Rippling, crashing like clouds to the ground. Doesn’t recall if he really said that out loud. Patience, like praying for a tide’s return. Doesn’t recall if he really said that to her. Come on, bring […]
Drip Castle (10/2019)
He’d run until he ran out of land, thinking, ‘maybe find me a mermaid.’ What he’d let slip away, dripping through his hand above the beach, down into a castle. Sitting on the sand, eight […]
One Foot Tango (10/2019)
They’re on the road, he’s off his feet. He spends his day preparing feasts that he’ll survive off for a little bit less than a week. Choppin’, he’s cookin’, bastin’, wastin’ no time, hearing Hallelujah. […]
Just Enough (10/2019)
He was watching from the corner, thinkin’, ‘I don’t have enough.’ She was dancing like she used to. Singin’, ‘boy, you’re way too much.’ She was dancing by the bad door. Singin’, ‘I’ve got way […]
Eyes Were Gleamin’ (10/2019)
Her old song’s thoughts falling from his speaker, sounding a lot like his. He stood out on a balcony, speaking with the stars again, feeling like last night they listened. Wondering, scribbling when it shook […]
Life to Dead (10/2019)
It flowed, you must’ve known that. That sort of wisdom, those stories will send ripples ‘til the end of time, down a southwest road, into souls, up into a still standing palace. We arrived on […]
Fox and Kids (9/2019)
When speaking of the world, children are ill. Must be. Brains be sick, they’re crazy. Oh, but it comes to the bodies, they gotta know right and wrong. The adults are sick, they’re crazy. They […]
Use Your Smile (9/2019)
Hide the flood, flip the feeling. Sail a thought, it’s so appealing. Fingers-crossed our roads collide, cause I could use your smile on this lifelike ride. Snap the snail, wind on windows. Hark, a dream, […]
What Fall? (9/2019)
Step back, watch your head. Step up, fresh paint man. I can’t even say how I got here. Connected me and knocked myself out. I believe I can feel now. Little less thinking, it’s real […]
A Head and Behind (9/2019)
Finding pain-free isn’t easy. Jogging out of me, isn’t easy. Maybe I’m ahead of myself. Can’t let me get ahead of myself, I’d leave so much behind. Hit me, give me all you got. I […]
Sunsets (8/2019)
A sea foam background from his dreams. Softened smile whispers just before it gleams. I’ll wreck this from the start. Little piece of why this whole thing’s art. One thing that won’t be true, even […]
Align (9/2019)
‘Don’t need a briefcase or a fancy suit to spew some truth’, an old soul said, ‘don’t let you get the best of you.’ I don’t know where I went, but I’m pretty sure I’ve […]
Polishing Stars (8/2019)
Been hearing ‘some day’ my whole life now, and watching stars from afar for a while now. Been thinking about some day, a year, and maybe never. Walkin’, thinkin’ about what I thought at the […]
Not Forgetting (8/2019)
Flippity, drippity, skipping me, stop. Thinking then blinking then shrinking that thought. Freaking out, speaking out, leaking what’s clear. Churning then learning then burning all fear. Staring down at the line between reason and rhyme. […]
Boy Listen (8/2019)
Boy, don’t you know where I’ve been? Where I come from? What I’ve done and seen? Why do you stick around? Boy, are you make believe? I’ll be the heart and the brain. Be the […]
Bounce Back (8/2019)
I’m so good at walking. Walking’s what I do. When I need to stretch my thoughts, footprints make them move. I’m so good at falling. Falling’s what I do. When I find my mind is […]
This Grey Shirt (8/2019)
Crossword on a shirt on the center of my chest, softest letters that I’ve ever felt. Swirling abbreviations with fingertips my memory lands on a face and the spot on the corner for coffee place. […]
Thoughts Calling Kettle (8/2019)
Stumbles around this world. Stumbling on his words Mumbling, never make it. Half unwound and so tongue tied. That way too fast or rewind so there’s never time. Stewing up a home cooked lie becomes […]
Tunnel Visions (8/2019)
If I’m still alive, I’ll live forever. I’ve seen things they’ll never see, things that must be make believe. I’ve been you, not liking me and so I changed. Apologies for the rain. If I […]
PhDs
Lady, you promised me that you’d sound both before I leave. Left me walking in circles. Left’s not right. We learn that at the beginning. ‘She did one twice and two lefts don’t make a […]
Justa Moment, Zombies (8/2019)
He swore everything was leaving. He was crawling in a shell on the beach with everything still within reach. He wrote ‘float the day’. Sat on his hands so he wouldn’t say he still had […]
Part of Life Blues (8/2019)
I had a best friend. His knuckles read ‘snug life’. He lived three lifetimes hopping trains and marrying ex-wives. I had a best friend. Robot painted on his side. His brilliance brought home happiness, told […]
Seeking Through Static (8/2019)
Stars circle around us ‘til they run out of space. Hit walls before ground, and set sail at a steadier pace. Tell me I’m not getting any younger, or a lot more that I’ve never […]
Doesn’t Matter When (8/2019)
Flip through, skipping clippings of my thoughts like an old magazine, Skipped through, flipping clippings as I thought, ‘I mean, yeah. That’s a thing. Yeah, that’s still a thing.’ Is it still thinking if I […]
Understand the Ocean (7/2019)
the sand between my toes understands the notion that tides will come and go. I know shallow water leads to somewhere someone’s already been. salt drapes my eyes. it all feels so different. gotta get […]
Splashing Underground (7/2019)
Purple lightning snapped above a desolate town. She sang quiet’s all I needed like she knew me. Tilt my head up as I’m tailing down. Closing my eyes as I splash through the ground. Little […]
That That’s Mine (7/2019)
Truck, Shark, Shank. Chalk, Chai, Chük. All of these thanks, they’re written for you. Truck, Shark, Shank. Chalk, Chai, Chük. All these mistakes, they weren’t aimed at you. I could’ve found deep love. I could’ve […]
Single File (7/2019)
Figure eight, my mind. Configuring my time for myself and all my other crimes. We walk in single file to hide our numbers. Carve our own roads for a while and hope that they collide. […]
Newark Shuffle (7/2019)
Shadows on the fog left me wondering. Two feet outside my door, just not ready to go in. They’re leaving the center of a shitty motel with plastic bags in their hands. A carton of […]
Quiet (7/2019)
Put on these ears, go out back to my own world. Beautiful quiet here. Bouncing down an old dirty road, in my mind sang, ‘here we go.’ I was gone, it was on. We were […]
Reconsider Walk (7/2019)
Diving off stars, to float toward the night. A walk to the corner to pick up a bite. Writing in cans and passing the turn. Finding a signal and losing my words. Soaring past people, […]
Leaves Land Near (7/2019)
She liked rock n roll, he brought her broken vinyl. He got spun, lumped in with two he despised. Saw a shadow in a mirror and said monster as he fell right out of himself. […]
Crackhead in a Pantry (7/2019)
Pull two barrels when I call you out. Maybe too open. I said honestly, you’re a clown. Did I get in your head? Whaddya say? Ha ha ha, who went away? Look at you, your […]
In The Wake (7/2019)
I discovered how I work. I’ve always known how you operate. Uncovered how I work. Waste no time when you take aim. I fall and I rise and I’m done looking for problems. Uncovering how […]
Apollo’s Song (6/2019)
That evening, silent noise. Too much thinking. Built a surfboard and headed out to sea. It was gone the following morning. If I hadn’t lost my mind, I think it’d be by my side. Disconnected. […]
Ink Into Oceans (6/2019)
Concept falls like flowers. In our own world now. What if we showed love before it’s too late? Old deep love worn down, let fray to waste. Stumble out with grace. Leak it, speak it. […]
Ten Feet (6/2019)
Do we take enough time to breathe? Do you ever wonder if I still believe? The weather died for an hour and five and that’s when I knew you were there. Last year you threw […]
Crossed Wires (6/2019)
I’ve got two eyes staring at me, draped in plastic perfume. She’s just talking and talking and my mind walks to you. I crossed wires that way. There are people speaking at me, convinced that […]
Hold Me Back, Pearl (6/2019)
Slow roll through the city bumping bluegrass, got three ancient ladies riding my ass. Just pass me, it’s blasting, I’m singing. I’m just taking my time, it’s early and I’m young. I’m not surprised I’m […]
Rooftop Stars (6/2019)
I’m up so high tonight so you can be by my side. Watching the stars fall on down. Staying this time around, no one taught me how to land. Sat on the moon tonight. Back, […]
Forget Footprints (6/2019)
One evening, a moon lit up oceans of snow, revealing a highway where four soles would go. Time piecing tiles for water to fall on. Pictures, picture perfect. I fell right in. Like lemons on […]
Can’t Bring That In Here (6/2019)
Little teeny tiny man slid off a bun into a can that opened up as it cooled down. A thread was rolling on the ground. Little teeny tiny guy, sees wood crack strings into a […]
Not The Coffee (6/2019)
Didn’t see myself sleeping once, I was so awake. Maybe it was the coffee. Maybe I just wasn’t watching. Maybe it’s the thinking that leads me to the thought that I’ll ever catch me dreaming. […]
Laughter and Lines (5/2019)
We were wandering in our puddle just left of the middle of America. Old tunes waltzed right out the doors of your ride, in your element around this time that year. People, they were lining […]
Space on the Sky (5/2019)
He just needed his feet up, he couldn’t stand to sit down. He just needed a moment, but never saw the use in chasing time around. In circles. Again. He was so tired of back […]
Subway to Silence (5/2019)
I’ve followed you for years, around. And I’d catch up if you’d slow down. We built this thing so it would last and rode together through our whole past. Little leaf left yesterday fell off […]
Catching Lemons (5/2019)
Left our heads with the towels, shirts and shade. We just jumped right in, we’ve never been good at waiting. She was so cool, she froze up. Said, ‘you’re both fools’, she knows us. Saw […]
Center of Gravity (5/2019)
He’s no genius, enigma, just fix it, he thinks. He says, ‘I think, maybe, they don’t think enough. Maybe, don’t feel enough. Always have, always will was said. Maybe just a little different and there’s […]
High Ceilings (5/2019)
Fish bait humans into things they can’t get out of. Never stopped to wonder if they’d still swim. It’s all about halfway to the brim, so how would you like to look at it? Saturdays, […]
Vestibule Blues (5/2019)
Wind slowly wanders this world, tallying tales, walking on water, cycling the sea. I know you, do you know me? Constellations get stapled to the sky and I wake up as you say goodbye, I’m […]
this is your life chuck johnson 