I saw this billboard on the way in.

It makes no sense to me.

Every day is a gift. That makes sense.

But this looks like an May December romance to me and he's trying so hard to keep up with all she needs from him.

She needs his love. Devotion. Work. Sex. And now, a really expensive piece of jewelry.

It's not going to end up good.

Photo - S
Words - S

Smeared broken smashed thrown away in an empty room that no one visits and I never even knew was there.

Please don't ever let life get this far. Please don't let my world become this room.

Christmas trees and spent boxes stacked. No order. Just thrown away things.

Photo - S
Words - S

Tea candles in the dark. Glistening. That's all we have to look at. They shut down the power. They took away our interweb. So we just sit in the dark, wordless, and watch the candles burn out. Sizzle candles. Sizzle sizzle. Pop crackle flash. Soon it will be dark. And we'll just have our collective breathing and the honks of horns on the highways to keep us company. Come the light, we'll wake up worlds away and forget the silent hours we spent watching the flames lick the air, dancing to some unheard march that only the burning can understand.

Photo - N
Words - S

Flea Market Cakes

You ain't ever gonna serve these, the man yelled, tossing the cones into the trash. Rain pelted them. The cones were made for ice cream and now, would be denied. They tried to look tough, but the precipitation made them slowly fall down and pool into small, ruddy puddles of what was once crunchiness. Bastards, that was the cones last collective word.

Photo - S
Words - S

If you park next to a hydrant, they will smash your windows to get the hose through. Firefighters are awesome. I mean, how rock star is that? We decided instead of going over your car, we'd just go through the windows. I mean, it almost makes all the smoke inhalation worth it.

Photo - N
Words - S

I never light candles.

I light incense.

Candles seem so transitory.

Not that incense isn't.

I hate seeing candles fade and melt.

There used to be a store at the mall called Wicks 'N Sticks.

I used to stare at the beauty of the candles and wonder who could ever melt them.

And now that I'm a grown up, I know that people melt beautiful things without a second thought.

Maybe I should stick to incense.

Photo - N
Words - S

What's Still Here

Some people would walk past the glass in the dirt. And others would see it.

Some people would forget the past. And others want to know about it.

The world ain't gonna last forever. Someone has to remember it when it's gone.

Photo - N
Words - S

What are the words trying to tell us?

All I know is words on a screen.

And then I read them and still don't always get them.

But I stare and stare.

Re-read.

And I try not to forget the words.

Even if I don't always understand them.

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Words - S

Painful childhood confession

I can't look at money when I eat.

The roots of this are in a dinner party my family had.

There were no glasses left. I had to drink out of the Planet of the Apes mug that held change.

Sure, they washed it out first.

But the copper taste remained.

Whenever I see change when I eat, I panic and throw up.

Please don't use this knowledge for evil.

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Words - S

It's Important to Somebody

I think all girls are sailors. They lash themselves to the helm and protect themselves from the rocks and rapids and the silly stings of stupid boys. And we throw them in the water again and again until they get cold and hard, like the very rocks they try to keep themselves from splintering their vessel into. Sometimes, I want to slow down the waves for you so that you can see that dry land isn't so far away.

But I know. You know how to sail. It doesn't always help, but you got a strong foundation. Me, I only know from bumper boats.

Photo - N
Words - S

Can I capture you?

Can we own your picture? Can we take that moment we saw you and our hearts lept with joy at seeing you and how unique you are and celebrate your magic and you being alive and flash our lights and say, you, you, you?

Because we want your picture so very much.

We want to take that briefest of seconds in your life and make it last forever.

And someday you won't be here.

But we'll always have a picture of you.

Photo - N
Words - S

No more answering the phone

I eat lunches of junk food and dinners of processed beef sticks.
Breakfasts of a small fruit and then, maybe, another before bed.
I drink a lot of water.
And my belly hurts all the time.

I wish I could live in the wild.
And eat raw fruits and berries and repair myself.
Take my body back to how it should always have been.
But sometimes, it's too far.

The woods seem like they've grown backwards and away from me.
They used to encroach and now they just retreat.

Where would I find Slim Jims in the forest?
How would I check my email?
And how would anyone know where to find me?

You can run away, but your hunger for snacks and comfort will always keep you home.

Photo - N
Words - S

Too many sausages. Too much meat. Too much food. That’s how the day began. You need to walk off all the food. You need to amble all over with no plan and just walk walk walk until the food stops your belly from hurting. So that’s what we did. We walked the North Side streets until the red velvet cupcakes and kielbasa stopped slamming our internal organs.

And then we saw you, sir.

Collar up, jive walkin’, comin’ down the street like you never died on a toilet bowl reading an astrology book while Ginger Alden slept in the next room. Yes, we’re sure it was you. Who else could it have been?

“Should I go ask that guy if I can get his picture? I need his picture!”

No, I don’t think so. Shyness.

A block later, they looked at one another and ran to find the man. Gas stations, grocery stores, the general radius. He was not to be found. Their window to capture his soul had been taken away.

The two kids stared up in frustration, bemoaning their loss. And then they saw the street sign. Pressely Street. No shit. No lie.

It was all a little too perfect.

Picture – N
Words – S, but really, it was all true

I'll have to get back to you on that one

I’ve been asked a lot of deep questions. However, until I saw the writing on the wall, I was never asked “Do I look like Captain Save a Ho?”

Picture – N
Words - S

NOTICE

I can’t hide my disappointment any more. We took these pictures as a form of protest. The photo booth at the Warhol has been broken for over a month now. They need to fix that shit. We’re giving them one more month and then we’re going to go sneak in again. We’ve done it before. We’re serving you notice, Upper St. Clair kids who sit and read books and judge every entrant to the gallery. We know the secret passage and we have no problem going to your museum for free. However, we will end up feeling bad and then go and buy way too much at the gift shop.

Pictures – N
Words - S

Ring ring

I hate the waiting for a phone call to connect. The long ring, the not picking up. It makes me wonder if I should have even made the call in the first place. I feel like I should never pick up the phone and then I dial the numbers and it’s too late. It’s ringing. Hopefully they won’t pick up. Because it’s too late, I never know what to say. I prefer my fingers doing the talking because then I can pull back and edit myself. The phone is too personal, too real, too honest.

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Words - S

I'm of two minds about the whole thing, really

For as many times as I say I hate this city, I love this city. Where else can you see trees grow inside the dust and dirt? Where else can death and life be inside the same concrete? This city drags me down and gives me hope. Anything that brings that much emotion to me can’t be all good or bad.

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Words - S

We shall not fear the walking dead

When we walk past cemetaries, we will not be afraid.
When we hear the creak and groans of the recently deceased, we will not run.
When they come up to us, we will stare them in the face.
We have never been afraid of the end of the world.

Every day seems like a war.
And every step feels like rigor mortis has already set in.
Some days.

But we will not hide in basements.
Nor will we escape in helicopters or boats.
We're in this one for the long haul.
And we always aim right for the fucking head.

Photo - N
Words - S

Downtown

Tap tap tap tap on the window.
Warm air turns cold from water drops.
I look out the window and realize that I never knew this city was alive.
When you walk through it, you get the feeling that everyone
has given up the ghost.

I'm gonna leave this city.
And someday you will too.
But the city is alive for me now.
Someone made sure it's heart was
in the right place thump thump thump.

Photo - N
Words - S

Under the clock

Eyes make contact through traffic and crowded people making crowded walking sounds. I know your mind but not your voice and I only know still images. I've never seen you move in reality. I have no concept what the 3D version of you is. And then it jumps high in the air, wraps itself around me and my mind cannot do the math.

Photo - N
Words - S

The words aren't sung the right way

Work birthday cake tastes like your sister's french kisses.

The idea was there but the execution was creepy and oh so wrong.

Photo - N
Words - S

How did this all happen?

How did I accumulate the milage to get where I am and how come we met on the road? If you had taken that right turn back in 1997, we never would have passed by one another. If I sit here an extra 10 seconds, is there someone else that I will meet or not meet? Can our selves from another reality send down messages to let us know that everything makes sense when it shouldn't make sense? I think that's how pieorgies were made. Who decided that frying potatoes and cheese inside pasta would make sense? Throwing in some butter and onions would only make it better. Someone on some other earth was just sitting there and sent some harmonic message to some cook and voila - we had us some pierogies. It still doesn't explain SUVs or platypuses. Those really don't have a reason to exist. And they both kind of freak me out. Real bad.

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Words - S

The bird left right after this got taken

The bee doesn't have your problems. He or she really doesn't have any problems, other than the fact that honey needs made and if they need to use their greatest weapon, they are going to die. Which is kind of sad, because it's such an awesome stinger. But the bee isn't sad. I don't even know if the bee has a concept of life or death. Or sadness. Does the bee feel good when it makes honey? I hope so. I'd like to think that the bee leads a life of frolic and complete happiness. Utter joy. Pure bee love.

Photo - N
Words - S