Puke & Beauty

I could talk about green puke today.  That would be easy.  There are a lot of green liquids floating in, through, and atop this city.  But I won't do that.  I won't ramble about all the drunks and the dye and the "Irish Pride"

.....

Instead I will simply sip my Jameson reminiscing about the summer that I ran the hills in County Donegal with my niece and nephew who understood what it was to celebrate Ireland.  I will toast to them and that moment in time and all the awe and magic of a beautiful country that I can only hope to visit again some day.

Photo by Amanda.  Words by Dustin.  

I didn't mean to look up your skirts

I didn't mean to look up your skirts

I simply wanted the sky
The sun
The bright day

What the hell were you two thinking
Running around on the glass

I saw what I saw
And I refuse to blame myself

Also
I made tomato soup and grilled cheese for lunch

It may be awkward now
But join me
If you like

Photo by Amanda.  Words by Dustin.

From Whence Comes My Strength

Lord, I been down 
And lookin’ up I sees.. 
Trees tall trees

Striving for the light 
Are we all...
Are we not?

That distant glow 
waiting ...so.

Is mine
Is coming

Patience and inching forward 
On knees
On bleeding knuckles

When hope is thin 
When I give in
To tears

I see the light in trees 
Tall trees

And onward step 
And upward hoist.

Hi ho 

Photo by Amanda.  Words by Stephanie.  

That's Glam Rock For Ya

That’s glam rock for ya

Holiday expressionist wishing all the kids that I know could be in one room with a shit-ton of glitter (which is much more than a ton) and playing magic games of heroism like home alone Christmas dinner delicious macaroni and cheese you know what I mean

That’s glam rock for ya

I know little people that see worlds like we have no idea chasing spiders and imagining dragons burning their hair until they smell it because mom won’t let them touch the stove

That’s glam rock for ya

Never wanting to grow up cliché is not a word they know they are young and full of life and passion and an energy that can only escape through running jumping flying and being held down by a teenage mutant ninja turtles sleeping bag flash light ghost story moment

That’s glam rock for ya

Why are we not children y’all at our parties at our job places on our stages in our beds why are we not children in our hearts our minds and dreams why are we not children

That

Is glam rock for ya

Photo by Amanda.  Words by Dustin.

From in Here

I've never been here but in day dreams.
I feel small to the sounds of the street
and the quite clink or dishes inside here.
I've sat with pen pointed at paper
and little ink eeked out.
The waitress smiled at me kindly, nodding along the way,
not having a clue why I've spent the last five hours in her restaurant.
I'm not sure either, honestly,
but I've been inwardly (deeply) hoping
that my fingers would lay guide to my brain
and take away my imagination,
set if afloat on the sky and the voices of the people walking by.
But all Ive got is notes on my hoped recovery
and the idea of plane tickets.

From inside here, in my thoughts,
looking out on the movement, the next things to my day,
I don't know anymore.
I'm going to move forward,
with the clink of my thoughts,
and I don't know anymore,
don't know what I am supposed to do
or why.

Photo by Amanda Grupp.  Words by Jordan Shappell.

let me fly

i don't want to wait until the morning comes or the crickets croak or the fat lady flirts
i don't want to sip on regret or taste the failure or fly the flag of surrender

i do (however) want to fly
to go
to dance on the wind and the clouds and hope

there are no streams (to go against) in the sky
put me up there
give me flight
give me hope
hold my heart

let me fly, lord

let me fly

Photo by Amanda Grupp.  Words by Dustin Whitehead.

Something I learned in Nam

Passing Orange.  That is what we'll call it for now.  Something I learned while doing.  Or not doing.  I wish it was easily explained.  But nothing is.  That's what we love about life.  Or we try to.  Mystery.  Am I right.  There is no short story.  No wrong question.  And no right answer.  Only afterwards do we have the right words and only before do we have the right mind.  In the experiencing- who knows.  We just dive in.  We are mere miracles, all of us.  That is something.   Something I learned in Nam.

Photo by Amanda.  Words by Dustin.

Where the Light is

 

I write with the blood in my veins 

because my heart pushes and pulls all that 

my mind can control while my lungs let go of

the breath I need to live out what God created me to do.

Patches of skin tingle in the wind

and my hands aren't as soft as the used to be.

I've roughed up life and have been beaten down.

I've run with tears in my eyes

and sung the loudest of songs

I've drank too much and slept too little

and prayed for absolutely nothing. 

Ive gone off, gone wrong, gone towards the light and back.

I've shaken and swayed passed the tree and right into fall.

I've tripped over you, fell in love with the lips of an Angel,

heard the hymns of temptation and felt the Holy Spirit descend

then retract when he saw what I was doing. 

I've washed my hands in mud more than water,

I've chortled and cackled, been smacked by fear,

and live a little too close to fake. 

But when I'm in the sun's shine,

it all melts right down till I'm naked in warmth

and I cry for myself. For the stupidness I'm made of. 

I love it. I love all the things that make me here in the light. 

Photo by Amanda Grupp.  Words by Jordan Lane Shappell

Back Light Topless Prostitute Transvestite Site

 

There was something wild about the beak he wore.  Back light topless prostitute transvestite site.  'Man at work' you called it.  We laughed when the vodka spilled from your nose on to my dash.  Sure, we COULD have swerved.  But we didn't.  We made music; a craschendo of vodka mixing with lemonade, our laughter, and man flying into windshield and over car.  It makes me laugh even now.  You are so fun to go vehicular man slaughtering with.  What are you doing this weekend, by the way?  There's a party in the hills.  omg lol xx oo peaceout.

Photo by Amanda.  Words by Dustin.

Why all the happy singing?

We call it Christmas time

Season of joy, love, and snow

And some really good food

Photo by Amanda.  Haiku by Dustin.

"i brought you a fuggin cookie."

"I brought you a fuggin cookie," he mumbled as I waddled past him, my thigh glued to my knee.  What a bastard.  What a fart tard.  What a blend we are.  What a night.  What a spark plug tangerine sunrise we hope to find presently.  And lastly, god bless the punch bowl for never pulling any. 

A. Aspirin
B. Ibuprofin
C. Hair of the dog
D. A swift head-butt to the heart-shaped-pillow of this moment.

Photo by Amanda & Randy.  Words by Dustin.

Don't let it break your heart

We got cut in the dark, caught up in the shouts,

found ourselves and raged for the rights to each other.

If your heart isn't in it, march your feet.

Your blood will eventually match the pace and passion.

One beat will guide you to me. Two beats will set you free.

Three is my hand in yours. Four gets you through the night.

Don't let it break your heart.

If we shout, spend all the air in our bare lungs

and still don't get what we want, if we don't get each other.

Don't let it break your heart.

I protest: we are still looking for love.

we are still looking for love.

we are still looking for love. 

And we will do anything to find it here on 

Photo by Amanda Grupp.  Words by Jordan Lane Shappell.

Bubble

If I could get my hand in there 

I'd make a glove that held tradition solid smooth 

nighttime romantic found by the fire sounds the key note speaker fly by balloon masterpiece 

technique before product and necessity is me after I which are the lame duck swallowed a flea 

spare tire afternoon came next what a lunch, remember?

same smile 

same spit

same solid

same soul

If I could get my heart in there

I'd make a dove that held transition in a move

fighttime organic bound by the wire mound that denotes perfect why high monsoon actorthief

physique be for reduct in arbitrary big bee which is why witch saw the tame duck swallow a tree

Pair mire with the muck and hexed by a brunch we forgot

wee!

...and that was my favorite calculation

Photo by Amanda Grupp.  Words by Dustin Whitehead.

Thoughts on Beaches

I…
want to attain
the unattainable.

I want to touch
the untouchable.

I want to think
the unthinkable

sink the unsinkable
shake the unshakeable
and break the unbreakable.

I want to write a letter to Whitman himself
and tell him that I too contain multitudes.

I am young. Just 21.
I’ve got the wind at my back
and the world at my fingers.

I want to educate the children.
I want to feed the hungry.
I want to stop the wars
and start a garden.

I WANT TO HOLD IN ALL THE WATERS OF THE WORLD

but
it just keeps slipping
through my hands like a sieve.

Photo by Amanda Grupp.  Words by Shannon Wilson.

Thanks for the love

Dear wedding,

I'm flying in circles around your perfection
Attempting to include you in my every afterthought without overwhelming my heart

You took us in
You held us
Danced with us
Smiled and laughed with us
You howled at the moon and swayed in the river breeze

You brought us together

You sang sweet music
You said 'let's do it' and in she came
More beautiful then ever
You made peace with the grass and the sky
You asked them to hold her
To lift her up

You fed us and sheltered us and gave us drink

You were an afternoon
An evening
A day
A lifetime
An idea
A promise
You were everyone and everything we love

Thanks for the people
The smiles
The tears
The hope

Thanks for the community
The family
The honesty
The promise

Thanks for the future
The memories
The potential
The life

Thanks for the love

Photo by Amanda Grupp. Words by Dustin Whitehead.

crawlin round yo words

what u say gurl, how u feelin
want one a deese grapes dat i'm peelin

You're up and down
I'm around and below
in n' out

u cruisin, peepin for some pleasin
I'm stoked  on the season

Burgers with cheese
hold the bun please

i dig yo stease 
if u a patient, i'm yo disease

Photo by Amanda Grupp.  Words by Sadie Myers and Dustin Whitehead.

chicken chat.

 

"Would you bite into a chicken as it ran through the yard?" she asks.

Why, yes.  I think I would.

Photo by Amanda Grupp.  Words by Dustin Whitehead.

Yes, I'm different

I've felt this way for a long time now

before i knew what it was

a way that i could hear

a wave that i could catch

it was mine,

my uniqueness

yes, they've known him to cry

or make believe alone

blasting Brandy on the boombox

creating dance routines in the basement

jumping for joy when his shoes came in the mail

sometimes playing dress up.

Yes, he's gabby

talking with friends during class

the crossing guard's daughter's boyfriend.

The sweetheart.

A gentleman.

Yes, he's polite

my boyish innocence.

A darling.

A better dancer than the girls

A very patient boy

My whimsical humor.

His pretty eyelashes.

My painted nails.

His random, my magic.

Yes, he's different

Photo by Amanda Grupp. Words by Rashaad Hall.

"The Name of This Poem Is"

I imagine that life is a road

Let me start over

I imagine that life is a swirling

cloud of moths hovering

over an (almost) brand new

Cadillac 

I imagine that life 

is just a series of parties

where people ingest gold

and try to one-up their

neighbors by having

a bigger swimming pool

I imagine, I'm sorry, WE imagine

that life is...

Sorry

It's hard to focus when you 

make that clicking sound

with your teeth

Sorry, not your teeth

I meant to say

Your childhood

Photo by Amanda Grupp. Words by Randy Conner.

i learn a little from a shadow in an alley

i learn a little from a shadow in an alley
each day sort of
glorifies
the previous
life is always ascending
that's what is necessary about it

sometimes the darkness comes where we least expect it
sometimes the light shines from behind us
nothing is predictable

the future is a priceless study on chiaroscuro

moving through each chapter i take deep breaths
i hold on to what i know
and what i've known
perfectly aware that it will never be the same

something is ending
something else is beginning

it's simple

like a dog chasing a car

what i read in a sign may read differently to another
i am the only me

i will follow the light and the shadow
i will do my best to interpret the signs
i will spread light
i will cast shadow


in fifteen years i will reflect on something that happened five years from now
things will change
life is always ascending
that's what is necessary about it

at this moment i see birds in the grass
they are plain and they move fast and they are singing
i believe that's what it's called
maybe someday i will call it something else
but for now

the birds are singing

Photo by Amanda Grupp.  Words by Dustin Whitehead.