By: Jon Carter

Split Detail

one life moves forward and
the other dies away, yes,
there are two hearts now
beating in my chest,
constantly searching the sky for answers.

feeling guilty over this potential future,
sickened by my disrespect of things
old and known and comfortable.
I have prayed on it
and this time God won’t listen.

and even if he has heard me,
he has not answered.

my hands are in my pockets and
I have on leg cocked out and
I know that this decision is up to
me on my own. A car goes by,
the wind whistles past me.

a vulture eats the run over cat in the street,
its beak pulls the tendons from the fur.
its eyes stare at me darkly.
I wonder more about it all,
then pray again.

###

The World Laughs Against Us

to the dreamers,
you are lost and cursed.
nothing against you,
it’s only life on mother earth.

let’s not bother with the rhymes
just worry about breathing
with your face in the dirt
and the millions of razor blades leaking
blood into the grass.

the ants moving, crawling
through the crimson streamlets,
carrying away chunks of your soul
your thoughts your worries your ambitions
you’ve tried but that just isn’t good enough.

there are many trials to
consider and every decision
brings forth beauty and badness
and you’ll spend your life at
the fork in the road.

the children have lost their minds.
the leaders have lost their way.
the world flies off its axis.
death taxes love glory.

###

Floating Away

the mind is loose on the spine,
rising through the ether,
taking the skull, the brain,
the hard-nosed thoughts of an
Irish sinner.

we’ve been down, drunk,
in love without knowing it,
falling to pieces
in the street with the smashing bottles
raining down.

there are always the drinks to
wash away the bitter memories,
but the gun comes
to quiet them for good.

a twisted mess stains the floor
as we slowly float away.
the peace will come, as we
know It should. it only took the guts,
the courage, to hold that hunk of
metal and pull the trigger.

the night fades to day
the day fades to night.
another newspaper article,
photographs of a sucker that
just couldn’t quite make it.