They’ll give you just enough to stay afloat but never enough to swim away



You’ve given it your all and then some more

 bill collector made his bed at your door 

You thought the hoops and loops would end for you

But now it’s happening to all your grandkids too

You can be anything and go everywhere 

But you’ll smell like shit within a week out there

So you take your pen and write your congressman 

But your return address changes once Again 

So you guess you’ll pray and join the local church 

But it’s Another dead end in your search

It’s funny, it’s the same thing we’re all looking for

But by the time you ask for help 

Your bloated body has washed ashore

Wouldn’t it be nice

Just to swim?

You thought the hoops and loops would end for you

But now it’s happening to all your grandkids too

You can be anything and go everywhere n  go 

But you’ll smell like shit within a week out there

Too Tall a Tale

Two modest puffs

Of the good stuff

Cuz life on blue earth

Is oh so rough

They don’t really care

They’re mostly unaware

And there ain’t no winner 

In a game of truth or dare

Guy’s Dancing for himself 

In front of a subway mirror 

He spit-shined the surface 

But that don't make things clear

When I grew up, teacher said:

“Always look both ways.

Don’t ever talk to strangers”

I miss them good ole’ days

Cold and all alone

With only an Obama phone

In the snow, he sees his breath

But the crystals will be his death

Now it’s for certain 

Bigfoot is real

We all know the government

And the devil been making deals

I want sleep without dreams

To fly without wings

To board up the windows

With driftwood and zinc

I want Casual dining 

And a New York fling 

While on my tippy toes

The water ain’t that deep

Not abandoned

Just ran far away

Not born again or saved

Doc, it all began 

Around 6th or 7th grade

I don’t make eye contact with strangers 

I know better than that

No curtsy, bow or fist-bump

No tipping of a hat

So much of this world’s unknown 

But I can tell you this 

When you think you’re all grownup 

You’re still a little kid

Blasphemously fortunate 

Piously under paid

No way they built the pyramids

With just tens of thousands of slaves

Multiple personalities 

Who will we be today?

We're all Missing something 

Only found within a grave

Cold cut like a hoagie

Got a new electric stogie 

It’s far too tall a tale

That this life has unveiled 

Too tall a tale…

I’ve been, I am, I will be

I’ve been an angel

I’ve been a thief

I’ve been a hunter 

I’ve been the meat

I’ve been starving.

With pearls at my feet

I’ve picked the fruit.

No one should ever eat

I’ve been all over.

But I never left home 

I’ve been in large crowds,

But still swore that I was alone

I was important

A Lifetime ago 

Now I’m not sure what matters

Or if I have a soul

I’ve been in jeopardy.

Been caught in checkmate 

I’ve turned the tables 

And I’ve Picked up the pace. 

been flanked by the past

Fight, flight or freeze

Then, now and tomorrow

Which one is me?

I’ve browsed every isle

And I’ve checked out my heart

I’ve never been one

To bring back 

A grocery cart

I am the shepherd 

the wayward sheep

I am the strength 

That makes people weak 

I am the lion

In a gilded cage

I am the fire

The white burning rage

I am the shelter

From the four winds

That locks all the doors when 

You finally get in

I am an ego

I am the meek

I am the joy in

A little Suffering

I am the bread and

I am the wine

But my temple

Is not Devine

I am the night that

Ends every day

I am the saint that

Caught the plague 

I am the gift they

Took from you

I am the life you

Didn’t choose

I am the years

Without the light

I am the fear

That holds on tight 

I am a useless apology

I am a church that’s 

Lost its need

I am the want to

Do what’s right 

Being abandoned 

By the need to fight 

I will be quite certain 

And not a class clown

I will be the black sheep

That won’t let you down 

I promise I’m worth it

Ask all around 

I’ll be back on my feet 

And not the talk of the town

I want to get married

To the love of my life

Tuck in the children 

Kiss them good night

Won’t pour all my feelings

Into a cheap jug of wine 

I will try to see better

When we stand eye to eye 

Nobody’s perfect 

But nobody’s you

I hope you’ll remember 

God’s still learning too

And I pray I have said something 

That I hope will be heard

But one says more in silence

Than one says with their words 

I can only speak

For only myself 

Seems you can’t get to heaven

Without first going through hell

To live forever in heaven

You must first go through hell

Chameleon of the Sunset.

Here is a story about a desperate green bird named Senior Verde and his attempt to win the heart of the woman he has adored since he was a chick. 

Her name is Rosita.

 Every mating season since adulthood, Senior Verde has danced for Rosita in front his bright green nest that he decorated just for her. No matter how bright the colors of his nest or no matter how hard he danced for her, she was unaffected by his efforts to court her.

 One day a chameleon came into their village and wandered past senior Verde’s nest.

Senior Verde saw the chameleon and he jumped out of his nest quickly.

“Hey lizard! Hey you with the eyes! My name is Senior Verde, and I could use your help

with something especially important to me, please!”

The chameleon paused and gave his attention to Senior Verde.

 “Why, you are the most brilliant green thing I have ever seen in my life! It is nearly the end of our one day a year to find a mate and Rosita is still unimpressed by me. Will you stand next to my green nest and make it even greener for my love?”

The chameleon answered, 

“I am the chameleon of the sunset.”

“That’s great” - said Verde, “Just a little to the left and…PERFECT! Don’t move an inch.

Look lizard! she’s coming.”

Rosita examined the nest and like the years before, she had very little enthusiasm for Verde and his love for all thing green.

“What about my favorite color, pink?” she asked out loud.

She started to move to the next nest when suddenly the sun began to set, and the sky changed to all the colors of the rainbow. The colors of the sky met the chameleon on the jungle floor and began to change the color of its skin. Rosita paused to watch the display. 

The chameleon changed from blue to green, then to red and then to orange, then purple and gold and finally pink.

Senior Verde yelled at the chameleon and told him to stop changing colors and to immediately return to the most vivid green he could produce but to Verde’s shock, Rosita immediately fell in

love with him for putting on such a wonderful show for her.”

“Lizard! My friend. I am so sorry that I tried to make you into something you are not for my own selfish cause. It was your ability to change colors that won my love’s heart, even though you were the brightest color of green I’ve ever seen; you were also the most beautiful shade of every color that exists!

Please tell me your name so that we can name our first born after you, my dear friend!”

“I am the chameleon of the sunset”

                               A Current Event 

                                        by           

                                 P.D DeLucchi

When we think of sentient beings, we feel a little alone perhaps; being the only ones we know who are sentient. 

Maybe we are misguided in thinking this.

In fact. I know most certainly that this is not true.

I’m not going to make a case for dolphins or elephants or aliens from somewhere in the inky unknown.

This is a story about a river.

Now, when we see rivers, we generally perceive them as a singular, ever-flowing and unaware mass but, not that this is a revelation, they are made of different currents, traveling together endlessly.

What if I told you that each one of these currents have their own identity, names as well as ambitions and feelings?

This is a story of Sarah, the current.

She travelled on and on with other currents that she knew or came to know along side her. Some of these currents she had known since she first came to be in this world. Others she had met in her travels and they replaced some of the childhood friend currents that at one time, Sarah would never have Imagined parting with.

The banks of the river were lush and green and the trees bore fruit and the fauna ate and played and mated along these banks and many currents were happy to know that they were giving life to an ecosystem.

Beyond these banks, the land was arid and dry and the soil was dead and hard as stones.

Sarah was tired of being lost in a mix of currents that made up the river because she had always wanted to be recognized as an individual and not just a part of a group.

This was a rare sentiment among the currents, however she had met and had known several currents who also felt like they wanted their own identity and to make their own special mark in the world.

These currents inspired her and were the catalyst for her longing to be something more and to divert to another path that was truly her own.

Carry, was Sarah’s best friend growing up and Carry had very wild and almost taboo ideas and was the most individualistic person she had ever met.

One day, Carry couldn’t take being part of the crowd any longer and she told Sarah that she would be leaving the river soon. 

Part of Sarah was deeply afraid for her friend but another part really wished that she would do it and succeed, so that Sarah may have hope to someday do the same.

The day had come and it was a particularly hot day with very low humidity.

The river banked hard to the east near some rapids and without another thought, Carry used all of her strength to bank to the West.

Carry flowed over hard clay without the shade of any trees. 

Carry had finally become her very own stream. 

Sure a river is mightier than a stream but this stream was entirely her own effort and ambitions.

Carry made it as far as half a mile before the sun vaporized her into nothingness and after, there was nothing that would ever signify that she had one been a stream of her own.

Sarah mourned her dear friend and almost abandoned the idea of trying to become her own stream, or day she say, river, someday.

As the years passed, Sarah met many others like Carry who wanted to do and even tried to do the same thing Carry had attempted.

They all failed and burnt up in the sun.

The other complacent currents would “tisk-tisk” about these foolish currents and felt little to no remorse or empathy for their loss.

It had been pouring rain for several days at one time and they had not seen the sun in a while. 

The river flooded here and there and some of even the most conforming currents were lost to the banks of the river due to the storm, never to rejoin the pack.

Sarah decided that this was her chance. 

There was a hard western bend up ahead and with all her might, she went to the east instead.

She heard some of her friends calling after her to come back but she just kept going.

The storm lasted long enough for Sarah to survive solo, and by the time the weather had returned to normal, green grass and large bushes had grown around Sarah’s stream. 

Years passed, and now Sarahs stream dwarfed her home river in size by almost double.

Her banks were green and the trees bore fruit and the fauna ate their fill and played joyfully.

The Little Seed

   Betty June loved all her flowers with all her heart and that love did not stop at the seeds. She knew that each one of the seeds had a special gift stored inside and she was overjoyed to see the gifts they gave each time one would grow.

   In Betty's flower shop, it was considered cruel to keep seeds within pouches to sell to the customers. Instead, they were contained within clear jars, so they may gaze in wonder about 

the flower shop at all the plants that used to be little seeds just like they were. 

    Jeb was especially eager to grow as soon as possible. As far back as he could remember, he 

had always desired to become a rose. He was not like most other seeds in the jar who had not figured out what they wanted to become yet. Jeb wondered how the other seeds could have any doubt about what they should become in adulthood. Roses were beautiful and cherished as gifts of affection from lover to lover. They also had thorns which could prick those who we’re 

not delicate enough and do not appreciate their beauty. The goal for Jeb was to be chosen as a flower that will be gifted to someone to show affection. Jeb considered that life would be easy for him, seeing as he already had the answers to his future, or at least an idea of what he will become.

    One day a man came to Debbie’s shop and purchased a handful of seeds from Jeb’s jar. Jeb was one of the lucky ones to get picked. He squealed with joy the entire ride to his new home where he would turn into a beautiful Rose.

 Jeb was given his own pot with rich soil. The other seeds from Jeb’s jar were in the garden too; 

each having their own pot to grow in.

  Jeb joined the conversation his neighbors were having around him and soon found himself 

bragging about how quickly he would turn into the most wonderful shade of red they had ever seen. 

One neighbor expressed that he could not understand why Jeb wanted to be a rose so bad.

Another seed told Jeb that he doubted that anyone of them would turn into a rose at all, nor 

did they want to. They went on to say that it would be embarrassing having to deal with all the attention that roses generate.

  A few weeks passed and one morning Jeb noticed that nearly all the other pots in the garden 

had budded. Little green leaves could be seen on the tops of all the pots surrounding Jeb. This 

worried him deeply. Why had he not started to grow yet? He was exhausted from trying so 

hard to grow each day. He would stay up at night later than the others and stare at the moon, hoping it would help him grow.

   A few months passed and now it was clear to Jeb that the other seeds were turning into 

blackberry bushes. Every one of them had begun to produce their first berries. 

 Jeb was not a berry bush. He knew that. How could he possibly become something that did not even have a flower? Sure, they had thorns like roses, and that was sort-of appealing to Jeb, but 

it was simply not what he wanted to be all in all.

 A year passed and Jeb had not grown into anything.

     He hadn’t given up on becoming a rose and knew he never would. This thought scared him. If all he wanted to become was something that he could not be, then would he turn out to be nothing at all? He would even settle for becoming a blackberry bush. They were not adored 

such as roses and no lover would ever give one as a gift, but they sort of looked like Roses and at this point it was about survival for Jeb. 

  Jeb pictured all the other flowers besides Rose’s that he used to see at the flower shop. He tried with all his will to grow into a morning glory for a few days and then after that decided that he was to flower into a daffodil; that phase lasted for a few weeks. He even tried to talk to the bushes about his new identities as various flowers and pretended to have as much enthusiasm about being a lilac as he had shared about becoming a rose. The bushes ignored the tiny sound coming from their former peer and around that time, most of the bushes had resolved to flat out ignore Jeb when he spoke. 

   The man who’s garden they lived in came out one day and picked the season’s wealth of berries from the bushes around Jeb and the bushes were all very pleased that their fruits were being so thoroughly enjoyed. 

  Finally, the man came out to the garden again one day and looked down into Jeb’s pot. He grabbed Jeb and placed him in a tiny jar and put the jar in his car. Jeb was nervous at first but 

soon ecstatic to be in Betty June's flower shop once again.

  The man complained to Betty that this seed had not grown into a bush. Debbie exchanged Jeb for another seed. Jeb could not return to the jar with the other seeds, he knew that. He was too old and didn’t grow. He was certain that he was to be thrown into the trash. 

   He gazed at the Roses that he grew up admiring within the flower shop and he wept. 

   Betty loved her seeds too much to just throw Jeb in the trash. She tried a few different 

mixtures of soil and exposed Jeb to different amounts of lights each day. Jeb sat in his new pot and thought to himself that Debbie was sure to give up trying to make him grow, but sure enough, suddenly Jeb began to sprout little green leaves. 

  Within a month, Jeb was a full-grown Marigold.

Betty said to herself that he was the most beautiful Marigold she had ever grown.

  A young man came into the shop shortly after Jeb had grown and asked for the most beautiful flower he could buy for his wife. Betty didn’t need any time to decide which one to send the man home with. The man agreed with Betty that Jeb was certainly the most beautiful flower he had ever seen.

My face is still numb

From the last fight I won

I keep on keeping to myself

My 8 inch stilettos

 Traverse the ghettos

 still Not asking for it 

Your little mind 

Is a full on hate crime

And your tattoos are all cover up’s

You don’t hate the Jews 

But that chicks a dude 

And your bent out of shape about it

Do you fuck it or fight it?

I blame fucking Biden”

His compatriot says out loud

On the E line expo 

A Dude that works at BevMo

Politely tells the two off

As quick as a life 

A butterfly knife 

Like a back-pocket 

ballerina appears

From zero to ten 

The good Sumeritan 

Never made it to the b line red 

The thought doesn’t count 

When your thoughts all amount

To your entrails spilling out on the floor

Don’t be a trail blazer,

I bought a pink taser

And I’m used to all the 

tough love 

What doesn’t kill you 

eventually does

The real battle 

Is getting a handle 

On the burden of 

truth and love

Hi. Pikey Paige here. I just put out a studio album with my band called Merkin. Shove it in your earholes!

I am entranced by the shadow cast from the tattered quill of my pen as it dances beneath the low candle light

 The sun has yet to rise and I don’t know why I am up already.

Somewhere, the remains of a robin’s egg that was eaten by a blue jay is never thought of once by any sentient being.

 There’s a book on the coffee table on acting that features Tennessee Williams whom I’ ve never read, but am pretty sure that I’ve said I have read him before to someone…Pretty damn sure.

 Next to the book there’s this blackened mannequin head that holds a matted brown wig that I should have retired in April.

 There’s this copperish looking mold that is growing in the bottom of a half pint mason jar that I left under the kitchen sink. The jar stinks like an exotic French cheese and glistens with vermiculite that sort of looks like the fool’s gold grandpa and I found in the shallow parts of a manmade river just outside of Sacramento.

 Damn those little black clips that you use to keep potato chips fresh!

I stepped on one with the foot that’s been giving me problems and I looked foolish - like a religious zealot, walking across hot coals to prove to natives that the Christian God is better.

 Today, I put jasmine rice in an empty can of Café Bustelo to use as an ashtray, even though I’ve been out of cigarettes since Sunday. After that, I bought some dollar-store foundation that is made for black women and then an old friend gave me a carpet that you can’t vacuum.

 I’m wearing a blouse the size and color of a dinner napkin that you’d see in an old Italian restaurant just off the Las Vegas main drag - you know, the ones with the empty bottles of Chianti hanging from the ceiling and the pictures of people who were important when they weren’t dead.

 I’ve spent some time naming the children I will never have and picking out their star signs – Birth order. Etc.

 I finally chose a less than ideal HMO but forgot to mail the paperwork to the state before the deadline.

 I lost count of the hours I’ve spent dreading the 20 minutes worth of chores that life obligates me to today, and have resolved to put it off until tomorrow. Nothing stinks yet.

I guess all nightmares are dreams but not the other way around.

Hi everyone. Just wrote a new song. https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/1044952

Looking for feedback.

Thanks!