i know of dreams that tell a thousand lies,
of schemes that deal with alibis.
i know of love that leads to tears
and laughter – leads to pain.

i know of hearts that know the feel
of too much tenderness,
of lives that lack sheer happiness.
i know of peace of mind that can’t be found

and serenity that leads to chaos.
i know of little things the world can’t see.
i know of peace and bliss and harmony
for i see life through different specs.

even the pain, the lies,
the tears and schemes –
all seem bearable when seen –
through my rose-colored dreams.

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Scene I: Bats in Charleston

menaces hum
menacing hums
burbling loud until
screeching disappears
five cats appear and
all is silence.

Scene II: Classroom of Clickers

my ear rues the silence
that follows a gaggle
of forty hands writing.
roomful of fingers clicking
to break through the windows
and rent into skin.

Scene III: A Tree

the day is dusted there are
no more clouds
behind the tree is harsh light.
I am sat underneath
aging as the light
ages behind the balding cypress.
its knees are hollowed
I am sat nearby as
the day becomes deadwood.

Scenes IV: Observer

I click a photo of two barks
inches from one another careful
or prudish not to touch
the photo changes nothing at all.
I walk inside and fetch
my orangest-brownest knife
and carve in an image
now the trees will remember.

Scene V: Spectral Urbanity

they only exist in evenings
invisible streetcars line meeting st
arms of apparitions dangle
like fruits about to fall.
ghosts of city past
I feel the wind from their smocks
and the ammonia of obstinate
cigars and cigarettes.
specters of shoppers
their fish and yams and piecemeal wages
their children suckling
in this haunted present.

This pirate historian, reenactor, artist, photographer, and model has for many years operated the pirate history Facebook page Shipwrecked with Captain Marrow, traveling the southeast shores investigating pirate lore and educating locals.

In 2018 he began researching and writing his first history book, Pirate Ghosts & Buried Treasures of the Southeast Coast, which released in September of 2023, followed by a sequel covering the Northeast Coast the following year. His latest book, Arabian Gold: Charleston's Red Sea Pirates of 1692, was released in March of 2025.

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