‘anakin’

train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose. still i clench her tight within my palms. shimmer of stars lighting the cluster of my nerves and she shines straight through. tell me, how can i release her, how in this universe can i ever move on? black hole within a turning heart, she pulls me deep. deeper. every ounce of strength lightyears from anything i gave before yet our promise once lambent now alabaster. expect me to step into light when all i’ve wanted fractures? bring the other half to my whole only to cleave her free?

i hate you.

i hate you.

i hate you! 

anakin

prophesied to be the chosen one who

would bring balance to the force; his

fear of loss proved to be his downfall.

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© Joseph A. Pinto

*

Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted.

The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars.

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'dead bird,' 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on Amazon.

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what do we hear from the desperate person? are the words taken from context, or only that which we choose to hear or think we know…?

‘empathy’

before you get angry

please understand

i couldn’t hold out anymore.

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© Joseph A. Pinto

*

Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted.

The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars.

*

'dead bird,' 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on Amazon.

*

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‘what we love will kill us’

(from ‘dead bird’)

i have trouble sitting inside myself.

you think i am quiet

gazing out the window

but i am pacing the perch.

i know the blue sky

will eat me whole.

i just wonder 

will it will break my neck first.

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© Joseph A. Pinto

*

Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted.

The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars.

*

'dead bird,' 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on Amazon.

*

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‘neglecting the pet: an overview’

 (from 'dead bird')

 you swing my door open

i won’t come out

extend a hand

i won’t budge

you’ll feed me now

to starve me later

you’ll free me now

to put me back away

you think it’s okay

you think i think i should feel blessed

and you deflect my depression

oh you’ve open walls (at best)

swing my door open

i won’t come out

extend a hand

i won’t budge

feed me now

starve me later

free me now

put me back away

you think it’s okay

you think i think i should feel blessed

and you deflect my depression

it’s all the best, this air

oh isn’t it air you need?

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© Joseph A. Pinto

*

Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted.

The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars.

*

'dead bird,' 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on Amazon.

*

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‘peering through’

 (from 'dead bird')

no childhood to fall back on

small wonder i fear cliffs

sterilized by the book

i made myself fertile

across a page;

am i beautiful

a bruise is a knuckle

unaware of the patient hand

so truth slurs sometimes

through lips stained red

and the bars of this cage

allow more room than they should

silence is like darkness

unwanted, but coming. 

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© Joseph A. Pinto

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Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted.

The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars.

*

'dead bird,' 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on Amazon.

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‘accepting the silence’

(from 'dead bird')

once the blood stains the hands is there coming back

or do we start over accepting the silence

perhaps interment is a matter of layers

a depth of infliction meant to condition the mind

of the true horrors that await

there is no use brandishing palms

not when the stigma already infects self

left to rot inside out

spat and consumed again

mother mary enjoys best dishes cold

bones to pick last

don’t worry dear

i strain vocal cords now

so you won’t hear me scream later. 

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© Joseph A. Pinto

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Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted.

The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars.

*

'dead bird,' 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on Amazon.

*

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‘first taste of fall’

one more thing strapped to my back i have loosened

searching for pockets to shift its weight

i never learn all that’s been collected

is just one more thing someone forgets

so why can’t i drop it

i deserve to be weightless

hollow boned, less structure, more space

what’s it like to wake careless, what’s it like to wake knowing,

another seed i thought flower turned to vine

a voiceless thought friend becomes stranger

lover’s dedication two-times

it’s just one more thing until you break

i just can’t let it go

i deserve to be without a heart

absent mouthed, less fractured, more whole

what’s it like to sleep stressless,

what’s it like to sleep downwind,

          of everything that’s put down

          give, to give in

          i can’t ever be collected

          i can’t gather you again

a house with a roof is a home is a lie;

my shed skin its own ecology

my knots they mar this floor

          and language in backward draft

          escapes beneath the doors.

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© Joseph A. Pinto

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Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted.

The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars.

*

'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on Amazon.

*

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‘bar: 5:02 pm sunday’

maybe i won’t find healing here

but i sure as hell won’t 

suffer anymore. 

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© Joseph A. Pinto

*

Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted.

The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars.

*

'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on Amazon.

*

www.etsy.com/shop/JosephPinto

‘harbinger’

i told her i’d check in for a weekend

and if no reply she’d know

where to collect me. 

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© Joseph A. Pinto

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Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted.

The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars.

*

'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on Amazon.

*

www.etsy.com/shop/JosephPinto

‘you’re hurting me’

sky falls

a slap to the head

the sea notwithstanding

still, a ringing in my ear

and you, with your fondness

for forests, leave me as still

and cruelly as silent.

my stupid facial expression

from its pocket and read

like an inscription

duplicity has again

set its teeth onto me.

while you, indifferent,

unspeaking and unsharing,

slowly become what he became to you;

an instrument,

no longer the heart.

*

MY NEW POETRY COLLECTION

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#barflypoet

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© Joseph A. Pinto

*

Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted.

The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars.

*

'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on Amazon.

*

www.etsy.com/shop/JosephPinto