Photos

Through the glass of all the sweating empty bottles,

One can barely make out the disarray of dusty picture frames

They are contorted memories of a life I used to have

Attempts to forget them monopolize my shelves

No matter how many photos I face down

No matter how I try to hide

They always seem to find a way to catch my eye

Skem3

The American Midwest

This photo, though unexciting, marks a huge moment in my life. Growing up next to the railroad, the rattle and rumble of the freight trains would always lul me to sleep. I would watch them roar by, knowing each one led to adventure. I've always wanted to join the fraternity of Hobos, Tramps, scum, adventurers, and all the other forgotten people who had the same burning wanderlust I do. This photo is the only thing I have from my first time riding the rails (other than a backpack stained with coal).

I took this coal car from Denver, 8 hours South along the entirety of the Colorado Rockies. I saw some of the most beautiful sites I've ever seen and had one of the best/worst nights sleep I've ever slept. I got off the train at 5 am and hitch-hiked the rest of the way. 4 awesome people, 1 super awesome ex coke head, 1 messed up meth trafficker/junky/gay porn recruiter and 26 hours later I made it home. In one piece.

--Skem3

Air

I'm tired of the taste of air

Please stop

Skem3

Wait for the End With Me

Fake forced smiles 

Make for dry cracked lips

Half and whole lies

Are course for sinking ships

Lustful looks that wander

Leave silent pooling eyes to ponder

With dark doubts and fears

I spend hours staring blankly into mirrors

-Skem3

Destined To Never Feel At Home

This quote from Polar Bear Club's song; Convinced I'm Wrong can be found in a dirty bus station shitter in downtown Omaha. The bus ride there from Kansas City is only about 3.5 hours but, while trying to ignore all the drunks and rednecks it gives you a lot of time to think.

It is a pretty empty thought

To be traveling between the two cities that conjure my darkest lonelinesses

With it's red bricked roads crooked under my feet

Dirty brook with the homeless that inhabit it

And the spray of the fountain's cold colorful bursts

Omaha is a giant tar and concrete monument
I loom in the shadow of my closest failure

With it's sleepy garden of expensive arts
Century old medieval workhouse full of beauty and adventure
And how her ghost lingers on every corner and street 

Kansas City is a writhing cold-sweat
I wade through relics of old addictions

Sometimes,
I Wish I Were Dead

-Skem3

Caught In the Rain With You

When I got here in November

I was looking for a place

I wouldn't want to die

Now, 6 months later

I've created a perfect world

Everything I wanted I found or made

No matter where I run

It still rains

I am no less lonely.

I am no less lost.

-Skem3

poor...dog?

Fresh Out

I have few words left for you
None of which you want to hear
I dont know what more you could possibly want from me

But as long as it's for you?

Then, I am fresh fucking out

-Skem3

I Taste Fire

The moments that have lead up to this piece

 The last few writhing months

The fearful and adventurous steps that lead me to this place

And even how the paint came into my hands

Have made for a beautifully painful apex of darkness and rampancy

I feel it in every stroke and breath

It tastes like fire
-Skem3

I Think I Made My First Friend Today

This is the first time I drew this bird.

When approaching the wall with marker already in hand,

I'd no idea what I was going to paint.

All I knew for sure was that I'd already committed to the spot and wasn't looking back.

Before I could decide for myself what I wanted to do I was already laying down thick black lines.

Before I knew it I was adding in the small details of a drawing I'd never seen before.

-Skem3

I Could Puke

Here's another free hand piece in the Castle. I ran out of scrap cans before I could finish and touch a few things up. But I guess I don't hate it.

-Skem3

New City, New Blog

I will be creating in Kansas City until the winds blow me away again. Until that time comes I've decided to start posting my work again. It's kind of like a FreeStreetKC but with a slightly different tone.

I've got a few things up already so, this post and the next few will be me playing catch up.

Also here is my old blog, FreeStreetFargo.

–Skem3