Archive for December, 2021

relentlessly describing

December 26, 2021

What kind of beast would turn its life into words?
Adrienne Rich

Relentlessly describing
Everything I see
I got a magic eye
The world will notice me

Countless dinner parties
Living in the glow
Don't know why I'm crying
Feelings come and go

Candor in my vision
The covenant I keep
I see for miles and miles
But I don't look in too deep

Wealth and fame and glory
Always on the phone
I told a thousand stories
But I never knew my own

by Richard W. Bray

Getting drunk and talking shit 

December 24, 2021

On Saturday he comes to town  
And puts some pints of whiskey down 
Getting drunk and talking shit 
All night long till he gets hit  

A mixed-up mess of drink and smell
Living in your private hell 
Getting drunk and talking shit 
Spewing lies and gobs of spit  

Thoughts revealed in wine are true 
Uncovering the real you 
Getting drunk and talking shit 
Such an asshole when you’re lit  

Folks who piss away their lives
Belching lies as sharp as knives 
Getting drunk and talking shit 
Losers don’t know when to quit  

by Richard W. Bray 

escape hatch

December 23, 2021

Escape hatch
In the portals of my mind
Hiding with the lies
That take up all my time

Escape hatch
Nowhere else to go
Putting on a mask
Putting on a show

Escape hatch
Can't avoid my brain
The truth is in the task
The truth is in the pain

Escape hatch
Time to shut the door
Time to cut the con
I don't need it anymore

by Richard W. Bray

So beautiful it hurts

December 17, 2021

laughing girls
and romping boys 
a thousand lovely  
aching joys  

spots of time
the spirit captures 
mundane moments 
dizzy raptures 

drink all this 
the blessèd mood 
little things
felt and viewed 

By Richard W. Bray 

You Really Hurt Me With Your Words

December 11, 2021

I thought my brain was cured 
But then you hurt me with your words 
Like so many sticks and stones 
I think your words can break my bones 

When I hear your nasty sounds 
Everything comes crashing down 
People tell me I’m absurd 
They really hurt me with their words  

I’m traveling with a happy herd 
Don’t try and hurt me with your words 
I'm gonna burst just like a bubble 
You’re gonna be in so much trouble  

You’re such a silly stupid turd 
You wanna hurt me with your words 
Somebody needs to pass a law 
To protect me from it all 

By Richard W. Bray 

Yesterday

December 4, 2021
He became a Marine on September 12th
Giving up status and material wealth 
So many nightmares dancing in his skull
Davey lost it all to fentanyl

20 years of fighting in a foreign land
for a country that never even gave a damn
living with the hurt that never goes away
another buddy killed himself yesterday

Finding your friends in a gutted Humvee
Totally dismantled by an IED
Tommy still alive with half his brains gone
Muttering gibberish and asking for his mom

20 years of fighting in a foreign land
for a country that never even gave a damn
living with the hurt that never goes away
another buddy killed himself yesterday

Oscar in his living room, kids at play
Surrounded by love on a beautiful day
Don't make no sense when the demons get their way
He ran off in his truck and blew himself away

20 years of fighting in a foreign land
for a country that never even gave a damn
living with the hurt that never goes away
another buddy killed himself yesterday

another buddy killed himself yesterday

another buddy killed himself yesterday

another buddy killed himself yesterday

by Richard W. Bray