an odd thing

an odd thing.
++++++++++++++
Memory is an odd thing..
working for, with or against
you in varying degrees.

Sometimes the Heart
adds to it what it wishes
were true...
combating a cruel reality.

Hello my name is: Idiot.
Sitting on my Pedagogic
Stool,
wearing The Mask of
Genius..
TO convince Love I am
not a Fool.

Here
(in my mansion)
I am King..

and slave.

to paupers of Vice who
Rule

the holiest parts of me!

(forever now a grave.)

jsh

deplorable chatter

deplorable chatter.
+++++++++++++++

I lament how
boring beauty is...

(how dull the smiles
of life have become.)

it is a mask painted by
hypocrites.

(who eat shadows
yet weep beneath
the sun.)

I am trapped in seas
of deplorable chatter..

(the greatest fool
in my own right)

pretending something
In Here Matters.

waiting restlessly for
the night.

(love returns to kill
hate's laughter.)

when it storms

when it storms.

++++++++++++++

she's always nervous when

it storms...

(it's one of her many feminine

charms.)

obsessed with ghosts, and

Shadow Forms.

(until I hold her in my

Arms.)

+++

I try to kiss the dark

away...

(back to somewhere

safe, and sunnier.)

but my love is trapped in

yesterday.

(and Death Tells Jokes

that Once Seemed

Funnier.)

+++

Outside The cold rain

fights its War.

(Against A Sun which

caused Olde Scars.)

though neither recall what

they're fighting For!!

(since both are surrounded

by Good Stars.)

+++

she usually cries each time

it storms...

(its one of her many feminine

charms.)

and I always Defeat those

Shadow Forms!!!!

(whenever I hold her in

My Arms.)

j.stephen.h.

walking the waters of the deep

walking the waters
of the deep.
+++++++++++++

what do you
do?

when the
Shadow
in you seeks
to
applaud...?

Roses
Born,
with scents
anew?

(but lacking
any faith in
god.)

++

Do you
struggle
Blindly
Without
Hope?

Cursing
Life as if
A Prison?

Or consider
Ending By
The Rope??!!

(which
bearsA Mark ofRealism.)

+++

I Myself
Embrace
That Shadow...

(who tempts
me in My
Restless
Sleep.)

till Life's
Abyss
seems
Laughably
Shallow!

(and I
Walk The
Waters
Of The Deep.)

j.stephen.h.

..

coffin-ears. (which hear eternity whispering.)

Coffin-Ears.
(which Hear
Eternity
Whispering.)
+++13++++

Spare Not
Your
Arsenic Kiss
My
Flame..

i'll die
Within
You.

(feigning
Happy.)

for we
All Have
Secret
Shame!

(an
Epilogue
to
Life's
Sweet
Tragedy.)

+++

I Miss
that Pretty
Rotten
Smile..

(Beauty
in It's Prime
Pretending.)

though I
haven't seen
it in a while.

(nor felt
the Powers
of it's
Mending.)

it seems
to bear A
Certain Style!!

(Death's Odd
Charm Now
Never-Ending.)

+++

spare not
your hateful
Love My
Flame..

(i'll suffer
The Lash of
Pain quite
gratefully.)

for we All
Have Secret
Shame..

And Coffin-
Ears!!

(which hear
Eternity
Whispering.)

j.stephen.h.

bartender (known as love.)

Bartender
(Known As
Love.)
++13++

he seems
familiar...

but I know
he's not
a real
person..

(I just
play one
in Society's
Mirror.)

eager
to sell pieces
of
broken- soul.

(for fake
Smiles
and
Rot Gut
Beer.)

++

Bartender
(Known
as Love.)

I am
Blue...

so..

make it
Another
Shadow..

to..

sew back
on my
Shoe..

and wash
down with
13 Shots of
give- no-
damn!!

(about
Memories of
You.)

+++

He seems
somewhat
Familiar...

(That Actor
in the Mirror.)

Smiling
For What's
Left
Of Her.

(The Only
Love
Sincere.)

j.stephen.h

(yay...)

karma meets histrionic chameleon

Karma meets
Histrionic
Chameleon.
+++++++++++++++
oh,..
red river
of
an Empty
Heart..

what
rotted
soul
still
swims
the
depths of
you?

+

emotions
numb
portrayed
in Art!

(are
any
them
true?)

++

My
love...
(who
cruelly
grins.)

a
histrionic
chameleon..

shedding
skins..

looking
for tombs
to
place her
victims in!

(and
eventually
"image"
wins.)

+++

I
Pray not
to Surface
Beauty's
Idols..

for
nothing
of
substance
stirs
within.

Nor
bother
fighting
Mindless
Rivals!!

(since
Karma
is my
Friend.)

j.s.h.

the villain of self

the villain of self.
(within this story.)
+++++++++++++++++

how
long was
the
road
this time?

and..
did you
find
your burning
ember?

your
soul burns
stronger
than mine.

(a
husk
of
frost
in bleak
December.)

lately its
hard to
pretend..

that beauty
touches
something
in me..

and holy
kisses mend.

in fact
one could
now assert
I've fallen
short of
glory!

pursuing
a road that
ends.

(the villain
of self within
this story.)

j.s.h.

the golden apple that she bloomed.

the golden apple that she bloomed.
+++++++++++++++++++++++

Her Smile was
An Open
Heart Surgery...

repairing
The
Broken Things
Within Me...

and
Love is
Forever
Sweet!

(when
Stronger
than The
Talk of
Masses
Cheap.)

+++

I heard
Miracles
when
she
Laughed..

and..

we
Danced like
Devils
in such a
way..

that even
Angels
clapped!!

(then
wiped away
The Tears of
Yesterday.)

+++

I
Sincerely
Do
Believe..

that
once you
enter
Aphrodite's
Womb..

no
Power in
Hell
could
thus
conceive

A
Permanent
Tomb!!

Nor can
Eris
sink her
Rotted
Teeth

into the
Golden Apple
that she
Bloomed!

+++

so..
my thanks
love..

for This
Open Heart
Surgery!!

(performed
by
you.)

jsh

for:Dawn.

(authors note:
For those unfamiliar
with Greek myth,
Eris is the Goddess
of strife and chaos
who according to
legend sent a golden
apple with the inscription
Kallista: (for the prettiest
one) to Helen of Troy,
which caused Other
Goddesses to grow envious
of Helen, eventually leading
to the Trojan Wars, and
Plight Of Mankind.

once dark night

one dark night.
+++++++++++

one dark
night..

(when
chaos broke loose
everywhere
else in the world)

she loved me..
and..

there was light..

shining from the
face
of A Mysterious
Girl..

who did everything
right.

we laughed at the
Shadows
who threatened our
souls
with Infinite Hell..

because..

we could take Team
Heaven
Anywhere...

(so long as there
was US.)

+++++

when the demons
in
my tortured head
filled
my heart with sad
despair,

(and sought to see
me dead)

she was There..

That Angel who
replaced
The Fiend Beneath
My Bed..

While
Banishing Monsters
with
A Stare!

(Convincing The
Villain I'd become..
to be a Hero instead.)

+++

one dark night,
(when nightmare
forces were in me
screaming)

she was there...

A Maiden of
True Love's
Delight!

but..

I was only
dreaming.

(and now Awaken
In Despair.)

j.stephen.h.

what lurks on channel self

what lurks on channel self.
+++++++++++++++++++

I open and close
my
eyes several times...

(but
nothing 
ever 
happens.)

goddamn I hate
this
channel...

The bleak
monotony 
of 
it all becomes
intolerable.

I once believed
I
was The Architect
of
An Impressive Fate..

or Author of A
Profound
Novel which
would
be inscribed upon
History's
Progressive Slate..
for
all of the world to see..

and 
it would open their
eyes
while simultaneously 
inpspiring them
to
realize 

that "We" (collectively)
are
Sincerely
The Creators of
EveryThing..!!

every
Negative Nightmare
and
Positive Dream Within
This
"Thing" called
Reality!!

(no such luck
I believe.)

+++

I often wonder..

do
People Genuinely
give 
Two Fucks?

Or..

is One fuck
enough to
kill any kind
of
Lasting Feeling
capable of
giving Hope for
something better
than the Routine
of This Machine?

the everyday bump
and 
grind/senseless chatter
about
shit that doesn't really
matter.

+++

none of it seems real
anymore
you know?

movies within movies
full 
of second rate actors..
all
hoping in vain for 15
minutes
of fame upon a world
stage
full of Other Actors sitting
in
The Senseless Audience
also
Hoping In vain to be
A
Star in This Chaotic
Universe
where Nothing Really
Shines
Anymore..

and...

I..

keep opening and closing
my
eyes several times..
but..

nothing ever happens...

nothing..

ever.

(goddamn I hate this
channel.)

j.stephen.h.

a clever device

a clever device.
+++++++++++

Be dried
my
bleeding
heart..

for what
use
is there in
metaphors

to describe?


(a
mockery of
art.)

++

brilliant fools
Be certain...
that in a world
of Madmen

I am most
Certainly the
Maddest...

and one
(of few)
able to
realize that
Sanity is a
Clever Device..

used to label
what cannot
be labeled...

as
you remain
a ghost
behind the
curtain..

depending on
a Fable!!

(to reveal your
Paradise.)

++
but
be dried
my weeping
eyes...

for what
use is
something
like a
Pearl?

(when
bullshit
will suffice.)

the martyrs path of screams.

the martyrs

path of screams.

++++++++++++

today was not an

option.

he woke up and

cursed

the sleeping
ONE.

wishing for an

ink-pen coffin.

(to conceal life's

raging sun.)

+++

beauty is in the

backroom..

where a corpse

(called love)

still sweetly smiles.

but her laughter

still

penetrates

the gloom.

(as do most

inherently evil

guiles.)

+++

why bother

with

dreams?

(the nightmare

in him tends to

question.)

or walk a

martyrs

path of

screams?!

(if all deeds

lead us in the

same direction.)

+++

because

the day

is

not an

option..

it is a

Carnival

of Good

and

Evil Voices..

with each

soul an ink-pen

writing

Coffins..!!

or..

eternity.

(depending

on Our

Choices.)

j.s.h.