It’s not
What people
You bring
But the evil
They carry
With them
Which sullies
A leave
Of respite
Dragging
That past
Behind,
Keeping
Their fate
In tow
Wishing
They weren’t
Some victim
Believing
Escape isn’t
Easy
Yet running
Away
Just the same.
– J. Pigno
I’m not even
Going to try
To make this
Poem perfect
But convey
Through failed intention
What sincerity
Lifts my heart
From creation
Raw as need
With expression
Keen on filling
Such holes
Which open daily
When the walls
Begin to break
Where words
Remain unsaid
Between these
Quiet boundaries
And buffers
Plainly painted
So the colors
Speak too soft
Allow these
Empty sounds
To find their
Missing utterance
And connect
Like damaged phrases
Arranged as
Pictures new
With innocence
Torn apart
By imaginations
Golden
Assembled
From that sunshine
Of souls
Each morning wakes
To brilliant
Portraits made
Through bare
And startled fragments
Or verses
Cracked from anger
Sustained
By vivid dreams
Wishing
Early light
Was the source
Of purest feeling
To attain
That burning sliver
Of fantasy
Held within
Ruining
Death we have
By awaiting
Fate tomorrow
Betraying
Honest chances
For life
To last as long.
– J. Pigno
Christ
As he wasted away
Said they know not
What they’re
Doing,
But I always
Found that funny
Cause I see now
This is
Planned –
For sin
Like deliberate death
Is abandon
By these
Choices
And misery
Come forever
Through need
Of insistent
Flesh,
With Earth
Our fallen
Dream
Made from pride
Unsettling
As paradise
Meant to be conquered
At the hands
Of hope
In vain.
– J. Pigno
How sad
To even think
We’d be lost
Without a cellphone
Or tools which light
Our darkness
On this path
Of lonely screens
Reminding us
That flesh
Becomes
Inconsequential
Where warmth
Or whispers dearest
Fade like
Wanting touch
For those who
Need not speak
But type
Their pleasures fleeting
Greedy
For efficience
As if it
Matters most
When words
And stolen faith
Have grown
Beyond distinction
Compared to bleeps
And glitches
Which dictate
Where we stand.
– J. Pigno
I’m just
Not yet ready
To go and solve
This puzzle
For the sake
Of opening pathways
In a game
With myriad doors
Unlatching
Perpetual locks
By pinching
At thinnest needles
Discovering
What lies secret
Behind keyholes
Clinched from fear
Jimmying
Tiny bolts
Which build up
Harsh resistance
As they tell me
Bonds stay permanent
Though I try
And remove their hold
Imposing
Limited access
On truths
I dare to question
Like arrogance
Barring knowledge
From players
Willing to lose
Establishing
Basic rules
Which change
As values lessen
Among winners left
Unnoticed
When their score
Begin its drop
Plummeting
While they wait
For a board
That’s now predicted
As an unfair
Right of passage
Determining
Sudden death
Where decisions
Branch like cracks
Between floorboards
Always shifting
Opening rifts
To nowhere
And swallowing people
Whole
Much how
Life Insists
Parameters
Keep us running
And trapped
Inside this corridor
For points which add
From sin
And chance
To choose our fate
By rooting hard
For goodness
Despite those laws
Indifferent
Or standards
Most provoke
Leaving
Portals blocked
And surrendering
Safest exits
Hoping faith
Can triumph
And conquer
Contests rigged.
– J. Pigno
All I’ll ever be
Is money
And their problem
Though my family
Argues otherwise
Despite
Such wasted
Space
With alms
I sadly take
At the table
Of these burdens
Crossing knives
Intently
While envisioning
How they cut
Letting
Blood redeem
Those debts
Incurred when drinking
Thick charity
As it wobbles
In my hands
So weak from nerves
Fidgeting
Nearly sick
Shaking my leg
Discretely
Above these
Wooden floorboards
Atop this seat
Which bends
On legs
Withstanding weight
Of a thousand
Senseless reasons
Running through
My memory
Where sacrifice
Hurts me more
Accepting
Love resists
That image of
Truest failure
Regardless
Of this feasting
For a cause
They’ve nearly lost –
A future
Worth belief
From prayers
To find my solace
As I pace
Alone toward answers
Too sad
For making sense
Letting words
Destroy
What purpose
Drives these feelings
Proving
Happy endings
Don’t come for
Lazy hearts.
– J. Pigno
We all should
Be so damn
Lucky
To die for the eyes
Of many
Taking
What is not granted
Often
As an exit
Preferred
Passing
While we are seen
In front
Of a world
Held captive
Where crowds
Go begging
That encore
As the ambulance
Hurries away
Like bare
And suggestive
Ends
Surrendering fate
As we challenge
What modesty
Hides
From the public
When tragedy
Falsely assumes
Happiness
Staying intact
Is remaining
Alive
For a reason
Rather
Than suffering
Agony
So the fallacy
Washes away
Clenching our chest
Out of grief
That we leave
Some dreams
Behind us
But excited
To meet such closure
Cause the halo
Waited
Too long
Hating God
For His game
And the ways
He chooses
To punish
Leaving
With crowds
Still cheering
Yet hopeful
Each loser
Wins.
– J. Pigno
