Three Little Poems

The Shadow Walking Next to Me

By Samuel M. Wright

In the dark I see

A shadow walking next to me

Blacker than vile sin

With a toothy, gaping grin

Wings of curling smoke

Smelling of the that demon coke

It whispers to me sweetly

Of pleasures to be had nightly

As its claws of addiction

Tear open my dereliction

Of duty to the ones I love

Even to the Heavens above

“All you need is a taste,

Don’t let it go to waste.

Try a little sample,

I’ll let you have an ampoule.”

It tempts me caresses

Of the kind no one confesses

Under my skin I feel it creep

Killing my dreams and stealing my sleep

My hand is in the cookie jar

Its like scratching at an ugly scar

I can’t stop myself from tweaking

It really has me freaking

I wonder if I’ll get to see the light

Or live forever in this night

Turning me into the crack pipe’s whore

The only thing I can be thankful for

Thank God my momma can’t see

This shadow walking next to me

How Do I Love?

By Samuel M. Wright

I love like a drunkard.

Imbibing the heady wine of passion

From the shapely vessel in my arms,

I get high on the sweet taste of a new love,

And enjoy the warm embrace of intoxication.

But then the love runs out, before my thirst is slaked.

So, I swallow the bitter dregs of loss, hide in my goblet,

To wallow in a hungover headache of regret.

Sobering daylight pours down on me like a rain of agony.

I vomit up the acidic angst of heartbreak,

A sacrifice to the porcelain god of the morning after.

I plunge through a cold shower of stoic resignation,

Trying hard to wash away my feelings with mere soap.

I dry off and shave away the shadow of my past,

Get dressed up in a false hope for a better future.

I pour myself a hot cup of forced optimism,

And have a breakfast of smugly contented singleness.

Then I march out into the world to greet a new day.

I pretend that I'm full, my hunger sated by the joy of bachelorhood,

And my thirst for commitment quenched by freedom.

I shoo away the last pink elephants of affection and hurry to work,

Making myself forget the pleasure of drunkenness,

Hoping with time my memories will fade away.

For now I abstain, drinking in the experience with cream and sugar,

And stay sober…

Electric Touch

By Samuel M. Wright

Pneumatic hips, hot

Red lips, electric shock kiss

Making circuits bliss

Let me plug into your drive

So I really feel alive

Let us connect, not

Just suspect, how much we miss

The low, steamy hiss

The heat of our lips meeting

A living circuit completing

Interface to face

Firewall the world, the rat race

Intranets embrace