Consider Yourself Warned
And the Aftermath
By Mac Clark
Consider Yourself Warned
United Terror
I didn’t realize that I
Lived below a
Missile silo.
Rocket after rocket
Launch
ANC, SMF, SFO, ORD
LGA, DEN, PDX, JFK
LAS, MIA, ATL, SEA
BZN
Even far away
BRQ, SVO, GIG, FCO
KUL, LHR, CDG, JNB
BOS
Missiles on wings.
Narcissism
Mirror, Mirror
On the wall
Tell me who’s
The greatest narcissist
Of them all?
I want them
Lined up
From Kings to Queens
Tops to Bottoms
You to me
And when you want
Someone to blame
Utter
Mirror, Mirror
On the wall
U.S.A.
Here is the
Treasure chest
Your citizens
English
African
Mexican
Indian
Russian
Irish
Japanese
Iranian
Norwegian
And well you see
My meaning
We are all the colors
Of the same flag.
And our blood bleeds
Exactly the same.
Swimming
The dead salmon
A spawned out man
Floats down the river
That brought him life.
In death we all return
New birth
And the face
Of a child from
Man and woman
Forming the beat
Of a heart.
In life we all return
The dead salmon swimming
To his place of birth
How a powerful a call
For the one to spawn.
In death we mate for life.
This says more about me
You are still in my
Thoughts everyday
You are still in my
Mind every time
You are still in my
Blood with every beat
You are still in my
Heart with love
But you are no longer
In my bed.
Between The Pages
Journal black
Velvet pages
Fuzzy fingertips
On a bleached out
Sunrise.
Do you see my smile?
Do you see my heart
Here butterfly?
Be paper crisp
Colorless as
The night.
Do you see my eyes?
Sea green-blue
Hazy from life
Wolves hunting
Under moonlight.
Blue Bird Days
I am struck
By the fact
That now I
Make more
Money than
Both parents
Combined
And
I used to think
That meant
Something.
Now
I am not so sure.
Today it is snowing.
Tomorrow they expect
Sunshine and blue skies
Rubix
I hate my cube
Its geometry
Four corners
Put up as if
To mock God.
Cubes pukey velvet
Disgusts me.
Here we are in the walls
Of our own prison
Mice running along the
Corridors of the maze.
Cheese anyone?
Flowers
Clinging I fall
Straight down
On the blue flame
Of emptiness.
Garbled broken
To cry of never,
Scream of never.
Places, times, lover
Agony burnt and death.
Blood flows
The blue flame
Grows brighter
Healing is a touch away
Instead I bring you flowers.
The Last Time
I am haunted
By a cloud
Of madness
That rains and pours
Your scents over
My memories.
Like scissors cutting
Leafs of paper
- A year falls by
Another
Another
Another
Old and gray
Tomorrow
It seems so much
Closer
Than when you were
Here
Tomorrow and it
Rained today.
Rewind
My dreams are on my back
Where they sometimes form wings
And let me fly higher and higher.
Sailing through the night above
To the stars one by one
I think of the one I love.
Yet other times
My dreams are like a weight
The crushes me
Like a stone dropped from above
Sandwiched one by one.
I only think I once loved.
But right this very second
If you catch me
My dreams have become my feet
Happy to be following the road they’re on.
Education
Free your mind
Let go your judgments
Love thy neighbor
Forgive where
Forgiveness
Isn’t possible
Be angry
But never lose
Hope
Fight if a Fight
Happens
Use your fists
And then let go
And help the other
Person up with forgiveness.
Boxes
She is black and silk
Offering glimpses of attire
Legs sprawling,
Stopping,
Revealing there beautiful
Lengths
Movements slowly bend
The curves
Throughout her body,
As a finger reaches down
Her lips part at the
Beginning
Of a wall within herself
Making time
Stop
For
Everything
It is forgotten at a glance
The choice of a heart stolen
And the sin once lost
Is revealed by the
Mask inside the makeup.
Today
I bought a green collar
For C.
You know I love you
More than her.
Do you think that
Degrades you?
Do you know she is
The only thing
In my life
I consider perfect?
Six years of perfection
Sense she was borne
Same time Mom
That you and I grew
Together
Only
Now you are gone
You left yesterday
Thank God
For my dog
Symmetry
I lie awake now
Unable to sleep
When I close
My eyes
I dream of a crisp
Gray sheet
Perfect and cool
To the touch.
Now awoken further
In remembering
The game I played
About death as a child
My death would be
That gray sheet
Neither black nor white
Glass half full
Glass half empty
At least I would like to think
I am the eternal optimist.
One Breath
How do I hold
You afloat?
Make love but
Instead kiss?
Send pearls instead
Of flesh?
This Time
I could believe
That I can love
And not be undone
By you.
I could believe
That I can grasp
Another day not
By your side.
I should believe
That I can keep
Myself sane
Without you.
Eighteen
I wish I could
Have held your hand
Been there for your
First plane ride
I would have
Whispered
I love you
As we took flight
I wish I could
Have sent you flowers
And watch you smell
Mine for the first time.
I would have
Whispered
You are my princess
Across daffodils and lilacs
I wish I could
Kiss you
And pretend we are
Eighteen again.
Still
I never know
Where this leads.
This place takes me
Or makes me hide.
Something underneath
The street makes me blind.
So I that roving them
Madness takes me.
And makes me think
Still…
Seventy
I wished I had known
Your spirit animal.
Mine is the otter.
Would you have guessed?
I wished I had known
You with double chins.
I think mine are here already.
Does it have to happen so soon?
I wished I had known
You when you were pretty.
Have you here with me,
Grow old and be seventy
I wished I had known
You to commit a crime
Because that tells me what
I already knew.
Moment
If this wasn’t last call
I would dance with you
Over and over again.
Close you eyes and
Pretend these walls are moonlight
Make this moment last
With music running over
Into a starry night.
Could I ever forget
I was in your arms tonight?
Over and over again.
Misshapen
Misspoke
You whisper
These last words,
“Love beats the demon”
and behind you
a velvet sunrise.
Your face flexes
Under the strain
To see
The ocean
From so many miles away
Behind you
And me.
Mother’s Milk
I suck
On these breasts.
Milk to feed
The rich emptiness.
To find that
Sweet numbness.
Won’t you linger
Longer with me?
See me suck them dry
And yell for more
More
More….
Smile
How do we face
Ourselves day in
And day out?
Just getting older,
Shortened and slower.
Life isn’t as much
Fun when you lose
Your virginity
Day by day
Is it?
Open For Business
Today has betrayed me
My dreams are forgotten
Pieces of what was once
A mural of life.
So this shit has to stop.
Quit
Wake Up.
Believe.
That we are not closed in
Not destroyed with anger.
That we will
Love
Again.
A mission statement of sorts.
Depression
This is that dark cellar
That I dwell in.
You can see
The torture chamber
In the corner.
Its in pretty plain sight.
And here is my soul
Tied to the bedpost
Watching myself
While I rape me.
These Words
Are Bitter
This is Yesterday
Line by line
Verse by verse
We sang a song
Of magic and myths.
Inch by inch
Toe to toe
We danced
Our rhythm.
Combining truths
And harmonies.
We made our music
Laughing after sunset
Again before daybreak
If only my lover
I could revise.
Balance
How this sadness
Stills me.
My broken heart a
Plague of
Boiling Blood.
Yes I am angry.
Stalled by the worthlessness
Of hate.
I can still see
The world in all
Its passion
Beauty
Hope
Believing
In
Yesterday’s
Dream.
Playing On More Than Words
A new page
Nothing to say
No new ideas
Just old news
The weather
And the rain
Tomorrow it might
Pour your images
Once again
Over my memories.
But today
It hasn’t
(maybe its snowing)
Freedom isn’t far away
Emily D
It is amazing
What the attic hides
The old toys
A trophy or two
Pictures of memories
Blankets made
Especially for you.
But everywhere
I search
I can’t find you.
Anywhere
Mrs. Bishop
I never named you
Or called you out
To be this or that.
Me or you or us
That somehow we
Might be more
Than you and me.
I only dreamed, wished
That I really could know you
Your thoughts, feelings and perceptions.
That we could blend.
I love you
And always have
Until this breath rests
Goodbye.
Slide
This is the cherished
Ladder I used to climb
Bright green and shinny
With yard house yellow
Stripe on the inside
Spilling water from
The top
Attached with plastic
Garbage wraps.
Sooner or later we all
Climb up
Sooner or later we all
Slide.
Stalking
I figured out why
I need to see you again.
How many times has it been?
I needed to see you again to sing
Some crazy ass poetic shit.
One more time
Just about you
And what you don’t see.
Misery
I love the smell of
Sagebrush scented
Prairie reminding me
Of our camping trips.
I love the taste of
Your secret garden flavor
Eating, savoring
Its juices.
I love the look
You used to give me
All the time and
What it said.
I love the feel
Of your beauty
Inside out
Its highs and lows.
I love to listen
To you as your head
Falls asleep here on
My chest.
Most of all
I love missing you.
Writer’s block
An idle mind
Sleeps
Drags
In the sand
A bare beach
Brought into
A dream
To drown
Out thoughts
But
Freedom
I frame this moment
Heaven
First I
Then you
Make
Contact
Remote planets
Crashing, colliding
Celestial bodies
Being
Destroyed
In front of
Our Eyes.
The Plain Truth
The plain truth is
That I know very little
Nothing at all
Practically no answers
As to why anything.
Why God?
Why death?
I know practically nothing
About death
Expect I almost
Died once
And
That made me love you
Like tomorrow might not ever come
And because of all the wonderful
Things you are.
When you left
Tomorrow ceased to exist
And so did I
Paper Fear
I fear the sunset
The sound of cars
On a highway
The sight of more
Than fifty people
On a sidewalk
A fire truck at a
Burning house
The smoke from
A fireplace
The nuclear part
Of an arm’s race,
Holocausts and mass graves
But nothing scares me as much
As you do.
A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
I wanted to bite
My tongue off
So I wouldn’t call
No sounds
Not a peep
My phone
Never rings
Its
Never you
You are never here
And
I live in a
Never wonderland
A kind of bliss
Between where you
And I are never
Going to be.
Once Again
One of many compliments
A sort of feather
In my cap
An all-star
Of the regular circuit
The right kind of guy
Looking
Searching
Questioning
Wanting
The wrong kind of woman
The sort of bitch
That makes your blood
Boil with rage.
Jealousy
Anger
Regret
Lunacy
But then again
I already met you
Anyways.
Fourth of July
I am still etching
Words in stone
And painting a mindful
Of caves and blue skies.
The Atomic Generation
Before us
Knew it.
And what
To do with it?
No one did.
Take back out
Your decoder ring
Secret handshakes
And encrypt this.
Get back to the moment
As human beings
Always try your best
It makes your worst mistakes
Spectacular.
Equal Rights
How bout you?
How bout me?
Can we do three?
You are still
That fantastic light in the sky
A center of a universe
Your galaxy
My obsession
You beat me down
With your ray of light
And my false excuses
Still I ask,
“How are you sunshine?”
On Remaining Friends
Good afternoon Cassandra.
You are a welcome
Lover in my mind
Coldness doesn’t exist
In the warmth of
This friendship
Tea for two
Please
How is Anne Sexton?
Have you spoken
With her lately?
Do you know how much
You are loved by everyone?
And its okay to flirt
Hold my hand
Love one another
And remain friends.
Kim
What corners are these?
I am unsure at
What angles
They
We
Intersect
Electricity
I am high
In the air
Over the city
In a jet plane.
Below me
The freeway streams
A river of light
That could be me
Traveling down
There somewhere.
I could be one of those
Light bulbs.
Turn me on.
Who’s Talking?
Now I am tired
And my pen
Is running
Out of ink
It seems.
Tell me
I want to know
Your dreams
Keep moving.
You inspire me
To believe.
Now I am awake.
The pen is bleeding
Love.
I want your attention
And to notice me.
I want you to reach me
From miles away.
I want us to always be.
I am speaking.
Can you hear what I say?
American Tourist
If you use your eyes
And pretend to float
Above your body
Go up a mile or two
Turn around and
Look back down.
See all the houses,
People and cities
Down on the ground?
Don’t you realize
That you are never
Really alone?
Just stranded
On an island
That you cannot
See.
How Poetic
Why can’t we
All walk into
The light?
See the flesh
Burn on
Scented candles?
Can’t you taste
The smell of
Burnt flesh?
Why can’t you
Ignore the images
Each night?
Go ahead
Eat my soul
With a shinny
Metal fork.
Reflections
I see her
Trip and fall.
I smirk.
Finally
She
Knows
How
You
Feel
Women
I want to take you.
Eat you like
Peaches and pears.
Goble up your
Cottage cheese.
Suck your apples
Bend you backwards
And
Break your soul
Piece by piece
Inch by inch.
Mad Man
What are these
Stories of loneliness
That I hold so close
To my chest?
All my friends
Say I am
Doing well.
But we both know
Better
Don’t we?
Rings
This place
Stomach clinches
Knot tightness
You and I
Clinch
Cinch
Together
A knot
Tightening
Tighter
And
Tighter
With every
Breath
You
Breathe
I love you
More
And
More
Espanol
We speak the language
Of a conquered people
That died without
Fighting or bleeding
We died of the disease
Called greed
We died at the feet
Of thieves
Tomorrow is no longer
Today
We rise up
Today
We rise up
We are the nation of lover’s
In love is what will be.
I am in you
The critic side of you
Will judge me as lovers
Judge each other.
The librarian side of you
Will see the past history
And file it away.
The doctor side of you
Will dissect it and talk
Of death and anthropology.
The mathematician side of you
Will guess correctly
And prove an absolute theorem.
The philosopher side of you
Will ask what it meant
And whether I still exist.
But how quickly
You all want to forget
A hopeful orgasm in
Your mind and head.
Disclaimer
Stop!
Bury yourself
Into the sand.
Burrow down deep.
Keep yourself
Wound up
Pack it tight
But keep the
Sand soft with
Lose hand
Don’t miss
The foot
Lie there awhile
In your sand
Made womb.
Earth and Soil
Feel how alive
You become
Each moment.
And so I pray
Keep me in
The womb
And not in the
Grave.
Answer This
What science
Is mathematics?
If mathematics
Was invented
By humans
To add two
Sticks together
Then these terms
Are in our mind
Then
Isn’t that your
Dogmatic dogma
Thank god
For childhood
The Aftermath
September 11th
Changes everything
At first I thought
Not to acknowledge
I thought that
Was letting the terrorists
Win
But horror flew
On masked wings
After 911 only the rich
And daring fly now
And George O’s
Big Brother dreams
Are coming true
A few years late.
What are we
To do?
I am a third generation
Third decade old
American Buddhist
Mind thinking
That neither Christians or
Muslims will when a war
Of religion
I have it figured out.
It is strictly Darwinism
If you are dead
Your sperm can’t swim.
Simple
Don’t go to war.
Still, what are we
To do?
I can’t tell you
About the horror.
Don’t the images
Still live inside?
Can we learn from history?
What would you do with
Thirty million refuges?
Slaughter them of course.
One Holocaust for another
Nuclear annihilation
You can see it
Their eyes.
God, Allah, Jesus
Neighbor, Friend, Human
Help us, We need help now.
I am a third generation
Third decade old
Black, white
Native American
Man
Help us.