Skin & Bones

"Skin & Bones"

All she ever was

To my silent majority

And catastrophic heart

Skin and bones

And skin and bones

And skin and bones

Contemplating spine crushing

Chastity locking

Ego stroking

Couldn’t be at yesterday’s benefit

Couldn’t be at the reception

Couldn’t be at the morgue

Skin and bones

And skin and bones

And skin and bones

Rrrrrrrrash

Skin and bones

Scrape

Scrape

Up off the floor

Scrape

Skin and bones

Scrape

Seasons come and go

Scrape

Lessons to be learned

Skin and bones

© David Greg Harth 2016

2016.05.17.15:53:17@200VeseyNYC

Sometimes in the Sadness

In fear

Reaching into the unknown abyss

Attempting to find location

Empty handed

Blind to the reasons

Crawling upon the ground

Pulling the weight of your body

With digging fingernails into the splintering floor

Scratching the dirt

The sound of chalk on board

Burning decaying eyes

Guilty pleasure standing tall

Expensive expanse

These battles and quiet hymns 

Raging fires scorching

Dying screams unheard

Sunken heart of despair

War is on

© 2016 David Greg Harth

16.02.21.20:45:19@130BklynNYC

Something I’ve

She approached

With a wave and a hatless flow of hair

Her killer smile made my knees melt into the snow below

But I won't talk about that

For now

Because her intellect

Stimulated conversations

Of multiple directions

She kissed me

I kissed her

In the frigid air

Taught me well

A new perspective

Which I love

At my old age of dry eyes and acid reflux

To listen

Think, once again

Before I speak

A reflection

A believer

Romance

Forefront

Forward

She enveloped me

Briefly we thought, scared me

I checked

Her bitten hands covered in gloves

There was that smile again

Hop on the plane

Next destination

Prediction, perhaps

Welcomed observations

If she never comes back

To the circle I have become

She shed light

To the fact that sometimes

I am indeed

Too square

But she

Is the circle with no fear

The courageous tiger that stares back at you

The global beacon

Which I hear,

Bing, Bing, Bing

The educator - The teacher

Not even counterfeiting

Or dancing

But prowling with determination

Sly, she knows

With a whispering departure

She goes...

At the end, it’s all

Something I’ve learned

© 2014 David Greg Harth

14.01.24.02:36:41@130BklynNYC

Saying Goodbye

For dozens of years, I’ve whispered your name

No matter how many times you’ve disappeared

The dreadful day approaches the same

Beneath these falling snow flakes

I separate the clouds and part the seas

When I’m in love, I never halt the brakes

So, when I hover over you in your deepest sleep

Share secrets of my heart with your dreams

Do not fear and do not weep

For I’ve come to guide you and rescue you

My honest chivalry and sublime passion

Worn on my sleeve, shown through and through

Before I depart

Know my veracity

I loved you more than my art

Once more I shall see your seductive eyes

I shall put up my sail and be on my way

After we say our last goodbyes

© 2013 David Greg Harth

13.02.11.09:59:53@130BklynNYC

Sarah Gail Hutcherson

In passing through others

I heard her name

And she heard mine

One day

We detected and determined

Something quite similar

Not acted upon

Only shared and discussed

We attempted to arrange

And engineer the similarity

Yet still to this day

Only a dream

Of warm coastal drifters

And north east storm dwellers

By three names she goes by

Like children who show and tell

With hidden secrets

And the push of pull

Of wondering

And the constant wandering

From state to state

In the unconscious state

Of our minds

© 2012 David Greg Harth

12.09.29.13:21:02@130BklynNYC

Suzanne Barse

She slept across from her

That’s how I knew her

I didn’t know much about her

Except that she slept across from her

Months turn into years

Decades past

A rediscovery made

In one of the most nontraditional senses

And there she was

Still only a memory

Of a woman who slept across from her

With new light

Caring about her mother

So active

So warm

She didn’t just sleep

Across from her

Anymore

© 2012 David Greg Harth

12.09.29.11:17:29@130BklynNYC

The Stories We Tell

When we are children we tell stories

Usually make believe

Based upon figments of what we’ve experienced

Based upon fragments of our vivid imagination

A bit surreal like a Salvador Dalí panting

Our reality is blurred with fantasy

We accentuate the truth

Bend the truth or even ignore the truth

When we are teens

We try to make our stories become reality

We can tell the difference between fantasy and reality

But we try hard to make certain stories a reality

Even though some stories will remain a fantasy

When we are adults

We are actively creating real stories

We are actively participating in the stories we will at one time call our “life”

We make decisions which affect these stories

We make these stories take the directions we choose

As we mold and form these stories

As these stories mold and form us into who we become

When we are in our old age

When we look at our life that has occurred before us

We will have stories to tell

We will have stories to share

We will share these stories about our history

About our lives

The story I will tell is amazing

But how will your story be?

© 2012 David Greg Harth

12.03.02.12:51:19@130BklynNYC

Speaking At My Funeral

Not fearing death comes easy to me

Quite simple actually

And quite often I seek death

I look for death

I welcome death

It’s an uncontrollable habit

And even easier at this moment

One day I’ll commit suicide

It won’t be a surprise to some

It won’t be a shock to others

It won’t be a performance art work

But the day will come

And I’ll be dead

By my choice

This is an invitation

To all of you

You may know me well

Or not at all

But you may come to my funeral

And speak

Now I must go

Because there is one more thing to write

One more work to create

And one more love to love

© 2012 David Greg Harth

12.02.04.24:31:31@130BklynNYC

Swallowing Ajax

I’m healing

This is the fact that you should know

I didn’t know that I was being served a swallow on a plate

The plate was white porcelain with a blue trim

Quite beautiful actually

The swallow was hidden in sauce

With crispy onions and toasted almond slivers

Garnished with greens that looked like whiskers

Served with a white wine at room temperature

I ate the swallow without knowing it was a swallow

It went down simple

And was actually delicious

When I got home

I felt I did something morally wrong

And I still had no idea I just ate a swallow

To rid myself of this sin

I took a 14oz container of Ajax

Combined it with 32oz of water

And drank

My sins are gone

So is the lonely swallow

© 2011 David Greg Harth

11.11.18.13:05:03@130BklynNYC

Something We’re Not

When I was a baby

I was something I was not

When I was a child

I was something I was not

When I was a teenager

I was something I was not

When I was a young man

I was something I was not

When I was a man

I was something I was not

I am something I am not

And I am not something I am

Something I was and something I will be

Somethings are different and somethings are better

Better to be something than not something

And better to be something else than nothing at all

Something is better than nothing

And nothing could be better than something

If that something is something you are not

When I was something

I was not

And when I was not something

I was something

When something is wrong

Write something down

When something is written

Something is forgiven

And when something is forgiven

Something is not

And not something is still something

But something is not what I want

When all you want is something

Something else

And something you are not

© 2011 David Greg Harth

11.11.12.10:13:13@130BklynNYC

Silently Destroyed

Without warning –

            I was attacked

The deadly serpent

Has been stalking me

Watching my every move for the past few months

Watching my comings and goings

Watching my daily routine

She tortured me

She wailed her songs

She lured me with her dance

She punctured my tough skin with her razor sharp teeth

She sucked everything out of me

She removed all of my vital organs

She dug out my heart from its skeletal shell

Without warning –

            I was attacked

The serpent came

Quietly and slowly

From behind she crept

Beneath dark winter clouds

While time was passing on the evolutionary clock

I didn’t see it coming

These terrorist tribunals

These tremendous troubles

These explosive endearments

She stole my season

She captured all my reason

She made me commit to love’s treason

Without warning –

            I was attacked

Night and day

She ate me alive

And she hijacked my heart

Now I am defeated

And now I am destroyed

© 2011 David Greg Harth

11.02.08.01:35:18@130BklynNYC

Sinking In Sorrow

I am sinking,

Water up to my neck,

I can’t help my ache.

Wanting you

Like never before,

Never healed.

Never in love.

I am sinking,

Over the rush.

Climbing and tackling,

Taking the journey

Head on.

I am sinking,

Following your steps.

Avoiding the flood.

The drops of pain.

Love is all around.

I’m here,

Always for you.

I am sinking,

My heart is breaking.

An ensemble of 

Cloaked mourners gather.

Under dark skies

Bagpipers play.

Drowning out these

Tears of love.

I am sinking,

I’ve written you a love song.

I’ll whisper it in your ear,

As you get lost

In my arms.

I am sinking.

© 2005-11 David Greg Harth

05.07.01.21:56:00@NYC

11.01.05.16:59:21@550NYC

So Easily Forgotten

I was whisked

Uplifted and uprooted

That tornado came pounding at my door

No matter how I denied its entry

It still entered with such commanding force

Powerful to knock me from my stable stance

Spin me hundreds of feet into the air

Landing miles away from my origin

Now at a different location

With no sense of home

And no direction

No one knows my name

And no one recognizes my face

I am forgotten

© 2010 David Greg Harth

10.08.23.14:21:37@550MadisonNYC

She Doesn’t Know

Wake up

Slowly rise from your secure sheets

Set aside last year’s tears

Paperwork is done

Signatures made it complete

I love her beyond any moon’s dream

I love her from eternity to infinity

How come she doesn’t know?

I haven’t told her yet.

Wake up

From the sleep which hides you

Bring forth your beauty

Allow me to enter you

As no man has entered you before

I love her more than the stars cradle the moon

I love her more than the waves break on the beach

How come she doesn’t know?

I haven’t told her yet.

Wake up

Let my whispers guide you

Let my gentle touch caress you

This heart belongs to you

Forever you may keep its chambers

Let our lips collide

Through transatlantic borders we do not divide

Love like this will never hide

How come she doesn’t know?

I haven’t told her yet.

© 2009 David Greg Harth

09.09.26.14:29:05@BirzeitPalestine

Starbucks Whore & Folgers Pimp

I will not hide

Declare the truth from deep inside

Broadcast my desire

The hills of Athens are on fire

I want to cup your perfect breast

From my palm to my mouth

Ideas simply suggest

So, remove your quill from your given

Install wishes to your lady’s driven

Touch your soft skin to mine

Let words intertwine

Round honey stare

Your skin sensitive and bare

From hourly champagne

To your splint with her in the rain

This is the break, the part, the area when you become a whore

From corner to corner, you always want more

Bring up the coffee to your rose lips

My caffeinated tongue shall trace the outline of your hips

But who am I? But just a Folgers Pimp

My beating heart has a continuous limp

Alone in my world of compositions

With coffee, we’ll have multiple positions!

© 2009 David Greg Harth

09.08.30.19:51:33@130BklynNYC

Second Time

In the emptiness of it all

A string quartet plays melodies

Similar to the ones that of my grandfather hummed me to sleep

I break open

Pour the coffee, skip the milk, add the sugar

Silently sipping, now lukewarm after a few minutes wait

It was raining on that December day

I was brought by ambulance to the hospital

Given injections in my legs

Still, I lay

Still, I have become

No fear, or regrets

No embarrassments, no chartered waters

Like I said, no reasons, no more

I stand tall

With my fleshy weapon strong at my side

My eyes focused on the target

Rage in my heart — no sympathy

In my shade I cannot hide

In the sun, I will fade, and surely die

With no more options

No more running, making, inhaling

Without freedom

Without eight hours fight

Without her love

Only a small instance

Of left over scraps

Of left over disease

I beg you to forgive me

For what I am about to achieve

My achievement,

Museum quality

© 2009 David Greg Harth

09.08.12.21:08:31@130BklynNYC

Spectrum

Swiftly moving

In this underground galaxy

Beneath rivers of imports

And solid granite rock

In long metal cans

Conditioned with cold air

Stuffy urine sweat

Or wet dogs of August heat

I travel to and from

Among every color and background

With Puerto Ricans, Koreans and Indians

With Germans, Greeks, and Chinese

With Christians, Muslims and Jews

With punks, preps and beauty queens

Each shade of a person

Next to me

I’m the minority

On these orange seats of paradise

We are all in transit

Dressed in black

Or the monk’s cloth

Short skirts and platforms

Or jeans below the knees

In our suits and ties

And grandmother mothballs

In our Yankee caps

And Cole, Karan and Klein

Reading, jiving and gazing

Writing, listening, and sleeping

We ride at night

And sunrise must

We travel for dollars

Five borough hollers

This is my New York City

My journey, my home

© 2009 David Greg Harth

09.05.01.11:40:00@ManhattanBridgeNYC

09.05.14.22:33:49@130BklynNYC

Seppuku

I guarantee you.

You have a full warranty.

For years to come.

Full replacement.

Parts plus labor.

You have nothing to worry about.

Everything is perfect with your purchase.

Like said.

Like declared.

Like old age.

Like neuro twelve.

Like loving you.

Like telling true.

© 2009 David Greg Harth

09.03.17.24:18:00@130BklynNYC

She heard me, She heard what I said

I told her what I thought

She was who I sought

I leaned in near

Whispered a secret in her ear

I spoke my mind

She was a goddess to mankind

I told her the truth

During her blooming youth

I warmed her soul

She completes me whole

I spoke from my arresting heart

No force could keep us apart

I told her forever I’d be here

Continued each and every year

I did not pretend, I did not lie

She is my earth and she is my sky

I spoke true

Love was making a debut

© 2009 David Greg Harth

09.03.15.22:16:48@130BklynNYC

Sock Pimp

You pusher

You Swiss Mother Fucker

Bringing your Euro trash wants to

America’s K-Mart and Target and Hanes Catalog Order

You Swiss Mother Fucker!

You trailing behind my gold striped socks

You trading in your comfort greys for black thins

Pushing and pulling and putting on and taking off

You waiting in line for the Mode and Vox and Architect!

You bulldozer sprayer, hand holder, Shinjuku fish eater, squirt maker!

You waffle maker, breast molester, radiology tumbler, fowl mouth kisser!

You fart smeller, shit blood remixer, rock star, Mountain Dew addict!

You Swiss Mother Fucker!

Sock pusher, Sock hustler, Sock whore, Sock pimp!

© 2009 David Greg Harth

09.03.11.21:29:38@130BklynNYC