when light of day
comes to shake your hand
wake you
bring you home
out of dream land
from that lone deep sleep
did the lonely moon
say good night
did daylight part the way
if love would come and visit
perhaps joy could come to stay
when winter disintegrated
into lusty spring
what did daylight bring
did you finally find your way
does daylight ever really care
did you ever find your true share
did you have to look everywhere
atmosphere brazenly calling us out
razing the world with the blazing sun
at night all those amazing stars
glibly guiding us about
what way should we turn
what path should we take
I know we are yearning
we all know this life isn't fake
when we finally lay down to die
what will our last words be
maybe what our yearning soul
might honestly speak
one last thought
be what we truly seek
will that moment be clear enough
for us to know and see
heaven as a destiny
will godhead be assured
but demure crazy us
lazy in this hazy atmosphere
when the day finally ends
rendering twilight into stars
lending scores of magic fairytale orbs
glistening in the bristling dark of night
rustling hopes and dreams of cosmic light
that comes to shake our very souls
take us to a magic place
that sometimes cosmic tragic space
still keeping us alive and whole
wandering in that deep slumber
where in my dreams
love comes
to hold my hand
love comes
to let me dream
and kiss your face

             * * *

 

if the world
transcended
ascension
if nothing
can become
some thing
there must be
hope
at least
if we have
hope
then love
can't be
too far behind
once the wishful moon
decides to speak
telling us
about strange love
reminding us
about contagious joy
then perhaps
all of us
will some day
fully understand
that this
world
has its
own theme
a private plan
we'll never know
we'll never truly understand
with each revolution
another filament of evolution
transcending
ascension
together
here we stand
seeds waiting
growth and flourish
on nourishing land
if nothing
stands to confess
becoming
some thing
even scattered
there must be hope
familiar patterns
if nothing less
elope with tattered love
when nothing else matters
smatter yourself
with cosmic hope

           * * *

 

stand regal
legally mesmerized
firm pillar of salt
one foot touching desert
one foot reaching heaven
who could
suck the salt out
hydrate mineral bones
who would
assault lawful creation
level basalt rifts
bring about paradigm shifts
so many imperial juries
conceptual cave paintings
impossible torch marks
proud scorches and scratches
stretching far
criss-crossing
middle earth
zonal relation to zone
embodied landscapes
diverted from oceans into seas
churning salty gravity
chloride in a watery spray
sodium washed and tumbling
humbling pillars of oxygen and hydrogen
gaseous over writhing seascapes
a vortex of water spouts
uncaged sport at play
frivolously tossed
expressly whipped into froth
mad hatter's gargling saline broth
litigious and judicially tried
penalties with a poetic sentence
evaporating haiku after vaporous haiku
remolding every crystalline day
I knew I couldn't stay
so I grew avian wings
flew high above worldly things
such premium eagle vision
successfully fledged and soaring
adoring feathered flight
akin to lofty albatross and arctic tern
staring down at long last
sorting lines of life below me
reality from confused delusion
latest crash victims
left wandering and betrayed
blatant congregations
displayed over time
like out of control stars
scarring every already marred surface
those masters of human mosaic
lightning bolts through canyons
storms rearranging high voltage
aurora illuminating untouchable galleries
never a prosaic world
credence eternally high up
teetering above sacred peaks
featuring eden's celestial love
teaching healing and hovering
emblazoned with a cosmic golden crown
atmospheric recovery
resolved with towers of osmotic love
reverently adorning amorphous glory
glorious choirs chanting
penetrating life with a joyful mix
adding each new residential line
behold every reticent word
unfolding mysterious stories
unearthed in forbidden dreams
digging reluctantly deeper
uncovering forgotten seas
discovering new leagues
regions of corrosive salt
adept in the apocryphal end
all that chemical toxicity
verily mucked out
such reckless thrillers
ninety-nine percent
global wringers
one percent
tillers of the sacred earth
sweet singers from birth
unencumbered by penalty
free of vocal fault
androgynous pillars
leached out of humanity  
consumed by miracle salt
mindful of sacred relics and bones
assuming every distasteful desert
hasn't classified and mummified
every faceted jewel and rarified gem
those gleaming golden granules
shimmering sparkles
deviance from crevasses and cracks
treasures in this drought stricken world
assuming distant heaven
hasn't constricted and nullified
each expressive swirl and twist
expressing largo and limbo
those misty in-between places
no matter the gist
how much multiversity
encircles magic mandalas
post torrents of cyclones
entranced by turbulent rain
tall pillars of salt remain
stand regal
rigid in this crystalline world
imagining another epic creation
every caustic vibration
each radical isotope
equations describing every chemical situation
constituents foregoing universal physics
leaving inscriptions on cave walls
prescribing cosmic and divine maturation

 

                              * * *

 

when the sixth wave arrived
in frozen March 2023
the world was a different place
wishes and few wants ever came true
already by Christmas 2022
fickle Jesus and old Santa
never dared arrived
back in bitter 2021
ten million already had died
so much had changed
since this pandemic began
ravaging the furthest reaches
of this ailing globe's features
social distance had been amended
every surviving solitary person
akin to those so extinct
birds of a feather
solitary sandpipers
no longer together
everything in disorder
everyone locked in their homes
viral variants continued their mocking
with unresistant perpetual blight
feathered friends were constantly reeling
ad hoc life midst that new planetary feeling
on every unsanitary street and vacant avenue
in every unfounded city and uncounted town
racial profiling had certainly become even more clever
on call uniformed androids and robots with badges
readily wielding stun clubs and stun guns
expertly brandishing immobilizing gadgets
apprehending ruthless violent criminals
mauling untold other frightened victims
hauling pleading folk
out of demagnetized electric cars
more bleeding heads and broken arms
still fewer gunshot deaths and fatal wounds
popular blood sport had become
an online virtual thing
colourful artificial players racing
war games and fighters on an impartial screen
wild gangs had become increasingly mean
more people were habitually imbibing
vaccine for those who could afford insider bribing
since a myriad of critical virus arrived
beer and wine filled many home fridges
cracked alcoholics and fentanyl addicts
unharassed and at home under crumbling bridges
many incoherently fumbling
down dark dirty alleys
stumbling and falling in dry viaducts
flocks of vultures circling everywhere
hunting and pecking garbage filled trucks
landing to pick at those fresh frozen dead
harsh cats voiding themselves on cold mouldy ground
eventually those bloated rejected bodies
were uncaringly gathered
flung like debris into unsanitized mounds
bring out your dead
once an unwarrantable call
becoming normal by fall
bring out your dead
nothing about death remained formal
during that March blizzard
dismal abhorrent 2023
numbers were staggering
twenty million freed but reviled
of life on this on-trial planet
due to a rampant viral pandemic
that vilified lab which was finally found
uncanny science originally decanning it
had been unceremoniously exposed and burned
completely razed to the ground
all those innocent dead and dying
even those few birds still flying
mindless zone zombies existing
while the prehensile world
gasping and wrapping around
every human thought and emotion
viral variants were daily commanding
every horrid twist and inglorious turn
while unjustly those sanitized rich
got filthy richer and richer
which all seamlessly seemed
so fucking profound

                * * *

 

that first day
when we reached out
picking ripe fruit
at home in Eden
we ate and filled ourselves
oblivious of God
then that serpent hissed
sweet fruit became bitter
seeking reference
we sank to a different depth
some unexpected tsunami
Eden lay wasted
deep oceans
became a sea of neglect
orphaned we struggled
when we woke again
after some great flood
all of us
stared in utter awe
worshiping great pyramids
rising towards the unknown sky
when night came again
we all fell
into a great pit
plagues stripped us
of our humanity
war after war
pierced our hearts
our souls were crushed
time after time
seeking sustenance
wanting reverence
we discovered God
buried beneath our bloodied hopes
rising within our tepid dreams
once in a lifetime
once we boiled over
epidemics came to visit
soon the oceans dried up
seas disappeared
ships of variant design
oppressed our cousins
raids on every coast
finally trading godliness
beheading the world
when the stars refused to shine
black hearts rose from every grave
our world became a jungle
full of prowling tigers and relentless snakes
soon we had to hide in between walls
hidden from the world
hiding from oppression
holocausts and certain death
while love was gassed and shot
after the world burned
trust was buried next to hope
trying to breathe
no one recovered
soon crisis came again
pandemonium shook us to the core
while asteroids flew dangerously by
pandemics gripped the world
all things evolved
revolving around myth
inventing more mythology
Medusa watched from Hades
wracked with barren grief
Adolphus wept acid tears
each day the noose tightens
strangling the world
we can't breathe
choking on all our shit
apocalypse after apocalypse
rending the world
back to fire and brimstone
lava erupting like fiery deep thought
perhaps as the poles shift again
ice caps with slip from those great rocks
God will wake
taking a breath
crucify creation
nailing all that is
to a great wall of nothingness
heaven itself will be transformed
crossed by madness
bridging the river Styx
Hades welcoming all those dead and dying
if we dream
perhaps there can be hope
if we pray
lightning may take away our fear
if we dance
this upended world may not end
before the new morning comes

                     * * * 

 

 

summon the angels
when the roosters crow
say three hail mary's
once the poppies grow
kneel down in the field
when the north winds blow
summon the witches
when the cauldron boils
speak to the goblins
when your world spoils
seek magic and mystery
when life is nothing but toil
ask for forgiveness
when they bury you alive
scream at the diggers
as they stab you with their steely knives
sleep until you finally dream
search for sweet nothing in imaginary hives
once your long journey has ended
if you found you have a leg left to stand on
when you wake from your nightmare and you're still not mended
if everything you've ever said and everyone you know has been offended
when all those things that have haunted you are one day gone or at least suspended
perhaps the world can become a different place if fear and hate permanently are ended
when we're sad and lonely
how much beauty is in the sky
when we're broken and alone
do we marvel at the brilliant birds that fly
when our world is on fire
will our hearts continue beating if we don't try
summon the angels
when the roosters crow
if we give up trying to see the light
then light shall never find us
and verity we'll never know

                       * * *

 

there's something
about those famous fountains
shooting streams
of holy water
into the sacred atmosphere
like a thousand angels
pissing into the wind
there's something
about those cold pools
collecting carefree coins and careless wishes
from clenched minds and unholy hands
tossing future hope and senseless dreams
out into the frigid world
like a million tiny weary insects
rubbing translucent wings and wiry legs together
augury vibration in the austere air
there's something
about all that famous nouveau art
dangling on crudely painted walls
rude displays of psychotic pleas
creations by neurotic artists
proceeds from their mental lairs
brush strokes with their own ideas
fisting Mona Lisa and Madonna
when the art gallery closes
poor Mona Lisa cries and cries
Madonna closes her downcast eyes
she simply crosses her legs and doesn't care
stroking a sticky pickle that is no longer there
like Picasso's Guernica
shrouds of da Vinci's  dark sadness
exposed like Michelangelo's stark terror
there's something
but we don't really know what
then looking up and down and all around
there's that single grain of sand
arrested in the palm of every hand

                      * * *

 

so you think
you found God
but God
found you
God said
"take away the light"
once you closed
your soul and eyes
God said
"let there be darkness"
and the darkness
closed all around
the ailing world
in the beginning
there was God
and God spoke
that creative word
"let there be light"
and there was light
but God didn't tell you
that the darkness
would come
to take away the light
and in the end
there would
be nothing
but absence
of heaven
and earth
and no words
would ever be spoken
so beginnings
could never ever
again become
creation's shameful token

 

 

              * * *

 

when I finally woke
after the earth stopped shaking
I found my bloodied tongue
languoring in a deep pocket
that listless secret place
I'd been covertly making
if I could capture you
write all of your essence
into one terse line
perhaps this misshapen world
would have some pretense
if you were just one verse
perhaps life wouldn't be so tense
if only I could speak
the sound of my words
might make some sense
but you are too deep
deeper than any bottomless well
deeper than abysmal ocean shelves
deeper than any intense dream
as deep as love and life itself

                 * * * 

 

my mind
my mind
my mind
my mind
filaments
of segments
one of the same
maybe I'm losing
my mind
my mind
my mind
my mind
but at the same time
all those segments
and filaments
one of a kind

      * * * 

 

those lights in the sky
not the twinkling stars
some appear so very high
not Saturn or Mars
but those other objects
that fly way lower
and way faster than jets
maybe you have
seen them hover
others zip away
instantly disappear
many craft seem
to fly undercover
some astonished folk
seeing them
feel threatened
are filled with fear
admonishment then
what has changed
if other world Aliens
remain truly here
if you've seen them
on the ground
if extra-terrestrial Aliens
have taken you
out into space
if far out spacemen
are really around
surely they
travel with spacewomen
perhaps from an attractive place
females who have also strayed
leaving their home race
if Jewish Jesus
ever returns
he'll only be
part human being
no doubt his other part Alien
surely Aliens have arrived
to interbreed
mixing with the human race
have you seen
those tricky Alien girls
sticky Alien black-eyed boys
I'm advertently sure
I've witnessed some
I've seen at least one
sweating in a hot springs cave
she was so slim and tall
a savage beauty
her long black hair
those riveting black eyes
a revealing ploy
her ivory skin
fairness covered
any less was a sin
by a swimsuit
that almost
wasn't there
appearing so lithe
a tiny black string bikini
her bright black eyes
locked with mine
some generous exchange
a mind boggling thing
exuding kundalini
it all seemed
so moot
but we both
reverently smiled
those untethered lights
in the unfettered sky
makes me immeasurably wonder
what alien places have I been
many others may have seen
those light objects
inflight streaking by
others have seen them
cruising under the sea
one bizarre night
back in February
a mesmerizing night 2009
I awoke
in my bed
the very next day
in the beginning
everything seemed
almost fine
but my bed sheets
were shredded and torn
some obvious fray
that oblivious grey morning
my black and white dog
seemed so quiet and forlorn
an expert excision
left on my back
on my right shoulder
whose decision
a sample piece
of my ample hide
the grappled size
of a tooney
excised with precision
I wondered
if those Aliens
were getting bolder
my thick skin
perfectly removed
revealing a raw
circular full moon
what did they
want from me
as I grow older
I wondered
about this
precise surgery
was it something
urgently behooved
perhaps in the resurgent end
some sort of liturgy
one month later
was it fate
I woke in my bed
that sore wound
on the back of my shoulder
was finally healing
but my sheets
once again
were totally
ripped and rent
in long shreds
scratching my head
I lay there
utterly awake
something felt wrong
wondering what
I was feeling
those light ships
controlling the sky
mysterious strange Aliens
continuously landing
still their secret
hidden with lies
about what
those psychic Aliens
are currently demanding
seeing them huddled
suddenly zipping all around
that muddled truth
perhaps authoritative perjury
befuddles me
all those lights and surgery
seem so profound

               * * *

 

if there are planets
if there are stars
if there are tenets
why is heaven so far
so many lonely girls
watching the moon twirl
so many lonely boys
staring up at red Mars
why can't there be endless joy
why can't real love have a voice
when humankind awoke
did the galaxies rejoice
did love exist or was it mere violence
what if the Universe wasn't evoked
what if God broke that eternal silence
what if God once again spoke

                    * * *

 

my garden in April
winter is finally over
firm buds will soon burst
grow tender leaves
just like fresh clover
those rendered things
that come first
new life seems
so splendidly capable
full of candid energy
and random wonder
so much trusting
life to come
so I dig and manicure
in this sacred ground
along with my deer friends
loving the April sun
qently I work
while they quietly graze around
just a few
close yards away
I rise
thinking to myself
this is one thing
Buddha taught
so wild things
trusting this old garden elf
nature is truly
all we've really got

 

              * * *

 

tools
carving out life
wrenching reactive thought
painting pictures
something for active posterity
need onto paper
resolve into history
sometimes fine art
manicuring mind
excavating pits
so much blood and sweat
filling deep holes
those empty places
crowding intellect
block by chiseled block
so many tools
scourging souls
puncturing tools
objects piercing every heart
pounding tools
smashing daily life
building tools
crushing towns
crashing through cities
erecting high walls
tools for excavation
damaging unsuspecting earth
rearranging foundations
relocating glittering gems
sustenance tools
cooking lunch and dinner
slicing want into need
removing thick and thin skin
tools that let us see ourselves
reflection on a still surface
manufactured tools
fractions of this and that
factory tools
factional things
forging fists and fistulas
no one wants to smell or hear
spanning gaps and gorges
few ever happen to see
tools for focusing sight
divisions of psyche
encapsulating distant stars and galaxies
encouraging short-sightedness
bloody hell tools
turning the writhing earth
pushing relevant creation
further from the back burner
tools of epiphany
reinforcing nebula and meteor
bone tools
saw bones and broken bones
stone tools
lost in deep forgotten caves
tools of rectitude
tossed into icy rivers and salty oceans
reciting poem and song
light tools
some barely there
light as air
just a select few
tools of normality
normalizing thin boiling soup
stirring hot thick stew
tools for daring and caring
adoring a single mind
each finial tool
crimping and craving
those secret pools of mystery
mysterious ruling tools
dipping and diving
searching for similarity
perhaps modern tools will one day find
some sense and sensibility
future tools like our own strange kind

                        * * *

 

you know there is insecurity
when the cupboard is bare
you know there is hardship
when society is starving
you know there is trouble
when Uluru cries
you know there is danger
when Helblindi spews fire
you know there is hazard
when the water tastes bad
you know there is jeopardy
when the atmosphere is toxic
you know there is peril
when negotiation stops
you know you are vulnerable
when dreams turn to nightmares
you know there are blackholes
when suns refuse to shine
you know the world is ending
when every heart twists with hatred
you know everything is lost
when nothing remains sacred

                     * * *

 

friendly
is spelled differently
in America
that bus trip
riding at night
from Portsmouth
a crowded bus
ninety-nine percent
black passengers
rambling to New York city
my thought
friendly
trying to talk
with a black woman
seated next to me
about my own age
twenty-four
early September
august 1978
I merely spoke
neighbourly Canadian
polite tones
no one else spoke
that darkened bus
but my white bones
all the difference
she hardly made a sound
so no little response
until she rose up
with a disgusted huff
no want for white words
pushed past me
into that dark aisle
she radically moved
quietly racist
towards the back
sitting there
wondering what I had done
not knowing what
I had said wrong
so honesty and truth
came to the light
home grown hatred
that eye opening night
remain quiet
sequestered and hidden
deep in dim shadows
every unlit Yankee bus
while girls in Russia
friendly chatter
walk arm in arm
and segregated friendly
like neighbourly
is spelled differently
in America

          * * *

 

how high?
those walls between us
deep ditches and boxed in trenches
sharp barbs and razor wire
keeping us apart
why hi?
when everyone is masked
what a difficult task
reaching beyond
those intimidating barriers
who said?
keep them out
lock others in
what God?
telling us remain apart
all those hidden mine fields
burying love rends it useless
those wars and battles
bullets and bombs
ripping hearts and lives apart
where lives peace?
hiding its lofty head
instead hatred
tearing things apart
why those bits and pieces?
all that bitter anger
sometimes masked art
why these illusions?
deluding all the world
concluding evil rules
why this world of thorns?
if love exists
can we be reborn?
if effort makes us wise
wisdom would be sentient
should barriers become the norm?
perhaps deep oceans and tall mountains
recite all the words we need to hear
how do we bridge that gap?
between what is truth and what we fear
if bridges lead to nowhere
how can we hold anything dear?
with all this mistrust
in a world full of greed and lust
how can anything ever be clear?

                     * * *

 

Moses was sent to Auschwitz
while Jesus went to Treblinka
Hitler reveled in his blitz
while Mussolini executed thinkers
both were sent to hell
so much cruel corruption
has risen to ring the hatred bell
boiling cauldrons of evil inception
Stalin followed both of them there
still more hateful inflection
Pol Pot didn't give an intellectual damn
twisted steel fisted Idi Amin
executed innocence far beyond his lion's lair
while Buddha climbed Mount Everest
to see if truth and God dwelt there

                     * * *

 

implant this
inject that
careful
not to lose
sight
of eternity
select this
reject that
prudence
not to waste
time
or modernity
contemplate this
inundated by that
acceptance
not to invest
remuneration
not to cast
shadow
intentionally this
unintentionally that
response
ingrained this
superficial that
cognizance
of existence
extravagance this
abstinence that
severance
one breath
at a time

       * * *

 

light and dark
crystal clear mind at times
blind and shadow clearly mark
all the dead and dying
nothing bled remarkable
sacred knots we keep untying
such is life and death
sometimes unintelligible
still existence marks this spot
love and hate seem tangible
a sharks tooth
one seems manageable
more remains aloof
suckered tentacles
gripping the incorrigible
eccentrical compartment
rubbing sticks together
fantastical allotment
how do we measure
crazed department
setting fire to this spaceship
plastic replacing feather
more broken bones
connection at the hip
that Eden place
where snake and human met
hiss this earthly race
one god by one we trip
slipping on the greasy wet
broken sticks and subdued moans
variegated sultry tones
harried by this crazy weather

               * * *