Graveyard Murals [Benny you're a fool...]

A poem about an old friend and New Orleans...

Graveyard Murals [Benny you're a fool...]

I wake up, screaming a prayer

only to find there is no one there

alone, in this bedroom of ghosts

painted murals, playing host

to all my ribbon-wrapped dreams

and though it seems to some

I've made a graveyard of my home

with all these painted wishes

and charcoal skies

it's where I feel most comfortable

kept alive by these silent cries

you hear me here

pacing tracks in my hardwood floors

afraid to sleep,

--so with pacing feet,

I dip my fingers in paint once more.

you say your bones are tired

and your eyes have seen the world

fade and reignite, fall and start to twirl;

and that you see in me

with your charcoal eyes

these graveyard murals I try to hide...

but Benny, you're a fool

with your face lined with age and smiles

while mine is smooth

--like washed stone

from too many storms

too many broken homes...

I miss your foolish laugh

and your glass half full mentality

your woeful guitar

crying out, while you smiled at me

because you knew

that I would leave New Orleans behind

that in time I'd find a different kind of life...

more than my paved heart

when I was done with this aching part

when I was done painting, praying

sleeping and laying

in my painted, carved

---mural graveyard.

You were right, as foolish as you were

and it's kind of cruel

knowing you're smiling far away

watching on me everyday

as my fears just start to fade

yes, you're quite cruel

Benny, you wise old, happy fool...

Author's Note

Writing this for a compilation I'm making called Dreams of New Orleans. Expect this theme to become prevalent in future works lol Perhaps less dour, though lol

Reviews

[Lovecraft]

I like this poem, dark but optimistic in a sense of remembrance.

This poem mostly reminds me of the Lafayette cemetery with its above-ground sedentary occupants and the way it's slowly sinking...

But I digress, this poem has a Neo-Gothic feel to it in my opinion. This is a great poem.

[MachinaWriter]

How did you even find this? I find it strange when an old poem of mine gets a random review. Either way, I appreciate the compliment.

[Lovecraft]

I think someone may have recommended it. :)

[Bright Ocean Star]

"I miss your foolish laugh and your glass half full mentality your woeful guitar crying out, while you smiled at me".... so beautiful. This is a remarkable, sweet tribute to an obviously old and dear friend. I love it!
100/100

[MachinaWriter]

Thank you, truly. Yes, Benny was a great friend of mine. A fool, nonetheless, but a great friend lol He was placed in my life at just the right moment and taken away far too soon. I'm glad you enjoyed it and thank you for taking the time to read and leave a comment.

[kublakhan27]

I woke up screaming a prayer...killer first line. I don't even know what else to say about this one except that you've once again brought to life the city and a scene that I'm sure gets lived out on a regular basis. I find this to be a darker counterpart to the one I previously read, even though there does seem to be some bits of dry humour in there as well. The imagery in this piece is off the charts: painted wishes, ribbon-wrapped dreams, charcoal skies, and the list goes on. Great work my friend :)

[MachinaWriter]

Thank you ^^ I truly appreciate it. And it is a bit darker than the other one, but that's the great thing about New Orleans. It's a city of contrast, which is why I relate to it so well. I'm glad you caught the dry humour, wasn't sure if that would come across.

[kublakhan27]

It is very much a tale of two cities, and I'm sure that's what draws so many people to it. Glad to know that I wasn't off the mark, I'm always afraid of that when reading other people's work...I'm afraid of it with my own work for Pete's sake haha :P

[MachinaWriter]

haha ^-^ I know, especially with ones with a lot of metaphors. I always gets something out of them, powerfully, but then I'm like "wait...what if that's not what they meant?" lol

Random, but I've just been reading through all my old poems on here, from when I first joined. It is so crazy seeing how my style evolved over time. Haha. It started out sounding like angry rap songs, and then these story poems, and then this sort of free form thing, and eventually to what it is now. So weird lol

[kublakhan27]

Haha I think we all do that backtrack once in a while...I've been here for about two years now, but I have the luxury of fifteen years worth of writing so a lot of my earliest stuff is not here, mainly cuz I cringe with embarrassment as I look back on a lot of it haha And a lot of mine was pretty angry as well. So angry that I had several journals worth of it along with all the poetry. Last year I put all those journals through a shredder, and I don't regret it or miss them one bit haha

[MachinaWriter]

Until I joined this site...umm...two-ish? years ago...I'd never written a poem in my life. I'm a story writer, always have been. But now I'm a poetry addict. I start feeling restless when I don't write poetry or feel I can't.

I'd love for you to check out one of those early ones on my page, if you get the chance. You'll probably get a kick out of how different it all is haha

Strangely, somehow I used to get "more" reviews on that stuff, and I wasn't anywhere near as good a poet...