‘what we love will kill us’ (from ‘dead bird’) i have trouble sitting inside myself. you think i am quiet gazing out the window but i am pacing the perch. i know the blue sky will eat me whole. i just wonder will it will break my neck first. * ‘DEAD BIRD’ NOW ON SALE AT AMAZON! * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and u…

‘neglecting the pet: an overview’ (from 'dead bird') you swing my door open i won’t come out extend a hand i won’t budge you’ll feed me now to starve me later you’ll free me now to put me back away you think it’s okay you think i think i should feel blessed and you deflect my depression oh you’ve open walls (at best) swing my door open i won’t come…

‘peering through’ (from 'dead bird') no childhood to fall back on small wonder i fear cliffs sterilized by the book i made myself fertile across a page; am i beautiful a bruise is a knuckle unaware of the patient hand so truth slurs sometimes through lips stained red and the bars of this cage allow more room than they should silence is like darknes…

‘accepting the silence’ (from 'dead bird') once the blood stains the hands is there coming back or do we start over accepting the silence perhaps interment is a matter of layers a depth of infliction meant to condition the mind of the true horrors that await there is no use brandishing palms not when the stigma already infects self left to rot insi…

‘first taste of fall’ one more thing strapped to my back i have loosened searching for pockets to shift its weight i never learn all that’s been collected is just one more thing someone forgets so why can’t i drop it i deserve to be weightless hollow boned, less structure, more space what’s it like to wake careless, what’s it like to wake knowing, …

‘bar: 5:02 pm sunday’ maybe i won’t find healing here but i sure as hell won’t suffer anymore. * ‘DEAD BIRD’ RELEASES OCTOBER 15! TUNE IN FOR MORE DETAILS! * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted. The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars. * 'From My Front Steps,' 'Sc…

‘harbinger’ i told her i’d check in for a weekend and if no reply she’d know where to collect me. * MY NEW POETRY COLLECTION RELEASES OCTOBER 15! DETAILS TO COME! * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted. The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars. * 'From My Front Step…

‘you’re hurting me’ sky falls a slap to the head the sea notwithstanding still, a ringing in my ear and you, with your fondness for forests, leave me as still and cruelly as silent. my stupid facial expression from its pocket and read like an inscription duplicity has again set its teeth onto me. while you, indifferent, unspeaking and unsharing, sl…

‘it’s midafternoon and i’ll be drinking all night’ sit, rediscover faith; false prophets will eventually drain your pocket in time. your maker won’t be found in gospel rather the sting at the back of your throat. * MY NEW POETRY COLLECTION RELEASES OCTOBER 15! DETAILS TO COME! * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and un…

‘fodder’ what attracted you to my writing in the first place? did you say to yourself here is a man unabashedly sharing his pains and losses and inner most thoughts sans the veil of anonymity in such a refreshingly raw and vulnerable way that eventually i’ll reduce him to a depth lower than he’s ever wanted to know? * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Jo…

‘the logic of drinking bourbon alone’ an untimely breakup is like a death really, your lover in the here no longer in the now. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted. The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars. * 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distil…

there are no leads a crime scene now he thumbs through his phone searching for clues a motive behind the tragic death of a starstruck boy and his once in a lifetime love. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted. The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars. * 'From My Fr…

‘learning to show you my bruises too’ sometimes it’s just one thing that sends the insecure boy scrambling for hidden meaning, for deeper meaning, so scared you’ll say it’s time for you to go home. sometimes the man smiles while the boy stands in tears. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment c…

‘take what you are wherever you are’ in my house and i feel unsettled. out of my house and i feel unsettled. within myself and i am grounded. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted. The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars. * 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars…

‘mine’ she collects hearts wherever she goes yet dropped the biggest she’ll find. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted. The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars. * 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in p…

i no longer get off... ‘your words’ your words masturbate repeat over and over. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted. The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars. * 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in pap…

‘welcome’ i fear i’ve made home a pad, a ghost, a bottle an empty space with structure structure grieving its loss loss so full and round it’s awful. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted. The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars. * 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch a…

‘she has left me in silence’ and i fear another long season grows upon me. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted. The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars. * 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperbac…

‘it lacks the likes’ they throw words together; i collide my life. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted. The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars. * 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and eb…

‘square between the eyes’ it’s a bitch, isn’t it? you spend half your life trying to be part of something then realize you’re enough. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted. The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars. * 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A…

‘without milk’ as a young boy i’d eat cheerios one by one filling myself most on the nothing within them. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted. The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars. * 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry co…

‘cemetery’ my father is dead and i since left inanimate by the living. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted. The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars. * 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback an…

‘oneirocritic’ a plane must taxi the runway before takeoff yet i never hesitated handing you my heart. and across this abstract sphere of nothingness we now find ourselves there remains no gate for boarding, no means to come home. luggage heavier than my head and shuffling feet replace the space to rest either. the plans we made a hole i fell in. m…

‘small of her back’ to infinity and beyond! * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted. The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars. * 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on Amazon. * www.et…

‘drenched in truth’ oh hey your umbrella floods the car mat my heart pours into your mouth rain pelts the roof we can’t hear flash out the window then a slow rumble declares we are us. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted. The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars.…

‘parking garage’ and after we loved i took and twirled her about old song for a new dance and from the small of her back pressed her through my soul now she goes where she don’t and i make from where i broke something more beautiful than i ever thought pinkie to pinkie the twine you can’t see but she’s mine and when the music ends she says i’ve a p…

‘seeing with clarity’ off in the distance the hawks draw circles the way i want to rewrite your skin not your history i’m touching just a place for me to live in. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted. The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars. * 'From My Front Step…

‘play-doh’ i cracked the seal faith so malleable in my hands twist and bend craft a solid figure easier to hold mashed together what falls will stick again is this all i’ve been after another pretend i think i can shape legs, arms, the head i cannot press together my chest too large for the rest inconsiderate, and ignorant, i fall beneath the frame…

‘good morning’ she has a way of putting her smile through the phone. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted. The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars. * 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and …

‘so deeply’ if anyone should ask what it’s like to kiss her i’ll say falling in. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted. The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars. * 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in pa…

‘hospice’ this house is dying. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted. The large majority of my poetry handcrafted from inside bars. * 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on Amazon. * www.etsy.com/shop/J…

‘ecosystem’ the ribcage blossoms plastic carnations milkweed entwinements crows that pluck at the heart. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted * 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on Amazon. * www.etsy…

‘timing’ she asked “how do you know i’m not filling your void?” because you saw my light. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted * 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on Amazon. * www.etsy.com/shop/Josep…

‘rake’ it’s the way she collects me when i’ve fallen. those choke me till i’m just short of life eyes. against cool pane her cheek by my hand. pressing against her senses until she’s starry and that pride stripped to her ankles. she’ll submit the way she took me by her teeth. i can’t zip up without flinching. we know our love’s a farce and i’ll be …

‘they play at three’ they’re a great two-man band but i couldn’t hear them i was busy falling deeper in love. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted * 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on Amazon. * www…

‘ignipotent’ i collapse into you the way rome fell, she says, the ditches dug into my back proof. she could never stand on her own two feet and i could never sleep alone. we’d kiss with tongues wrapped in oceans cause our hearts never nourished land. and when she showered her skin would bleat favors my fingers failed to repay. snuff me, snuff me an…

‘eat anything with her’ and the napkins scattered across the bar they blamed the wind while i my face finding my breath again after she stole it the way she slipped her leg over mine and my friend in the band played a song i can’t remember what but it was perfect i had hamburger on my chin but she makes me a mess anyway. * #barflypoet #josephapinto…

‘dander’ collect the corners. truth is i can’t stand you. clotting spaces you think i don’t look but there you are. hoarder of retreats i set aside. drawling footfall drawn further than the extraction from drunks. destroy my senses while living in a deficiency all your own. what a life to have entered into. what a shame to drain the expectancy from…

‘agglomerative’ daisies push from the trigger finger. i could have blown my brains but crapped the bed. i could have been a shadow now i’m just a stain. the murderer ties the boots. the killer flees without shoes. i’m stuck with the short end while my fucks get beaten by a stick. wipe the cock tip when it leaks yet ignore the mouth. change the shee…

‘basement’ mother doesn’t understand my profession. family holds their tongue. i’m reminded of strung hours in your futile ways while my own hands self-sacrifice till numb. down here the damp wreaks havoc waiting on blooming bones while booze goes slugged in detoured moments alone. all forget i claim a crown to king of men. i pave the ways without …

‘i learned’ i learned she’ll take the crispiest fries when i’m not looking and the smile in her eyes tells me she gave me a choice but she’s choosing and it’s okay she’s sipping my beer cause i love her and i want to share myself with her and there goes another fry but deep in her eyes another reason i stopped looking for anything other than her in…

‘muscle relaxers and bourbon to bed’ my body a theater of late here the truths and its unconscionable current. i despise me. i despise the way the closeness comes tarnished. lying woke, and watching, a slate of consumed expression, in-between of my eyes sharp or dull either and both at once; east to west i rise to fall, an absence i want this world…

‘extra’ tonight indignation listens to me solely but only when billy bush is not speaking. sometimes i worry my mind will explode in a spray of deep verses but the television can always be counted upon to pull me from the precipice. it has not turned 8pm yet and already i am bound for bed, alone, and like the lampshade, holding back my light. my tr…

‘what comes from not knowing’ bottle opens easier than door does key a function brain locks open-mouthed no entry stranger to house. no creeping mouse stolen sound crumble overtaken all left out date expired. railing keeps stairs; the only marriage never failed. holding the fingers cupped hands nothing squeezes tight enough avoids the spill. #barfl…

‘buddha’ so apologetic just for the record you say i do you when do you ever say you do me we’re so divided we’re so united i’m eating crow tonight to keep the peace i’m so buddha i am so miracle not losing my senses this seems senseless such a song on record sing it back you do when have you never nothing so hidden the sun, the moon, the truth i r…

‘things you learn in the dentist’s chair’ so much gets stuck under the surface you think you’re clean until something hits just the wrong way then you want to rip it out. we go on about our daily lives an accumulation beneath our noses the smile never shows what is hidden neither do we hear what is held under tongue. it is possible to feign a nap b…

‘daylight savings’ tomorrow goes an hour lost where goes all cast away chasing down ghost remains no saving grace to lengthened days love’s secrets shared beneath leaves what steals back to tides of seas can i say i still want you can i say you still hold me at this time nothing spins right how much longer spinning wrong another cycle spring ahead …

‘vagary’ it’s not like i saw this coming but i sure as hell put it out there enough. signal like a streak of sun. when young mother would say careful or you’ll get hurt. now the call has been answered and twisted limbs are all i crave. these beacons bouncing between chests and i’m waiting for one of us to drop the broadcast but we’re not. we’ve rea…

‘vacuum’ here’s the thing about lonely you don’t need sun for it to follow. * #barflypoet #josephapinto www.josephpinto.com © Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved. * 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on Amazon. * www.etsy.com/shop/JosephPinto --- Support …

‘in this bar’ i made the sad song a double to fill the single shot of reality i walked in with between the eyes. * #barflypoet #josephapinto www.josephpinto.com © Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved. * 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on Amazon. * www.e…