Absolute Zero

“Are you ready to be God?” she said.

The question rang in the sterile room.

I paused,

trying to wrap my male mind around this

alien concept.

“No” I replied.

Women are the vessels for life,

for the continuation of a species.

They are used to playing a lesser form of God.

Men, we’re the byproduct.

The checks and balances to make sure,

absolute power doesn’t corrupt.

“Well you better be cause in the next

blink of your eyes you would have assisted

in the creation if a universe.”

I’m sure if I’m modeled after God’s assistant

he must have been shitting his pants,

cause I know I am.

I sighed,

“I’m more content with being the Devil.

You be the good parent.”

It’s much easier to be the Devil, there is little

to no expectation involved…

and people just assume

your fucking with them.

It’s the slackers deity.

She reached for the lever.

“Wait.  Shouldn’t we have some kind of cool story?

You know like out of Genesis?

I mean how much respect can two dropouts

who pull a switch and cross their fingers generate?”

I said trying to stall.

“I calculate two years.

We have two years to come up with a story.

At the rate their cells evolve we have two years

before anything that can reason shows up.”

She said impatiently

“Oh, ok.”

It’s fitting she pull the switch,

she being a woman and all.

I mean this machine is just one big uterus.

Except what comes out is worse than a baby…

it’s a fucking universe.

You know, men, we don’t have penis envy

or dominant alpha issues as much as we have

birth giving issues.

See whether we believe it or not

women were set up to run the show.

They are the birth givers,

the continuation of the species.

So to compensate for the lack of birth giving abilities

men emerged as the dominant gender.

We repressed anything that can be mistaken

for weakness, to prove we can lead.

To prove we have worth.

To prove our dominance.

I am an appendix.

A wrinkle in creation.

Able to work within a system

as long as it suits me

and the second it doesn’t,

I destroy it.

“God?” I whispered

“Yes?” She answered.

This made me laugh, already she thought

of herself as the supreme deity.

“What if we fuck up and these things end up

where we are now?” I asked.

“It doesn’t matter.  They’ll probably love me

either way.  It’s all they know.”

She pulled down the lever and there was a pause.

I was waiting for something out of

Frankenstein,

instead it was just the eerie

buzz of protons colliding with neutrons

andatoms splitting.

This is my chance to have everyone

on an even keel.

To fix what my God’s assistant forgot to,

or maybe was brain washed not to.

This was my chance to phase out

gender inequality…

To start from absolute zero.

Sign O' The Times

The parking stalls were grave plots
and the cars were the grave stones
Their leather interior
...fancy coffins people paid thousands of dollars for.
When are they going to realize,
it’s just a simple box to decompose in?
These mile long parking lots
are cemeteries for the living dead.
The new cave dwellers
who live in their cubicles
painting their walls with corporate logos
and employee of the month awards.
Neanderthal man did this with his tales of great hunt.
He became one with what he destroyed,
for he knew if he did not destroy it,
would surely destroy him.
But now they paint with meaningless pieces of plastic and paper,
this has become their great hunt,
this has become their instinctual birth right.
This new species of man has never known
kill or be killed
just promotion or no promotion.
If man could have only fathomed
what his role would entail
in this brave new world
it begs the question…
would he have even bothered to evolve?

Long Beach

Long Beach-
The cool off-shore breeze kissed my face
wiping her kiss away from my cheek.
I smiled with the thoughts of last night
still fresh in my head.
I took a drag and squinted as the sun
flexed it’s superiority; heat waves
forming in the distance.
But no being, fallible enough to create me;
could have created such a day.
This paradise pocked with litter
(The acne of convenience)
is home.
I take a drag and ash into the Santa Annas.
I laugh as the humming birds twitch by
in their business suits with nooses tied
tight around their throats
unable to see the world before them.
Thank you my love, for this day.
For your beauty is much more than a Polaroid,
or these cheep words could ever describe.
I took one last look…
one last drag…
and then it was back to the assembly line.

Shaking Like a Leaf on the Corner of Life

Last night I dreamt I kissed you

and just like in real life you pulled away.

I guess I'm just not good enough

and Gladys said I'm too much of a man for you,

but she's too much of a woman for me.

But I know if I were him,

we wouldn't just be friends.

I guess sometimes I just wish I were him.

so tell me pretty baby,

did you lay with me those nights

because you were lonely

or did you get back at him?

Was my bed as warm as his?

Did I suffice?

Was I able to keep you to the lifestyle

you're accustomed to?

Cause now that you're gone I toss and turn...

but I guess that's what I deserve.

You said I wasn't like the rest,

but you treated me like the rest.

Like those that came before you.

So say you're my friend and bow out gracefully.

Tomorrow I'll wake up to my cold sheets

with the smell of Los Angeles on my skin,

and you'll wake up in international waters

wearing is sweater.

But when he's gone and the smell of nicotine stains your skin

I hope you remember those warm summer nights

I threw myself at you.

The Nights we sang...

"We're loyal, like brothers

just us versus all the others.

You're the one for, you're the one for me."

Eight Sixteen

Bring on the night

cause It's gonna last us forever.

So turn up the radio

and sing your favorite song

cause these August nights

are gonna be our glory.

So put on your Sundays best

and lets go to O'Casey's

cause he never closes

and he always forgets your name

but he's got the best juke this side of silverlake.

So come on pretty baby

put on that shirt I love

and I'll put on those shoes

cause tonight's gonna last us forever, we're not singing the blues.

So turn up the radio and sing my favorite song

cause these August nights are our glory.

So come on pretty baby

"Cause I'm down for whatever"

so tell your papa your coming home at dawn

and tell your mama your in good hands

cause tonights our night and we aint gonna die

cause tonights our night and we aint gonna die

cause tonights the night we're gonna remember the rest of our lives

The Boxer

Her ghost haunts this place
long winded discussions of life and love,
heartbreak and loss…
whole hearted, half drunken allegiances.,
But she abandoned me,
this woman to my left.
My companions of drunken sorrow.
All of them,
have found their king
never aware of the one that sat right next to them.
No, but I was never a contender
I was just the punching bag
they used to stay strong
…to stay sharp for that title fight.
But I wasn’t done being used…
abused, suffering in silence
like an obedient house wife.
But the time has come
(and the big show is now)
and you’ve always known,)
you were the prize in this fight.
So take his title
(yeah, his last name)
cause it suits you well.
And maybe now,
…you can retire a champion.

Happy Birthday

We were solidified in lust.
The alcohol and the age told me that.
Yet still, her beauty was only matched by my desire.
I had seen her around and I had known
she was named after her mother.
We were introduced;
a simple greeting as she looked over me and smiled.
Eyes shimmering knowing she could do better.
But her eyes spoke to me and said:
"You are not the one.
Your spine is weak and your face is not defined.
I want a sculpted man, a man molded after David.
Defined and elegant.
You are not the man I want.
But your shoulder will do at dawn,
when the man I love tonight, is gone."