Orange Grandfather
I got a box of oranges in the mail today.
Special delivery from out of state.
My Grandpa Bob sent me some more oranges.
I always found it funny.
He lived in Florida.
I live in New York.
We have oranges in grocery stores here in New York.
But he always sent the oranges from Florida.
As a kind gesture.
A gesture of his love.
When he would phone me, he would often say “This is Florida calling.”
I’m not sure when the Queens-transplanted-Floridian became a state.
I remember him having big ears, a big belly, a big white beard and a big red car.
He may have died a couple of weeks ago.
But he still sent me oranges from Florida.
I just got a box today.
© 2008 David Greg Harth
08.03.11.17:42:54@599NYC
One More Left
He is dead.
She died first.
Then she died.
Now he is dead.
And only one more is left.
© 2008 David Greg Harth
08.02.18.22:56:07@296NYC
Invitation
If I sent you an invitation
Would you come to my good-bye party?
© 2008 David Greg Harth
08.02.09.10:45:55@296NYC
Let The Doves Cry Out
Let the doves cry out,
Let the mocking birds repeat.
Let the buzzards feast,
Let the hawks return.
Let the humming birds sing,
Let the pigeons march.
Hoist up the flag,
Drape the banners.
Lower the casket,
Cover the mirrors.
Dig the dirt,
Place the stone.
Cry the last call,
Haul the last thought.
Cry the last plea,
Sit down, he was only me.
© 2008 David Greg Harth
08.02.07.17:18:18@599NYC
Remember As He Did
I’ll ask you all once
And only once
Remember the first moment
And put the last moment
Far away
© 2008 David Greg Harth
08.02.07.13:01:33@599NYC
Approaching The End
When everything caves
When everything is lost
When you feel like you have nothing
When you walk that edge
When you contemplate that line
When you are about to cross
When you are ready to hang everything up
When you are going to give up
Remember you have me,
And I’m here for you; forever
I’ll do anything for you
Because I love you
© 2008 David Greg Harth
08.02.05.09:44:59@599BwayNYC
The Only Reason
The only reason
is because the ease
of readily available
has not offered itself
upon myself.
© 2008 David Greg Harth
08.02.04.17:54@306W37NYC
Love (Version #22)
Love is blind to my fingers. I can’t see nor speak.
I have left buildings unbuilt.
I left stadiums filled with trash.
I left back seat lovers alone to crumble into high tea.
High noon galleries are shot down from false trees.
I write, blind to the very alphabet I seem to have hatred too.
Its only love that makes me follow the words I now speak.
They tell me she is beautiful.
Beyond my dreams and my nightly nightmare.
Why does the nightmare continue to haunt my every day existence then?
I’ll never know,
Instead, I’ll get in the cockpit, and I’ll fight the fight a fighter jet fights.
Because love is love,
And love I’ll leave alone.
Because if its love I understand,
Then love is not what I’m in.
© 2008 David Greg Harth
08.01.30.22:22:15@296NYC
Belief In An Ending
Without her
The skies darken
Louder voices crash upon my understanding
My thumbs tremble
Her laughter echoes in my head
Charon,
Take the pale captive across the river
Show him what to believe in.
© 2008 David Greg Harth
08.01.16.17:48:52@599BwayNYC
Trying Hard
Pleasing you -
I try hard at my job.
I try hard at my art.
I try hard at my love.
I’m trying, doing the best I can.
I’m giving the best I got.
I know it’s not enough.
My tries are not hard enough,
I’m not trying hard enough.
I wish I could try harder.
I wish I could be someone else.
But I’m only me.
So, I think it is best to be said,
I’m better off dead.
© 2008 David Greg Harth
08.01.16.14:02:22@599BwayNYC
In The Middle Of Nowhere
Brought out on top of the hill,
beneath the same Oak tree.
The Oak tree just on the outskirts of Arcadia Hills
Near the windmill with the dog which always barked,
the dog with the long beard,
the grey goatee,
that haunted my dreams as a nightmare when I was a child.
The dog, a reality at the mill.
Brought there by nine men,
took me in an unmarked van painted a deep red,
windows tinted black, hubcaps rattled, the engine got louder with each gas.
They were rough, and they were buff.
They must have worked out too much
Or played the game.
They blindfolded me inside the dirty van,
perhaps rented, or recently abandoned.
Brought me sitting up to the hill,
tied for judgement.
One of the men,
he removed my blindfold, now soaked in sweat of fear.
With a strong strike,
he slapped my face.
I felt the cold blood trickle down my left cheek.
A mark left under my eye, must have been from his high school ring.
Brought me up to my knees,
they accused me of unthinkable acts.
Accused me of spreading the disease to their sister.
I explained, I claimed, unaware, not even here.
They didn’t listen, they only slapped once more,
as the Oak tree looked on in silence.
© 2008 David Greg Harth
08.01.14.17:58:48@599BwayNYC
She’s In Love
Stopped eating months ago,
Took off her gown, her dress,
Finished up her hair,
Put away her make up,
It was Tuesday,
She’s in love now.
© 2008 David Greg Harth
08.01.10.16:15:07@599BwayNYC
Don’t Die
I’m uneasy —
Today this day I die.
This new day, new year.
Bloody palms laid to rest,
Heart beat put to the test.
Glass shards thrown across the way,
I extended my unwelcomed stay.
Morning light, she slits her wrist,
In a fight, he raises his fist.
Night before marched soldiers of contradiction,
Artisan prepared for his crucifixion.
They said love wouldn’t last.
They said it would just past.
I’m a man of my word, commit to the fast.
I put up the sail, I put up the mast.
Haunted,
I returned to the scene.
Stained,
I’m no longer corporate’s machine.
© 2008 David Greg Harth
08.01.01.23:10:46@296NYC
Back And Forth
We go back and we go forth.
Forth from the back and back from the forth.
Back and forth, Back and forth.
We go back, we go forth.
I’m going back, they are going back.
They go forth, I go forth, they go back, I go back.
Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
© 2007 David Greg Harth
07.12.14.16:25:50@599BwayNYC
Landing On Rocks
She was swift
Fast on the high seas
Next to the rugged shore
Fast on the row
She knew how to take charge
Present, challenge, confront
Signs of strength
Up and down the coast she loved
No matter how many curves or journeys
She was light when there was dark
She was bright when there was calm
She came forth
He set aside
The steps not taken
The hair not brushed
The lip not bitten
She put up the flags
She claimed her ground
Stood tall, stood proud
Of the life’s school
Learned defeat, he did
She smiled a span
It was the aged wood
It never sank
Only floated forever
Until twelve of second
© 2007 David Greg Harth
07.12.10.15:23:59@599BwayNYC
Virgin Eyes
China Seas
Autumn Leaves
Parachute trooper down on his knees
My heart he will fully seize
Secrecy is among intruder’s invasion
Welded hands together on sunset’s occasion
Madame of no persuasion
Her thighs have a telling abrasion
Blind man sees a reflection
Blooms in the ninth direction
My love is an infection
Last year’s rear inspection
Gotham bells ring
Choir of four sing
Black dove breaks a wing
Elephant imported from Beijing
Dedicated fidelity to you
Nerves of long pig are blue
The twisted tongue is true
I’m son of Sioux
Honesty ripped
History buried in the crypt
Life’s unwritten script
Canvas now stripped
Mediterranean’s East
Six year’s feast
Analyzed by master of the priest
Love will always be released
Unlock the purpose, open the door
From somnolence I lived once more
Vehement man of war
Hear me now, hear me roar!
© 2007 David Greg Harth
07.12.05.15:19:01@599BwayNYC
Liar In Love
Liar in love!
Liar in love!
Liar in love!
© 2007 David Greg Harth
07.12.04.17:47:33@599BwayNYC
I Locked The Door, Turned The Key
Leaving my apartment, quarter to nine.
I locked the door; I turned the key.
I thought of our time in Japan, we had no idea what time it was.
An American restaurant on a hill.
I have to call Matthew today, to see Charles Ray.
I love his music, different Charles, I’ll have a beer at twelve.
I fell out of love, and fall for the loved.
I went back to your place, you gave me a massage, you gave me head.
So, we went back down south, I went down on you.
These crowds invite me to participate, I’ve got a headache.
Thunder clouds roll in, garbage disposal disposed.
I wake from my sleep, I post the mail, I make eggs, I eat cookies.
Blue eyes, brown eyes, green eyes,
They all make love to me.
Never forget.
I can’t recall. I can’t reflect. I have a birthmark; I have a defect.
Rewind, revisit, redo.
Leaving my apartment, quarter to nine.
I locked the door; I turned the key.
I thought of Tokyo.
The air so crisp, so right, my black jeans tonight.
The rabbit comes out, the brothers come out.
You’ll have noodles, I’ll have rice.
Fish on my plate, fish on my knee, better to spank your ass with a bucket of tea.
I went out to the mountain.
After the post office run.
You pointed incorrect directions for me.
I went over the bridge.
Like all the other written materials written before me.
And I am me and me is you and you are me and me is you.
I’m dead, because if I’m not dead, I jumped.
Jumped on the tracks, shocked you all, it’s how I’ll go, but remember.
Rewind.
Re-love. Replicate. Justify. Get high.
I know what I meant.
After all,
I’m an elephant.
And I locked the door, turned the key.
© 2007 David Greg Harth
07.11.14.09:53:34@599NYC
Moving Nothing
Overcoming night’s dream.
Dripping wait you wake out of love.
Hands holding you back.
Beating you down into the mold you are.
You try to become who you are not.
Wearing clothes of a rock star or preacher’s son.
Wake up on the wrong side of the bed.
Wrong time, wrong day.
The battle begins, the tears roll down.
I hear you call my name, I wake up, restless,
Once more.
© 2007 David Greg Harth
07.11.12.14:19:43@599BwayNYC