Hemlock House

I'm in the house of hemlock thee you know me sweet.
I'm in the house of hemlock just aging, rotting meat.
I'm in the house of hemlock little do you know.
I'm in the house of hemlock drinking it all in before I go.

K.J.K.  08/12/2014

Breakaway

End Times 11

He paid a visit the day before now.
We talked over hot tea turning iced.

The state of affairs
The state of the State.

The red hot blood.
Turning blue.

What is the future?
What is to know?

How many years lay ahead -
Before it all catches up?

Before I leave you all?
To whatever devices you see fit?

Then exist only in memory.
And then not even there?

Is the world gone crazy?
Or is it just a local phenomena?

Pipe dreams?
Pikes Peak?

The cold rain of a Seattle morning?
The weirdness of Portland?

Never thought about this before.
The turning of the screw.

On this rack called my life.
Notch by notch.

One day something's going to snap.
Hey! Step on a crack, break yo Momma's back.

The Cold Man puts his frozen tea down.
Turns to walk out the door.

Turns back with a smile:
"The eviction papers will be ready whenever you are."

K.J.K. - 08/15/2015

What My Cat Taught Me About Love

Love me...

            Love me...

Stroke me...

            Stroke me...

Rub my ears...

            Oh, yeah, oh yeah!

Stroke me.

            Meow!!!!!!!!

Love me...

            Oh Yeah!

Love me..

            Oh Yeah!

Love me...

            Love me...

Grrrr! Hiss - Meow!

            Leave me alone now.....

K.J.K.              7-28-99

Spiral

Do you remember the names?
Precambrian, Cambrian, Silurian.
The end crunching of time.

Catching up too soon.
Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic.
Can't you feel the breath on your neck?

Like a warrior is in hot pursuit?
Bearing down towards our times:
Jurassic, Cretaceous, Palaeogene.

The storm is nearly here.
Neogene, Pliocene, Pleistocene .
Can the tide be reversed?

Or shall we continue to debate?
Pointing fingers until:
Holocene.

For what shall come after us?
To the destitute and silent oceans.
And poetry which will never be read again.


K.J.K.  07/05/2015

Love Endures

This is the universe.
Everything known and unknown to humankind.
From back in time to the far flung future.

The unending swirls of cosmic gas.
The birth, the death of stars.
The dark, the light.

Here there are many forces.
Gravity, magnetism, radiation.
Electrons spinning 'round, spinning 'round, spinning 'round each other's orbits.

And in all this universe, all creation.
They pale when compared to love.
What we feel. what we are.

'Cause love builds bridges
Love forges the way.
Love takes risks.

Love calls out to you.
Takes a hit on the head for you.
Protects you.

Love isn't easy, nor hard.
Love continues despite adversity.
Or the whims of Governments.

Love is here.
In the touch.
In the quiet beating of hearts.

In words said.
Vows taken.
Plans made together for the future.

Down a bumpy road.
With many pitfalls to come.
Many joys to share.

Together.
Because at the end as the beginning.
Love Endures.

K.J.K. - 3/28/2015

Dedication: For Denise and Terri Popish

The Cold Tide

I am the icicle.

Glistening in sunlight.

Knowing the point will soon melt away.

Water flowing back in to the Earth.

One day reaching Glendalough.

Where Saint Kevin once built a Church.

Eons ago.

Eons to be.

Water runs.

As do we.

K.J.K.  02/03/2015

Love On Its Own Terms

What would I tell my 16-year-old self?
If I could time travel back.
To that world of teenage angst?

One thing only.
The simplest thing.
The hardest thing.

The thing that no one ever sees.
The thing everyone knows.
But are afraid to admit.

Love isn't what you think it is.
Not some Disney movie.
Not, necessarily, happily ever after.

Love doesn't have to be hugs and kisses.
Passionate nights.
Although it can be.

Love is and is not -
What you think
For you know nothing for the something you know.

So, 16 year old self:
Stop worrying about it.
Just go out, have fun.

Embrace love whichever way it manifests.
Be happy:
Take love on its own terms.

K.J.K. - 01/18/2015

Justice

There is a scale.
Somewhere you only fear to look.

One side filled to the brim with shell casings.
The other overflowing with lifeless, bloody remains.

You are the smoke.
The eye tinctured maliciousness of hate.

Snake, Serpent.
Evil one of old.

Where you walk a shudder breaks the night.
A gasp but not of fear.

Of pure contempt.
As if the sum of mankind turns its collective backs on you.

Snake, Serpent.
You have a scale to attend to:

I do not judge you, although you will be judged.
I pity you.

All the hate you feel.
If it could be washed asunder.

That would be justice
Monsters given the harshest penalty of them all.

To finally feel what you have done.
To know it cannot be undone.

To regret.
For all eternity.

And wish it were not so.

K.J.K.  - 01/09/2015

"Je Suis Charlie"

Drummer

March if you would.

I prefer to walk.

Along gridlines and oil cloths.

Monuments to daybreak

Labyrinth places

Circular and all consuming.

"Tat Tat - Tat Tat Tat".

With a double four beat.

Pounding in the ears.

Life is a challenge.

A call to pickup sticks.

Still the drumming goes:

Where you dictate.

Hold dear.

And believe.

Fear not -

You are not the first to move to the beat of a different drummer.

And you won't be the last.

K.J.K.  01/01/2015

Tidings of a Runaway Clock

Wasn't it just January?
One month in to a "polar vortex" winter?

Then the spring.
Warmth finally returning.

Weren't we all just complaining about the heat yesterday?
That "polar vortex" wasn't that bad, surely...

Here we are again.
The leaves dropping and a chill in the air.

Time flies.
Like some madman is messing with the clocks.

A day is a year.
A month a day.

So much happening.
Life passing before our eyes.

Old life, over life, new life.
Swoosh! Blink and it's all gone.

The tidings of a runaway clock.
Ticking us onward.

Whether we like it or not..

K.J.K.  11/11/2014