The power of
Sending prayers,

Like another
Poor excuse,

Driving us all
Towards limits

Yet again
Off some old bridge.

A few but
Subtle reminders,

One quick
Yet grave mistake,

An expression that fades
Through echoes

But a body
Soon long gone

With a soul still here
In headlines
From papers
Always invisible –

How do we make
That comparison
Or choose such
Stagnant leaps?

Complicit in
Wasted time,

Begging for sex
As usual,

Losing hearing
Like honest meaning
After leaving
Better songs on blast.

It’s ringing
If we still care,

Haunting bedrooms
Stale as silence.

Seems fitting
When spinning old records
With no rhythm
Or sight of relief –

Not even
One last hurrah
Just agony
From louder warnings,

Notes by screams
Kept quiet

But trailing off low
Until death.

A needle scrapes now
Over vinyl,

Popping and hissing
Unnoticed,

Often felt inside
While we’re scratching
What trackless groove
Must remain.

Tinnitus
By that final measure
Reminds me
Why I keep playing

When such sickness
Lifts feet higher

So glad my sound
Doesn’t end.

• J. Pigno

There is no peace
In inheriting
A tax on our soul
Never promised
When committing each sin
Unintentional
Against this dream
Poorly held

How being alive
Shouldn’t feel
While aspiring low
Getting nowhere
Needing dead men’s gifts
Always better
Than that doctor’s pill
Makes you feel

Despite suffering loss
After trying
With avoidance
Or some other gimmick
Besides offfering work
Towards redemption
So hollow like grief
Earning cash

Barely mourning all those
Who had left it
Missing every chance
At achieving
Since success still remains
Too appealing
For few gone mad
Seeking truth

Fighting crazier whims
Writing poems
Through engaging lies
Burning papers
Once inspired by books
During high school
When words would stir
Younger hearts

Now old from turns
Losing battles
Facing enemies learned
Are inside us
Soon defeating lines
Merely tracing
Heaven’s message
Across what remains.

• J. Pigno

We’re all just
Creatively bankrupt
In a world whose belief
Fosters nothing
But witnessing scenes
More traumatic
Than the ones our art
Could depict

Like someone else
Jumping from bridges
Never noticing lives
Fallen desperate
Still staring down leaps
Hardly knowing
How deep their despair
Must become

Finding hope
Beyond any meaning
Facing empty days
Always working
Growing silent
When courting disaster
Lost among their thoughts
Feeling numb

With nowhere to turn
But relief
By avoiding tasks
Still repeating
As they validate fears
Always twisted
Undermining God
If He’s there

Until papers
Avoid every truth
Wishing headlines
Offered us answers
Where souls unknown
Endure punishment
Those authorities swear
Were deserved

Despite warnings
Waiting at home
Conveniently missed
Through avoiding
Such beautiful prayers
Feigning ignorance
Pouring money on top
Open wounds.

• J. Pigno

It’s too hard
Pretending I’m dead
When deserving more
Than just silence
On receiving ends
Being punished
Through those left numb
By such words

Or my actions
Feeling quite right
Despite what truths
Are intended
In each empty phrase
Only finished
Fighting nervous whims
Unrelieved

Seeking penance
So misunderstood
After failing life
Chasing whimsy
But cutting out friends
Though admitting
Their blessings
Hurt even worse

For a man
Who could barely achieve
Preserving love
While she waited
Yet squandering faith
Letting illness
Murder every hope
They had built

Watching science
Still torture his muse
Deep inside that soul
Full of questions
Finding God Himself
Never answers
Where math alone
May provide

If eternal fears
Should exist
Since expression
Borders damnation
Behind lonely walls
Getting comfortable
Worried at night
Without rest.

• J. Pigno

Here’s a promise
Never to linger
After writing
Anonymous poems

Or excuse this fate
Inescapable
Knowing full well
Words merely fade

After all my life
Trying hard
For finding hope
In approval

And shaping lines
Truly fragile
Sharing constant needs
Barely met

Where delicate dreams
Hit the floor
Now dropped by hands
Growing weaker

Soon falling below
Without witness
Losing meaning
Passing so fast

Always shattering
Legacies begged
From stranger’s eyes
Understanding

What failing phrase
Imbued purpose
Behind empty faith
Built on ink

Making risky prose
Very real
Leaving open hearts
Unprotected

When human’s pry
Using absence
As subtler means
Of control

Pretending things
Aren’t said
Still neglecting proof
While existing

But best expressed
If diminished
Yet better unknown
Till death.

• J. Pigno

At night
While I’m falling asleep
My mind recalls
Sadder stories,

Like the kind you’d read
Browsing forums
Where people turn
Feeling unheard –

How they nurture their woes
Very real
After learning how God
Doesn’t coddle

Or understand pain
Merely human
To empathize with
What we face.

These mounting ills
Steal our breath
So preciously spent
Seeking answers

While losing that voice
Using effort
To connect once again
Before death,

When time runs out
Fearing life
Confronting each threat
Unrelenting

Long after youth
Has expired
Spending moments now
Growing too old –

Wasting health
Loving everyone else
Except for those
Who still need it

Finding faith falls short
Of experience
Knowing prayer
Dangles carrots on souls

About promises
Never quite kept
In hospital beds
Drawing curtains,

Bringing fates
Even more upsetting
Always sharing
This ending alone.

• J. Pigno

It is the burden
Of every artist
To fight for what
There isn’t

But should exist
Regardless
Of how this world
Can’t change –

A community
Bounded by grief
Like those unseen
And lonely,

Crazier now
After learning
Their cries could stay
Ignored

Despite heaven
Hearing each cause
Embracing terms
More wondrous

Since fantasy
Fosters creation
Bridging souls
Between both worlds.

That dream
Remains intact
Defining roles
Less lazy

Whose empty faith
Keeps failing
When love falls short
At home

Behind work
Or desperate attempts
Never on par
With idleness

Which screams
Louder than hatred
Born from angry lives
Controlled –

Damned
Through every means
Defiling hearts
Still willing,

Seeking truth
If believing
Some words
Can conquer death.

• J. Pigno

Only forebears
Got to have kids
So we could enjoy
Being lonely
Before reaching our deaths
Prematurely
Under threat of their lies
Getting sick

Feeling vagrant at home
Without hope
Or direction besides
Growing older
As challenging times
Remain darker
For those dissonant hearts
Beating still

Losing chances
Purposely gained
Just chasing each tail
Drawing circles
Around aimless dreams
Always vocal
Now screaming how fear
Never works

When appearing real
During scenes
Crushing childhoods
Filmed behind lenses
Left traumatized once
By believing
Every capitalist lie
They could tell

Knowing innocence
Carries more weight
Than fantasies seized
Making wages
Gaining everything but
Certain wishes
Fulfilled through love
Undersold

Since rejecting truth
Deep inside
Keeping far from hurt
Barely hidden
Though harboring pride
Near the bottom
Where no family waits
This long.

• J. Pigno

Dear WordPress Family,

I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season.

I also want to extend my thanks for such a devoted audience who continues to facilitate my journey as a poet.

This year has been very rough for me and my family, but your continued acknowledgement and support of my writing has eased this pain in ways I can’t even begin to explain. My extreme and sincere gratitude goes out to each and every one of you who consistently read my work and take that extra step of clicking “like.” It lets me know there are people who care, who are listening, and that I’m living a shared experience with other artists who understand my point of view. This lifestyle can be terribly isolating at times, and as such, your level of engagement is truly priceless for fellow creators. You’re doing God’s work – more than you could ever know.

Here is to a better 2024.

All my love and best wishes,

Jon (aka J. Pigno)

We all must pay
God’s debt
With a life too frail
For the taking
As threatened by age
Still inherent
Being human and flawed
After sin

Which gambles our soul
Always knowing
Like rolling that dice
Every second
Such breath should dare
Inhalation
In spite of death
Drawing near

These transient games
Often tempt
When promising flesh
Utter happiness
While hiding knives
Behind curtains
Merely stalling fate
Soon attacked

Still stabbing us back
Though we push
Their sharpest blades
Even further
Below this skin
Facing struggles
Regaining holds
Never had

Assuming strength
Couldn’t change
Over feelings lost
Barely grounded
Assured how faith
Remains certain
Staying far from fear
If engaged

Until mortal doubt
Disappears
During moments spent
Truly dreaming
Since force unveils
Better reasons
Epiphanies wait
Beyond rules.

• J. Pigno