Afraid
Afraid of my knees buckling out,
Afraid of a humpback whale with a cavernous snout.
Afraid of conditioning after shampoo,
Afraid of pineapple chunks chew.
Afraid of a venomous snake’s bite,
Afraid of growing to towering height.
Afraid of shaving skin too bare,
Afraid of closeness caught in a stare.
Afraid of seeds stuck deep in my teeth,
Afraid of the red wet line underneath.
Afraid of french fries that keep me fat,
Afraid of diving off the building to splat.
Afraid of exploding gasoline tanks,
Afraid of the sun’s no thanks.
Afraid of basements dark and cold,
Afraid of patterns that never unfold.
Afraid of cracking up surrounded by padded walls,
Afraid of mosquitoes sucking on my balls.
Afraid of intolerance and night sweats,
Afraid of hatred the world forgets.
Afraid of downtown karma kneeled,
Afraid of secrets revealed.
Afraid of living in silence and wrong,
Afraid of regrets that hum like a song.
Afraid of learning to play guitar,
Afraid of leaning in close at the end of the bar.
Afraid of warm apple pie,
Afraid of dressing up in black tie.
Afraid of bald eagles saluting a false leader,
Afraid of bending over to witness my bleeder.
Afraid of removing all my worn-out clothes,
Afraid of a praying mantis tiptoeing behind my toes.
Afraid of the cat’s meow,
Afraid of the abysmal ocean beneath the bow.
Afraid of tempting the hand of fate,
Afraid of asking her out on a date.
Afraid of frequent reinvention,
Afraid of temperature apprehension.
Afraid of walking the path reversed,
Afraid of staircases steeply cursed.
Afraid of the steam locomotive at rapid speed,
Afraid of horses that thunder with greed.
Afraid of flights missed in a blur,
Afraid of clocks that always stir.
Afraid of corners that twist and turn,
Afraid of fighter jets that dive and burn.
Afraid of invasions by silent infections,
Afraid of immune system insurrections.
Afraid of asking the growing cancer,
Afraid of receiving the definitive answer.
Afraid of not living beyond midnight’s moon,
Afraid of falling too soon.
Afraid of turning age eighteen,
Afraid of a shattering orgasm scream.
Afraid of constant consensual intercourse,
Afraid of riding her like a cockhorse.
Afraid of butter on inner thighs,
Afraid of gouging out my blue eyes.
Afraid of letting go of my semen,
Afraid of the big bad wolf demon.
Afraid of taking it in the anus hole,
Afraid of chewing my teeth whole.
Afraid of sticking my finger inside,
Afraid of confronting professor’s pride.
Afraid of her clever extortion,
Afraid of spreading her legs for an abortion.
Afraid of the birds and the bees,
Afraid of schoolgirl skirts cut above the knees.
Afraid of synagogue’s sermon,
Afraid of crotch-sized vermin.
Afraid of the ceaseless masturbation,
Afraid of my own castration.
Afraid of the heroine’s yesterday,
Afraid of inevitable decay.
Afraid of church service at fault,
Afraid of pillars of dead sea’s salt.
Afraid of creating my rejected art,
Afraid of giving up my somber heart.
Afraid of catching on fire,
Afraid of burning alive as I expire.
Afraid of reading psalms,
Afraid of nails driven through my palms.
Afraid of growing up to be homicidal,
Afraid of my best trait being suicidal.
© 2025 David Greg Harth
25.06.05.10.29.59@130BklyNYC
Another East Girl
Oh, there goes just another East Girl
She’s a druggie
She’s a prostitute
She’s pushing a baby buggy
She’s got horns
She’s got a camera
She’s got honeycomb thorns
She’s got amber eyes
She’s got money troubles
She’s robbing banks in disguise
She’s just across the border
She’s got a deep sickness
She’s ignoring that court order
She’s selling herself
She’s cutting deals and giving discounts
She’s ignoring self-help books on the shelf
She’s challenging the fox
She’s swallowing the dreams
She’s choking on big cocks
She’s hidden her head in shame
She’s full of vulgar vocabulary
She’s playing the pretentious game
She’s digging in the coal mine
She’s abandoning reality
She’s snorting the snow line
She’s cut her wrists in pain
She’s pickled her thoughts
She’s stewed her brain
She’s ignoring her kids
She’s falling asleep on the crapper
She’s twisting her dry eyelids
She’s chewing her tongue
She’s swallowing her porcelain teeth
She’s bleeding anal from horse’s hung
She’s drunk with anxiety out of state
She’s soaked her panties with her own golden piss
She’s lost her twin’s trajectory fate
She’s dug an early grave
She’s craving more remedies
She’s spread her legs for a wax and shave
She’s mistakenly a champion of impregnation
She’s up all night and sleeps all day
She’s attempted her abuser’s castration
She’s living in the never-ending nightmare
She’s positive for gonorrhea and syphilis and chlamydia
She’s regretting fucking scum men so bare
She’s abominable and alone
She’s frail and fragile
She’s rotten to her very last bone
She’s hanging on to her last thread
She’s lost and buried her past
She’s without an obituary now dead
© 2025 David Greg Harth
25.05.20.10.31.51@130BKLYNNYC
Accuracy
Last night I attended an event at an art space
Part lecture
Part performance
Before I entered the venue
I was standing outside on the street
A stranger struck up a conversation with me
He asked what I did for a living
I said, “I’m an artist.”
He immediately said, “I’m sorry.”
Followed by asking me,
“Have you tried killing yourself yet?”
© 2025 David Greg Harth
25.04.05.07.04.23@130BklynNYC
Affection Slut
She drools
She chokes
She slobbers
She swallows
wet
&
piss
&
cum
dripping
soaking
sopping
slurping
soaked
doused
drained
saturated
d r e n c h e d
In my juices
My stickiness
My filing station
My stallion battalion
My everything from deep within
Alive and ready
Spread and true
Thirsty for my offerings
Available to beg and deliver
Ripe for the taking and abuse
Trained to obey and say yes to my demands
Breaking the dam
Flooding the sheets
Parting her legs wide open
Time for the air to be moist with her cravings
© 2025 David Greg Harth
25.02.25.16.47.00@130BklynNYC
Among The Forgotten
Questions left unanswered
Always a mystery why he left so soon
No written note or epic story to read
Just scattered belongings to piece together
Questions left unanswered
He was alone and lonely
She was the very cloud
Swept him into a rescued eternity
Questions left unanswered
Sometimes actions cannot be prevented
No matter the day of the week
Or time the sun rises
Questions left unanswered
Each community slightly more empty
An art world untouched
Never forgiven but always forgotten
© 2024 David Greg Harth
24.07.20.18.48.58@130BklynNYC
Abandoned
High fever set in for the second time
Thought we were in the clear
Threat of infection is still highly imminent
The passage out was a long and tedious one
Carried on a stretcher along the rocky sodden path
Each awkward turn sent a tremble through by bones
I felt my brain violently pound against the inside of my skull
Knocked around like an embryo in an uncontrolled free fall
Scattering between the tall oaks, maples and firs
Sunlight would reach my face on occasion
Dense fog seemed to levitate from the ground
Dangerous path becomes blind
Scent of fresh rain dripping on bark
Damp fallen leaves unearthed by a trenched march
Pine beds lining the exit strategy
Unclaimed fibers itch my skin that I can not scratch
Random insects land on my face that I can not swat
I feel the warm trickle of blood ooze out of my wounds
My palms sweaty with unknowns
The snaps of twigs beneath their boots
Rattle hollow echoes between my listening
Voices howl and crackle in concise misguidance
These bearers with sheltered hearts
Fighting for my own mortality
Every effort to keep me conscious
I have become an alternate once more
Reflection did not accurately portray
Sharing water with the ghost of her
Detached, I am at my finest
Lost, I am catapulted
Deep realms of forced solitude
Amongst the forest floor
Selected for departure
The hunting wolf follows my trail
Picked up my fallen limbs
Hot coals placed in my mouth
Lost and gained
I am slayed
© 2016 David Greg Harth
16.06.27.14:35:35@200VeseyNYC
And Then
Uncommon shooting stars
Interrupting the nightly gaze
As a welcoming cherished surprise
Rolling thundering clouds
Bringing the scent of coming rains
Opportunity to break free of the bondage
Harbor no more the impossible dream
Sail away with the unbelievable
Under a snowflake’s dreamscape
Such ardor in between passing moons
Sometimes the road from Mecca
Is a triennial in disguise
Ride with no fear into uncharted territory
Conquering each historical despair of yesterday
The poet’s sword has been removed from its sheath
Become the defenseless martyr
Concede to true virtues
Surrender with eternity’s defiance
Lift the cloak and abolish the blindfold
For when she is near
Like molten lava you melt
© 2015 David Greg Harth
15.01.28.10:51:18@130BklynNYC
Ability (Version #2)
We were freshly out of school
A little over a year
And you headed back home
I dropped you off at the airport
You caught the evening flight out of JFK
I said goodbye to your baby browns
And kissed your rose lips
Nobody inspires me like you had
Nobody captivates me like you had
Nobody captures my heart like you had
There is no one on this earth
That encompassed what you were
To me
Your touch was sensory overload of the majestic sense
Your kiss sent an electric charge down my spine
Your voice was a symphony to my ears
Your kindness was legendary
Your warmth was generous
Your affection was eternal
Your love was boundless
Your courage was heroic
Your sympathy was epic
Your grace was poetic
I no longer have the ability to love
You took my ability to the bottom of the sea that day
My heart died with you
On Flight 111, September 2, 1998
© 2014 David Greg Harth
14.09.30.23:30:27@130BklynNYC
Anitra
Putting my obsolete pen to paper
It’s so difficult to do
You’ve vanished into the loneliness vapor
I met you ten years ago
We shared secrets and stories
Last ten I missed you grow
Went back through old emails
I know you’ve left the safe harbor
You’ve put up your last sails
How did love catch an early flight?
When our calendar’s weren’t ready
Your brown eyes were a magical sight
You’ve left us all so incomplete
We memorialize your beauty
Your heart so sweet
A smile of radiance and splendor
I am an obscure friend at a distance
In awe of your heart’s surrender
On my wall hangs a portrait by your brush
You are never to be forgotten
My hand shares the very same crush
Remembering your brightly lit soul
You were the courageous lioness
My vacant heart now has a cavernous hole
So as the cupid drifts into eternity
Know that you are your own captain
Of your forevermore destiny
An artist’s early end
My heart sinks to a lover’s sorrow
An angel will now ascend
© 2013 David Greg Harth
13.07.26.14:07:55@130BklynNYC
Alone (LAX)
I’m alone in this airport
I’m at the
Los Angeles International Airport
Alone
No one is here
It’s middle of the day
No one to be found
There are no planes
And no captains
There are no passengers
And no luggage
There are no tickets
And no goodbyes
No departures
And no arrivals
Just emptiness
Open runways
Stopped conveyer belts
Parked trucks
Chilled beverages
Closed gates
And a vacant heart
I’m alone
Where is everyone?
What happened?
I’m alone
Waiting to be filled
By you
© David Greg Harth
13.03.20.12:41:00@LAX
A comes before B
A comes before B
I see A, every time I’m searching for B
Every time I look for C or D
Or even E
I keep seeing A
A is always there and in my sight
Perhaps I should erase
Perhaps I should drape a black cloth to hide
Perhaps I should delete from existence
Its hard to make that change
Its hard to ignore
But as you search for any of the other twenty-six
twenty-six
A is always first
A comes before B
© 2012 David Greg Harth
12.09.12.10:48:00@550NYC
Another Kind Of Water
Traveling around the world
Launching my ship upon the ocean
With my largest sails unfurled
Searching for the epicenter
Embarking on the greatest journey
Wishing to meet the predecessor inventor
No anchor available for use
Rolls of braided twine in stow
Lover on mast above in a tightly gripped noose
She exclaimed my name
The winds savagely shook thy vessel
In vain she preached and blew out our flame
Disappearing into the ghostly past
Our love was only an ignis fatuus
It was my heart which was harassed
I became the suitor of lies
On these seas of despair truths will unfold
The echoes inside send shattering cries
One voyager now vanished
Shipwrecked on waves of salt
I am in this wasteland forever banished
© 2012 David Greg Harth
12.07.25.17:59:00@550NYC
Altering The Time Of Your Death
A simple concept
Sometimes disease
Sometimes crime
Sometimes accidents
But sometimes
One can pick the time
One can pick the location
© 2012 David Greg Harth
12.03.04.19:19:19@130BklynNYC
Awareness
I am aware when my skin is damp
I feel the wetness surround me
Whether it be from the autumn rain
Or an ocean swell
I am aware when midnight strikes
Darkness blankets the earth
From the deepest terrain to the furthest star
My concealed eyes observe nothing
I am aware when new beginnings arise
Scents of blooming flowers penetrate
I hear the buzz of honey bees hover
Hummingbirds sing in orchestrated unison
I am aware when you are true
When your bravery is portrayed with tears
When your lips meet my lips
Time stands still and is envious
When these two souls engage
However,
I am unaware how far I should place
thee dagger into thy heart
I only hope its puncturing depth
will relieve this heartache I’m in
© 2011 David Greg Harth
11.11.13.01:00:54@130BklynNYC
Are You My Enemy?
State hung
Out of this first impression
Made a second
Stood on the corner of 1st and 1st
Feeding homeless near Grand Central
The man who itches, he twitches, he asks,
“Sir, sir, are you my enemy?”
In a calm voice, quietly,
I say “No, I am your son.”
© 2011 David Greg Harth
11.11.12.18:21:12@323NYC
2008-2011
Alone
This is a poem, a note, a letter, a declaration to all those who have been alone.
I want you to know, that I’ve been alone too. I’ve been there. To that darkest region. To that deepest part. To the edge. Where its only you. Where nothing is left.
I want you to know that I’ve been alone. And when you are alone, I am alone with you.
I want you to know, that when you’ve stood on that subway platform, contemplating your slight bend forward. Contemplating if your entire body will spin when the train hits your head or if your body will fall off balance and onto the tracks. Contemplating if its better to jump long before the train reaches you or to jump right when it’s in front of you. Debating if you’ll only get a concussion or if you truly will end it all.
I want you to know, that when you’ve done all the research. When you’ve figured out a way to purchase a gun or to get a hold of a gun. I want you to know, that when you’ve finally reached that point. When you are sitting alone. And only you and a winter cascade or summer breeze encompasses what’s left of your life. When you sit with the gun in your lap and you debate if you’ll pull the trigger of the gun with the barrel in your mouth or aside your temple. I want you to know, that when you are alone at the moment, I’ve been alone with you.
I want you to know, that when you’ve been to the base of a large bridge. When you figured out a pathway to reach the highest point. When you calculated the time it would take to get up on top. When you realized you’d have to wear layers of clothing to make sure you’d be warm enough on top to have a collective thought to jump. I want you to know if you’ve made it to the bridge’s end. And you were looking up. Just about to climb. And you thought nothing was left. No hope, no love, no friends, no enemies. When nothing but water surrounded your echo below. I want you to know that when you are alone at that moment, I’ve been with you.
I want you to know, that when you’ve had a knife near. When you’ve rid yourself of a mobile phone. When you’ve swallowed the car key after you’ve driven yourself out to a remote area. When there was no direction and no exit. When you were about to gorge yourself. So your pain was so vivid you’d hope you’d wake up from the nightmare of life. And at that very moment you pick up and carry on. And walk forever to the nearest hospital to only lie to them why you’ve swallowed a car key. I want you to know, when you are alone then, I am with you. Alone.
I want you to know, that when you’ve been washing your clothes at weeks end and you realized that the gasoline will never come out and you’ll have to buy a new favorite shirt. When you realize it’s not the smartest option to execute your own death in your favorite clothes. When you realize it’s harder to burn oneself alive than most other methods. When you sat alone, covered in gasoline with a match nearby. When all was silent around you but the terrible pain in your heart continued to beat a fateful drum. When you were alone then, I was with you.
I want you to know, that each, method of suicide that you thought of, I probably thought of too. When you are alone, I am alone. And when I am alone, perhaps I’ll get a letter from you. And our bullets will fall like hidden angels to the ground, clanking as they hit the pavement.
© 2010 David Greg Harth
10.12.13.12:19:47@130BklynNYC
Attacking The Eaten
As if there was something left on their bones
We scurried to them
Their piles of bones so crisp and bare
We felt so famished and close to our own death
We were motivated to find one lasting piece
A little chunk of flesh left for us to eat
But nothing was there for us
Just bones and bones and bones and bones
© 2010 David Greg Harth
10.08.23.15:01:21@550MadisonNYC
Another Day Has Descended Upon Us
My journey was long
From earth’s end
Through raging fires and horrid winds
Through endless seas and darkened skies
But I came forth
Out from the capturing forests
Out from the suicidal cliffs
Out from the swallowing deserts
I came forth
Because I heard your call
Your voice of reason
Your soft whisper
Your echoed song
Time is beginning to stand still
World’s rotation is coming to a stop
Everything is shifting, twisting and turning
But now that you are here
Everything makes sense
Everything matches
Everything is synching
This day is here
And this day shall not be forgotten
© 2010 David Greg Harth
10.07.27.15:24:00@550MadisonAveNYC
Ambassador of Brothers
Joining two across
an ocean’s expanse
Bringing together lost
brothers of Germany
Folded hands
reflecting true
Bushy eyebrows
defending loving eyes
Silver mop
upon creative helmet
Torn apart
needing to die
Terrible ways
no more reasons
Feeding hope
tasting awful
Can’t hear and can’t see
Can’t walk and can’t bleed
Never minding
always wishing
Large noses smelling
medication ticking
Lasting love of wife
counting years gone
Taught to see
see the seam’s joining line
I am the ambassador
I come before thee
Bring messages of hope
And brotherly love
Farewells and greetings
Till death do us part
© 2009 David Greg Harth
09.04.30.02:00:00@FLT#SA203AtlanticOcean