Attie’s heartbreak

A tear was staining her cheek
As she looked on at Keith
Sitting by the door, waiting for his father
He packed his own suitcase
And sat there since noon
Well Jack was supposed to be here at one
And the tear was staining her lips
She knew from the past he would never show
It was ten past seven
And Keith hadn’t moved
She brought him dinner
There in the doorway
And he sat it on the floor
How did you tell a five year old
Daddy isn’t coming
And the tear stained her neck
She carried him to bed when he fell asleep
And the tears flowed
And covered his little suitcase
That she sat beside the bed
She sat there in the rocker all night long
And cried all night long
But it broke her heart at dawn
When Keith wouldn’t let her unpack
His little suitcase

Recall notice

Yesterday I received a recall notice in the mail
Wal-Mart said my soul could cause injury
Said that it could cause someone to choke on their
Own heart
And that they might drown in my personality
It said I should send it to their service center
Right away
And they would only charge me shipping and handling
But I knew better
And I shed these feathers from these old wings
And grew them anew
And took flight to shake the dust from my soul
And flipped a finger at the great American misery
In the blue and grey buildings
And I hid until the class action lawsuit was over
And Wal-Mart had recovered all of the individuality
In the world
And store it in the slightly over budget commercials

Scars and skin

Scars and skin




as we lay there in her momma's bed
her fingers traced that scar between my ribs
and asked again how did it happen
so I told her again
about the knife and the coward
and then she asked the strangest thing
how did it feel when the blade entered my skin
my thoughts lingered and wandered
trying to evaluate and quantify the pain
or did it really deserve to be called pain
so I said I wasn't sure
so her fingers moved to my face
and traced that torn skin on my right cheek
and asked again about how it happened
and again I told her of the beer bottle and the asshole
and she asked that strangest of things again
how did it feel when the glass sliced your cheek
and all I could think to say was
how did your first period feel

Tina Marie

sometimes, late at night when I am all alone and the sounds of the city are around me, I lie there and long for the return of that night, on your bed
and it makes me lonely to think
that was such a wonderful moment
that we both still remember it so well
but sometimes I just long to find out what your skin smells like
after that hot shower you have just climbed out of
sometimes in the dark I remember your breasts pressed against me
soft and warm
and I remember those moments but not the movie that played
and sometimes when it seems that I might have missed something
that green dress comes to mind
and reminds me of your beauty
your skin soft and pale against that cloth
your red hair falling in curls
but still I end up at that night
alone together


© Rik Woods 2008

Little lost girl in the foundry

She lost her soul
In the pasteurized humanity
Scrunched down on a bed of dirt
With rotting leaves and coal dust for a pillow
She was born under the starry night
To a mother with a silver spoon in her mouth
That she used
For the heroine in her arms
She lost her mind
In the sanitized humanity
Punched in the face
When she tried to run from the squatters
Looking for an easy night
Of rape
She lost her body
To the glamorized depravity
That we let lurk and linger in our streets
As long as it doesn’t come down
Our nice suburban sidewalk
And we can watch the latest
Based on a real story
Down at the superplex 50 screen theater
With extra butter and a large soda please

© Rik Woods 2008

Sacrosanct

She kept sayin’ that she adored me
That lipstick layered on her lips
She’s been kissin’ my…pick me up at eleven
And it was then that I saw it
Then that I realized that
I would have been better off
If I had been that damn singer from Aerosmith
If I had been Johnny Depp
But I was just a lost poet
Looking for love in the arms of a Jezebelle

That lipstick layered on her lips
After she had been kissin’ my …pick me up at seven
And it was then that I heard
About all of her lipstick left on Levi’s zipper’s
And I realized that I was better off
If I had been lost in the woods that first night
Instead of at that damn one act comedy

© Rik Woods 2008

A new jean jacket

A new jean jacket




Her Blue Gray eyes spoke to me
Or am I just imagining that from the past
She called to me
And I did not return
Not out of spite, well maybe out of fright
Afraid of winding up with more than I had
Ever thought of maybe
Or maybe I was just a stupid boy
And not sure of what I really had
Her blue-gray eyes spoke to me
In quite tones
And her voice called to me in thunderous whispers
Or am I just remembering the past
In my own light
We were both fifteen,
And we sat together in that holy building
And we laughed together In the dead of night
And she prepared me for life
And I was sure she was going to be my wife
But the night closed in and
The demons of life closed in
And I was filled with anger
And filled with pain
And I was so sure I couldn’t hurt her
That I hurt her in the end
Her blue-gray eyes spoke to me
Like no religious creed could

© Rik Woods 2004