James D. Casey IV's Blog

the fall changed me
its hard to explain
I just didn’t feel
the same

I didn’t feel anything

wasn’t sure who I was
still don’t in a lot of ways
a cyborg on autopilot

running from it instead of dealing with it

lost my way
lost years
lost all

had the time of my life

bounced back
lost it again

a hangman’s ghost
in hopeful wander
chasing the feeling
of something real

now hopelessly lost
in the eye of the storm
birthed from broken bones

searching for a place to heal

©2025—JDCIV

nobody knows you
like you
every version far
from truth

but I don’t even know
each other

sometimes

lies and cigarettes
mentally ill
lustrous

true insanity
is doing different things
expecting no results
not same

secret canine
agent planet

loyal to the bone

in loving someone’s
secret weaknesses

living in a state of grace
god writes blank checks
devils never pay you back

death of a ladies’ man
in reverse

hello us
nice to meet me
we need to talk

©2025—JDCIV

heart’s broken window
folded memories
jaded thoughts
calling out
through

why me why me why me

wandering fool
friend of pain
sick
on experience

seeking silent corners
away from echo’s ego

watered down
self-medicated
still quiet
never comes

soul survivors
lost loves
old cats

faces
to the glass

whispering news from nowhere

please
shut the fuck up

©2025—JDCIV

dove of peace in pieces
stirring the pot
on a southbound train

never follow the crowd

decisions made upon
one flame perspective
of ashes and history

time measured
bridges burned

mental health magic child
trouble in his busted bones

spitting image memory
state of grace dream
perpetually lost
found again

some act a role
others play a part
all running scenes

and the show must go on

©2025—JDCIV

fools in the time of love
human nature, after all

pawn shop manifestos
rotten to the core
sins of kings
pretend

meaning something
never did

lousy fathers

needful things
shirttail rodeos
drunken compliments

thin lies
in wine lies truth

checkmate
stone statue
hand to heart

sharpened knives
guessing games
dig
two graves
one shovel

lay it all to rest

©JDCIV—2025

legacy is legacy
even if one of ruin

stepping on a funeral mine

the best of us
run down legs

inside joke
inhaled smoke
dead in a trunk

she emptied the clip

fire in the wake caused
by love’s destruction

chaos breeds life
forever young
fare thee well

no stranger to the sorrow of
a broken heart

busted up
unapologetically
re-rolled

JDCIV

God/Family/Steelers
on a bumper sticker
he works in mysterious ways
meek inherit the earth
sinners take all

mumbling something about Rainman
under labored breath
on the radio

fire in the madhouse
at the end of the world

road dogs
weighing the pros and cons
of self-subtraction

insignifi-cunt little lives
little white lies
Mom said I could be anything
so I became an issue

the scent of fresh blood
and dead flowers follow him around
no hard feelings
when you can’t feel
anything

“If you knew where I was buried,
would you piss on my grave?”

JDCIV

angel singing
secret lullabies

are you listening

send feedback
side panels
history
saved

found at the end of the world
taught how to die
bleeding

open book
pretty face

I clean up

chapel of mirror
hill hard to climb
philosophy

toxic hope fiend
pill hard to swallow
politics

be still
let the music
speak

JDCIV

good at stupid things
forgetting when to use
the art of walking away

heaven’s disgrace
knight in hell’s armor

I saw the devil get invited
to the church of poetry
but god
had other plans

hope abandoned
on a penny saved
earned the hard way

circle broken
three times
miracles and true friends
revealed

looking for a place to die
howling at the moon
as my tattoos float away

sacrifice me to the gods
but pay me first

watch my corpse
get up and dance

JDCIV

closing in
whispering about my death

I whisper back
“Not yet,
motherfuckers.”

they leave but I know
they’ll return

always do

a few have been with me
since I was a golden child

forever young
never born
lost boy

the rest clung on
along the path

left

forward
never straight

I love some
more than others
but they all
wish me dead

if only for the company

so we need
each other

©2024—JDCIV