Jeff’s Poetry

The Devil’s Jurisprudence Tighter. He cinched the chains on my ankles down. Squeezing hope from my veins in purple bruises that wept red. I could only cry “Why, why, why!” To him, empathy was toxic. “Abomination!” he called me, saying I was hated by god. “Only god’s government is right! […]

Ashes. Blown in a purposeful wind, They streak my face with gray brushstrokes. Remnant traces of fiery teardrops. Mourning a life burned and past. Flames. Indiscriminately consuming; many things burn: Lives, hopes, dreams, control, Rome and our own empires of erected vainglory. Paper plates from picnics of childhood memories. Loss. […]

Abide. In that space of stillness while life rages outside. When thunderous news rattles our window panes, When daylight fails and deepest darkness reigns, When tomorrow’s fears rob the joys of today, When screaming headlines drown the words we say, When the sting of betrayal has pierced our hearts, When […]

Undocumented. A surplus human whose work’s never complimented. Tossed aside. You don’t wanna leave but you’ve got nowhere to hide. You and your family, y’all have no rights. Powerless; such a strong person but you have no way to fight. Lost in the rushing wind. It blows hard, and I’ve […]

Devalued, like a failed currency.Swept away with administrative urgency.A crumpled paper overwritten too many times,Covered with ideas and illegible rhymes. I was thrown away. Like a bank note from a country that no longer exists,Faded, thin and torn by insanity’s dark fits.A spent razor trashed cuz’ it was ejectable.A coin […]

The things we hold His hand closed. Surely, it wasn’t empty; something must be there. It had to have weight or mass or meaning, it had to be anything other than air. For he was taking it with him. Was it a palmful of aspirations, hopes and dreams? Thing’s he’d […]

Coming out; being known for who we really are. I came out from captivity. It was a hard step to take, having traveled so far. Accepting my new nativity. Redeemed like an old coupon, forgotten in a drawer. Saved for that rainy day, then remembered once more. Torn corners, stained […]

Souvenirs. Every journey has them. Things collected, or picked up along the way. All those years. PTSD post cards, stamped with old scars gained from day to day. Bought with blood and time. Show me yours, I’ll show you mine. Muzzle flash! Darkness ripped in an orange gash. In lighting […]

The waves rush, curling this morning, their cusps golden in early light. Gilded edges spilling towards inevitable ends. They become gold flecked foam on dark sand, a part remaining, hidden between the grains, sinking below, half earth, half sea. Neither the one nor the other. I’m rolling now, feeling the […]

What is the glue that binds, Scattered bits of time Into seconds that rhyme, Making the cadence of life? Deconstructed moments, broken bits of eternity; What is the stuff that fixes them together? I seek that mysterious stickiness. It holds secrets. How are my moments of present Bound so thoroughly […]