Cigarette Tip v2.

"Cigarette Tip"
Steam rises from his lips
as if a cigarette tip burns
amidst this winter breeze,
Silky lines of gray rise
     into the icy air
          as he stands there
     looking out beyond
the falling white flakes
     that shrouds his colorless face,

His eyes not frozen
among the cold hardness lingering on the wind,
but instead
glow
like hot embers
burning
with icy precision
     at something he remembers,

A betrayal
that occurred in this very spot,
a stolen kiss he witnessed
but was not a part of,
A memory
too painful to linger on,

His vision begins to blur
     and the red glow cools
inside his eyes,
The icy chill of his tears
slowly pull him away
     from the rage
leaving him to slowly
wither away
amidst
this winter breeze
like a burning tip
     of a cigarette.
-Armando Torres

Only Nothing v2.

"Only Nothing"
I woke up to the warmth of sun
beaming on my face and
As the darkness of sleep slowly
dissolved away from my eyes
for the early morning light,
I unintentionally broke my necklace
from around my neck,
a precious heirloom, a gift,
a connection to my past
that I broke,

And for a few fleeting moments
I waited for the meaning of this
To dawn upon me
     like a fierce breath of fresh air.
But instead
Only the echoed silence
     of the ringing in my ears lingered,
Only the dim glow
     of the morning seemed to be watching,
I found nothing in that moment
that said to me it was of significance,
Nothing in the cosmos noticed,
No omniscient force took attention,
Nothing in existence looked except for me,

It was me that made this moment exist,
It was me that made it so,
It was I and not fate,
It was my face that watched and not God,
I saw and therefore it was and
     for a brief moment found what I was looking for
Only for it to fold into infinity and
Exist as an instant of
Only Nothing.

The ache of the Day

The ache of the day
has slowly worn me down
stripping away
my strength,
leaving just me to confess
     my sins
          to this bottle,
One drink before
     I peel back my socks and remove my shoes,
One drink before
     time settles in and swells behind my eyes,
One drink before
     the shower I'll take to numb the stress,

Time has washed away
     anything that was left,
My many moments slowly slide away
from my blurry memory
     with every slurp and gulp.
Leaving only just enough
to refill these illusionary feelings
     of acceptance,

Sometimes when my thoughts
     linger far longer
than my mind can allow,
Something reaches out
     into my ethereal space
     grabbing  pain and pulling away
anything that was of worth,
     leaving behind the wreckage of a man
who will never understand
his lies
were the only truths
he realized.
-Armando Torres

A Hint of Winter v3

"A Hint of Winter"
A cold grey lingers
at the edges
     of everywhere I look,

A hint of winter
     hangs on the air
     bringing with it
          a crisp freshness,

Closing my eyes   
I inhale sharply
     as the coolness of the wind
     courses through my lungs,
The sting of the cold
stabs me from within
as I hold it in for as long as I can endure,

Finally opening my eyes,
I see winter creeping in
     from the north,

There's a hint of memory
     on the cool air now,
Reminiscent flashes
     of a past
I once knew,
   
But never know anymore,

Only ever
     remember
just enough
     to feel the desolate pull
Of what,
     Once,
          Was,

Just hoping,
     at the mercy
     of this winter wind,
For another glimpse,
     Of a past I once knew.
-Armando Torres

Whiskey Burn

"Whiskey Burn"
The stillness of the night
settles in
around me,

From the corner,
     a candle softly flickers
its flame
     casting shadows
     that dance
     upon the walls
over one another,

The soft clanking of ice on glass
cuts the silence
     as I move
     my hand
to take a drink
of my whiskey,

My eyes are fixated
on the delicate light
as I wonder,
     how it all
     came to this,

The chaos of my memory
sits silently
with me
inside
this room,
     A lifeless hollow shell of what was,

I drink now
in this space
     as the flicker of flame
reflects upon
     the iris of my eyes
the regretful pain
the black of my pupils
hide,

I take another drink
swirling the ache
inside my glass
with the ends of my fingers
before pulling it to my lips and
swallowing the smokey burn
of regret,

That darkness grows larger,
Lifeless reminders begin to surround me
as the tiny candle slowly fades,

The suffocating silence
wraps
my mess of an existence
filling me
with the shimmering dread
of what comes next,

I sit back finally
as the candle flame
fizzles out
pulling my glass to my lips
one final time
drinking that last drink
as this darkness swallows me
     eating me whole,
leaving me with nothing
     but only
     a tainted
     soul.
-Armando Torres

Lost and Never Found... v2.

"Lost and Never Found..."
I searched for something
to hold on to,
Grabbing wildly and finding nothing,

I searched for the separating line
from where the day ends and the night begins,

I searched for the air to breath
as I felt my life drip out of me,
Gasping uncontrollably and breathing painfully,

I searched for the upside down mountains
as I circled around again,

I search for the strength
to keep my eyes open,
Blinking wildly and finding nothing to see,

I searched for the vertical horizon
that stretches from below and back up to the sky again,

I searched for the words
to become the last words I would ever say,
Moaning deeply and finding nothing to say,

I searched for someone
as I laid there alone,
Looking wildly and finding no one,

I searched desperately for that one person
who would watch me fade,
     And found only the last breath I would ever take,

I searched and found no one and nothing to say,
I searched and found nothing and no one...
-Armando Torres

The Kiss That Never Ends v2.

"The Kiss That Never Ends"
Even though
I live most of the day
without your kiss
I find myself
existing
inside the small moments
     shared by our lips,

Wanting nothing more
but to have those kisses
to last for always,

Our lips touch
holding the air
that lies
intertwined
between
our tongues,
     sliding them
          past one another,
until finally
letting
that air
escape
our lungs,
     where the moment
finally
lives its last seconds,

It is here
at this time
once again,
that I begin
my fantasy
all over again,
where your lips
contain
the kiss that never ends.
-Armando Torres

The Healing Sea

"The Healing Sea"
It's a late day in June,
     A cool wind glides
          through
               the swaying trees
          as the sting
     of the heat
finally softens,

The cool hues
     of every shade
          of pink and blue and violet
     have spread up
over the horizon,
     stretching
          across the sky
      with
a silky softness,

The rhythmic pull
     of the Ocean
          pushes
               the glittering embers
          of yellow and white
     reflecting
over the surface
     of the water
          toward the shores
               disappearing
          in a flicker
     against
the sandy rocks
     underneath
          the next sway
     of calm foamy surf,
I find the freshness
     of a cool
          Ocean breeze
     brings
me a smile.

The sting
     of memory
          finally
     begins
to mend
     among
this healing Sea.
-Armando Torres

Pray

"Pray"
Awake again
in the middle of the night,
     My eyes can't seem to ever close anymore,
They burn at the edges
     with a salty ache,
leaving me to stare
     into the soft glow
          of the muted television screen,
with the tinge of fire
of pinks and purples and greens
     spattered on my face,
Nothing else lingers
in this stillness
except
the essence of my memory,

A silent chill from the outside night
creeps
through my small apartment window,
gliding in
delicately brushing my face like tiny hands,
triggering another painful memory
that continues
my fall into desolation,
I remember her tiny hands,

I hold the cold staleness of this memory
only for it to exist
     as a moment of regret,
to rewind over
     for another
          countless time,
I.
search.
for the strength.
to keep going.
but only find my empty life.
I search.
for the strength.
to pray.

My tired eyes
finally find
that slice of sleep
I've been waiting for,
however,
     a familiar image appears
in the darkness,
     a swirl of emotion
          splashes
               against
                    the rhythmic
               waves of colors
          forming
     this perfect picture
I remember,

I can't hold on too long,

The pain rips me away and
     once more my eyes are open,

It all comes flooding back again...

I remember the way she felt
     when I held her in my arms,
the look of her tiny face
     and her tiny sounds,
her tiny mouth
     and little hands,
her little smile
     and tiny breaths,

I stand at her doorway
     as a black silhouette
staring at her crib
     fighting back
tears of regret,

I search for the strength
to keep hoping my pain will end,
     but all my being
is bound by what happened,

I hoped and prayed every night
     and did all I could
     but could only watch.
          as my baby died.
I prayed every night and.
     nothing changed.

I search now
for the strength
to pray
but hope instead
for my death.
I pray for it.
-Armando Torres

A pointless speck

"A pointless speck"
A dark sky hangs overhead
peppered throughout
     with tiny bright specks,
I tilt my head back
aiming my eyes
toward the infinite black above,

All these points of pale light
reflected inside my eyes,
A section of ancient cosmic time
     whittled down
          to a spectrum of irrelevance
By a fleeting existence
that hopes for happiness and meaning,

I thought I found my meaning
for my life,
Just to watch it erode
right before my eyes
to a pointless speck of pale light,

So many moments
underneath this dark sky
whittled down
with countless other pointless points of my life,

I should have said sorry,
I should have said so many things,
I didn't mean the words that you heard
They were useless sounds
I regret ever occurred,
So many things I wish I did right,
you were,
      in the end,
Just another point of pale light
among so many others,
I don't blame you,
I'm closer to a ghostly shroud now
than a man,

As this disease eats away at me
I find there are no meanings
Only
     moments outside of my ethereal body,
And Inside
Only
     the illusion of emotion within my heart,

This dark sky will never feel this moment,
Never experience this blip
Of life going out,
Never see this pointless speck of pale light.
-Armando Torres

One Less Thing for God and Me to See

"One Less Thing for God and Me to See"
I watch vast movements of wind
     cut wide slices of blue sky
          between the cotton like fluff floating above,

Glimmers of past summers
overlay the present
painting reminiscent pictures
for me,

These places
hold a glint of memory
     in my eyes,

Seeing the tall golden grass
beyond the railroad tracks again,
Remembering when
     we waved around sticks
     aimlessly cutting away
     wide swathes of grass,
Rode our bikes
through crooked gravel roads,
Threw rocks
through cracked abandoned windows
     and stomped on broken glass,
Danced
     and laughed
          and ran
through the hollow remains
of buildings no longer alive,

We hopped over the crumbled pieces
     in blissful innocence,
Ignorant
     of what
     we would leave behind,

I never thought
I would be back here like this,
The twisted and contorted pictures of my gnarled world
before my eyes
have unraveled
into the very words
that my mind has painted alive,

These days my blood stained eyes
     hold weary the wear of the day
     and gaze out to the blur
in between my face and the vacant space before me,

My memory dances and hops and runs through me
like
I'm some kind of
     Broken down
          Crumbling building,
The world doesn't want to see me,

It's clear it's all gone and I hate how these tears feel,

So line after line
I snort obscurity straight to my brain
where all I remember fades
     And only irrelevance stays,
It's a place blessed,
One less thing for god and me to see,
I know now I'll be there soon,
But for now I ride the high
     and sway off the walls
          and fall upward toward the heavens
as my eyes roll backward,
I hang my head back again
     and find that place again
          where I can forget
               and do this all over again.
I'm not immune,
I know now
     I'll be there soon.
-Armando Torres

I Always Knew

"I Always Knew"
Oh, how easy it was to get to know you,
I knew from the first moment I saw you
     that you were the one,
Maybe not the first one
But most definitely the next one,

I still feel today
how I felt
when you would go out
     for your walks,
A strong shock of urge,
A yearning of the heart I cannot
     explain,
An intense desire I could not
     fight,

I could watch you for days
     lost in my lust for you,
The way you talked,
How you could get lost in thought,
How you said
     Hi
     that first time,
I knew then
you had to be mine,

Oh, how easy it was to get to know you,

I watched for hours and days on end,
I knew you left at six thirty A.M.
knew you threw your trash before the weekend,
knew how often you would order take-out,
Found out with ease you lived alone,

I looked through your garbage
     and noticed a prescription for doxepin,
I have watched intently now long enough
          to know your anxiety
          keeps you awake at night,
I have come to calm all that,
     To Cure your depression,
I have chosen this
     for us,
          it is only our natural progression
                for us to have our moment,

So, I crawled in one night,
     one foot
          through the window
               then the next,
Made sure you were asleep
     Before I grabbed you and bound you.

It was our Moment
     Nothing was going
To come between me and you,
I Always Knew
     from the first moment
I Saw You,
     I was your Cure.

Oh, how amazing it was to get to know you.
-Armando Torres

A Single Note ♪

"A Single Note ♪"
From out of the darkness
a musical note sang,
     A single solitary note,
          nothing more.
A note of melancholy
     ringing deep within me.

I stared long
into the darkness
hoping the source
Of this low lonely note
     would disappear,
But instead,
     A delicate resonance began,
Reminding me
Of a forgotten despair
That elegantly glided in on this single sound,

Low and Long
creating a harmonic tone
that filled the empty air,

This lonely hum grew
     into melodic vibrations,
          that swelled into a deluge
               of harmonic tones
                    swaying in rhythmic oscillation,
Creating the beginnings of some painful song,

A Swell of Pressure
begins pushing these Melodies further
Crashing together on the shores
Of Creation,
Pulling together emotion and color and taste and memory
     And stripping away
The monotony of the silvery whites and
Replacing it
     In Symphonic Symmetry,
A Concerto of
     splashing blues and gorgeous oranges,
a swirl of curves and lines
     of intersecting contradictions,
Tempting to seize a moment
     from the ancient pillars of imagination
To form a perfect amalgamation
     of creation and chaos,

A single note dripping in harmonies
and swirls of emotions
     to form a moment
Where time has stopped
and given memory
     to this exceptional experience.
-Armando Torres