Joseph Pinto, the barflypoet

i am nothing but misplaced hope.   ‘where gone summer’   firecracker mouth thinks it’s july the heat, one syllabic melt and the bleat, bang bang   misplaced hope in a waffle cone crumbled into a tree that died rolled a joint i can’t smoke fell out the window on east 54th   now like a litterbug dropping christmas lights joy comes tangled and unplugged but sants loves me more than jesus one delivers...

a winning hand.   ‘casino 1:46 am’   i’ve drunk myself into an oblivion the kind of which that spins the world while you stumble standing still.  * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * 'Dead Bird,' 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on Amazon. * instagram at joseph_a_pinto *...

after awhile you don’t feel the blows…   ‘when i get home’   dreaming of uttered exclamations joyful breaths across my neck  instead i hear your baptized insistence volley from an old war  echoing across the knoll. the chest no longer blooms though alive with booted movement solemn unacceptabilities marching  in a cadence led straight to slaughter; and in another breath like a lifetime i find bene...

in need of an anchor, i found what sunk me…   ‘the dubious monster’   a few points raised by the unhappy mistress as her blue eyes shone so cerebral in their collapse: it’s a shameful ruin, the dubious monster, whose death escapes  within its very arms.   gently i reached into my pocket and between silence and dream chose a purpled palm of light.   so i see. returning the same as you gave. a vast...

go ahead. underestimate the quiet ones.   ‘back off’   got a scotch in one hand.   a bad attitude in the other.  * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * 'Dead Bird,' 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on Amazon. * instagram at joseph_a_pinto * https://www.etsy.com/shop/Joseph...

all of me, nothing but shadow…   ‘worthy’   my expression, nothing that is worthy of a beautiful breath; these days displeasure crosses me as most women i have loved, locked under the  furrow of my brow eyes each a shuttered house   i live as a candle blown out— a statement to which no response will ever materialize, unfazed even by the splintered cork spoiling bottle, penciled figure awaiting col...

you claim it’s communication. i beg to differ.   ‘unconditional coldness’    objections like leaves fall from mouths unconscious droughts pestilent assemblages of air, swirling intention prohibited    our feet gifting unconditional coldness.  * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * 'Dead Bird,' 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit&#3...

i can’t take it anymore.   ‘taking’   the drive is mundane the scenery is mundane—   he takes the trash pail from the driveway she takes mail from the box the dog takes a shit on the grass the family takes the walk  and takes the shit from the lawn he takes time from the neighbor she takes heavy bags to the door everyone is taking something from everyone somewhere.   you take it all in.  * #barfly...

smooth. she’s so smooth…   ‘she walks’   she walks with summer's  swoon, breeze at her back regal considerations always on her tongue and  you would certainly fall in  line behind her, mesmerized by the cadence of her stilettos alone; alone, she thinks. she rips the  cigarette from her mouth and  crushes it  against the sidewalk,  stained red from an unloved mouth.    * #barflypoet #josephapin...

concluding shameless book promotion time from my 2020 collection ‘ scotch & scars !’   what is said when nothing is said at all? how could a vacant look carry so much weight..?   ‘scotch & scars’  is available on amazon for your reading pleasure. if you enjoy it, please indulge me the favor of a review.   today’s selection is:    ‘scotch and scars’   in the lonely you’ll find me shuffling...

shameless book promotion time! continuing with my 2nd poetry collection ‘ scotch & scars ’  from 2020.   anatomy lesson: the bones hold you up but certainly don’t keep you together…    ‘scotch & scars’  is available on amazon for your reading pleasure. if you enjoy it, please indulge me the favor of a review.   today’s selection is:    ‘bone and matter’   you’re completely ignorant to the...

shameless book promotion time! sipping again from my 2nd poetry collection ‘ scotch & scars ’  from 2020.   it hits you sometimes…most times…a truth that in your sober you deny. but not anymore…   ‘scotch & scars’  is available on amazon for your reading pleasure. if you enjoy it, please indulge me the favor of a review.   today’s selection is:   ‘one more’   the perception is  you drink t...

so tell me…how do you share the comfort..?   ‘best of intentions’   repeated, her legitimate question: “how do you console the black streams of memory? how do you distinguish miles from a  slowly shimmering mirage?”   suffice to say the bright of my eyes faded and i softly cleared my throat “glory and illusion are inseparable,” i told her, “still i’m not one to gloat. you see, the fearless man per...

shameless book promotion time! another selection from my 2nd poetry collection ‘ scotch & scars ’  from 2020.   a hill to some is a mountain to others. light to some is darkness to others. i guess what i’m saying is please don’t ever judge unless you wear the same shoes…   ‘scotch & scars’  is available on amazon. if you enjoy it, please indulge me the favor of a review.   today’s selectio...

shameless book promotion time! continuing with my 2nd poetry collection ‘ scotch & scars ’  from 2020.   a meal is just that, a meal. but did you also know that chow is a harbinger for many a relationship? you didn’t? luckily now you do. and you didn’t have to count any calories to find out, either…   ‘scotch & scars’  is available on amazon. if you enjoy it, please indulge me the favor of...

shameless book promotion time! the spotlight shines on my 2nd poetry collection ‘ scotch & scars !’   i released  ‘ scotch & scars ’  in 2020, two years after ‘ a distilled spirit .’  while the collection still featured ‘bar observations,’ it did begin to reveal more of my darker thoughts and emotions. good, raw poetry should be unflinching and that’s where  ‘scotch & scars’  delivers....

stare straight ahead. they’ll leave you alone eventually…   ‘seep’   blissful, ignorant silence— to seep alone in ruin   indulgent alcoholic consumption. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * 'Dead Bird,' 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on Amazon. * instagram at joseph_a...

should you ask, i won’t hold back…   ‘sharp things’   you thought my pen was sharp you should hear my fucking mouth.  * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * 'Dead Bird,' 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on Amazon. * instagram at joseph_a_pinto * https://www.etsy.com/shop/J...

some prose poetry from november of 2021.   my daughter, now 17, has special needs. i help her get ready for school every morning. i walk her to the school and return to pick her up every day. i still brush her hair. i’ve been doing this since she’s been 4 years old.    life is far from fair, and to this day i have trouble accepting the  why’s . but if god is who i think he is, he’ll have me guidin...

bar observation:   listen in on some conversations. it’s just blah blah blah. but the drinking? it’s all business.   ‘dumb, or are they’   waste the words the meanings   but never waste the alcohol. * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * 'Dead Bird,' 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback...

i call these ‘lubrication pieces.’ most of my writing sessions start with zero ideas. so i write anything! what’s the first thing i notice when glancing out the window? what seemingly mundane thing might’ve stuck in my head during the course of the day? how do my clothes feel on my body in the moment? whatever written doesn’t need to be good…it just needs to break the ice.    start with one small...

i tried to get clean. i swear i did…   ‘junkie’   i loved you not the devolved persuasiveness you lowered like a coffin into ground   you had an unconditional impatience   i had an analytical moderation of grace   together we doted a new testament (our complex game so easy to play)   i crowned your necessity believing any good thing could be improvised;   i’m left now in trembling light;   like a...

a simple little ‘quip’ today.   tired has handles. weary keeps straps.   i know.    ‘bags’   i have bags under my eyes.   they used to be full of something now they only carry weight.  * #barflypoet #josephapinto © Joseph A. Pinto * 'dead bird,' 'From My Front Steps,' 'Scotch and Scars' and 'A Distilled Spirit' poetry collections available in paperback and ebook on...

hello everyone! happy new year! i hope the coming months will be kind to you all and open the doors to your manifestations.    today’s poem is one i posted a long time ago but fitting, i believe, to share once more. our world has gone downhill with no end in sight, i fear. more than ever, we must find the champion within…   ‘beacon’   we live in a world of posers and followers desperate for the fr...

i haven’t shared one of these in a while so here we go. it’s what i call my ‘prose poetry.’ i take an uncommon word and write to the emotions it stirs without using the actual word anywhere within my conjuring. enjoy!  this one is from june 2023. ‘basorexia’   mother and father never taught love they lessoned set it free. i enlightened myself the anguished prophecy of borrowed wings. there remain...