ManninoAcid

The Wonder(ful)

The product of a somewhat self-indulgent look at the words “beautiful” and “beauty,” this poem became an exploration of the different meanings derived from compound words and their roots. While it is certainly complementary to call someone beautiful, declaring them to be full of beauty, it seemed far more powerful to refer to someone asContinue reading “The Wonder(ful)”

A Heretic’s Prayer

Drawing heavily on my dysfunctional relationship with organized religion, the following series of poems represent decades of repressed personal feelings as well as the collective laments of countless critics before me. I endeavor to call out hypocrisy, shed light on logical fallacies and provoke a visceral response from those that have stopped questioning and challengingContinue reading “A Heretic’s Prayer”

Vaccine Man

(In the style of Van Halen’s “Ice Cream Man”) Now summertime’s here jackNeed something to keep you aliveNow summertime’s here jackNeed something to keep you aliveYou better look out now‘Cause Biden’s got somethin’ for youI’ll tell ya what it is… I’m your vaccine manStop me when I’m passin’ byI’m your vaccine manStop me when I’mContinue reading “Vaccine Man”

Vito’s Legacy Workshop

Sometime early last spring, I impulse bought a totally gnarly, steampunk-inspired Nixie Tube clock from that bastion of truth in advertising platform, Facebook. I bought a clock; I received a kit. Not right away, mind you. Oh no, it took eight weeks for them to send me the tubes, circuit board, and a ramshackle pileContinue reading “Vito’s Legacy Workshop”

Notice The Small

I challenge you to notice something small today. Look around at the familiar and seek out a minor detail that has previously evaded you. Most of what we observe gets conveniently summarized in our minds, grouped, and cataloged for ease of consumption. The challenge is to find a needle amid a myriad of haystacks andContinue reading “Notice The Small”

Chasing Zero

In our never-ending quest for growth, we often overlook the relative peace found by achieving a state of equilibrium. We claw and scratch our way up until we reach such lofty heights that the only place to go is down. We inevitably crash deep in a well of heartache, left to wonder how we willContinue reading “Chasing Zero”

Syntropy

When observing the natural world, we must confront the physical limitations of entropy, where cause always precedes effect, where we can’t unscramble an egg, and where a broken teacup will not become magically unbroken. This perceptual limitation does not exist in our minds, where we are free to imagine the arrow of time flying inContinue reading “Syntropy”

The Stain Remains

So it appears in the endThat the swamp was much deeperPerhaps lies came easierSince words are so much cheaper He stepped right into the messWith zero intent to cleanDumping vials of vileness‘Til the smell grew too obscene The fetid, foul funk backed upBubbling in from parts unknownSeeping into every poreRotting us down to the boneContinue reading “The Stain Remains”

Across the Aisle

Right here and now at this place in time We come to a scene quite surreal Searching for somewhere to pin this crime With no care for how others may feel Sprung from bowels of misconception Awash in the pettifog of war Rung bells of intended deception At such levels never heard before And thereContinue reading “Across the Aisle”

The Cave

In the “Allegory of the Cave,” Plato describes a society that has spent their existence unknowingly imprisoned beneath the ground, with only the play of shadows across the walls providing content for their existence. They regard these shadows as absolute truth, never knowing there is a more tangible reality behind them. They spend their livesContinue reading “The Cave”