Jake Shaw's Blog, page 50

Hickey

Aching bruise
Of lustful heat
Brands my neck
Beneath a
Bandage

Hidden
Such a sore spot

A mark

A brand of such
Restrained
Passion

Could have broken
Skin
Not just capillaries
And bled me

With your love

Filed under: June Era (III)

Racketeering

There are tears for things
That we don’t give away

A pause of breath as we
Save sentiments

Yet upon the coffers lie
An excess of counterfeit

Songs and music worth
Their movements in gold

Still, the greed to keep
What’s sweet lives on

As sicarios in the sun
Who can’t have enough

Denying the innocent who
Don’t solider for share

A greed that whips seeker
Souls into frenzy

To see from mezzanines
At last and finally

Lobbies flush with gold
Records of cherishables

Treasures to not let
Perish to the...

Origami Flower

[image error]

Shot with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS; f/5.6; 1/30; ISO-400; 39mm. Pink paper folded intricately into this triangular flower bloom.

Filed under: Images, Sculptures

Cryptsinfreeze

This homesickness
Twists with tight grip
Things that have
Long since passed

I’m coming home
To the yesterday
I say
I’m coming home

Distorted moments
Dolled up and vibrant
I’m twisted, too
To revisit you

I’m coming home
To dead memories
Crypts in freeze
I’m coming home

Remembering it all
So much brighter
Than perhaps it was
And used to be

A truncheon clubbing
Dead neurons running
Still with energy to
Power this machine

I’m coming home
To dead memories
To the yesterday
I’m coming home

Filed unde...

Ashen Sky

[image error]Shot with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS; f/5.6; 1/1250; ISO-200; 55mm

When the coldest place is set on fire and the snow is hot.

Filed under: Images

Aftertaste

Kisses at 3 in the morning
Chinese food and
24/7 coffee stops

Lost in another forest
Of a greyed out city
Filling in on the map

River roads running
Through the mouths
Of nearby bay fronts

While we reconnect
And see what ships
To sea

Old high school friend,
Where have you been?

Who knew holding your hand
Would feel so good?

As we step on the broken
Roads of North Tacoma
After being on the shore

Of points and ways
On the south Puget Sound
I can see from here

Federal Way
Far out in the distance
...

Given Identity – Journal 9/6/17

I’m gearing up and putting together a manuscript for the Copper Canyon Press, due before Halloween! It’s a first ISBN-published book contest with a $3,000 prize and royalties. All poetry! Submissions are by way of manuscript. Which, to me, is good news. Publishing is something I’m good at, but only having to worry about content this time is good.

My plan of attack is to put together what is essentially a concept album. I feel like I’m really really good at being self-referential, so all the p...

‘Sell Out’ Badge

[image error]

Shot with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS; f/5.6; 1/80; ISO-400; 50mm. Duct tape and cardboard, penned with sharpie, mounted with a safety pin.

Art made for art’s sake. In the midst of a punk phase, what kind of meta reference would I make? This one.

Filed under: Images, Sculptures

Unsheathe

Pen click mimics
The flick
Of a drawn
Knife

Ready to slash
And pierce

Into flesh and
Ink metals

Ready
For combat

Filed under: June Era (III)

Last Chance

It was our last chance
As far as we knew
To sleep in the back
Of my Jeep today

Seats down, blankets on
You needed a hearth
Because you were always
So cold

Even under the veneer
Of toughness
I was where your
Head rested

After a long night of solace
We had an afternoon palace
In the back seats all our own
Seemingly too grand

Legs stretched out
Tangled
Arms held in arms
And hands held earnestly

This was the last chance
We might ever have had
Before next time
Never came

One last “our esque”
For a...