if i’m okay

 

an excerpt from my new collection

‘FROM MY FRONT STEPS’ 

 

if i’m okay

 

she’s having her first sleepover

i can feel her glow from down the block

she’s found a friend who accepts her as she is

it’s all i could ever ask for

a lesson i pray she learns

without my constant reminding

it’s hard being a father

trading football jersey for dolls

a stern tongue for princess voices

and i’d be a liar if i said i wasn’t a bit sad

and i’d be a liar if i said i won’t consult

the stuffed animals lining her bed tonight

hoping they’ll ask in inflections i impersonate

if i’m okay.

 

listen to this poem

 

‘FROM MY FRONT STEPS‘

now available on Amazon

 

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved.

all poetry is older work and chosen at random unless otherwise noted.

 

‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

subscribe to the audio barflypoet YouTube channel https://tinyurl.com/y2stm5ms

thunder

 

an excerpt from my new collection

‘FROM MY FRONT STEPS’ 

 

thunder

 

when i was a little boy

my mother told me

thunder was only the sound

of angels bowling overhead

so when i hear it now

i laugh with the thought

we’re all on one big alley

wearing miscolored shoes.

 

listen to this poem

 

‘FROM MY FRONT STEPS‘

now available on Amazon

 

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved.

all poetry is older work and chosen at random unless otherwise noted.

 

‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

subscribe to the audio barflypoet YouTube channel https://tinyurl.com/y2stm5ms

the forgotten phase

 

an excerpt from my new collection

‘FROM MY FRONT STEPS’ 

 

the forgotten phase

 

the country closed tight

though like an old whore

some parts insist on parting open

accepting the dime but not the dollar

common sense priceless and drying in jars

moonshine gone the way of lemonade

and the sober guzzle it

while the drunks measure the fingers

clinging inside the glass

laughing cause they get it—

the hard stuff lends the buzz

but reality is what’ll get ya—

with swimming heads they toast the drowning

knowing thru abandoned hearts

they trained for the marathon

not the race.

 

listen to this poem

 

‘FROM MY FRONT STEPS‘

now available on Amazon

 

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved.

all poetry is older work and chosen at random unless otherwise noted.

 

‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

subscribe to the audio barflypoet YouTube channel https://tinyurl.com/y2stm5ms

elopement

 

elopement

 

so this is it

the guests have gone

the way unattended

no one to witness

your first dance

did you sweep away

your lack of rsvps

along with

your growing return of regrets

they were released, you know

doves to sky, or rice

so cliché

the old italian man

grips the broom and in my accent

your love has been like wahter

always running.

we shared the same vision once

billowing white draperies

ghosts to air in our beach villa

and i’ve clutched your spirit since

and you’ve fled our vision

like wahter.

so this is it

no one to hear your heels skipping

save the old italian man

his broom keeping cadence.

 

listen to this poem

 

‘FROM MY FRONT STEPS‘

now available on Amazon

 

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved.

all poetry is older work and chosen at random unless otherwise noted.

 

‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

subscribe to the audio barflypoet YouTube channel https://tinyurl.com/y2stm5ms

the family

 

it’s a fine looking family, don’t you think?

 

‘FROM MY FRONT STEPS‘

now available on Amazon

 

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved.

all poetry is older work and chosen at random unless otherwise noted.

 

‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

subscribe to the audio barflypoet YouTube channel https://tinyurl.com/y2stm5ms

 

self-analysis

 

self-analysis

 

figure yourself the fuck out.

 

i can’t do it for you.

 

listen to this poem

 

‘FROM MY FRONT STEPS‘

now available on Amazon

 

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved.

all poetry is older work and chosen at random unless otherwise noted.

 

‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

subscribe to the audio barflypoet YouTube channel https://tinyurl.com/y2stm5ms

 

you knew shit until me

 

you knew shit until me

 

so accustomed you were

to the frill, the grandeur

so accustomed to sparkle

the hollow repetition

of delicacies;

you never saw me coming;

you never knew i

existed at all;

truths long denied

now stain you;

gentle love atop your bed

traded for a hard fuck

against the wall.

 

listen to this poem

 

‘FROM MY FRONT STEPS‘

now available on Amazon

 

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved.

all poetry is older work and chosen at random unless otherwise noted.

 

‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

subscribe to the audio barflypoet YouTube channel https://tinyurl.com/y2stm5ms

 

thunder

 

thunder

 

it’s thunderously quiet in this dark.

the truth is that no matter how much

i tell myself i am better off without you

i’m not.

 

listen to this poem

 

‘FROM MY FRONT STEPS‘

now available on Amazon

 

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved.

all poetry is older work and chosen at random unless otherwise noted.

 

‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

subscribe to the audio barflypoet YouTube channel https://tinyurl.com/y2stm5ms

 

right mix

 

right mix

 

you and me

 

nothing but bone

to provide space

 

flesh to bind.

 

listen to this poem

 

‘FROM MY FRONT STEPS‘

now available on Amazon

 

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved.

all poetry is older work and chosen at random unless otherwise noted.

 

‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

subscribe to the audio barflypoet YouTube channel https://tinyurl.com/y2stm5ms

 

day after day

 

day after day

 

the cruelest

of all the lonelies

is waiting on a phone

that refuses to ring.

 

listen to this poem

 

‘FROM MY FRONT STEPS‘

now available on Amazon

 

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved.

all poetry is older work and chosen at random unless otherwise noted.

 

‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

subscribe to the audio barflypoet YouTube channel https://tinyurl.com/y2stm5ms