David Harth 2025-04-24 David Harth 2025-04-24

Stolen Coffee

As usual, I wake up at 5:15am, every day of the week.

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Some mornings I eat breakfast before I work out with my trainer at the gym starting at 6:00am. Some mornings I take my 3-mile brisk walk around the park starting at 5:20am. Some mornings I do some at-home fitness. Some mornings, after breakfast, I’ll have coffee. To prepare that coffee, I first start boiling water in a blue kettle. While the water in the blue kettle is heating up, I pour the whole beans (Usually of single origin) into my bean grinder. I then grind the beans for about 20 seconds. After which I pour the ground coffee beans into one of my three French presses. The blue kettle whistles to let me know when the water has come to a boil. I turn off the flame and I pick up the blue kettle. I then pour the boiling water from the blue kettle into one of my three French presses. Then I place the plunger and top of the French press in place, but don’t yet plunge it downwards. I let the coffee sit and sit. Then when I think of it, usually, I’d say, 5-10 minutes of seeping, I plunge the filter downwards in the beaker of one of my three French presses.

My coffee smells delicious.

The scent alone rattles my insides.

With notes of rich smoky chocolate.

I pour my hot coffee into a huge 16oz white mug that has the letters “coffee” on one side. I’ve always wondered why it was spelled “coffee” and not “Coffee” with a capital letter “C.” I’m convinced this mug holds more than 16oz. I love this mug so much. So much that I bought two of them, out of, perhaps, irrational fear, that one mug would break one day. Years later, I found the mug again and purchased two more. I now own four of them. All are operational, not broken, and continue to bring joy in my life every day of the week.

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

I was alarmed today.

Someone stole my coffee.

My coffee was gone.

And gone was my coffee.

25.04.24.08:31:09@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2025-04-14 David Harth 2025-04-14

Sorry I’m Late

My watch around my wrist

Not too tight to make an impression

Finest time piece from Mesozoic times

Even a collection can’t buy time

With paisley shirts and penny loafers

Opa’s cuckoo clock

From the streets of Gießen

To Kristallnacht’s escape

Discovered it was a dentist’s office

Now a student’s flat

Sister’s clock radio with the red digital digits

Made of plastic wood

With wire cord too short

Alarm set early and snooze always pressed

Upside down books get you nowhere

Grandfather clock down the hall

Chimes on every hour like a soldier

From Bethlehem to Queens

Ghosts never left home

Elijah waltzes in without veto

Tick Tock the clock the students spy on

Until school day’s end

Hanging on institutional green paint

Recess at play be gay

Jeanne gave chocolates behind the teacher’s desk

A lost man in a meadow

Taught me to read the sun

As he bled from his wounds

His blood mixed with the dirt

If only he called ahead

I apologize I’m late.

25.04.14.15.06.17@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2025-04-03 David Harth 2025-04-03

Scab

I am the scab

that keeps coming back

I am the head in the oven

I am the river below the bridge

I am the tracks guiding the train

I am the knife hidden in the drawer

I am the gasoline next to the kindling

I am the current beneath the hull of the ferry

I am the mouth on the end of the exhaust pipe

I am the spool of heavy rope in the corner of the studio

I am the time not taken

I am the eulogy not given

I am the echo in your head on repeat

I am the revolver you pick up at the end of the day

I am the depression that whips you around the bend

I am the scab

you cannot defeat

I am the scab

you cannot heal

I am the scab

you cannot pick off

I am the scab

you cannot let go of

I am the scab

that keeps coming back

25.04.03.14.46.16@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2025-03-21 David Harth 2025-03-21

The Sea Garden

The cats come in

The cats come out

At night,

Feed them all about

At day,

Sleep until the sun is highest in the sky

And sleep some more

She was a mystery

I had not known

Oceans swarm

As a sea garden blooms

But her cat on a bench

Looked just like mine

Even though her cat on the bench

Was not really her cat

But just a cat

Sleeping in the sun

Until the sun was highest in the sky

25.03.26.07.37.00@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2024-12-04 David Harth 2024-12-04

Suicide Registration

I stood up

Walked out of the classroom

I was frustrated

This was not the class I signed up for

This was not the professor I hoped to learn from

I went to the administration office

I sought clarification

And then I realized

I did not register for Suicide

I registered for something else

24.12.04.22.22.51@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2024-12-01 David Harth 2024-12-01

Shadows

Running out of time

Can’t compete against this current

Can’t win against this tide

Can’t keep my head over water

Can’t recover

Can’t forget

And

Can’t remain

So remember my strength

Remember I tried

Remember my name

And

Remember my epic dream

I put you aside

To surrender to love

I lost what I once had

But gained so much more

And

The darkness ate me alive

I got buried

Beneath the great depression

24.12.01.16.17.00@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2024-11-07 David Harth 2024-11-07

She Came Inside

Pry

Pull

Pick

Peel

Prod

Plow

Push

Poke

Pluck

Probe

Pierce

Prompt

Puncture

Permeate

Penetrate

Emancipate

Evacuate

Excavate

Exorcism

Exfoliate

Extrude

Escape

Extract

Egress

Elude

Expel

Eject

Evict

Exit

Infiltrate

Intrude

Invade

Inject

Assault

Attack

Access

Autopsy

Sneak

& Peak

Trespass

Pass

Paassssssst…

Pssst…..

Psss….

–

Entrance

–

She’s going inside

And inside she went

I opened wide

And she came inside

24.11.07.09.45.48@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2024-09-22 David Harth 2024-09-22

Sleepless Nights

quiet

night

silence

drift

fray

whisper

unknown

falls

end

tie knot

dark

loss

lost

yesterday

tomorrow

mourning

night shade

listen

alone

final

untold

secret

wind

footsteps

moment

shadow

grace

forgotten

last

echoes

24.09.22.21.23.00@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2016-05-17 David Harth 2016-05-17

Skin & Bones

All she ever was

To my silent majority

And catastrophic heart

Skin and bones

And skin and bones

Contemplating spine crushing

Chastity locking

Ego stroking

Couldn’t be at yesterday’s benefit

Couldn’t be at the reception

Couldn’t be at the morgue

Skin and bones

And skin and bones

Rrrrrrrrash

Skin and bones

Scrape

Up off the floor

Scrape

Skin and bones

Scrape

Seasons come and go

Scrape

Lessons to be learned

Skin and bones

2016.05.17.15:53:17@200VeseyNYC

David Harth 2016-02-21 David Harth 2016-02-21

Sometimes in the Sadness

In fear

Reaching into the unknown abyss

Attempting to find location

Empty handed

Blind to the reasons

Crawling upon the ground

Pulling the weight of your body

With digging fingernails into the splintering floor

Scratching the dirt

The sound of chalk on board

Burning decaying eyes

Guilty pleasure standing tall

Expensive expanse

These battles and quiet hymns

Raging fires scorching

Dying screams unheard

Sunken heart of despair

War is on

16.02.21.20:45:19@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2014-01-24 David Harth 2014-01-24

Something I’ve

She approached

With a wave and a hatless flow of hair

Her killer smile made my knees melt into the snow below

But I won't talk about that

For now

Because her intellect

Stimulated conversations

Of multiple directions

She kissed me

I kissed her

In the frigid air

Taught me well

A new perspective

Which I love

At my old age of dry eyes and acid reflux

To listen

Think, once again

Before I speak

A reflection

A believer

Romance

Forefront

Forward

She enveloped me

Briefly we thought, scared me

I checked

Her bitten hands covered in gloves

There was that smile again

Hop on the plane

Next destination

Prediction, perhaps

Welcomed observations

If she never comes back

To the circle I have become

She shed light

To the fact that sometimes

I am indeed

Too square

But she

Is the circle with no fear

The courageous tiger that stares back at you

The global beacon

Which I hear,

Bing, Bing, Bing

The educator - The teacher

Not even counterfeiting

Or dancing

But prowling with determination

Sly, she knows

With a whispering departure

She goes...

At the end, it’s all

Something I’ve learned

14.01.24.02:36:41@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2013-02-11 David Harth 2013-02-11

Saying Goodbye

For dozens of years, I’ve whispered your name

No matter how many times you’ve disappeared

The dreadful day approaches the same

Beneath these falling snow flakes

I separate the clouds and part the seas

When I’m in love, I never halt the brakes

So, when I hover over you in your deepest sleep

Share secrets of my heart with your dreams

Do not fear and do not weep

For I’ve come to guide you and rescue you

My honest chivalry and sublime passion

Worn on my sleeve, shown through and through

Before I depart

Know my veracity

I loved you more than my art

Once more I shall see your seductive eyes

I shall put up my sail and be on my way

After we say our last goodbyes

13.02.11.09:59:53@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2012-09-29 David Harth 2012-09-29

Sarah Gail Hutcherson

In passing through others

I heard her name

And she heard mine

One day

We detected and determined

Something quite similar

Not acted upon

Only shared and discussed

We attempted to arrange

And engineer the similarity

Yet still to this day

Only a dream

Of warm coastal drifters

And north east storm dwellers

By three names she goes by

Like children who show and tell

With hidden secrets

And the push of pull

Of wondering

And the constant wandering

From state to state

In the unconscious state

Of our minds

12.09.29.13:21:02@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2012-09-09 David Harth 2012-09-09

Suzanne Barse

She slept across from her

That’s how I knew her

I didn’t know much about her

Except that she slept across from her

Months turn into years

Decades past

A rediscovery made

In one of the most nontraditional senses

And there she was

Still only a memory

Of a woman who slept across from her

With new light

Caring about her mother

So active

So warm

She didn’t just sleep

Across from her

Anymore

12.09.29.11:17:29@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2012-03-02 David Harth 2012-03-02

The Stories We Tell

When we are children we tell stories

Usually make believe

Based upon figments of what we’ve experienced

Based upon fragments of our vivid imagination

A bit surreal like a Salvador Dalí panting

Our reality is blurred with fantasy

We accentuate the truth

Bend the truth or even ignore the truth

When we are teens

We try to make our stories become reality

We can tell the difference between fantasy and reality

But we try hard to make certain stories a reality

Even though some stories will remain a fantasy

When we are adults

We are actively creating real stories

We are actively participating in the stories we will at one time call our “life”

We make decisions which affect these stories

We make these stories take the directions we choose

As we mold and form these stories

As these stories mold and form us into who we become

When we are in our old age

When we look at our life that has occurred before us

We will have stories to tell

We will have stories to share

We will share these stories about our history

About our lives

The story I will tell is amazing

But how will your story be?

12.03.02.12:51:19@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2012-02-04 David Harth 2012-02-04

Speaking At My Funeral

Not fearing death comes easy to me

Quite simple actually

And quite often I seek death

I look for death

I welcome death

It’s an uncontrollable habit

And even easier at this moment

One day I’ll commit suicide

It won’t be a surprise to some

It won’t be a shock to others

It won’t be a performance art work

But the day will come

And I’ll be dead

By my choice

This is an invitation

To all of you

You may know me well

Or not at all

But you may come to my funeral

And speak

Now I must go

Because there is one more thing to write

One more work to create

And one more love to love

12.02.04.24:31:31@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2011-11-18 David Harth 2011-11-18

Swallowing Ajax

I’m healing

This is the fact that you should know

I didn’t know that I was being served a swallow on a plate

The plate was white porcelain with a blue trim

Quite beautiful actually

The swallow was hidden in sauce

With crispy onions and toasted almond slivers

Garnished with greens that looked like whiskers

Served with a white wine at room temperature

I ate the swallow without knowing it was a swallow

It went down simple

And was actually delicious

When I got home

I felt I did something morally wrong

And I still had no idea I just ate a swallow

To rid myself of this sin

I took a 14oz container of Ajax

Combined it with 32oz of water

And drank

My sins are gone

So is the lonely swallow

11.11.18.13:05:03@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2011-11-12 David Harth 2011-11-12

Something We’re Not

When I was a baby

I was something I was not

When I was a child

I was something I was not

When I was a teenager

I was something I was not

When I was a young man

I was something I was not

When I was a man

I was something I was not

I am something I am not

And I am not something I am

Something I was and something I will be

Somethings are different and somethings are better

Better to be something than not something

And better to be something else than nothing at all

Something is better than nothing

And nothing could be better than something

If that something is something you are not

When I was something

I was not

And when I was not something

I was something

When something is wrong

Write something down

When something is written

Something is forgiven

And when something is forgiven

Something is not

And not something is still something

But something is not what I want

When all you want is something

Something else

And something you are not

11.11.12.10:13:13@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2011-02-08 David Harth 2011-02-08

Silently Destroyed

Without warning –

I was attacked

The deadly serpent

Has been stalking me

Watching my every move for the past few months

Watching my comings and goings

Watching my daily routine

She tortured me

She wailed her songs

She lured me with her dance

She punctured my tough skin with her razor sharp teeth

She sucked everything out of me

She removed all of my vital organs

She dug out my heart from its skeletal shell

Without warning –

I was attacked

The serpent came

Quietly and slowly

From behind she crept

Beneath dark winter clouds

While time was passing on the evolutionary clock

I didn’t see it coming

These terrorist tribunals

These tremendous troubles

These explosive endearments

She stole my season

She captured all my reason

She made me commit to love’s treason

Without warning –

I was attacked

Night and day

She ate me alive

And she hijacked my heart

Now I am defeated

And now I am destroyed

11.02.08.01:35:18@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2011-01-05 David Harth 2011-01-05

Sinking In Sorrow

I am sinking,

Water up to my neck,

I can’t help my ache.

Wanting you

Like never before,

Never healed.

Never in love.

I am sinking,

Over the rush.

Climbing and tackling,

Taking the journey

Head on.

I am sinking,

Following your steps.

Avoiding the flood.

The drops of pain.

Love is all around.

I’m here,

Always for you.

I am sinking,

My heart is breaking.

An ensemble of

Cloaked mourners gather.

Under dark skies

Bagpipers play.

Drowning out these

Tears of love.

I am sinking,

I’ve written you a love song.

I’ll whisper it in your ear,

As you get lost

In my arms.

I am sinking.

05.07.01.21:56:00@NYC

11.01.05.16:59:21@550NYC