imagining the suffering

of the broken and despairing


who wait for death

when there is no death...




Content (c) 2008-2012 Philip Milito.

depart from me this moment

there's nothing going on here


I've banished my evil twin

and anxiously wait for his return


at the next hard knock

the next failure of hope


the next time I blame someone else

for my own mistakes...



Content (c) 2008-2012 Philip Milito.

who knows where we go

or where we end up


we only have our here and now


and that'll have to be enough...



Content (c) 2008-2012 Philip Milito. All rights reserved.

we're not who we think we are


our illusions of love and faith

just a drug to soothe troubled minds


but when of our false beliefs we're relieved

and realize nothing has changed

for all our praying and sleeve-tearing


then you rage and boil and then subside

into the grave of our making


as long as we're in this skin

we only know to the limits of our grasp

and even if we did transcend


it is never ours to know for sure....




Content (c) 2008-2012 Philip Milito. All rights reserved.

the evil runs deep

in all our bones

and goodness just an illusion

for which a fool atones


don't believe you've got it made

don't believe you're on top of it

the evil runs deep

and turns all heavens to shit



Content (c) 2008-2012 Philip Milito. All rights reserved.

spare me the sermon

the lecture

the civics lesson

or any other pronouncements


about spirit or ethics or politics

or respect for others

I don't want to know it

I don't want to hear


I've sunk in my own quagmire

of misplaced faith and groundless hope

and while I face my fall

don't stand there preaching


your self-serving gospel to me

it's all I can do to try and draw

peace from my agony

and strength from my afflictions


and face my end with more grace than

I exhibited while I lived my hapless fate

and I don't need your benedictions

one day you'll know what I've suffered


then you won't be so free with your advice

or your judgments

on your soapbox spouting while some clown

on the rafters overhead


dribbles spit onto the top of your head...



Content (c) 2008-2012 Philip Milito. All rights reserved.

completion is inclusive

and no story is ever done


let the god who lays liability on our weak shoulders

while vengeance is the only thing this god is about


mess with us every step of our journey

we're not done until the killing blow falls


and even then the story goes on

if only because there is no completion


as long as we live....



Content (c) 2008-2012 Philip Milito. All rights reserved.