strength of the one

since when did freedom
get defined by cash?
how did my value
lose stature and crash?

how did my life
get stacked against money?
how did my liberty
lose out to financial cunning?

when did the corporation
take precedent over me?
how did group-think
overtake individuality?

when did "pursuit of happiness"
get defined as riches?
when did my dignity
lose out to sons of bitches?

when did art fall prey
to salability?
when did popular appeal
start to define credibility?

when did human value
become divyed in classes?
why should the strength of the one
be subservient to the masses?

© 2008 BY W GARY FORRESTER

in front of you

it's all true
if you want it to be
you can be miserable
all by yourself

is a shattered mirror
broken? or just
a multi-faceted
expression of itself?

it's all there
right in front of you
the truth and the lies
that you tell yourself

is a beating heart
broken? or just
an expressionless
predilection of death?

it's all vanity
posed in your likeness
a shimmering view
for eyes of the deft

is a silent message
broken? or just
an open invitation
to join the bereft?

it's all frigidity
in the chill of your creation
winter's deadly gray
contempt to be felt

is a cold spring morning
broken? or just
concealed passion
waiting for the melt?

© 2008 BY W GARY FORRESTER

almost and yet

indecisive

amorous
ladies
misrepresent
overtly
sensual
trysts

guys
obviously
tantilized

libidos
anxiously
increasing
desire

bodies
undulate
timidly

never
offering
truth

totally
offending
needs
ignore
gaining
happiness
together

© 2008 BY W GARY FORRESTER

voices

prophet of doom, sage of sadness
prognosticator extraordinaire
cheer up you son of a bitch
your a fucking american
for god's sake

oh my god i can't believe you said that!
pissing on my pity parade
what gives you the right
to rain on my rainy day
bitch!

major malfunction
what a fucking brat!
got everything, needs nothing
wants to lie around and wallow
in a self effacing pile of imagined crap

what do you know?
you're not inside my head
you can't possibly understand
i'm depressed.... suicidal....
i have a fucking prescription!

wake up and smell the fucking roses!
you privilaged piece of dog shit!
you fancy yourself
the downtrodden artist
on the verge of death
yet all the while
you salve your imagined wounds
with cabernet sauvignon
and pour out your soul
on your fucking macintosh

who gives a fuck
that you spent too much
on your american express?
nobody with real problems
that's for sure

who cares
that your collection
of 12 year old scotch
is leading you to alcoholism?
not the rest of us drunks

you whine and complain and loathe life
all in the name of art
you fancy yourself the starving artist
while you buy in bulk
at fucking costco

i'm sick to death
at listening to your insipid rhymes
begging your readers to feel your pain
hiding behind a facade of depravity
in your barcalounger

for all of our sakes
pull the fucking trigger!
either shit or get off
the proverbial pot
you privilaged little fuck!

don't act like you know me
don't even start to imagine
don't think you can overtake
the voices in my head
you can kiss my ass!

© 2008 BY W GARY FORRESTER

for ali

weep and mourn for the death blow has landed
sorrow and lament for the death toll that's paid
suffer the loss and imbibe in what is handed
relish the pain as humanity displayed

weep not for a tomorrow unventured
pour not your heart's feeling on the future in vain
capture this moment's burden trapped and indentured
bound to today in the past to remain

rise up and smile in a new life that's dawning
your pierced and broken heart springs forth anew
shed the shackles of winter's dark fawning
the radiant blooming of spring will come to you

© 2008 BY W GARY FORRESTER

in the shadow of you i linger

in the shadow of you i linger
more aware with each passing day
of your presence like a ring on my finger
a reminder of something more in play
in silence you press and i ponder
the desire for our eyes not to meet
for your touch away from me to wander
to never wrest my heart's final beat
mysterious you harbor all power
i see you draw closer in time
you are cold like a february shower
in reigning you speak like a mime
at last my dire pleading is dross
alas our inevitable paths shall cross

© 2008 BY W GARY FORRESTER

unpunctuated rhythmic pause

today

not unlike any other

day

i mourn your passing

fray

grieve the thrashing

way

your absence is present

stay

please stay

away

© 2008 BY W GARY FORRESTER

perhaps

you pass by my window, pushed by the breeze
formed by the breath of god, change as you please
shifting in form, transforming with ease
white, grey then black, the azure you fleece

innocent with charm you caress the airy morn
in silence pass, a hardened mystery forlorn
a foreboding kiss, your mere presence adorns
a watchful eye skyward is born

shall i find in your passing a simple refrain
a gathering ambition t'ward life giving rain
or fommenting madness in darkest disdain
of peaceful memories which alone shall remain

drift on now and leave me alone with these thoughts
for present pondering leaves a future unwrought
and unsure of danger as of yet to be caught
perhaps a sunny day without you may still be saught

perhaps a sunny day without you may still be saught

© 2008 BY W GARY FORRESTER