"Juxtaposition"

Laughing
			Groaning
Cold wind
		against
			Heated
		Flesh
Shivering
		and
			Shifting
in the Cold Flash
				Heat Wave
Flying Past
			Stone
and Steel
			Foundations
on a Cool Pale Face
				Glass Edge
Slides Past
			a Probing Tongue
Effervescent Bubbles
				Churned to Froth
in the Belly
			of a Drunken God
Precise shadows cast
				over nodular Bones
I ponder shallowly
				Lost in thoughtful Laughter


"Nature's Nursery"

Flit
		Flit
	Flit		Flit
Flit

Flit the flies
buzzing about
Father Flesh
fretting over burrowing
babies

munch		munch		munch
	munch		munch		munch

munch the maggots
making meals of
Mother Meat
munching on in careless
hurried Hunger


"Reception for the Morally Impaired"

ONSLAUGHT of SOUND

Crush of sweating bodies
mouths gaping with cackling laughter
Twisted faces glaring
				at me
Drunken voices slurred in scorn
of my all too Sober state

Running from this commonplace madness
Hiding from the fear
				that They
bring with them

Flood of flesh boiling and bubbling
in this walled cauldron
They come pouring in
wanting to
			Swallow Me

Distracted friends shake and lean in
			Merriment
Giving me only too-wide grins
and glazed eyes for comfort

Ripping free from the
Grasping clutches of too-loud laughter
Lost
			without the noise
My body and mind in
				Shock

But then I hear them
They're still
			Here

Closing in
Their Voices ironically
steady me in this subjective
					Void

I WANT TO BE ALONE!!!
but I need them

Oh what poisonous feeling
		to need them
			to need them All...


"Shining Tears"

You were leaving me again.
I was crying all alone.
Sitting in my bedroom,
hurting to the bone.

I sat by the window sobbing,
tears freezing in my eyes.
Knowing you were crying, too,
weeping between your sighs.

I cried cold tears,
filled with fears,
forgetting all the laughter.
Not knowing how,
hating now,
wishing for then or after.

How I wanted you - 
Love, long overdue,
burning my very soul.
It hurt so bad
it drove me mad - 
without you - far from whole.

But despite the pain, 
and through the rain,
I skipped and jumped and ran.
You were coming back!
Freedom from the rack,
taking me by the hand.

My Love was true,
and you I did embrace.
Holding you, kissing you,
staring at your face.

I am yours,
and you are mine.
You could rub me out,
but you make me shine.


"Rusty Mirror"

She screamed to her Lord for Salvation
She screamed to her Lord
She screamed...

The red trickle
becomes a torrent
Crimson floods
over pallid thighs
pooling in the dust
A rusty mirror
showing a twisted
image of her childhood

She screamed...

My puppy drowned last week
My puppy drowned
My puppy...

The bloated corpse
bobbed like a bit of lost litter
in the hateful waters
of the deceivingly calm River
Loved only by her
and the flies
Eyes once bright
now home to gnawing maggots

My puppy...

A child cried in the Darkness
A child cried
A child...

Toothless gaping mouth
Empty grasping hands
Listless bluing flesh
Eyes staring
through translucent lids
Downy cowl stained with pain
Stomach filled with only bile
A smile never known

A child...


"Smiling Masks"

shirts, slacks, shoes, and ties
why do we have to live these lies?
 
handshakes, backslaps, grins, and friendly hugs
"why?" i ask but all I get are indifferent shrugs
 
smiling masks always glad
crying eyes oh so sad

which ones aren't fake, truly us and real?
we've lost our giddy ways and we've lost our will to feel
 
the wonder's gone
the light is out
long forgotten the way we laughed and ran about
 
tears are shed
no hunger's fed
and I cry...
I cry thick streams of red


"This Lass"
 
There's this lass that I know
and if I could I would show
the love in my heart and soul
 
She's all I need
and this all must heed
Love warms even the heart so cold
 
She's got this little way
when the night smothers day
how she growls and she grins and oh how she purrrs
 
Some unknown guile
hidden behind that sweet innocent little smile
heh heh...who knows what's going on in that mind of hers
 
She'll never accept a tie
the way she fights (and bites)...oh...it makes me sigh
how her love takes its sweet torturing toll
on my oh so willing heart...mind...and soul...


"The Twilight Couple"

A Rainbow Man all color and cheer
danced about and felt no fear
He was silly, even crazy, some would say
others, only sanguine, to this day
 
Mistress Night, dark and deep
easy to catch, hard to keep
She lured in men with her call
but ran away and let them fall

The Rainbow Man Played all night and day
he loved his women in almost every way
He was wild, would not be bound
the one for him not yet found

Mistress Night saw the challenge of this wild man
she called to him, and though he knew how she ran
he danced in and out of her grasp
made her shout and made her gasp
 
He thought this such great fun
that he was sorry to see her run
He went and thought and was sure
that it was she, yes, he wanted her
 
So Rainbow Man under Night's deep cover
met again the Lady and said he loved her
And surprise, surprise!  The lady so strong and sweet
answered him in likewise heat!
 
Together in the light and under the covers
More than friends, more than lovers
Their Love so gentle - soft and supple
So caring were they, this Twilight Couple.

They shared more than just a bed
more than just their bodies fed
Their very souls were filled with laughter
and they lived happily... forever after...


"On Being A Misfit"

Maybe I like it here
	sitting here in the cold.
Maybe I like it here
	not doing what I'm told.

Maybe I like it here
	looking so young and bright.
Maybe I like it here
	thinking things I know are right.

Maybe I like it here
	raising my hands high up in the air.
Maybe I like it here
	join me if you dare.

Maybe I like it here
	taking all the blame.
Maybe I like it here
	isn't that a shame.


"On Being Close-Minded"

Mine!  Mine!  Mine!

I only see what I have seen.
I only want what I have had.
The only thing that matters is what I've made.
 
Me!  Me!  Me!

I am what I am.
You are what I'm not.
You plead to me on bleeding hands and knees,
but I don't even give a damn.
 
"Blind!  Blind!  Blind!"
 
You bare your breast to me.
	I see you not.
You beg your case to me.
	I hear you not.
You grasp at my sleeves,
	but I feel you not.

"Lies!  Lies!  Lies!"

I'd look at you, but you're not here.
I'd listen to you, but you're not here.
I'd hold you to me, but you're not here.
 
I'd even Love you, but you're not me.


"On Being Ordinary"

What is Normal?
What is Sane?
What's it like to feel no Pain?

Who am I?
Who are You?
Who knows what's False and True?

I'm like you,
and you're like me.
Fairly wild, but still ordinary.
 
You look at me.
I look at you.
Both thinking "What to do?  What to do?"
 
We look around,
bored and lonely.
We only have each other, only...only...


"Ecstatic"

I Pray daily before an Altar of Flesh;
The face of God has bedroom eyes.
A taste of Heaven and the voice of Angels
Calls to me between heavy breaths.

I taste of Flesh and drink of Blood,
For I partake of the House of God.
The Devil's path leads to fire,
But to Burn...to Burn!

The Light of Truth shines over Heaven,
And angels sing "Oh God!"
And so the Faithful descend,
The Love of God embraced.


William Lockwood  01/07/98