WORDS
LIKE DAGGERS
A Poetry Collection
Steve Wands
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SMASHWORDS EDITION
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Published by:
Steve Wands on SMASHWORDS
Words Like Daggers: A Poetry Collection
Copyright © 2010 by Steve Wands
Cover Design and Layout by Apparatus Revolution
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
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A word from the author
I’d like to take a
second to say thank you to my family and friends for your support,
friendship and inspiration–Thank You.
And, to the readers
who took a chance by picking this book up–I hope you’ve found
what you were looking for.
To Jacob, may these words give you a greater understanding of who I was when my time comes to pass.
* * * * *
WORDS LIKE
DAGGERS
A Poetry Collection
* * * * *
Steve Wands
* * * * *
Words Like Daggers is c 2010 Steve Wands
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be replicated or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical. Including: photocopying, recording, or by any information storage & retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher or author.
Book Design and Layout by Apparatus Revolution.
Published by Apparatus Revolution in conjunction with Createspace.
www.stevewands.blogspot.com
www.staydeadrev.com
www.pleasestaydead.blogspot.com
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WORDS LIKE
DAGGERS
A Poetry Collection
* * * * *
COFFINS FOR MEMORIES
Warm-hearted
friends depart on journeys to the abyss
To haunts I cannot travel,
to times that have passed by
The dirt and debris of our past times
kicks up
Leaving eyes with something in them, dirt we say
Photographs
crammed in shoeboxes under the bed
Coffins for memories, the
obligatory ‘remember when’
Oblige the nostalgic, drive by
memory lane
Let’s not forget: we’re still alive
The
good-times well doesn’t have to run dry
We make the good
times
There’s just not enough time
PRETTY DISASTER, PRETTY DISASTROUS
There’s
no better truths than the lies we tell ourselves
It’s not all
for nothing, there’s something more
Call me liar, call me
savior—whatever makes it real.
We’re all little nothings
trying to be something
Spin me a spider-web of lies and leave me
as bait for the beast
Whatever it takes to get you through the
night
I feel like something when you smile at me
Maybe to you
I’m somebody, maybe you’re what makes me real
My
anchor to the world, when you go I’m going with you
I’d follow
you to hell and back, a one way trip? You bet
Goodbye
daylight, hello darkness
Spinning out of control
I look into
your eyes
I know what I have to do
Whatever
it takes
Whatever makes it real
If I’m dreaming, don’t let
me wake
If I’m dreaming, kill me quickly
I’m
still waiting to rise, before I can fall
Gotta have it, man I need
it, don’t you want it
You’re my obsession
THE DEVIL YOU KNOW DOESN’T KNOW YOU LIKE I DO
In
a civilized society we rape, we murder, and we laugh about it
We
pillage and plunder, fires burn as the earth pulls us under
Gloat
about your actions
Take pleasure in pain
Walk hand in hand
As
vengeance follows
The
fires burn, but not as hot as the flames of vengeful
retribution
Swallow hard and walk tall, walk around with your head
held high
Your
end is nigh
Revenge taken
Your end is nigh
Who’s laughing
now
SLEEP NOW
Vivid
dreams of little deceits, tiny tremors that travel under the sheets
free to roam along the pillow talk and the blanket screams. Fingers
turn into claws; a gentle touch turns into a knife in the middle of
the road causing a car crash of nerves. People are screaming and
looking for help--it’s a pile-up reaching for the sky. Eyelids
tremble, sown together with sleepy silky threads as black as ink and
as soft as lashes.
FIRST BLOOD/FIRST LOVE
I’m
hanging on by a thread
On dreams better left for dead
Don’t
burst my bubble
Or I’m headed for trouble
How
am I supposed to feel
What am I supposed to say
That I feel
just fine,
And that everything’s okay?
IT’S ALL A BLUR
Tiny
eyes set deep inside the folds of skin that make up a brow
Furrowed
in anguish and self-loathing, as usual
Eyes beadier than ever, wet
like oil and void of color
The mirror betrays, hallucinatory
nightmare images of an old angry bastard staring back
Time, you
bitch, stop screwing with mind
This isn’t me and that sure as
hell can’t be you
It
feels like we just met, and yet here we are
Lost kids at the beach
staring into a void where the ocean and skyline smother each other
under the glimmering broken glass shards of moonlight
Time
erodes like hollow laughter at the theatre
To cave in our souls in
the wet death of avalanche
Freezing the evidence that no one cares
to find
It’s no crime, it’s just the nature of it all
We’re
all just lost kids in the pajama-skins of old folks
Nostalgia is a
mistress, Time is a bitch
And life is a short sentence with poor
grammar
I HAVEN’T HAD MY COFFEE YET
Save
it kid, no one wants to hear the bullshit;
That cacophony that
fills the halls and takes the elevator all the way up only to burst
like a broken water pipe and rain all over my God blessed parade.
What’s
the matter? Some dame broke your heart or are you just so used to
spilling your guts to any Joe with a cup in his hands and a pair of
open ears?
Both? Well, that’s funniest joke I’ve heard all
day.
Move
along, do your thing and let me do mine.
We don’t have to bond.
We don’t have to be friends.
Hell, we don’t even have to like
each other.
It’s okay, trust me, it happens, more than you
know.
DAMAGED GOODS
Distance
makes the heart grow fonder,
but I’m not fond of you, never have
and I never will
Give
me a reason to believe that you aren’t worthless
and I’ll give
you a reason that proves it doesn’t matter
You
can’t change what you are
And
what you are is no friend of mine, stop wasting my time, get on with
your lifeless life and get the fuck out of mine
LEGACY
Swallow
your pride
Its okay to die a little inside
A new day breaks off
another dream
Swallow it down
The sand feels like shattered
glass
And you bleed into the ocean
The tide drags it out,
pulling it under
Nothing remains, except for the shell
Brittle,
flaking remnant
Picked up by curious hands
A beautiful bit of
decay
Broken lives along the sands
GHOST
The
words of a ghost echo in my ear, the words of the heartless, they do
not move me
My tired feet tread upon an earth as barren as your
emotions, like blood from a stone
Destroy
the heartless, let them perish by the wayside, perceived strength is
weakness
On
borrowed time you still find a way to escape and run from the things
you think you love
A coward you were, and a coward you are, so why
not die like one too
Become the memory that you wish you were,
leave the impact you never could, just do something
A
coward dies a thousand deaths, and you’re afraid of one
THE RUINED ONES
These
words are wounds turned into scars
I’ve peeled the scabs so
they’d be sure to mark
My skin in ways that won’t come off
As
I go along down this dark road home
Please,
don’t change, I like you the way you are
With
a heart hell bound from the start
Unknowingly along for the
ride
With red rimmed tear filled eyes
And mascara drips running
down your thighs
Please,
don’t change, I like you the way you are
Too
broken hearted to give a fuck
Too asleep to ever wake up
Too
damned to repent
And too careless to think of it
LUST FOR LEVIATHAN
Scarlet
letters drip from the wall
A message in blood meant for us
all
Headless bodies hang from the ceiling
The terror leaves us
wanting more
Secret desires buried deep in the dirt
The
worms writhe among them
Safe from the light but close to
surfacing
The serrated edges of an emotional climax
Hold
tight the blanket of innocence
Hold tight…
HARM’S WAY
There’s
a hole in the earth
And no amount of needlework can patch
it
Unnamable things tore their way in
To pick fruit from the
trees of life
Just to watch us wither and die
Our torment is
their entertainment
At
least we feel alive
Staring unto the unfathomable demons
The
things of nightmares
The earth shudders, breaking
Like
rats we try to hide
Like roaches we skitter
Like screams we
begin
And abruptly end
DISSOLVE
Take
this heart and break it
Cast it to the ocean like the ash of the
fallen
Its dead, and broken
The gears are rusted, the pump’s
too worn to work
Give it life by bringing death
If the earth
won’t keep it then the ocean must
May
the waves grant rebirth
May the ocean depths stay forever deep
BITTER END
Save
that last sip of cold coffee for later
The world is coming to an
end right now
You’ll thank me for it then, when you really need
that last sip
It’ll
be bitter, and stale, but it’ll be wet
It’ll taste nothing
like regret
More like a swallow of salvation
A brief escape
into the world that was
DREADED HEARTS YET CONTENT
Like
a kid relieved, the monsters aren’t real
But something lurks
inside the head
Behind the eyes, in the grooves of the
brain
Compulsion, a disheartening dread
Desire
dictates the architecture of the mind
The unreal becomes real and
the now becomes then
Creatures populate the barren wastes
The
darker tastes are satiated for now
All
things lose their luster
When the dark is no longer dark
enough
Will you travel the depths of depravity?
Will you
forsake humanity to become the monster?
The
days are short, and the nights a blur
Love finds a way into the
most hateful hearts
With a foot in two different worlds, falling
is eventual
Land soft if you mean to save her the hurt
REVENGE FILM PLOT LINES
Vengeance
hangs in the air
Unmoved by the most gust-hardy of
winds
Conversations with a ghost will reveal
Motives for mayhem
the likes of which
Twitch irritably on the mind’s eye
Claustrophobic
passengers board
The vessel of heartache and heartthrob
Some
carry knives, and others only fierce eyes
Stares cut, and blades
rust and go dull
Hurt
hits everyone, some saved by delay
Others can see it coming but
can’t move away
A force of nature takes man by storm
The
vengeful avenges, free to mourn
The heartache never goes
away
Scars remain a stain across happy hearts
That will always
burn with rage
Today is the day where nothing will change
The
scars will always be scars
MURDEROUS MESSAGE
There’s
a message in the mail room
It's been there such a long
time
Waiting to be read
The impatient ink turns red
The
words cryptic
And the handwriting is eratic
Like spotty audio
cut by static
It’s from a man I don’t know
Who wants me to
kill
I feel him behind me
And even once I take to the
road
Words written in blood
A skin envelope
The paper
too
My fingers itch
I wish I wore gloves
There’s blood on
my hands
DEEP CUTS
Touch
this wound with dirty fingers, prod
Prod deep like curious worms,
or lovers
Infect me, dissect me, do what you will
At least do
what you can
Give me that charisma
Let me steal that smile
If
I stay close maybe something will rub off
Show me what you
see
Take me up on that natural high
Let me bleed out across the
sky
SEASON’S END
Summer’s
end is nigh, approaching like a race horse
Its gallop a graceful
fury fit for a photo-finish
The insect-eaten greenery falls softly
to the gutter
The green turns to yellow, to red, to brown, to
flaking
Its
no less warm, or inviting, but change is on the wind
The screams
of summer are dying out
Falling leaves fill up its throat
The
season struggles like a living thing, gasping,
SPIT IT OUT
Behold
the carrier of violence
Hateful words condemn the innocent
The
loudmouth runs rampant
Raping the world with its tongue
That
long tendril of terror
Snake-like, slimy, putrid, yet alluring
A
dirty word perched on the crest of your tongue
Ready to pounce the
unsuspecting
They
cut and slash, at random
Puncturing through safety nets
And
running through walls with scissor-legs
Leaving trails of blood in
letter-shaped smudges
TAKE A STRAIGHT-RAZOR TO YOUR CROOKED WORLD
Don’t
tell me its okay when I know that its not
It’s the middle of the
day and the sun is out of sight
Give me moonlight, give me
star-shine, give me anything to shed some light
Everything is dark
and that’s what the people want
They’ve lost all heart and
don’t even care
Don’t ask me how I’m the one who does
It
doesn’t make any sense, so please, don’t stare
THE GRIM REAPER’S METAL EPIC ROUGH DRAFT
Master
of the night, ruler of the dead
Disaster in sight, the oceans run
red
Beasts of the deep swim ashore
Living dead mouths all full
of gore
Winged
skulls fly overhead
Screaming for vengeance, Screaming for the
dead
The Grim Reaper’s got something to say
Screaming for
vengeance, Screaming for the dead
Horned
beasts erupt from the dirt
Demons wake from the depths of the
earth
Fire takes the suburban dream
The cities fall into the
sea
Winged
skulls fly overhead
Screaming for vengeance, Screaming for the
dead
The Grim Reaper’s got something to say
Screaming for
vengeance, Screaming for the dead
SPIRITUS,
PART ONE
BEYOND BREATH
We
are now godless
Man superior after all
We are oblivious
We
are faithless
Consequences
not suffered
Our children will burn
We
cannot see beyond
The walls of flesh we tread upon
We
are now godless
We have reason
If man cannot make
Than it
cannot be
We
are now godless
Murder the earth
We
have reason
Free of consequence
SPIRITUS,
PART TWO
AFTER ABSTRACTION
Will
the unanswerable be answered?
Will dirt be our new life?
Can we
see the tears of our loved ones?
Can we see the forgotten in hopes
to remember?
SPIRITUS,
PART THREE
THE HUMAN CONDITION
Bodies
pushed to breaking
The Green Man is taking
Try not to think
again
Sustain consistency
Swallowing
pride
A bitter flavor/razor
Face down, you hide
Disgusted by
what’s inside
Bad
blood with false hope
You fool no one
Not that it matters
We
are meaningless
Sunlight.
Stardust. Shadows
I’ve got work to do
SPIRITUS,
PART FOUR
END ALL
The
world has got me down
Deeper than dirt
It’s not her
fault
That’s just how it goes (down.)
THERE’S NEVER ENOUGH
Where
do we go once we’ve seen it all?
Can we still get our kicks and
fixes when they’ve lost their touch?
Sensory overload and
multi-tasking hell
Making love, texting and television, all in the
same stroke
Can’t you see its all a joke?
Your visions blurry
and your doing everything but you haven’t done shit.
Will it
ever end, or will you be digging your grave, saying goodbyes, and
jerking off to the next ghost?
Step away from the system and
focus
Can’t you see these things mean to choke us?
Keeping
busy, buying distractedly, never looking up
Sunlight, moonlight,
rainfall, sunrise,
It doesn’t matter, we can’t even tell
All
these things have become our hell
A happy hell full of busy bees
and worker drones
Handfuls of empty needs and hollow clones
Are
you entertained?
Was that the point?
Did you want to think?
I
guess its too late
BLEED YOU
Bleed
you is what I do best
Believe me, that’s it
My teeth sunken
in
Not letting go
An anchor on your chest
Further down you
go
Bleed
you, bleed you, can’t you see I need you
LIKE A GHOST
Something’s
wrong
You know it, can’t see it
Under your skin
In your
head
Like
a ghost made of glass holding you tight
Kissing ripped lips well
into the night
Something’s
wrong
And you’re letting it happen
It’s not too late
Don’t
fade away
Like
a ghost, don’t fade away like a ghost
Like a ghost, don’t fade
away like a ghost
THE GIANT BUGS OF DOOM
Radiation
sickness looms, nature’s lost her mind
The end comes again to
soon, its apocalypse time
Here they are…the giant bugs of
doom
Spider webs cover the skyline
Worms spill forth from the
subways
Havoc flies on dragonfly wings
Enlarged to show
terror
Wasps and Hornets are hell incarnate
Impaling people on
flagpole-sized stingers
A
B-movie plotline that seemed nifty in the fifties
The Atomic Age
is now, killing us quickly
With bugs the size of busses and eight
plans that fail
To save us from our collective Frankenstein
monsters
FLESH-FEAST
Mouth
agape, tongue dry like cactus spikes
Yellow teeth caked in rot and
bloody ruin
Shredded lips linger on the warm flesh
Warm crimson
dribbles down a dry, scratchy throat
The street is barren save
that of the light from the moon
The creature pulls its victim to
the pavement
Her screams sound orgasmic
Crickets fill the gaps
in between gasps
Flies circle above, the tiny vultures
Their
embrace lasts only as long as it takes the blood to cool, a few
moments
As cool as night and as sticky candy she opens her
eyes
The two of them get up, fighting stiff joints and
soreness
Their staggering steps leave behind a trail of blood
The
flies feast
The crickets scream
THE DIRTY DIRTY
Lay
it down
Hit me where it hurts and don’t be gentle
I’m the
canvas for your paint
The screen for your movie
Let me be the
voice you can’t pull from your throat
We
were people once, now we’re animals
Fierce with our
needs
Clawing and biting and taking
Proud of urges, not ashamed
or bashful
The
work clothes lie on the floor
It’s time to be animals once more
GRITTING TOOTHED-SMILE
An
outstretched row of arms
Grasping into the thick air of
morning
The sun shines on another day
Where money falls from
the sky
The fingers pull and pluck all they can
Pockets tear as
they are pushed to capacity
The women stuff their bras
And the
men rip at them
The money falls to the ground
Green becomes
stained in scarlet
The sun continues to boast its prosperity
And
distance makes a hole that cannot be filled
LIFE EXPLOITED
Some
like it dead
The kids are all grown up now and that’s what they
say
Saturday sodomies and Sunday night suicides
They did all
they could with the living
So, naturally they turned to the
dead
It was new and fresh, but not really fresh
It was taboo,
at least for a bit, then everyone did it
It was time to quit
Too
cool now, time to move on
Life is art and what do you do when
you’ve done it all
The colors are all used and the canvases
full
You can’t clean them off and they aren’t selling for
shit
No one wants to buy the broken but everyone wants to
break
Take all you can and fill it with life, fuck it till it dies
and then move on
Sentiment is yesteryear, caring is careless
Don’t
get attached and nothing is real
You
can do what you want, nobody cares
You can do what you want, just
let us stare
WORKING TITLE
Film
it, fuck it, kill it, cut it
Slap a title on it and kill in the
name of
Show it to the kids but keep it from the neighbors
Believe
what you will
Believe what you kill
Its only a movie, you sit
entertained
On the edge of your seat, biting your nails
What’s
going to happen next?–sex or death?
You want to see it, but you
can’t erase it
It’s only a movie, but you’ll never be the
same
CLONE
One
separates itself from the heard
To stand in front of many
mirrors
They follow and mimic
Warp and distort
It has become
your fault
The unknowing leader of some bastard
WEEKEND WARRIORS FROM HELL
Get
your weapons sharp for the weekend, warriors
Two days to show the
world who you are
You’ve prepared all week and now its here
Stay
up late and wage war against the day
Raise hell and paint the town
in piss
Vinegar on your lips and spite on your tongue
Such
sweet sarcasm, I love it
Its gone before it starts
Shut down
you robots, save your energy
Tomorrow you must produce, grind the
gears
Hide the tears and forget the dreams
Paradise is lost and
if you say otherwise…
LIFE’S BEEN GOOD
These
eyes have seen some drek
Some absolute refuse fit for rats
They’ve
seen miracles too, and a love that shines like rainfall
The sky
could collapse, and pin me to my deathbed but I only need to see that
smile to know I’m still in heaven
Sour is surely what you think
of me and my stone faced expressions rarely tell otherwise
But I’m
so happy to have been here
The dirt could suck me down through one
of those crazy straws and chew me up with dagger-teeth
I’d die a
happy man
Nothing’s perfect, but that’s just fine
With you
at my side, and our little monster
We did all right, I just want
you to know
THE COMPLEXITY OF FALSE EMOTIONS
A
spider web of emotions
All well-crafted and realistic
I barely
fit into the conversation
But I can play my part and blur the
edges of what I am
A fake laugh comes from inside
I want you to
think you’re funny
I want you to think you’re okay in my
book
In truth you are a mask
A dust jacket to my book bound in
flesh and written in blood
You’re a piece to the game I’m
playing
I don’t care about winning
I just like to play
I’m
bored as fuck and it amuses me when I play the unpaid actor I am
I’ve
built a life on jokes that were never really funny