John McKinley Pride Jr. Poetry & Art

"My Addiction to Conviction" Conviction has become my addiction and my addiction has become me; I can not lie or steal. Feel this love inside of me is it ok? What have we learned so far and how have we gone from here? Must I think of these things and is it ok? Where does the heart fall and how big of a hole is left if it is taking from us? If we fall how deep is it from here where it seems like hell has frozen over; would you spit in my face? I guess we will find out; push your hand towards mine and I will see the look upon your face. Be it ice or fire I will love you without end; I will always be here for you but I can not lie for you forever. Oh what to do? When you have some type of pain everyday in your mind; a constant tragic life were magic becomes your night. To have and hold a solid foundation just to let it fall into a puzzle of problems on your desk of questions not yet answered it never seems to put it's self together. You are always missing a piece and if you ...

A new spoken word poem on my Youtube account at riverboatsong. "I Walk With the Zebra" Why can't life be seen as the way we see the zebra? Black and white and you know what you have in front of you; it's not a horse and you already know that. It does not lie to you and it does not try to be what it is not; between the black lines are white lines and between the white lines are black lines. There they are in front of you; it looks like a horse, it runs like a horse and it lives in herds like a horse. Yet it is not a horse; it does not lie to you, you see the truth it's there in front of you it does not hide facts. Here I am in front of you; you see my white lies and you see the black of my demise. I do not travel in herds; I can do all my miss leadings on my own. So as you can see there are fine lines to read between just the printings on the wall to tell you that it is all over. Like tattooed zebras we slurry our lies on our skin and strut as no one knows nothing ...

Art Work "Jean Genie" By John McKinley Pride Jr "A Moment Lost but not Forgotten" There are silent words that pass from each glance back and forth; a second look, a third to see if it is real and not just a mistaking graze upon the very tips of your hormones. Right there, right then and there you realize it is not a mistake; that the very thing you hoped for was true and there been not just a glance but like windows open for a peeping tom you stare into each other seeing a second, seeing a moment and seeing an infinitesimally of lust. Then some where in the back ground a glass drops to the floor crashing, breaking the strong hold upon the eyes. The moment lost, never talked about, never shared and never acted out again; just a glance that never leaves the memory. Just an amazing moment that is frozen in time wondering the outskirts of the mind and never leaving the dreams that now destroy your sleep. You think to your self if I could just get one more chance to gaze...

A new spoken word poem I have up at my youtube acount come let me know what you think "If You're Head Should Explode" For these are the days we see, in blue white lights of tattered silver steeds and dead men talking. Upon the sea, across this desert night this fire burns for you; yet you can not hear the flames of my lust rising. Take forth your own youth and your own broken heart and let it lie still for what you know of love will never reach you. Still the clouds may stay in your eyes, like a painting in Mozart's dreams of old times, they have shattered as I dream of new blood like youth lost in the pictures of our past. Gray has become a friend of mine and a two wheeled steed glides me to my place of rest. John McKinley Pride Jr. 4/12/97

This is one of my poems put to spoken word please let me know what you think and thanks so much. “The Chambers” To be empty is one thing To feel empty is on going What can fill this emptiness? If anything; I have learned nothing can Everything is but filler Everything is like a mask To hide the truth; what we could become is just faded with Every aged year that cripples us. Youth is wasted on the youth Who do not relies that there time is now The heart constantly changes and divides into chambers Splits in two and is nothing like the brain It some how forgets wrongs to where the brain will not let you forget Will not let you forget what you are To stay I this mind bog of unforgiving let downs Where do you put this emptiness? You can not put it anywhere It stays empty It stays an abyss of loneliness Trying to keep your head afloat While others float on Has it grabbed your attention yet? Have you seen what avoids the eye of the living? What lights the dark hallways and darkens the corn...

A Spoken Word Poem up and going; You can find me on youtube under the name "riverboatsong" “I Feel Nothing but Tears Fall” Darkened Hurst I know where you are going I know where you have been I know what you carry and I thank God that I am not them Your window dark as night Chrome shiny and bright Rolling along the street What a blight sight I fight back the tears but it’s just no use Like a fuse inside my heart has burnt out These feelings will not flee me These feelings I must not refuse These feelings I must never lose It is not you I fear or your black glossy coat I see my self in It is not your friend death that drives you or the reaper that fallows close behind you It’s the widow I feel for It’s the mother and father I feel for It’s the sons and daughters I feel for I do not fear you or the day my empty body is laid abroad in you. By John McKinley Pride Jr 1/31/11

A new spoken word poem I have uploaded on my Youtube account under the name "riverboatsong" thanks and if you can I hope you enjoy it. "The Ramblings of a Dreamer" My ramblings seem to fade on paper and the lines seem to get thinner between each thought I have. Oh just another note-book of daydreams that will sit in my closet forever. Just another poem that will never be read by another’s eyes; the ink that powers my fairy tale dreams appear to run out from time to time. Maybe just maybe it is my heart that is dying out and not my mind. If I have no heart when I scribble a rhyme or two I will lose color and fade away as easy as you the one who has no dreams at all. By John McKinley Pride Jr 11/25/07

A Spoken Word Poem that I have up on my Youtube Channel under the name riverboatsong. Feel free and take a look. “Between Worlds” Flash forward and come back to your self The time with in the numbers in your hands To choose and pluck destinations unknown Love has grown and love has been lost Between the hands of certainty Death fallows behind step for step through the doors of secrecy Time stands motionless Time fly’s by Time is yours beyond all time Doorways open and close Close and then open Victorian dreams at there end To see the overly morel world that has long past Truly this is were it all begins Begins this story Begins this wonder Begins the clocks of time So the pendulum swings more then once And the bells are ringing loud in your ears Which door will be your last and where do you start over from here? Between love you must stay Between death you must run Between time you must push on Between these worlds you do not know Between worlds you must go Between worlds you mu...

New Spoken Word Poem "The Grain" Is there a grain to life? A path we should fallow to make this life easer; a jagged sharpness that is to go on for days then months. A maze of what ifs and maybe I should haves; to go against the grain that is my question. Where do the guessing games stop? Or do we just keep going hoping we make all the right choices when we are pressured in to them. What corners should we not back in to? What skeleton should we pick to let out of our closets for others to pull them apart by there limbs. At least leave my ribs so my heart is not taken from me. By John McKinley Pride Jr 3/17/09

A spoken word poem “I Look Back Not Wanting” Is it a crime to cheat death? To defy a way out of life’s end To see the cloak of death creeping Sweeping over my body in darkness Only to watch it gracefully hover over my head Grazing the end of my nose Pulling my lashes to open my eyes And seeing the darkness no more I look back not wanting But wondering why it did not Choose me this time Why for a moment I felt peace And fear all at the same time Why my lips felt cold but kissed death good bye I look back not needing I look back not wishing I look back not wanting I look back wondering why Why It did not choose me this time By John McKinley Pride Jr 2/21/11

"If You're Head Should Explode" For these are the days we see, in blue white lights of tattered silver steeds and dead men talking. Upon the sea, across this desert night this fire burns for you; yet you can not hear the flames of my lust rising. Take forth your own youth and your own broken heart and let it lie still for what you know of love will never reach you. Still the clouds may stay in your eyes, like a painting in Mozart’s dreams of old times, they have shattered as I dream of new blood like youth lost in the pictures of our past. Gray has become a friend of mine and a two wheeled steed glides me to my place of rest. By John McKinley Pride Jr. 4/12/97