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

               * * *

take away the rain
take away the water
take away the grass and trees
take away the birds
take away the forest and the animals
take away the seeds and the insects
take away the rivers and the sea
take away all you have ever known
take away the atmosphere
take away all the life
take away all the hope in the world
take away every word that was ever spoken
take away love and joy
take away paradise and heaven
take away the sun and the moon
take away the universe
leave God with nothing
nothing is what is left

               * * * 

 

inundated with this deluge
this morass of hurt and pain
I'm seeking some refuge
wishing I could change the game
it's not all hearts and spades
there are diamonds we seek
but troubled clubs get in the way
so much social disappointment
heartbreak is what I say
this too real sci-fi tale
so many broken people
it seems that we have failed
on my daily wandering
I sometimes think
midst all my pondering
I've lost another real piece of me
all the best years of my life
seem far behind me now
this grinding life with all its strife
binds me to the past somehow
reminding me of who I was
making me who I am in life
constant struggling here and now

                  * * *

 

this
collective
insanity
this
world
imbibing
fire
water
this
craving
hunger
this
rampant
thirst
chewing
on
hate
this
evil
state
these
mind
numbing
pills
political
trills
this
violence
spewing
radioactive
words
elements
of strife
this
elemental
life
environmental
spills
this
universe
of thrills

       * * *