A Terrible Thing To Waste

A Terrible Thing To Waste

by Mike Pollock

So, there I was.

That’s how stories like mine start; in a single moment. Sure, you could argue that we’re much closer to the end than the actual beginning, but who’s interested in hearing about a mewling babe and his too-drunk mother drifting from hovel to hovel?

In truth, each moment is indeed the last step in a universal game of hopscotch. If I could see beyond this finite plane, into the vast sand-line shores of eternal time, I could point out each moment as a footstep winding as far back as the straining release of my creation.

I’d also like to point out that the occasional tsunami whose sole purpose is to wipe our memories from existence.

“Kole!” A familiar voice cried from the wispy-thin clouds of my memory. With it I felt my soul washed over with the feeling of home. The warmth swept me away from the crash and calamity that roared around me.

Her face, loving eyes crying tears of sorrow draw me in. I knew her but could not place her name.

 “Kevin!” The call came again, and I find myself rummaging through a thick oaken chest. I missed the warm glow from a friendly fire place, and I missed the constant laughter of my sisters. We’d rummaged through Pa’s chest only once before.

Way back on that beach is a footstep filled with the pain from a raw hide belt, and the next one filled with the teary eyed wonder as I turned a poorly forged knife in my hands, curled sideways, alone in my room, to avoid the sore redness of my backside.

It was a moment like that which changed the path I’d be destined to walk on. That would lead me here to this blood soaked field. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I was there. I walked the space in between knowing and feeling, and the cold that swept over me was nothing more than a footnote on today’s page.

“Kevin!”

“What?!” I finally replied, letting the memory fade and turning to face a new darkness. Forms filled the void before me, their figures moving in a frantic dance. Limbs lift over silhouetted heads, crashing down and leaving carnage in its path.

There was no sign of the voice calling out.

Architect of Death's Collapse

Architect of Death's Collapse
by Mike Pollock

yea, you said it huh?
Right before you tore me from my seat
and set me on this winding path
...I've noticed how it narrows
have you lead me to redemption?
Or will these be my last steps?
Only time will tell
for you are tight lipped
aside from orders barked from years before.
"Move."
"Don't look back!"
I've come to loathe the sound of your voice
One once so tender it made skies smile too.
Now my world grows dark with every forboading word.
Too cold and bare to support life
your breath is a disease that consumes all life.
Let me go, these last few miles alone please.
I need only my own failing heart
to remind me of my misery.

The Ether

The Ether
by Mike Pollock

I'm so sick of who you are
preaching perfection
like you're the creator.

Your truth is too hard to bear
so closing your eyes
you'll fight till the morning

Taken to where we were
alone yet together
we never had closure

So close to finding the time
You'll leave when you want to
but never show up on time

Cast in this stone and fear
My heart is made well
with the ending of yours

The ending is oh so near
But you fight to be right
and I'll fade away slowly

Silence, My Friend

Silence, My Friend
by Mike Pollock

Everything wasted
a weight from which I cannot move
A reminder of things done wrong,
woefully wrong...

A list of excuses, written in blood
pins my eyelids shut.
My heart beats shallow
erratic
angry at this prison I'm confined to.

Darkness seeps in at every crease and tear
Coldness, like icy fingers kneading at my jaw
Desolate and destraught.
Are they only words?
Or are they my motto.

I'm deserving of only one thing
Nothing.
I am neither willing, nor willful
I have nothing left but these remnants of my promise.

Promises to myself, to you
to them and to her.

My only freedom comes between beats of this battered heart.
In the silence that is the slowing of my blood.
Scattered to the winds are my ambitions
Tattered is the flag I used to bear...

The crimsons and the burnt colors of my soul
rage out of control as if the world itself were fuel.
I am angry.
I am angry.
I am... angry...

Hot tears crest my swollen cheeks,
vainly evaporating under the heat of my hatred.
How can one man, so full of life,
be perverted into a heaping pile of flesh and despair?

Mirror Mirror on my wall
Who has wasted more than all?
The words echo in my head
falling unheard to the ground...
my answer is in the silence.

Why Do We Do This To Ourselves

I let myself fall, into this white water flow. I left myself under, hoping currents begin to slow. The pebbles and rocks did eat, so quick I nearly bled. The bumps and troughs they spun me, from my feet onto my head. As I tumbled blind through frost, of wave after biting wave, I felt as if this were my master, and I, it's willing slave. I sputtered and I kicked, my legs began to burn. I fumbled with my hands, heavy arms began to churn. Beneath this white capped devil, the currents pulled me down. Beneath the alabaster glow, the darkness helps me drown.

A Child's Tears

A Child's Tears
by Mike Pollock

she smiles
but she doesn't see she's dying
she tries
but she doesn't know he's lying

It's everything that she can do to stay
awake
but it's starting to take it's toll...

Quarter after 3
he finally makes it home
Silence broken
there's no sleep in her tone

It's everything that he can do to say
Sorry
but it's starting to take it's toll...

Lay in bed
They don't know the world is ending
Fast asleep
But they can see right through pretending

It's everything they can do to keep
from crying
but it's starting to take it's toll...

Happiness

Happiness
by Mike Pollock


If you were to believe it
it would have a different name
you wouldn't call it sunshine
you'd label it your rain
The dreams your chasing after
Were never yours to start
You tell us your a wise man
with no wisdom to impart
I see it all so clearly
The veil you hide behind
This rouse you think is clever
is only in your mind.