Shan's Crap (Shannon McEwen)

Where monkeys once danced, swung
And gaily frolicked
Oddly symbolic of many
Melancholic hallucinations
Of yesterdays happily ever afters

For every euphonious half truth
Another stolen moment of my youth
Where not even the great Dr. Seuss
Could coddle, coax or loose
Once beloved blamelessness

Where time has come to steal the light
Vibrant blue to sunsets pinkish flight
Igniting passions radiant bright
Tightly grasping fading handfuls
Of my innocence
 

In the dark shadows of our room
Eerily the silence heightens
No monsters lurk, no dangers loom
In the dark shadows of our room
Not a sign of old passions bloom
Hand in hand the bond tightens
In the dark shadows of our room
Eerily the silence heightens

Tumbleweeds frolic where sanity once reigned
With signals crossed and perception missed
Was our once extraordinary passion feigned?

Where is that burning need left unrestrained?
Whence every inch of my essence was kissed
Tumbleweeds frolic where sanity once reigned

With the ticking of the clock and habit maintained
Exhaustion bleeds and old fears are hard to resist
Was our once extraordinary passion feigned?

When did every conversation become so pained?
As our ever intensifying misconceptions persist
Tumbleweeds frolic where sanity once reigned

Every nerve and angry word slowly drained
Until only awkward silences and anger exists
Was our once extraordinary passion feigned?

When did the ties that bind become our chains?
Can love survive all of life’s turns and twists?
Tumbleweeds frolic where sanity once reigned
Was our once extraordinary passion feigned?

Elbows pressed into cool emerald blades
Dark hair soaks up mature summer rays
Nine clovers to the right of contemplation
A fuzzy black and yellow winged worker
Goes about his day meticulously unaware
Of the absolute beauty of his movements
And the significance of our very existence
 

In that enchanted hour
Somewhere in-between now
And then

No wheels swoosh by
On the gray hazed street
Silent beneath the shaded pane

Birds yawn dewy
Sleep from their eyes
Beaks still closed for comment

The sun only just a promise
In the soft tussle
Of nothingness

Soft suckling sounds
From the sweet child at breast
Before a ragged sigh

And in peaceful silhouette
My love beside me
Farts

In the harsh light of
Fluorescent bulb

You stand and smile
From behind the glass

Resplendent
Not because of the tuxedo

But the smile
That begins at the very edge

Of your lips
And spreads upwards

Until it reaches your eyes
And emanates from every pore

And I'm blinded by
Your brilliance

And immersed
In you

A tone only a boy of five can master
Reverent and arrogant both
With wide eyes
Lips lift upward; enamel twinkles

Honest brown orbs meet weary green
Matter of fact declaration
"I'm not gonna tell you your belly's big and fat
even if it is"

"Cause that's not nice"
A reassuring pat
Followed by a proud swagger
He skips away; vindicated

Lips convene
Unhurried action
A pink tongue slips out
Caresses, licks, tastes

A thoughtful pause
Before enamel clashes
One bite
After another
And even yet another

Of succulent
Dew moistened
Tips of heaven

And I sit and wonder
The significance

A quarter abandoned
On the dirty grocery floor
She Smiles, bends

And grasps her bounty
Tightly
In a nine year old fist

Rushes up the aisle
Skirts the gumball machine
A predetermined path

To Customer Service
Where she slips the silver
Into the donation box