Joseph A. Pinto

some prose poetry from november of 2021.

my daughter, now 17, has special needs. i help her get ready for school every morning. i walk her to the school and return to pick her up every day. i still brush her hair. i’ve been doing this since she’s been 4 years old.

life is far from fair, and to this day i have trouble accepting the why’s. but if god is who i think he is, he’ll have me guiding her once i’m gone. each of my dogs at my side, waiting…

‘bench’

 of course it’s a trick but fix your gaze long enough and you’ll believe angels dance in light. fingers of breeze play through leaves the way i spent mornings brushing your hair. sleep knots tied your locks and i’d do anything on earth to still be there. get yourself ready for school, you don’t need my help, but i’d hurry to you the moment you asked. i know your fingers didn’t work quite right. neither did my head accepting it. but look at you, wise woman grown from girl, goddess amongst mortal things. you must know by now the palm grows to cup the flame as slowly the wick withers. so i must let you be. i’ve had little to blind me of this life save you and a westward sun. please slip those once awkward fingers through the frightened of my own. stay till i can no more. i’ll sing a soft song of the days i held to your tender heart and we’ll spin along with spirits and i’ll keep my limbs like this old oak till my strength flees.

bench:

a long seat for two or more persons

*

listen to this poem

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#barflypoet

#josephapinto

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved

•

Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted

•

‘Dead Bird,’ From My Front Steps,’ ‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

bar observation:

listen in on some conversations. it’s just blah blah blah. but the drinking? it’s all business.

‘dumb, or are they’

waste the words

the meanings

but never waste

the alcohol

*

listen to this poem

•

#barflypoet

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© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved

•

Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted

•

‘Dead Bird,’ From My Front Steps,’ ‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

i call these ‘lubrication pieces.’ most of my writing sessions start with zero ideas. so i write anything! what’s the first thing i notice when glancing out the window? what seemingly mundane thing might’ve stuck in my head during the course of the day? how do my clothes feel on my body in the moment? whatever written doesn’t need to be good…it just needs to break the ice.

start with one small step.

‘i’ve never been here before’

sometimes change entails

a new bar

a new seat

entirely new lighting

to gain fresh perspective.

*

listen to this poem

•

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved

•

Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted

•

‘Dead Bird,’ From My Front Steps,’ ‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

i tried to get clean.

i swear i did…

‘junkie’

i loved you

not the devolved persuasiveness

you lowered like

a coffin into ground

you had an unconditional impatience

i had an analytical moderation

of grace

together we doted a new testament

(our complex game so easy to play)

i crowned your necessity believing

any good thing could be improvised;

i’m left now in trembling light;

like a needle it skips and

it jumps over my pores.

*

listen to this poem

•

#barflypoet

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© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved

•

Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted

•

‘dead bird,’ From My Front Steps,’ ‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

a simple little ‘quip’ today.

tired has handles.

weary keeps straps.

i know.

‘bags’

i have bags under my eyes.

they used to be full of something

now they only carry weight.

*

listen to this poem

•

#barflypoet

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© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved

•

Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted

•

‘dead bird,’ From My Front Steps,’ ‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

hello everyone! happy new year! i hope the coming months will be kind to you all and open the doors to your manifestations.

today’s poem is one i posted a long time ago but fitting, i believe, to share once more. our world has gone downhill with no end in sight, i fear. more than ever, we must find the champion within…

‘beacon’

we live in a world

of posers and followers

desperate for the

free and brave

to liberate us

from all the shit.

*

listen to this poem

•

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved

•

Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted

•

‘dead bird,’ From My Front Steps,’ ‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

i haven’t shared one of these in a while so here we go. it’s what i call my ‘prose poetry.’ i take an uncommon word and write to the emotions it stirs without using the actual word anywhere within my conjuring. enjoy!

this one is from june 2023.

‘basorexia’

mother and father never taught love they lessoned set it free. i enlightened myself the anguished prophecy of borrowed wings. there remain two deaths in this life the moment you cry from womb the other you noose faith around your neck. i learned thunder keeps deep woods. broke on the falsehood limbs ascend with wind. the whisper from the colonnade corkscrewing like something vintage yet aged enough to drink. to sink is to swim i rose above kith and kin treading like the hanged man open as the fool. why does what you yearn most arrive come dimming light? and in that twilight she at last appeared. all i once thought spectral raining like truth atop the eaves. thieved of the notion i’d die a complete version of myself her palms cupped as though doves the revelation my removed piece come home. who’d have taught love might be a prayer turned thought? what’s yours never leaves it’s just hope strips the bones till you finally set free and both her green and my brown eyes knew it.

basorexia:

the overwhelming desire to kiss

*

listen to this poem

•

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved

•

Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted

•

‘dead bird,’ From My Front Steps,’ ‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

shameless book promotion time! one last poem from ‘a distilled spirit’ published in 2018.

i suppose what makes me proudest about ‘a distilled spirit’ is that it’s my first poetry collection, poems lifted from my booze-stained notebooks and cobbled into cohesive form. it was my launching point as i’ve refined my voice over subsequent years and that’s the most important opportunity any writer can have.

sometimes ruminations are part dream part recollection. the following poem is just that.

‘a distilled spirit’ is available on amazon for your reading pleasure. if you enjoy it, please indulge me the favor of a review.

peace!

today’s selection is:

‘mercy killing’

do you remember that day you shushed me?

silk finger on my lips stilling

my pulse

clouds fell and you

caught them, dabbed

tears from my eyes, stole the

sun’s rays, stabbed them

through my heart.

mercy killing, so was whispered

still i,

i could not talk, not

with your fist down my

windpipe, sweet charm tearing

me apart.

i should have thanked you, admitted

you were never

to blame

still i,

i was the quiet one

and you,

you so insane.

*

listen to this poem

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

•

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved

•

Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted

•

‘dead bird,’ From My Front Steps,’ ‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

shameless book promotion time! more from my 2018 collection ‘a distilled spirit.’

this book wasn’t just about writing what i observed while drinking at bars. this book was the first time i began to dissect my inner feelings and put them on a plate to share.

i’ve had zero f*cks since.

‘a distilled spirit’ is available on amazon for your reading pleasure. link is in my profile. if you enjoy it, please indulge me the favor of a review.

peace!

today’s selection is:

‘empty, still you try’

my bones gleam

my eyes ache

as your unwavering light

searches across my pores.

you curse my resolve

while you continue your

bloodletting—

when will you learn my veins dried

a long time ago.

*

listen to this poem

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

•

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved

•

Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted

•

‘dead bird,’ From My Front Steps,’ ‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.

shameless book promotion time! on we go with ‘a distilled spirit’ from 2018.

there’s a story written on every face but few take the time to read them. even fewer know where to begin.

start in silence. ask the bartender for a drink. then sit. expand beyond yourself. then draw in that energy…

‘a distilled spirit’ is available on amazon for your reading pleasure. link is in my profile. if you enjoy it, please indulge me the favor of a review.

peace!

today’s selection is:

‘the tree’

her face was riddled.

dug into her cheek

an empty heart

like lovers carve into a tree.

there were no initials

no dates

just old skin

rough and crumbly like bark.

she stood alone

bowed

an ancient tree in the forest

awaiting a fall

no one would ever hear.

*

listen to this poem

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

•

#barflypoet

#josephapinto

© Copyright Joseph A. Pinto. All Rights Reserved

•

Poetry served raw and unedited from the moment crafted

•

‘dead bird,’ From My Front Steps,’ ‘Scotch and Scars’ and ‘A Distilled Spirit’ in paperback and Kindle ebook at Amazon.