Sunrise at the Cortexx Party

January 25, 2026By Focal NomadPOETRY, Posts, SUNRISE SERIES

Photos taken (on my iPhone 6) and words written on July 7, 2019 in downtown Los Angeles, CA. This was at and coming home from the “Cortexx” party.

A grey night out. I only seem to
Be around the downtown skyline in the rare
Skies of fog. Moving up the 101—
Superficial as it is, hungers on my mind.
Creature comforts.

I’m not embarrassed, it’s Top Ramen
and Stranger Things.

After a weekend of shit—
excuse me, debauchery if you’re an ex—
I’ve noticed how much I’ve grown
in the last
60 days.

Since they found a lump in my breast
And I was forced to face my mortality and
Learn to ride the waves
wherever they thrust me.

Life doesn’t happen in a desert. It’s
Aquatic.

Life is full of color.
Life ebbs and flows
and the things inside it
die if they fight the current.

Life has more mystery in it
than the expansion of the cosmos.

Life,
life happens
when it’s wet.

It’s crazy to think that nearly everything
And everyone
I immediately desire
is matching me
to the trauma stuck in my body,

Dying to come out
by being expressed
and resolved.

My spirit
is only hungry
for it to evolve.

A series of unfortunate events, indeed.

But after last month,
all it is to me now
is “not cancer.”

Sunrise from a Bushwick Boat

January 24, 2026By Focal NomadPOETRY, Posts, SUNRISE SERIES

Photos taken (on my iPhone 6) and words written on January 1, 2019 on the Schamonchi boat on Newtown Creek in Brooklyn, NY.

I come from a crew of big dreamers
And mean thinkers

Mixing trap into The Lion King
As tradition for ending every epic night

We didn’t all die in one of the
Many, many, many stupid but glorious decisions
We’ve made that night

As the high starts to wear off I’m
Pleased with the choices I’ve made

Friendships over shallow fucks always
Yield the results I want

The boat is not hard to find
If you know where to look

But like love, the best way to know where it is
Is just to say yes to the ride

In this case: that ride is a blue Byrd bus
Fully equipped with speakers and whiskey
And smiles and bittersweet memories that—

It’ll keep going: you may have to steer
Left to make it straight, you may have to push
To jump-start if it’s been sitting too long.

But it’ll always be there as a more adventurous
And fulfilling mode of getting you
To where we’re all going anyways.

It’s pleasant to know that I’m always welcome
Back on this ship since they just seem to know me

My radness hasn’t been melted by time, we’ll hug hello
And dance the night away — as if no time had
Been lost because the beat kept us on

Track the whole time.