Charles Cicirella

"...Poetry is not an autopsy so stop lifting the sheet looking for a corpse..."

Will there ever be anyone remotely like him? No imitations, please...

"...When to push the river and when to say Geronimo..."

Yes, this is why we do it...

"...a Greek chorus rolling around your brain..."

"...misinform my best and most noble of intentions..."

"...I've never been a fan of the lesser evil, but I'm also smart enough to know which battles..."

"...when I stare into the mirror and the mirror closes its eyes for good..."

"...rings true like lemonade on a hot day..."

"...There's infinite wonder and an eternity of spectral surprises..."

"...like miners we're often underground for hours at a time praying the canary will find enough fresh air to breathe..."

"...Elegant Evocative Exuberant..."

"...And laid it all down..."

"...the heat in the kitchen became too hot to handle and everyone ceased and desisted..."

"...a simple smile and an invitation to the person behind the mask..."

"...show those good for nothings just what a real bottom feeder looks and smells like..."

"...someday I'll put away childish things and accept the death sentence of being a grown up..."

"...truth will not fail you nor will it take you for a ride..."

"...We're being led astray by a dog that cannot wag its tail and chew gum at the same time..."

"...it's a dangerous proposition letting one's guard down..."

"...like a twelve foot mako shark..."

"...if we don't stand our ground sooner than later we're going to lose more than just our consciences..."

"...I can hear the wind howling through her bones..."

"...Grief and I have never quite seen eye to eye..."

"...Rusted Midwest soliloques..."

"...Alice called and wants her looking glass back..."

"...until all of the diamonds turn back into coal..."

"...not sure I'll ever feel at peace again..."

"...Caught sight of you in that third eye waiting room..."

"...dead before room service or the maid knocks on Heaven's door..."

"...Struggling every day since this songbird has gone radio silent..."

"...You can do your best to pretend the fall of Rome is not upon us..."

"...advertised next to survival manifestos for the worried sick man..."

"...inside a box marked insubstantial..."

"...spin you a tale that will curl your toes..."

"...Until we own up to our own culpability we're left exposed..."

"...when I come out the other end..."

"...something more substantial than crow and light beer..."

"...full of sugar and spice and everything nice..."

"...musical explorations from coffee grounds and midnight oil..."

"...the only person in Cleveland who understood it's about the work and not the celebrity..."

"...Unfiltered, undisguised..."

"...Pick up the sledgehammer and shatter the glass ceiling..."

"...Just something I wanted to share with you..."

"...write pretty poems to heal the ugliness inside and outside..."

"...In one split second everything changed..."

"...a journey through the Tarzan and Jane trees..."

"...no rose tinted lenses to obscure my view from the cheap seats..."

"...Overwhelmed, Over easy, Over you..."

"...Unpaved like a road in need of immediate repair..."

"...I knew then nothing would ever be the same..."

"...one person's boundaries are another person's poppy field..."

"Waiting at the door of my mind for another poem..."

"...signposts are everywhere..."

"...living a life outside the norm..."

"...the words haunt me..."

"...I desire to break free from the chains that bind and hold me back..."

"...one of the nicest human beings I've ever met..."

"...Don't worry how this turns out..."

"...the only Cleveland poet who gets what it means to be a word-man...."

"...Resisting change is futile as the sheep slaughter themselves..."

"...There needs to be boundaries and those boundaries must be protected..."

"...Your loving words count for everything..."

"...A covenant defying logic..."

"...The blood on our hands is not a metaphor..."

"...We’re better than this..."

"...Diversity and inclusivity are nothing to fear...."