PENNIES FROM HEAVEN

pennies from heaven

i knew a woman who i would have written a song for
mississippi like leslie say, immortalized in song
i knew a sister who was better than her decorated companion
she gave me her body while the world greeded
i once sat at a san diego bar and drank fifteen beers
left my jacket and $100 dollars cash on the bar
the bartender was nothing special,
but she seemed like it
to all of us
left my jacket at the san diego club too
speedin and drinkin, leaned across
to the mexican girl
and kissed her,
horrifying her friend.
kissed annie in the car
arms felt good around my neck
and saw her in the liquor store,
two shadows passing
in the early evening's preparation
everything is awkward
susan and annie, jennifer and the others
i drink this beer for you tonight
you give me a little life in my bottle
and i love you all.

jolts of still alive in the woods

i know the wisdom of a mother and a father
but the house is not dark and sad like this
most things are overrated
food, contact, consciousness
and who needs distractions beyond work anyway
with a habit like this
hugging the thick night air to myself
soaking in the sounds
of a few forgotten troubadours
there is no tomorrow that can instill fear
there is no universal code to pledge allegiance to
there are no follies to succumb to
no pretty baubles to gaze in wonder at
only sweet singleness and truth.

to pass on would be a blessing
yet i tread not that path
unconvinced despite it all
that some small flower might
not yet blossom
in the desert.

breaking out of the gloom

the rich comfort seekers
may tell you that
they have found paradise
in the form of
large plots of non-threatening over-priced
chunks of time-shared sand
but they have never seen
really seen
the brilliant yellow sun
glinting off a
shop window
as the day bids farewell
slowly easing away into
varying shades of warmth and calm
as you sit in your car
at the stop light
and wonder what the hell
could ever bother you
as long as
the day's ordeal
occasionally fades away
like this.

Scott Taylor hails from Raleigh, North Carolina. He is a writer and a musician, and an avid world traveler. His short stories and poetry have appeared in numerous print and online publications, including Vast Chasm, Ghost City Review, Oddball, Literary Hatchet and Swifts and Slows. His novels 'Chasing Your Tail' and 'Screwed' have been released with Silver Bow Publishing, and his novellas 'Freak' and 'Ernie and the Golden Egg' are slated for inclusion in an upcoming anthology with Running Wild Press. He graduated from Cornell University and was a computer programmer in a past life.