Home.

Home
Everyone who matters to me has lived beyond Utah state lines at one point or another. Yet here I am. Still.
I spent time with my brother today.
I listened attentively to his European adventures;
Listened to his drug-induced journeys and sexual conquests.
I listened to him live the life I have read about.
Last time I saw him, he was jaded and vacant when it came to feelings or emotions. But today, he tells me about patching things up with old friends.
About how life's disappointments have led him to where he is now.
It could've been all the cotton trees, but I swear I saw his eyes swell and spill over like two tiny levies as he described recent conversations with friend.
He's finally comprehended the consequences of all his decisions.
They weren't sad or painful tears. They were grateful. Positive. Overwhelming.
I'm just thankful he still has emotions.
I don't think I excelled as an older brother,
but I'm realizing I didn't fuck him up completely.
Although I'm stuck here a for little bit longer I'm still my family's anchor.
To my wayward loved ones, I am home.
-Tylor Sherman




Home

Home is where the heart is
But my heart is in two places at once
Does this make me homeless?

-Ryan Baker


home.
In the darkest corners of the deepest parts in you,
I built a home.
For me and you and the two breathing beings we have made to live.
A place for our beds.
A resting place for Our heavy hearts and weary heads.
A place to eat and drink and be merry.
Sometimes less of the latter.
But still our home.
A place where our dance parties don't need music.
And our dinners don't need forks and spoons.
A place where the sex has never been better.
A place that I invested my whole self into.
I sewed myself to the walls of your inner rooms.
BUT now I've locked myself out.
And I've lost my extra set of keys.
-shannon masayo

Traffic

Traffic
Out of the list of things I'm not,
At the top of the page you'd pen: caught.
I'm the peasant king.
African birds pick my teeth clean.
I designate passengers to sit in traffic for me.
I want you to want to see me...
With witnesses and everything.
I don't believe in superstition,Want to catch a full-bodied apparition.
I perfectly conditioned for this ghostly position.
-Tylor Sherman



Traffic
I will throw myself into the rush hour traffic
of his want,
his need.
raw.
No seat belt
only wind
and speed.
Our veins the road map to morning.
-Shannon Masayo



Traffic
I love the safety people feel in their cars
It’s an extension of home; a second mortgage on wheels
And because of that safety, people forget they are surrounded by walls of windows
They forget they are being watched in mile per hour glimpses
And when people know they aren’t being watched, that is when they are at their best
Or worst…
Look to your right, a young girl is putting on lipstick in her mirror
At the same time she is fumbling a Mcgriddle sandwich, while talking on her cell-phone
Judging from her spray on tan, I am sure she like totally likes the word “like”
Look to your left
A businessman drumming his fingers while maintaining the ten and two position
He is bobbing his head in 4/4 timing
Pretty sure I can hear Supertramp playing through his closed windows
They are such a safe band, hence him keeping his hands safely on the wheel
Back to your right
The spray-on tan girl is now digging deep into her nose with her pinky finger
She is up to her second knuckle and is going for broke
Glance to the left
A forty something woman is belting a operatic tune
I can’t hear her voice over the rumble of her 70’s pickup
But her facial grimaces give away her dedication to the role of a driver seat diva
She is in the moment; driving and onstage at the same time
She doesn’t want fame or fortune
All she wants is R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
Ya know, just a little bit
Stop light approaching
Glance right
A minivan full of screaming kids
A flustered mother yelling at her red faced husband
Dad reaches back and hammer fists his kids legs
Don’t worry dad, another thirteen years and you will be fat, bald, and stripped of all your dignity, but at least those little bastards will be out of the house
Driving in your car, you get a front row seat to American culture
We are a culture of multi-taskers who practically live in our cars
We eat, drink, converse, have sex, sing, dance and ponder, all in our cars
Whoever invents the toilet-car seat will make a fortune; we would never leave our rolling homes
I am filing a patent as soon as I am done with this
Anyways, the next time you’re stuck in traffic, look around and observe
And enjoy the motion picture
-Ryan Baker

Still. For Devyn Marie.

still.

I had a dream about zombie tigers
with blood and guts in their teeth.
They were coming for you and me.
We could hear them coming.
and we didn't care.
We were ready for them
and we just stood still.
right there.

-Shannon Masayo

Still
Confined to a cubicle.
Dressed for a funeral. Disconnected.
8 hours at time.
Still, it feels cozy in this coffin.
You get your own name tag and a security pass.
You're a big shot, finally paying those student loans off.
Youth prescribed potential, but you refused to fill the order or talk about politics, cause he's not the one you voted for.
You didn't vote at all.
You just want to ease into your fifties and hope your wife will still fuck you.
Fine. Enjoy your life.
Who am I to tell you you're not living it right?
-Tylor Sherman


Still
“Poor little fella” I said, peering down on a screaming bunny
It lay there with crushed legs, crying
I couldn’t believe how much it sounded like a newborn baby
I couldn’t believe what we had done
I was seven and just trying to be like the older kid
I looked up to him, but now I hated him
I hated myself for not stopping him
I hated myself for joining in
We were just being boys
Throwing rocks at a little bunny
The bunny seemed impossible to hit
But God had a lesson to teach us that day
The older kid shouldered up a rock the size of a grapefruit
He heaved it; success, target devastated
The legs of the bunny were smashed; broken
It screamed and cried, trying to figure out why it deserved this
We approached an knew what we did could not be undone
We tried to make the bunny comfortable
We brought it water and some grass
It laid there suffering, looking us in the eyes
Crying, whimpering, breaking us both apart
I felt like my insides were spilling out all around me
I felt nauseated
I have never felt such disgust in my own actions
We left the bunny for the night, hoping that just maybe it would be miraculously healed by morning
We returned at sunrise
When we got there we heard no whining
We saw no flailing; the bunny lay still
Its body was flattened; its head was caved-in
Someone had crushed it with a rock
Someone finished what we started
But that someone was trying to end its pain, not inflict it
Not like us
We were just boys being boys
But I still live with what I’d done

-Ryan Baker

Wind. For StacyAnn.

Wind.

I want to be reincarnated as a kite.
I don't want to be superman
or a bird
or a plane

I don't want wings.
I want a tail of string.

I want sky.
and the wind.

and when I crash,
I want a little boy and his dad
to pick me up
and make me fly again.
-Shannon Masayo

Wind
You're not listening, let me be.
I only meant to make you proud.
You suffocate and call it love.
I love you too, but as of now...
I'm not in love,
Not in a good place,
Not in any position to give you what you want.
I'll keep breaking your heart.
Until you wind up hating me.
But let me go. Let me show you.
I think I could really be somebody.
-Tylor Sherman

Wind

I have no use for the wind
It messes up my hair, and I love my hair
It’s always blowing dirt into my eyes
It stirs up the pollen and makes my girlfriend sneeze
Have you ever tried jogging against the wind?
It’s awful; it makes you feel like you’re running in place
Forget about golfing in the wind
Wind, you only make things harder
Get a life wind!
We hate you!
You blow!

-Ryan Baker

Cadence

Cadence
I absolutely hated this word. But i loved her.

When I first saw her, I fell in love.
She was warm.
and she has sunshine behind her teeth.
our hearts
jump jump jumped
to the same beat.
I saw her every day for a month.
and then she up and left me.
she stopped the dance.
Her name was Cadence.

-Shannon Masayo

Cadence
In the dark.
You climbed my body like a mountain.
Left grass stains on my back.
It's okay, I say. I stole this shirt.
I can steal another.
On-call cops asking us to move along.
It's after-hours.
Off balance but on beat,
Fingers laced like a corset,
stumbling through empty streets.
We march to the crickets' cadence.
We'll never be this happy again.
-Tylor Sherman


Cadence
(A tribute to Metal)

I love my metal heavy as iron and razor sharp
I love the thundering gallop of staccato triplets
The sound of the four horsemen coming to claim your life
Let them come
Cause we love that evil sound
That sound that smashes your skull, wrenching it back and forth
Your ear drums become the drummer’s kit
While he pulverizes them with frenzied double bass
Chug, chug, squeal! Chug, chug, squeal!
The guitar breaking down and building back up
Rising higher, getting faster, building to a climax
Oh man, here comes the solo!
The horsemen begin ripping us to shreds
Being torn apart never felt so good
Each of their fingers has a mind and body of its own
They effortlessly dance on rosewood floors
Those strings are gonna be smoking cigarettes after all that finger love
This is metal
It is all so blistering and raw
And all those other nasty adjectives
My ears smile as the horsemen bring on the cadence of the apocalypse

-Ryan Baker

Napkin

Napkin
When you tread on me,
Tread lightly.
I'm patient, not perfect.
Eventually I will respond.
Odds are, it'll be dirty.
A violent series of actions.
You can't clean up a catastrophe
With a couple paper napkins.
Don't seek a front row seat
And just watch it all happen.
It's called justice, darling.
Accept the consequences of your actions.
-Tylor Sherman


Napkin

I used to write love letters to strangers on napkins
I would let them know how beautiful I thought they were
And the best part was, they believed me
Now all I want to do is fuck and fight
And write hate letters to people who don't know how to drive

-Shannon Masayo


Napkin
We were just an idea jotted down on a dinner napkin
Placed in a pocket and thrown away; within that very day
We were living proof of social Darwinism; we lacked the tenacity to survive
The both of us just stepping stones to something better
Still I regret not fighting for you; you were worth more than a shrug of my shoulders
Regret is a great giver of wisdom
I learned to fight for what is worth fighting for
No matter how bloody things may get; you take what is yours
Because of you, I gave up on…giving up
Thank you
-Ryan Baker

Savior

Savior
I forgot who i was for the longest time.
I for got how to say my own name.
I lost friends,
the ones that didn't matter.
but still.
They are gone.
The sky is never blue anymore.
and words are just big streaks of black blur.
is this even my skin?
and much too long hair.
consistently stagnant.
I just keep standing here.
I want scream.
and dream.
and save the world.
teach the girls how to fly.
I want Cambodia.
and Indiana.
I want to pray more.
and when i look in the mirror,
I want to know me,
and see my Savior.
-shannon masayo



Savior
You’ve changed my life, my oldest of friends
I feel you, I understand you, I guiltlessly worship you

When you speak, when you scream, when you sing
Pinpricks trace down my back

You move inside of me
You stir and inspire me

Once upon a lifetime ago, you were all I knew
I wrote you, everyday, for two- years

You, my insatiable addiction
My only drug of choice

Then one day you left me
The spark that became a flame had fizzled out, and now what remains?

A shell of what I used to be
All inspiration had left my throat and fingertips

Now parasitically, I feed from you
Have I nothing to offer this once symbiotic love affair?

One day, you will be in my life again
I will return the love you have given me

You’ve changed my life, my oldest of friends
Music; my savior, I will make you once again
-Ryan Baker




I have removed my post for personal reasons.
-Tylor Sherman