Charlie Zero

Penned around Christmas time last year

Christmas Day
Spouse At Home

Driving Nodak Three-Two
In Solitude, All Alone

Spouse Is Ill,
Maybe Flu

Affords Me
A Bolt From The Blue

Jamming Out
To Tunes From Old

Even Though
The Weather’s Cold

A Side Trip
Onto The Escarpment

Pondering The Truth
Of The Apartment

Not The Hole
Where You Live

But The Reality
That Death Will Give

Not At This
Place In Time

But As The Ink
Becomes The Rhyme

We Are Meant
To Be Apart

Living Or Dead,
Only One Heart

One Heart Within
The Marrow Cage

We Are Alone Always,
No Matter The Age

And On That Side Road
High In The Hills

Lies A Testament
To The Battle Of Wills

The Stars And Stripes,
The Hammer And Sickle

A Nuclear Race,
A Needless Pickle

Cowardice Of The Soul
Both Cases In Fact,

The Single Man, Great Nation
Subtracted Of Tact

Spotlights And Security Fence
Lighting Up The Yellow Box

A Symbol Of Weaker Men
Measuring Their Minor C***s

And I Snap A Memory
Even Though I Should Not

Short Memories Give Rise
To Things That Time Forgot

And I Donned A Shirt,
That Oblong Hue

And The Scene Switches
Right On Cue

Flashback To The Vigil,
That Night Before

The Spouse And I
Felt Really Sore

Charlie And His Spouse
Are Expecting

And The Pain Is Now
Christ Resurrecting

Profile Pictures
And All That Gushing

Is The Extra Burden
That’s So Soul-Crushing

A Remark Is Made
In The Family Setting

And The Crushed Man
Is Now Forgetting

Acting Like The Executive
Giving Orders To Turn The Keys

Nuclear Weapons In The Form
Of Verbal And Written Decrees

The Mother Offended,
The Advocate Slighted

The Sides In Stalemate,
Nobody Is Delighted

Recompense Is Offered
But Relations Are Strained

Six Months To Go,
Only Compounded Pain

The Spouse Has Wept
As Her Friends Can Bear

And My Soul Is Bronzed,
Just A Rotten Pear

Feeling Empty, Feeling Lost,
All F*****g Sullen

Like An Obese, Deluded
Kind Of Edward Cullen

And The Real Men,
The Ones With Faith

Tell Me To Move On,
To Recapture The Grace

Like It’s So Simple,
A Few Inches To Move

Like A Fine Whiskey
With A Taste So Smooth

But A Toxic Cervix
Riddled With Incompetence

Make This Man Drink
The Wine Of Insolence

But The Evidence
Is Hidden Away

And The Faith
Is A Jar Of Clay

Shattered By
The Iron Rod

Of Disbelief,
There Is No God

The God Variable
Has The Value Zero

Now I’m Called Monster,
The Reverse Of Hero

The Scene Shifts
Back To The Place

In the Hills,
So Lost In Space

Without Function,
An Eroding Headstone

To The Culture
Of Skull And Bones

Death Is The Zero State,
But It Stars The Count

The Count Of Life,
To Climb The Paramount

And Charlie Started It Off,
But This Headstone Called Charlie

Doesn’t Have The Positive,
Laid-Back Vibe Of Bob Marley

And I Stand Before
The Headstone
In The Recesses
Of My Mind

I Have Become
This Empty Husk
That Humanity
Has Left Behind

The Headstone
So Cowardly,
The Yellow Box
In The Shirt
Of Cowardly Hue
Is Me

I Am Charlie Zero

And Charlie, The Real Charlie
Is Charlie One
Bringing Forth Charlie Two

And Now The Photograph
Becomes The Tribute To
Where I’ll Stand
If I Ever Decide
To Follow Through