I feel sun on my knees 

through a tenth floor window 

coughing through anxieties 

of a world below 

here I am eating écoliers 

while the world fights below  

I hear the sound of a Wurlitzer 

and the voice-over goes: 

Will you ever find 

the happiness deserved 

the love and the money 

you thought was yours 

tune in tomorrow and see 

another...

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My journey standing still 

you get kicked upstairs 

forced to care 

just to understand 

what’s happening 

blows come hard and fast 

you’re rearranging the past 

just to make the violence 

make sense 

so you pull the millennia back 

and there’s still that lack 

of common sense

and human kindness

until you’re forced to conclude 

there’s h...

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Our incomplete souls 

filled with desires of all kinds 

some of them aren’t even mine 

the closer I get to the prize 

the more something else catches my eye 

I feel like I’m not in control 

I sit between shelves 

of objects 

too many to collect

what I want never ends 

just makes me worship 

the lack 

how far do you have to 

zoom out 

fo...

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blurred Kodak photographs

cheese from that farm 

an old Brazilian album 

memories of my mom 

as a child playing soccer 

my dog in the park 

collecting comic books 

arguing about artists 

trains to Paris; planes to Rio

memories of Tehran 

drugs in your apartment 

waking up with the sun

joking with students  

paychecks on books 

pens from Muji...

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...with my new trio, "RobBanksw/Leon": 

Click here for clip

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Everyone Leaves

Everybody leaves 

for certain we grieve 

for some we’re relieved 

where they go we’ll see 

I say goodbye 

when I meet you 

we wont have 

eternity to be blue 

there might be 

only this memory 

that might be 

all it needs  

I say hello to this solitude 

that stays when you leave 

the only one that’s faithful 

despite...

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before the internet 

dating apps 

music was scary 

it was all that 

do you remember rocknroll 

on your clock radio 

decades pass like gas 

over your telephone 

Shoobie doobie 

doobie doo wah  

Papa Oooh Mau Mau 

Ooo papadu

Shimmie shimmie koko bop 

a whop baba lubop  

nah nah nah hey hey 

la la la la la 

I never knew what it meant...

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Pocket Armageddon 

don’t have to add it up 

don’t need a photo or a map 

you know it’s wrong 

and that’s really that  

how it sits with you

drinks your coffee; eats your bread 

entertaining you all day long 

taking you to bed 

spending the bread 

giving in to the moment 

you like being fed 

while others take the torment 

a d...

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my dearest 

enemy

you know I’ve always 

given everything 

even when you weren’t 

watching me 

I felt you with me 

mocking me 

through failure to failure 

I was happy even then 

knowing I was giving comfort 

to you how that must’ve felt 

exotic your hatred of me 

became something else 

in your happiness 

and powerlessness 

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blow up 

contradictions 

throw up 

addictions 

where 

is this dream 

that we’re 

supposed to be living 

whence came 

the disappointment 

wherefore art 

thou enjoyable 

to yourself 

comes the duty  

to be or not

irresponsible 

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a mother of three 

a child in need 

group of masked teens 

sentient vegetable beings 

man with a wooden hand 

two sisters in Islamabad 

teachers on sabbatical 

whores on a bicycle 

frozen boxes of fish 

three covens of witches 

a tired driver in braces 

you with your sense of grace

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Why would I think to move 

or even leave 

it’s warm in here I’ve got 

so much more to read 

I’ve tried outside 

it doesn’t bring 

the view 

I get from this seat 

people are quiet here

and my only fear 

is someone taking 

what I need 

when I’m hungry 

I look up a recipe 

when I’m lonely 

I take a biography 

I feel happy 

with ph...

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when the sun refuses to shine 

and the land starts to decline 

people put up a cry 

the king, the king must die 

young, handsome, and strong 

fought everyone to the top 

took a bride on the first of March 

people celebrated all month long 

long as crops grew in the fields 

enemies knew the deal 

there was peace; hope to be seen 

in nights of the people’s ...

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drills pump oil sucked out of the ground 

refined in Alabama from the Persian Gulf 

plastic to China sold to America 

red shipping container and a see-through box 

sold me at midnight in my lonely life 

played it twice it don’t turn on my mind 

customer care in Philippines girl from slums with a dream 

one day run a department right out of poverty 

help ...

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don’t call me 

a martyr 

I work off 

the clock

not that 

holy 

I fight myself 

to a draw 

and if I could just 

forget 

close my eyes 

to the rest 

I wouldn’t get 

so upset 

I might 

even relax 

tried 

meditation 

couldn’t get 

there 

too much 

information 

the evil 

is real 

stuck 

in thi...

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I forget everything I read 

it filters back as feeling 

maybe I’m doing 

the right thing 

I don’t get nostalgic 

I’m not coming back 

it was bad enough once, 

just embarrassing  

I just miss what 

I never had 

with a sweetness 

a sunset 

I miss what 

I always felt 

my life should be 

like I wrote it myself

there are your 

pulsi...

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Getting and Forgetting

I find you in others 

your name scrawled in markers 

just when I think I’ve discovered 

something rare you’re there 

it goes beyond coincidence 

it’s persistent I could easily 

mistake something random 

for planned, yet you appear 

I re-spread the covers 

protecting myself from goblins 

meanwhile windmills of my mind 

are pr...

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You chase it

pace it 

almost 

caught by it 

someone 

nearly bought it 

many already

too done with it 

we get there eventually 

maybe dimensionally

inevitably we become 

yet another thing

restless 

get dressed 

walk the city 

shaking streets 

history 

saying something 

we hear 

yet can’t feel 

at rest 

in bed 

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Sometimes you 

think you’re done 

when you’re not 

fault lines emerge from the plot 

other times it’s over 

before it’s begun 

rhymes can’t fire 

it’s no one else’s fault 

silver lining’s 

there in the sky

dancing around

its own outlines 

from a distance 

things make more sense 

reversals and tragedies 

embroidered in the silk 

si...

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don’t you think 

you’re worth it 

don’t you see 

what a t-shirt costs 

people will think 

you’re stupid

poor quality 

if you try to be reasonable 

just look out 

upon the world 

look into the mirror 

and say, 

“five hundred dollars” 

and

“seven hundred 

with your choice of sides”

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give me a “maybe” 

I don’t expect anything else 

in these times of uncertainty 

nothing’s a safe bet 

until you know me 

take it on faith 

everything I appear to be 

is an incomplete take 

and a maybe 

ain’t less that I’d expect 

“strategize boldly; implement cautiously” 

that’s how I live 

eight billion others 

sisters and brothers 

all wai...

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You could be anyone 

use that imagination 

power and privilege 

sale in the shop 

drawn to language 

storied emotions 

practical friends 

have it all mapped out 

a suburban boy 

world’s a whirly toy 

things are expected 

just read the lines 

suburban boys 

know when to wake up 

fold those dreams 

in time for the bus 

she’s done le...

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going to places 

new habits 

can’t be established 

meeting faces 

zoomed 

into fetishes 

eating things 

in cultural 

centers 

remembering 

chocolate and wine 

for friends 

for when this will 

be a memory 

intertwined with the daily 

grind slaving away 

for another week 

in another place

some things work 

some th...

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I can feel it 

today I’m going up 

you’re still 

on the ground 

I can give you 

the benefit of the doubt 

it’s pretty clear cut 

no one wants to hear

about your problems

everything’s public 

you need some luck 

you’ll stop going down 

I can give you some 

but only for the next hour

I heard what you said 

lateral thinki...

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Don’t feel sad for his parents 

They were warned 

Misplaced confidence 

Ain’t my sport 

“Let’s twist the world 

Till it starts to scream 

And then we’ll know about 

Inner beauty” 

He stabbed at life

With shovel and knife 

Pulling the disappointed along

By short hairs of spite 

Until the mirror gave 

Gave birth as it fractured

Into a 50 milli...

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Reading  

Reacting  

Realizing  

Reenacting  

Reaching  

Reminding  

Requiring  

Rescuing  

Responding  

Returning  

Relaxing 

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New Rituals

As phones stopped 
ringing decades ago 

and people we love
have mostly died off 

we make new rituals 
to mark our time on this rock 

taking an inventory 
of the flesh 

finishing the book 
we were distracted with 

eating things 
we’ve made ourselves 

remembering cookies 
by grandmas departed 

staring into the mirror 
until it smiles back 

avoiding news...

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our finest work

etched on its walls

our sincerest tributes

screamed in its stalls

judgement of the morning 

comes down to haunt 

with last night’s choices 

lost to the moment

politicians’ faces

in the light of day

world’s situations

against the love we’ve felt

all twisted together

splashed and passed out

in time for the morning 

train smi...

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you don’t remember 

what you’re missing 

only a diffuse pain 

in an area it could inhabit 

a desire 

you can’t describe 

nostalgia for a place 

never visited  

missing someone 

you’ve never met 

as memories 

are replaced by media 

you accept this feeling 

as a sort of poisoned ambition

it fuels you 

and you’re not sure...

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follow the line it 

wraps itself around 

everything’s rubbing now 

it’s all shiny

take your time 

spinning it in mind

it comes out thick 

smoking honey

keep on writing

stick it in blood 

carving your thoughts 

out of the walls

keep on writing 

till you break your arm 

then change hands 

and do it backwards

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why do we have to 

sacrifice again 

rains don’t come

nothing grows 

you only know 

what the corn knows 

gods are angry

take off your clothes 

squeeze betel 

on your face  

rub it deep 

into your skin 

kill the bull

drink from the head 

feel the spirit 

feel strength 

why do we have to be 

so primitive 

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you lose track of the time 

do you want some of mine 

you live to be read yet 

so shy with a pen 

these dreams are safer 

until they’re nightmares 

you put them on paper 

to share with your friends 

does it matter how it happened 

what isn’t traumatic 

somehow if we read it 

it hurts a bit less 

several more lines to go 

then you’ll feel less a...

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I cut myself open

heaven enters my head 

the relief of knowing 

there’s somewhere else 

just a scratch 

what can an itch really know 

it’s always been there

as a quiet persistent pulse 

I go deeper into things 

others avoid 

curiosity rewarded 

with worries and dark thoughts 

as if there was another way 

to see the world as a who...

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I eat your left overs 

knowing exactly what it means 

all your spiritual power 

flows directly into me 

you are the chicken 

I am the fish 

crying like an onion 

I chew your salad 

I feel strange; transformed 

with all this power vested in me

I will sit in my comfy chair 

and read another book

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Wrong 

These are the wrong times 

the best people 

are dead 

we turned around twice 

everyone has left 

holding the bill 

as trains ended  

we’ll have to make it up ourselves reconstructing lines 

to a better future 

walking home through the night 

in the wrong times 

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I look forward to 

not remembering 

to mistaking the film 

for a dream 

for the dream 

being my past 

for a childish sense 

of justice to prevail 

for the bad 

to be punished 

unless she’s very pretty 

in which case 

the nurse’s

come for the pan 

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made to lead 

wanna breed 

do what I do 

don’t wanna think  

things get complicated 

you get frustrated 

calm you down 

with what I’m making 

a man 

help me understand 

was I built for 

more than slaving and war  

man 

without a plan 

is worth less 

than food digested

visions and fears 

advertise nightly 

sacrificing

to b...

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I admire how empty 

your life is 

your work as a blur 

of leisure bits 

while war threatens 

your neighbors 

you paint a perfect portrait 

of the dog 

I admire how ugly 

your wife is 

how you love her 

with all your heart 

and your children 

so promising 

how they feel the void

with all their guts 

middle-class art 

taught in t...

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keep us one person apart 

distance preserves image 

no one’s in my head 

we’re not so different 

all alike in the dark 

and one’s the limit 

I delete the action 

as soon as it happens

you probably didn’t 

like yourself, either 

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between the laptop and the phone

cookies and the bone 

you rebound to come 

face to face with the loneliness 

after messages you've sent

the sounds of clarinets

marinate you 

with your onliness

putting in so much work 

into becoming unique 

towering over 

your own edifice

scanning the ground 

worms in your beak

for tiny creatures

to comfo...

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ideas invade me 

ideas captivate me 

I wrestle with them 

then they leave me 

not completely 

secretly becoming 

a part of me 

until I can’t remember being different 

you cling to them 

I reject you because 

I don’t have your connection 

to them 

I make them my own 

and you get irritated 

you take a new position 

and then I’m frustrated 

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the pain is real 

now he can’t reproduce it 

cavity was the big one 

they’d already filled it

he told me when 

he became a citizen 

took a pledge not 

to be a communist 

And he mentioned Khomeini 

And how the promises reminded him

And how he ignores the rhetoric 

All the bashing of Muslims

I talk with people 

I don’t agree with

I try to unde...

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Ain’t no place like America today 

I’m empty 

are you empty 

I want to share my emptiness 

with you 

we could fill each other

with these feelings 

we could fill each other with emptiness 

until we feel full 

I could move things around 

so could you 

we could change some colors 

and the mood 

until that emptiness 

was the ...

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Talking to everyone 

I talk to everybody 

like my dad used to do 

always keep it friendly 

don’t wanna be rude 

wanna know how you’re doing 

make the world less cold 

something about the burden 

feeling less of a load

I see life as absurd 

with some moments of truth 

health as a gift 

will one day be yours 

serious is easy 

laughter is ...

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I journey to the local community college once a semester to speak to a music appreciation class led by Dr. Michael Rose. I've put together some thoughts about poetry and songwriting. Might be of interest: 

10 Points on Songwriting

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I saved myself 

when no one else would 

with these books on a shelf 

and music I could get through 

hours coated with fears 

and disappointments 

the demons moved 

on to someone else 

as I went deeper 

into the artwork 

I saved myself 

when the weather turned 

histories spun in a wheel 

I fell into a childhood 

and the co...

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I love your body 

I made a map that I study 

there’s just one thing 

that distracts me from loving 

ideas haunt me 

they take me out for shopping 

through imagination 

stretching endlessly 

tell me what you’re building 

behind those eyes 

come live with me 

in the life of the mind 

we go from the streets 

to penthouse high 

but there’s somet...

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O god what have you done 

leaving us with 

the pain intact 

and our desires turned on 

I see everything 

I’m going numb 

evil’s let loose 

in every parking lot 

and I hide 

and I hide at home 

feeling unsafe 

in futuristic clothes 

my desires stretch 

for miles around 

while everyone else 

moves to higher ground 

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it would be easier 

to go along 

to erase the line 

between right and wrong 

and don’t the 

costumes look 

terribly sexy 

assaulted from 

every direction 

I just wanted 

to get an erection 

seeing something 

easy to understand 

spread across 

the entire land 

I woke up nazi 

hating everybody 

childhood disappointments 

came ...

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all this stuff 

you can’t take too much 

where you’re going 

you might just be all 

it’s just defense 

from the world’s dirty hands 

all those first editions 

caught in a flood 

it’s always now 

that’s what you thought 

bathing in their minds 

while your spine dissolved 

if you had just one 

moment to take along 

would it be found 

betwee...

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