Clock Ticking by Stephen Jarrell Williams

This fit of time
trying
to squeeze us
into a whimper of submission,
with its snake head,
bear's body,
vulture claws,
underdeveloped wings.

Scream...
Wiggle loose...
Fight back with the vastness of our numbers.

Tomorrow is already here.



Published in Callused Hands- August 2009

No Man's Land by Stephen Jarrell Williams

You're shaking,
mumbling on

barren plain of smoldering
stumps,

distant city
smoking ruins,

river full
boiling ash,

burnt boots,
hanging rags,

coughing hoarse,
chewing blood,

you survived the blast,
doomsday bomb,

searching mile after mile,
no woman to touch,

no holy house,
no sacred word.



Published in protestpoems.org- October 2009

Down And Out by Stephen Jarrell Williams

Out
on the rim
of the spinning city,
at home in my dizzy whirl,
licking my computer screen,
dust of many,
buzz of more, more, more...

All the toxic leaders
soaking in mega tubs,
my lifeblood keeping them afloat
with my fractured family
and bent self.

Southland weather promising fire
sticks burning like pretzels,
salt of the earth leaving a slight stain
down the middle of the street,
shame, shame, shame...

I don't want to die just yet,
wanting to squeeze it before the crash.

I wanted what others wanted,
lost sight of the everyday glow.

The system corrupting.
My toes in the stir.
Round and round,
we all fall
down.



Published in Shoots And Vines- December 2009

American Destiny by Stephen Jarrell Williams

Half the night listening to them
licking their fingers of barbecued chicken,

out my window they cover the earth
rolling their joints out of Bible pages
unafraid of dying,

a thousand tribes mingled and massed,
no remorse

America splitting,
tipping into two seas,

tearing down the middle: land, cities, people...

She made me tie her to the hood of my car,
naked and posing and laughing with speed

80 mph down the freeway
busting through tollbooths,
wind howling

going off the cliff believing she'll sprout wings.



Published in Rusty Truck- October 2009