4_theWaves_ZacharyFlategraff

I dedicate these works to those
who can see meaning in the mess.



TABLE OF CONTENTS

Already Packed and Leaving................................................. 1
Cancer Sun (My Greatest Rue)................................................. 3
Deep July............................................................................... 5
Don’t Change a Thing!........................................................... 6
Every A, B and C................................................................... 8
Heroin Eyes......................................................................... 10
I Choose To Love Me........................................................... 11
In Tow................................................................................... 12
Independence Day, 2014..................................................... 14
Into The Same...................................................................... 16
Just Cave.............................................................................. 17
Love Of My Life.................................................................. 18
Machine................................................................................ 21
Mondays............................................................................... 23
No, Again and Always......................................................... 24
Our Force Field................................................................... 25
The Go-Ahead...................................................................... 27
The Initial Incision.............................................................. 28
the Waves............................................................................. 29
Tired of Love (Walking Lament)........................................... 32
WHORE............................................................................... 34
Worked Up........................................................................... 35

(All Poetry and Art Copyright Zachary Flategraff)



“Already Packed and Leaving”

you made it so easy-
making the world seem
to be molding around me.
tulips twirled
in my presence.
others were caught up
in the idiosyncratic essence.
you were always
back-door leaning,
crowd-surf daydreaming
all around, in your head-
you knew exactly
what needed to be said
but mum.
ho-hum.
bah-humbug.
you leer at me
living the party
jealously moping-
Mr. Misanthrope,
Mr. Slippery Slope..
measuring the workings of the brain
inside the man
was never an easy task at hand.

-page 1-

it was like swaying the direction
of a soldered weather vane.
I begged, I sought,
I endeavored in vain.
but you..
you failed internal revue,
so you tricked the cracks
to slip right through.
you could have spoke up
instead of murky-shadow misconceiving.
you should have woke up
to realize I was already packed and leaving.

-page 2-

“Cancer Sun (My Greatest Rue)”

the Cancer
I had to cut out
in cellulite-like chunks
that grew inside me
invading my body
was you;
my greatest rue.
you were
the flesh I held,
the blood that fell..
the waning Moon
successfully fooled
my draw of the Runes.
I had you exorcised
not a second too soon.
the Crab Sun I endured
reminded me
to slather on the sunscreen.
now I know next time
when I see that Sign-
no hesitation, run like hell!
Mother, please help me
to recover..

-page 3-

Father, teach me
to be tougher..
Earth, usher me a lasting lover;
a fertile ground
to rediscover.

-page 4-

“Deep July”

deep July, midnight on the lake-
we’ve got the anchor down
but we’ve released our brakes.
first it’s the shirts
then it’s our shorts;
four retinas,
gazes divert.
your fingers trace
roadmaps down my chest,
magically they heal
where I’ve been distressed.
I’m relieved, you mend me-
your belief in my core
leaves me thinking it’s time
to re-open derelict doors.
your lips follow down-trodden paths
while I think of alleviating equations
in universal functions of math
to dig and stead these foundations;
to pave way for permanent paths..

-page 5-

“Don’t Change a Thing!”

I think you’re amazing!
you set my thoughts blazing!
around you grand ships masts begin raising!
in my eyes you could do no wrong;
we were here all along,
our light beams are titanium strong.
guns cocked- let’s shoot! with many a bang!
worries docked- we sing! no paper bags!
let’s sit in the eye of this hurricane
and in passing simply wave..
your eyelashes flutter
and the whole galaxy smiles;
oh please bring that smile
to my “Haven’t seen that in such a long while..”.
you’re perfect-
a right shoe that even on the left fits!
you’re astounding-
you make my spinal fluids sing!
don’t change what you’re doing-
please!!!
don’t change a single thing!

-page 6-

-page 7-

“Every A, B and C”

I’m a simpleton,
I’m obsession-
I need you
in my possession.
I promise
not to make a peep.
I’ll keep both eyes open
simply watching your chest
rise and fall as you sleep-
I’ll chase shadows
from off the walls
from attempting to steal your dreams.
you’ll be my cache of hope.
I’ll be hanging
from your ceilings
so I can be witness
to your revealings.
I’ll invade your most delicious dreams.
I will wiggle
in-between your most intimate,
your tightest of seams.
I’ll be anyone that you need-
I’ll go the any extreme.

-page 8-

you don’t even need to believe me;
I’ve enough belief
for every A, B and C..

-page 9-

“Heroin Eyes”

when I said
I’d always love him
it turns out I lied;
I never really knew
how truths become untrue
through his dim heroin eyes.
what I’ve disclosed
behind closed blinds
was spread like dandelion seeds
dispersed among mankind;
deadly heroin eyes
made a mockery of me.
why the hell did I tell him what I did?
it was told in the purest confidence!
shit.
all arranged-engagements must be off
cause he just knocked my spots right off
in vain search of a prettier plastic-bagged prize
to feed the vacuousness of his heroin eyes.

-page 10-

“I Choose To Love Me”

the second he called me “buddy”
was the moment it became clear-
I understand,
he doesn’t need me now,
I can’t be that queer.
I’m not allowed to have it all;
the picket fence,
the golden brick,
the crystal sky..
I sometimes feel lower
than worms crawl
about myself;
really, about it all..
today I pick no lover
for there is no other
worth giving
the sides of me
that breathe life
into dead seas.
I pick no lover.
I choose to love me.

-page 11-

“In Tow”

you say I’m too passionate-
I say you have no feelings.
you say I’m a handful-
I say you jump and hit ceilings.
I do things for people in your family-
I get nothing but love from that
but you’re callous with no tonality-
like a dead weight railroad flat.
I need to move away-
far from spiteful words and you.
California or Bombay, either way,
I need to follow through.
I can’t live within your stones throw.
I can’t live my life always in tow.

-page 12-

-page 13-

“Independence Day, 2014”

..was the last time I saw you
with the night set to cruise,
eyes to the lightning sky;
marching along
in matching shoes..
me- cautious of the
oncoming internal bruise
as I scrutinize, like a machine,
each pose of your routine-rouse.
I have nothing left with
to halt or intervene
so like B.B. King
I’m bellowing blues
in these no-use,
stoic, soiled shoes..
Independence Day-
fireworks scream up- POP!
they exact still illustrations
of my insides, at timed intervals
via X-Ray;
black, white and gray
nuclei split and fragmented;
half on their way
to full decay..
..all I wanted to do

-page 14-

was gaze upon you..
frame by frame publicizes
my warmest veins be spied
by the gaze of prey in dry fly.
woe to the Rememberer of Memories.
woe to the Dialer of Days.
woe to the golden rope we once spun;
now tarnished,
inadequate to braze,
unable to snare
any more Sun rays.
Independence Day
it was such a shame that I came.
Independence Day-
lives to the definition in its name.

-page 15-

“Into the Same”

dead ogle.
spineless and immortal;
your cruelty is legendary,
your visions, revolutionary.
cracks in mirrors;
he has cracked mirrors..
everything changes
into the same-
the spaces in-between
that we can’t see
dictate the war game.
black voids.
shiny and multi-versed;
my facets have been enjoyed,
my love has been destroyed.
busts in doors;
I now have busted doors..
everything always changes
into the same-
the spaces in-between
that we can’t see
indulge in this fame.

-page 16-

“Just Cave”

you’ve ruined it for me,
my joy, for the last time-
you damaged everything;
you’ve gotta go down
BIG TIME..
I want to pull out
your rotted lying teeth-
I’m sharpening gazes,
I’m shining my sheath.
noon Sun high-
finally it’s just you and I.
I’m done reasoning;
I’ve finished asking “Why?!”.
from this staredown-stance
only one man will walk away-
one winner, one sucker..
I tell you, you little fucker
I’ll be here every bloody day
until nose hairs start to gray,
until graffiti begins to fade,
until the ROCK! of this grenade
or
until you
finally
just cave.

-page 17-

“Love Of My Life”

upon waking
I notice immediately
the scenery
is fuzzy and
unfamiliar
to me-
this is
my new
reality.
colors, hues are changed..
angles, shapes re-arranged..
all I see are your
pink-powder-shadowed eyes;
everything beautiful about you
from every view.
now you may only be
in old pictures on my walls.
I have to come to terms
this means no more
late-night bullshit calls.
march on, Specialist Fourth Class Zupon,
march on..

-page 18-

this sad scenery best grow on me
or I will have to grow more feet.
..until the day we reunite.
you are one great love of my life.

-page 19-

-page 20-

“Machine”

you just have a parti pris;
a bone to pick-
thinking war and revenge
could come so quick
without indict,
without requite.
you walk like, talk like
a machine-
there’s a hole in you;
a missing gene
thus denied to know
when to be hopeful;
to testify sorrows.
I could never understand
why your horizons didn’t expand,
you’ve got this plan
that only ties-up both your hands.
you will never be
the one for me-
I’m a human being,
not a machine.

-page 21-

“Mondays”

the thought of a
new Monday approaching
makes me nervous..
wondering to what end;
for what purpose
the world needs me.
the calls, the conversations.
these walls, these reservations.
I need to take new forms, I need filtration.
I want the atmosphere warm, I want elation.
I don’t always need
to be a part
of the steed.
it hurts getting trampled.
I’m all I need.
really.

-page 22-

“No, Again and Always”

cretinous, foul-fingered,
thinks he can steep and linger.
even though
it’s the 7th time
I’ve said “No.”
it’s getting out of line.
sulfur-spewing, serpent-tongue
thinks he can work the wrongdoer.
even though
the wrongs are within;
I’m getting out
before I get
sucked back in.
maggot-bodied and past his prime
dines now on foul sink grime.
even though he
can eat elsewhere-
I’ll say “No, again and always.”;
I need a fresher affair.

-page 23-

“Our Force Field”

drained, drugged and
derailed by the day
the only great thing
in all the whole world
is that I can
come home
to you
and amongst the flames,
all the falling shrapnel,
all false apostles, or
the witches bearing apples
there is a force field
around us, our house,
emitting neon pulses
at high frequencies.
you could keep me..
I could keep you;
prove that
all the extraneous shit
doesn’t stand a chance
of breaking through
if we keep our netting ropes long
and our force field strong.

-page 24-

-p-paagee 2255- -

“The Go-Ahead”

I stopped seeing your shadow
at the end of my bed.
sometimes, though, out the corner of my eye
a contorted silhouette looms fashioned by my head.
I keep telling myself it all was a lie;
that’s the lie that I have chosen to spread.
I will not allow or dignify
the smear campaigns that have been held in stead.
I will not simply comply-
that would assume I’m not educated or read.
my energy tank for you ran bone dry,
I feel like since the begining I’ve been misled.
I’m fatigued of mundanely scratching by-
I will not allow my emotions to weigh blue or red.
I will keep a tight lock on the supply;
I will let this go when I’m given the go-ahead.

-page 26-

“The Initial Incision”

I’m present,
please don’t give me the gas.
I was hesitant
to return to this haze.
I bought shiny new shoes
but this is no foot-race.
I made it a point to learn your name
when mine was but a laughable phrase.
you let me into your brain-
what an insatiable maze!
run out of here before I lose my shoes,
there’s nothing left to gain these days.
I locked you out just soon enough
before you could ever grip or taste.
it was the most difficult decision
but my mind was made up
after the sight of blood,
the initial incision..

-page 27-

“the Waves”

3 hours of sleep-
sheep did nothing
for me
but scare, creep
up on from behind.
free me!
get me
outta this mind!
my ruminations
are ruining me.
I try distractions-
I dance around the kitchen,
I take my vitamin B’s
but
I’m scratching-
digging my nails,
my eyelashes
into these walls.
I can feel it
behind my
black and white brain
when a hurricane
is on its way.
here come the waves.
for a minute or so
a smile might show

-page 28-

then just as quickly fades..
elation wantonly
turns to rage.
I want to spit, I cry;
these sticky tears
refuse to dry.
I lash out.
I hyperventilate.
this swollen face
can no longer act as
any buffed armor plate..
what purpose does this intensity serve?
I’m a straight line
that sometimes curves.
I’m a dead body
with still-active nerves.
I feel everything
at once, so intensely.
what is behind these eyes my energies comprise,
truly?
these waves are so slowly torturing
and I fear in the smallest amount of time
they could leave behind nothing of me
or take away everything.

-page 29-

-page 30-

“Tired of Love (Walking Lament)”

I’m tired of love,
it exhausts me.
I’ve seen past lovers, on the street,
no contact between eyes, passing by.
I’ve had loved ones tragically die
in the bright light of their prime.
I might be a critical-cynic
but it seems all love runs dry
though I do see
a small amount of love can be
shine in sheen and evergreen.
love has defeated me.
it always happens so easily.
I need to learn gravity-
the weight of
others manipulated sceneries
flickering, dressed in colors,
writhing upon me.
love maneuvered me like a ninja, silently.
I didn’t know what happened.
I was so wrapped around
until you no longer cared to help me up.
it was the deepest abyss I fell down
with no outreached hand, no wrist,

-page 31-

nothing to lose, no lower to go.
..when I get out of this hole
it will be filled with cement
so love can’t escape.
love needs a kinder supplement
for this body is a walking lament.

-page 32-

“WHORE”

I won’t let you in
a second time-
pick a different one
from your massive line.
arrange for someone else
to be your next victorious
“victimless crime”-
let them make
their own mistake.
up, up the tree
for that banana
you’ll always climb,
your ignorance
to such things as this
makes you quite blind.
you’ll simply seize
your next shiny dime.
twink-kink-clink
you’ll always
be just fine;
you’re a natural, WHORE,
working the pole,
tallying hot scores.

-page 33-

“Worked Up”

yeah, I can get worked up.
I can get crazy caught up easily
when I think that a love presented
is only meant to be
presented to me.
you held me up something special.
you had me in a moment so fierce
the memory will loom
for a hundred years.
you had me on my back,
I gave up violation for a quarter-sack.
you had me holding ashes
in my hand, it was never what
I had planned, I wanted you to
stay the night, get worked up with me,
make it right, but not like this, man..
you broke the chain
bringing on feelings of shame.
you worked me up
until I was mushy in the middle
and a little to your left.
you abandoned me in chagrin
never to reply to my messages again.

-page 34-

-page 35-

-page 36-

Zachary Flategraff was born in Waukegan, IL and currently
resides in Minnesota. “the Waves” is the 4th Poetry & Art book
that Zachary has published, which contains 22 works of poetry

and various pieces of original art.

Previous Published Titles Include:
“BLINK” (Dec, 2014)

“Pay No Attention To Me.” (July, 2013)
“Discerning the Noise.” (May, 2011)

visit:
www.zacharyflategraff.com