Billie McCorkle

"Benny"

The car came from Benny
He found it in a grimy alley
Behind a dumpster peering at life
Struggles, gunshots, beatings
Occurred every minute of every second
In Benny’s alley he found a needle
Left behind by a hopeless deal
Tripping on bodies, some dead some overdosed
Searching for a better world
Only to find rank smells and diseased rats
Benny sat in his alley
Sleeping off the fiction
Wanting to awake in another reality
Woken up by the red, white and blue sound
Icy metal clamped around his wrists
Locked in a case with other animals
Souls breathing with blackness
Screams are taken for laughter
Movements pit against each other
Benny walked out to a paradise parking lot
Skeletons were waiting for another spin at the wheel
Lunch was confusion, dinner was torment
Old-fashioned and right on time
The car came from Benny
He found it in a grimy alley

"The Farmer’s Wind"

Prairie winds reach for my earth stained hair
Struggling against its mighty grip
Powerful forces burn my dust covered face
A tiny cloud colored farmhouse looms in the distance
Many miles traveled to reach this point in time
A weathered old farmer shouts,
hello
The wind carries his voice into my ear
Only a whisper of humanity
Raising a hand to greet the old man
I am stopped by the invisible wind
A smile of relief comes easy to my face
I yell past the wind to the farmer
hello

"Jane"

a pink baby cries for a forgotten mommy
anger floods Jane's body like a broken dam
holding a sleek sexy whiskey bottle in her delicate hand
jane's mind becomes blind in broken gurgles
shouts and raw cries cover Jane's ears
jagged finely draw glass mesh with baby soft skin
warmed over by a blanket of worms
thick blood soaked bandages
warp Jane's heart choking
sucking black oxygen from her scorched balloon-like lungs
penetrating Jane's schizophrenic thoughts
baby's blue and green bruises
masking every rational urge
bodily functions exist in someone else
as a ruby cardinal flutters to a skyscraper tree
beauty takes place behind a wooden gate
as Jane's eyes sink in the earth like the Grand Canyon
transparent midnight becomes Jane's new home
stately granite marks a tiny grave
through tear stained eyes Jane's fingers read
'herein lies baby may beauty follow you'
mother's beating womb is no longer comfort food
jane staggers on iron legs to her house made of sticks
outside the stately granite marker reads,
'herein lies jane doe may your deeds follow you into your dreams'
good bye sweet sounding jane
uttered the ghostly grave digger
shovel slung over his gnarled hump
he walked away without a last glance
leaving jane to make amends with the earth

"Jane II"

gangrene settles in Jane's soft tissue
as the sun remains constant on the narrow horizon
loons call to their wandering mates
frigid air knocks harshly on her wooden door
inside a fire works overtime to keep the heart warm
yellow and blue bruises brush the hands of time
jane rocks quietly in a civil war rocking chair
turmoil resides in her cancerous conscience
ears bleed with agony and despair
scars mark a road map of the unforgiven
morning never touches jane's sore eyes
destruction is breakfast death is dessert
her swollen feet touch the barren floor
swept only once in a sleepy lifetime
blood clogs jane's brain with darkness
dreams reside in her empty memories
as fog shrouds a limp forgotten body