The May Second Selected Poet is J. Michael Seals

Please feel free to email J. Michael at: jmichaelseals@gmail.com

OFFERING

Hold on to one addiction
I had to give the rest away
All the dragons and their monkeys
Were just too wild to stay
Their games had left me broken
Bitter cold and at my end
In the shadows where I cast them down
Into a place I’ve often been
You can take all that you want from me
My respect and self control
But like the silver steel I grip
In mere seconds I’ll be cold
Its really just much easier
To take the quick way out
To put an end to all my pains
To this anxiety and doubt
I fear to be awake much more
As my mind starts to spin
Like so many nights before
That I let my demons in
I guess I’ll take a final look
As my recollection fades away
It’s not me I’m seeing anymore
This pale flesh completely grey
My soul will soon be soaring
Far above my earthen tomb
And there is no one here to weep
As my cold body’s turning blue
Anyone I thought was close to me
Soon replaced me with their greed
So I offer you only silence now
And the chance to watch me bleed

WANTING

If I admit to you my true intent
I wonder if you’d feel the same
If I asked you for a drop of blood
If it would ease this awful pain
Would you gladly open up your wrist
Would you let me get my fill
Even if you had to bleed all out
And your bones so deeply chilled
Would you offer me the warmth you have
Would you offer me your flesh
Would you make me take it from your bones
And pull the beating heart
Right from your chest
I would gladly give you all the same
Regardless of the end
But as quickly as our love began
So much more quickly it must end

ART COLLECTOR

I add to my collection
And piece by piece it grows
My fascination feeds the need
Anticipation fills my soul
A child from His creation
He can’t stop what I’ve begun
Your prayers all fall on deafened ears
Pious screams made to His Son
You really should feel honored
I find your beauty so unreal
A masterpiece of flesh and blood
I paint with sharpened steel
You need to stay awake for me
So you can watch as I create
You can see your place upon my wall
The centerpiece of my estate
I promise that your beauty
Will last for all eternity
Unlike the ones that came before
When I was a mere fledgling
My passion honed my craft
And I get much better every time
You will become my finest art
And my most exhilarating crime

Between being a devoted father and husband, and working a fulltime job, J. Michael Seals manages to find time to engage in multiple hobbies—all of which play an important part in becoming the person he’s always wanted to be. Supporting the growing organic food movement, growing super hot peppers, enjoying nature, and all aspects of music, he finds writing the most cathartic of his interests. His small-town Iowa upbringing coupled with the diversity of Middle Tennessee (where he now resides) has helped him discover what life is truly about, and exploring self expression and individualism ranks highly on this grand list of life.