

but you wish I matched aesthetically

if looks could kill

oh if looks could kill

babe I'd be a ghost

ghosted and still

if looks could kill

now and always I will

be in love with you

The dance floor melts away

and all the people disappear

This is not my jam

but it's the song I always feared

You say it's not me it's you

but mention how I'm just too weird

That I always had your heart

but now suddenly your mind is clear

That I would surely find someone

but it just came out insincere

That you'll always remember me

as if I'm some kind of souvenir

if looks could kill

oh if looks could kill

babe I'd be a ghost

ghosted and still

if looks could kill

now and always I will

be in love with you

Of course you chose a public place

Maybe so I wouldn't make a scene

Even though my broken face

Might as well be a scream

No matter how fast my pace

as I headed for the door

What was seen can't be unseen

my spirit's left on the floor

They could have been kerosene

the way you burned me to the core

Or perhaps it was a guillotine

I lose my head some more

if looks could kill

oh if looks could kill

babe I'd be a ghost

ghosted and still

if looks could kill

now and always I will

be in love with you

Camouflaged Chaplin, by Amory McKeever

I know you feel ashamed sometimes

Can't help feeling guilty for the dead

I know you're a prisoner of war

Though the cage may be in your head

I know you've grown tired of the march

Like there's weight you just have to shed

But I know

There's not a battle he won't understand

He shares your trauma just look at his hands

When you feel like love is no where to find

I know our brother leaves no man behind

I know you feel panic sometimes

Fighting the monsters creeping inside

I know you sleep in the bottle at night

Far away from the ghosts that you hide

I know it wasn't always your choice

It was for the men that stood by your side

But I know

There's not a battle he won't understand

He shares your trauma just look at his hands

When you feel like love is no where to find

I know our brother leaves no man behind

I know you've seen things

You will never forget

I know you've done things

You might always regret

I know you're burdened by memories

That comes with the life of a Vet

But I know

There's not a battle he won't understand

He shares your trauma just look at his hands

So when you feel like love is no where to find

I know that our brother leaves no man behind