Rotations

Rotations

Slowly but surely 

They were all

Driven crazy 

By the sound 

Of the grinding

Some claimed 

Not to hear it

Others just ate

Few thought to face it

Most played games

Deep in their eyes

They had 

To reconcile

Their lives 

To the sound of the grinding

The distant screams

And eight billion 

Dreams

Fed into 

A precision machine

Trees, plants, 

Grandmothers

Birds, insects, lovers

Villages with traditions

Cultures and accumulated wisdom

All unsorted 

Not even folded

Keeping frequencies 

Humming

And stars at a distance

The Lonely Fanboy

the lonely fanboy

I’m finding it harder to read

losing the desire to make art

thinking is giving me a headache

their reality is becoming strong

is this all that we are

where am I taking these children

how does the power of imagination 

deflect lies and bullets

the worst is still coming 

their apocalyptic dreams 

lining up like manga visions

of a very lonely fanboy

A CAPacious Act by Charles A. Perrone

bold new work:

Sensory Inventory

Sensory inventory

Heels pinch me
Earrings pull me down
Skirts twist me
Clasps leave marks

I practice the walk
Work mirror and brush
Even if it comes off
The work has been done

I was made for something else
what it is I can't tell
At times I've felt
I could do anything I wanted

You use words casually
They slip from your mouth
As easily as you find yourself
With me feeling lost

You leave your clothes
In a pile on the floor
Naked you reveal nothing
Eyes follow smoke

Not wanting to do anything
Leaves me restless at best
The refrain's constant
"What to do now"

Uncertain Me

uncertain me

Not having lived

With this much uncertainty for so long

I had forgotten about that

Extra layer of exhaustion

I throw myself into your work 

it's not wrong

For a few moments then

The chaos lessens

We venture back from

Slush and mud

Feeling somewhat  

Weather beaten

Returning to what 

we can't touch

We hold on to what feels

Slightly less uncertain

Proper Distance

The proper distance

we were both terrible at physics

we'd get too close

then bounce back

out of range of gravitational force

spun out alone with some

dark matter

when we were too far away

we'd start to shake

clinging onto anything 

readily at hand

damage done 

apologies made 

in retrospect it would've been easier

to stay in place

buy a calculator 

and just learn some trig

Loner with dog

Loner with dog

Haunted by backyard floodlights

Against white snow black night

And the dog lived outside

Every night I'd close the door

Cage and watch her eyes

I shut the garage door

We'd watch each other through

The bedroom window

My mom warned me I'd be

Setting patterns for my

Future relationships

She was right

students

students

I wanted to tell them

that everything would be OK

but I couldn’t 

I let myself be cut to pieces 

by their fears 

and assumptions

I wanted to tell them 

not to be afraid 

but I didn’t 

I wanted to 

hold them then

even if it hurt

so I took it home

took it home 

and I smoked it

drew it 

out of the pen

hit the buttons 

and couldn’t 

fool myself

about the difference