'god knows'

god spoke to them.

god said:

'what the fuck do you think you’re doing?

tell lies in your own house

not mine

keep your vows

under the steeple

run ape shit out in the street.' 

god is like that.

god knows you’re as proper 

as your sunday threads

but you’re a complete douche bag 

the rest of the week.

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

www.josephpinto.com 

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved.

*

Poetry served to you raw and unedited from the moment crafted;

all poetry is older work and chosen at random unless otherwise noted.

*

‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

‘cinder and ash’

i fucked it all up, didn’t i?

can what i did be undone?

i thought i held us firm

squeezed too hard

i’m left staring at the dust

it’s so much more painful

when i see your face.

prisoner to my own hades

my fires have burnt

cinder back to cinder

ash back to ash

a recycled mad chaos of sorts.

i wish i could tell you

i ache for you

doing so might char me further;

doing so might char you further.

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

www.josephpinto.com 

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved.

*

Poetry served to you raw and unedited from the moment crafted;

all poetry is older work and chosen at random unless otherwise noted.

*

‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

‘my flesh and blood’

like a fossil preserve me

keep me to unearth

some other day

these bones are brittle now

decayed and ruined

yet they speak a story

a history i pass on

only to you.

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

www.josephpinto.com 

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved.

*

Poetry served to you raw and unedited from the moment crafted;

all poetry is older work and chosen at random unless otherwise noted.

*

‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

'invisible'

ghost haunting the halls

so desperate are you

to communicate with the living

as they live lives

pushing you deeper 

into the corners you inhabit.

across rooms you flit

dismissed as mere shadow

while all your cried anguish

passed off as howling on the wind.

that great light of salvation 

shines just beyond your flailing hands

yet you seek not rest

only a greater want to tear open

eyes sewn shut to your existence.

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

www.josephpinto.com 

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved.

*

Poetry served to you raw and unedited from the moment crafted;

all poetry is older work and chosen at random unless otherwise noted.

*

‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

'lost without you'

the clock strikes

an empty passage

as in this dark

fingers stifle sobs

but not the pain

that flows through them.

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

www.josephpinto.com 

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved.

*

Poetry served to you raw and unedited from the moment crafted;

all poetry is older work and chosen at random unless otherwise noted.

*

‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

'no meaning, nothing'

nothing to share

no thoughts you could possibly 

eternalize for a generation.

you have left us barren

void.

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

www.josephpinto.com 

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved.

*

Poetry served to you raw and unedited from the moment crafted;

all poetry is older work and chosen at random unless otherwise noted.

*

‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

'hero just because'

you're no hero of the day.

you don't own a cape.

you run into empty buildings 

only to save dreams

once they’ve perished.

it’s so much easier to collect

the cash and adulation

from those more oblivious than you.

you're no faster than a speeding bullet.

you take the coward's way—fraud.

the hollow require air to bloat themselves;

the bloated gnaw the fat from the bone;

the children need a role model fashioned

from something other than a rental suit.

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

www.josephpinto.com 

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved.

*

Poetry served to you raw and unedited from the moment crafted;

all poetry is older work and chosen at random unless otherwise noted.

*

‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

'he loved a girl'

and these demons will only fuel you

as you grip the neck of rage

infidelity burning your throat

along with the bile you long to purge

purge;

suffer no longer

the transparency of these bottles

their lies ringing the bar top

hold instead the love

that looks to you now for guidance

not the tepid bills you squander

from the linings of your wallet.   

#whatpainsyouproject -

a poem for an anonymous reader and their pain…

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

www.josephpinto.com 

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved.

*

Poetry served to you raw and unedited from the moment crafted;

all poetry is older work and chosen at random unless otherwise noted.

*

‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

'conundrum'

the conundrum is not my place in this world,

you say

but my standing—

so tired of the vacuum between myself and

anyone the universe delivers to me,

so tired of the ships that have sailed

their port.

the world spun round us;

the air no less muddled than before.

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

www.josephpinto.com 

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved.

*

Poetry served to you raw and unedited from the moment crafted;

all poetry is older work and chosen at random unless otherwise noted.

*

‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

'entertained'

you’re so cute

huddled in the corner

an intimate secret

for the world to see

fingers massaging flesh

masterful performances

judging by the way

the eyes roll

(my eyes roll)

i can’t help but think

you’re both as shallow

as the suds in your beers

but who am i to judge

i’ll massage my scotch

thank you very much

grateful you leave me

so entertained.

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

www.josephpinto.com 

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved.

*

Poetry served to you raw and unedited from the moment crafted;

all poetry is older work and chosen at random unless otherwise noted.

*

‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.