Charlottesville Lovers

There’s this way you can just lie there

Not saying anything at all

Just two bodies curled together

The warm summer sun filtering through floral curtains

I see the constellation on the wall weaving and curling

Like my fingers along your hand

Palm reading and trying to see the future

Your future, my future, our future?

I’m stuck for the moment

Allowing my mind to drift to take away from my numb arm you’ve commandeered as a pillow

Eventually you will roll away

Pulling the covers over your breasts and thighs

I take the opportunity to head to the bathroom

Finding my underwear on the floor beside my socks

Splashing cold water in my face and staring into the mirror

There are moments when a boy knows he’s become a man

Running my hand through hair that has somehow become darker and stronger

Where’s my hat?

I know my hat is part of my personality

Because I wear it alone

Absently switching it back and forth

Trying to figure out the best sentence

The 21^st century brought forth a new age of poets

Gone was the fame and notoriety

Replaced with desperation

Quite passionate though

And perhaps our only salvation

The climate outside has become edgy

Cars flying into groups of people

Limbs and hearts breaking simultaneously

A mother sobs in front of the news team

Of course she loved her son

Do we need such obvious pain affirmed to us?

Yet she deserves to tell her story

I just wonder if we’ll learn from it

You’ve shown up in the mirrors reflection

You must have found your underwear on the floor as well

And my t-shirt that looks so big on you

Finally, my hat

That you place on my head backwards

Wrapping your hands around my bare chest from behind

Not much to be said

The headline stands out on the newspaper perched on top of the toilet

This is the image I’ll leave you with

Two young lovers who may be able to change the world

Belief lies in inspiration

It may just lie in our embraces

We are connected through love, life, and loss

So very human on this beautiful disaster of a planet

-d.t.r

The Shazam Series 2

RIP Sean Price

Dave East's powerful song off 'Kairi Channel'-Don't Shoot

Also in the same session...

Modern Day Tuxedo Mask

A suit on and a fake smile

The modern day tuxedo mask

I tread carefully with you

As if I’m in a dream and I’ll wake up when I grab your hand too tight

A man of subtlety anyways

A soft brush of the lips

Tracing my hand along your hips

Surreal blue flames engulf my fingers

Biting your lip so the feeling lingers

I’m hovering somewhere above this all

Stuck in purgatory with these memories

She didn’t want sweet lies whispered in her ear

She preferred bitter yet honest tragedy

But those words were true to me at the time

Everything so right at the time

You have to see we share some guilt for this crime

Yet couldn’t find the words to mend it all together

-d.r

The Shazam Series 1

Setting: My couch watching Lakai's Fully Flared for the millionth time.

Men Cry, Get Over It

Men cry. Get over it.

I'm referring to DC's loss to Jones this past weekend. Even when we take out the fact he was (quite brutally) knocked out and wasn't in any condition to be interviewed. At the end of the day the guy just fought a battle and emotion overcame him.
When it comes to Men..our tears don't make us weak. Stronger, I'd say.

There's this whole phenomenon I've been experiencing. I call it being on my grown man shit. Definitions need to be changed. Especially when we're talking about "real men". It's the societal projection of what "real men" say/do that is garbage. It doesn't surprise me that suppressed emotion comes out as violence. We aren't being taught to understand our own emotions enough. I've seen countless fights. Most instigated over mindless bullshit. Mostly two ego's seeking desperate validation from peers.

Yet MMA is the opposite of that. I'd say it's the antidote to what I mentioned above. Nothing is more humbling than a choke hold giving you two options. Tap or lights out.Vigorous training routines and a scientific knowledge of striking and take downs. The opponents may not always respect each other but do shake hands and quite often make peace afterwards. I could go on and on about how professional fighting is much different than bar brawls (duh). 
Crying men are generally the butt of a joke by both males and females. You may recognize popular meme's such as:

I've even noticed gender equality groups using images such as these to make fun of males they "don't like". 
So yeah, men cry, get over it. We tend not to make a show of it. Men lack an emotional support community anyways. Nobody is rubbing our shoulders and telling us everything is going to be OK. We are burdened by the expectation that we be tough and stoic in appearance. 
And plenty men are covered in muscles and tattoos as part of their self expression. There's also men that are artists and writers. Some men have unique fashion senses and others pride themselves on their hair. They are all equally men. No matter what preferred image is projected upon us we are all equal. 
All of us cry. No kidding. 

-d,r