Seekers

our minds
are bound by history,
even if,
one day we...
discover it is wrong; so,

our hearts
vow to change it
and we
set about the task,
but along the way,
we encounter
resistance and claims
these tales are true...
and we
are halted in our tracks;
our souls,
as free as they know to be
surround the heavens
with their pleas
for intervention...
still,
our laws,
made by Christians,
favor not the truth
or our desired reconciliation
because
they have the power
and the seekers do not.

7Oct14

Being Wronged

if you conspire against
the power of the land, then,
you are branded a rebel,
perhaps a traitor,
and maybe a fool; but,
if you convince enough
of the people to support you
and risk their lives for you,
and you, by chance
or otherwise succeed, then,
you are branded a hero,
perhaps a leader,
or maybe a saint; but,
if you loose...
well...   my friends,
our democratic white society
will never think much of ou
or your family
or your distant kinfolk
until hundreds of years later,
after all has passed away
our rivers of memories,
and someone,
who has a good reputation
believes quite sincerely
you had been wronged...
will it be then righted.

7Oct14

Power of Prayer

we feast upon the fantasies of regret
for being Caucasian and relatively
average throughout our lives,
being pushed around by those
with narrow minds and
large bank accounts as if their
destiny was this and nothing more;
we feast upon the fantasies of regret
as being all that we have, never
thinking about venturing out beyond
the leash of life that holds all of
her inmates together as if they
were mere animals in a pound;
we live upon the dreams of desire
that we may one day be in a better place
where no longer in the middle we are
and no longer do we fear each day
to spout out the truth because someone
may have prayed too long against us.

7Oct14

Without But Within

within the void of nothingness
is where we sleep every night,
pilgrims of the dreamy dark
and it unremembered journeys;
within the sacred emptiness
solace is forced upon us when
all the bizarre experiences, our
immature souls encounter,
greet us there unexpectedly;
life extends herself there as
she spins the story forwards,
backwards, and to both sides,
cleverly daring us to wake up;
and, some do but many not,
and we move forward with
Zombie like behavior and not
understanding why we all
became so apathetic without.

6Oct14

Headaches

inside the fabric of the mind
fiber stands intertwined
in an interlocking way
transmitting feeling neurons
from side to side, in the hopes
of creating mental stability,
but instead, erratic pulses
create mental confusion
and disorientation as
frayed fibers flounder and
the ensuing headaches
surround the frontal scalp
and around to the sides,
maddening and relentless
shafts of pain, passing
slowly in time or so it seems,
as life squeezes out of it,
wrapping itself around
what mental fiber remains.

6Oct14

Death Departs

were my eyes to be plucked
from out of my head, I would
still have you in my heart;
and, were my heart to be
ripped from out of my body, I
would still have you in my mind;
and, were my mind sucked
from out of my head, I would
still have you in my soul;
and, were my soul to remain
trapped within my frame, I
would still be with you in spirit
and never have reason to fear.

3Oct14

Not So Long Ago

peculiar, are the thoughts that
linger in my head today,
of a time not experienced
of a poem not felt
of a crime not endured
and yet, I feel connected
somehow, as if,
my heritage has been

imprinted on me
like that of an animals
and I know what to do
when the day's work is done
and what the morning brings
without no rain
or fan to cool
or tools to erase what
fools we all were; still,
the resentment has
worn thin as if purchased old
instead of new and
curlers fashion our mind
in layers of shame
that must be worn
until all the names of
those who did this are
forgotten or abandoned.

3Oct14

Property

there is no grain of sand
in my eyes, but there are
grains all over me from
sweating and rolling on the
ground to remove the stink
of your body from mine
and while the need to run
is great in me, I knows
how far I will get and what
will happen upon my return,
and finally realize all I can do
is clean myself up and prepare
for your next assault on me.

3Oct14

Retold Folklore

we honor slaves and
thieves and runaways
and when we are done,

we will honor you for
all the work begun
on discovering these
injustices and in making
them all right and in
making them all clean
and in making them
open for discussion
and of course reflection
at a time when we
can and will erect buildings
in their honor and
in their memories proclaim
how far we have come.

3Oct14

No Talk of Revolution

there is no talk of revolution,

there is disgust but no despair,

no one to give up their opulence,

standing for truth or even principle,

we reference crimes over

cocktails and dinner, declaring

our disdain of violence of all kinds,

but conspicuously drink beer

at football games, not caring

about the players futures...

it is nothing more than entertainment;

there is no talk of revolution,

no challenging of the quo or

of the rights of men,

including everyone, including

those we do not understand;

no concerns for power or control,

poorly displayed or without integrity,

morals and values encouraged;

There is no talk of revolution,

from a self-centered, egotistical soul,

who never spent time in a war

or productive time in a Church

or who might be the least little bit

amazed by all the global poverty;

there is no talk of revolution,

in the lyrics of songs today

or in the poetry read in coffee shops

on college campuses...

"but they do not do that no more,"

you say...

there is no talk of revolution,

in the clothes or hair styles of the day

as long hair, once condemned, now

seems to be worn by everybody,

except bankers and investment tycoons,

with everyone parting in the middle

while straddling the fence;

there is no talk of revolution,

that was the trademark of my decade years ago,

when we, as outsiders and rebels

stood our ground in protest...

yes protest...

even in the rain and we did not abandone

our thoughts our our anger

or our desire for the world to be fair

and we paid the price of

alienation,

contempt,

ridicule and jail for our actions,

and some of us have survived,

risen, and received awards and praise

for our tenacities;

there is no talk of revolution,

no Black Panthers,

no Weathermen,

no SDS,

no groups of any kind, except for

the Arab Spring,

Hong Kong

and perhaps Terrorism,

trying to replace Christianity which

is really no contest at all;

but, what we do have is

impotent collegial discourse and reflection,

as if we were all Peter Parker or something;

yet, there was Occupy Wall Street

that was not even close to being a Kent State;

there is no talk of revolution,

unless you consider drugs and alcohol

and while that may be rebellious for some,

it does nothing but destroy self

and fixes nothing...  but, it does

put us in a stupor from which

others can better defend;  and,

our guilty rich toss coins at the poor

as if making wishes at Trevi Fountain,

they still will never understand

how the oppressed live eating steak dinners

returning to servant riddled mansions

and over late night cognac they have

no idea how fortunate they are

that there is no talk of revolution anymore.

2Oct14

Without Vending

what is a hotel
without vending
on each floor
and room service
must be called for
a simple diet coke
and I wonder if
this is a Northern thing
or a rich thing
or a
rich Northern thing

because
down South we
travel with quarters
for our anytime
diet coke needs
since there is
always vending
somewhere
on one of the floors
and sometimes
on them all.

1Oct14

Sounds Not Seen

what sounds do I not see
because of hearing loss?
what do I miss?
the wind stirring...
or the leaves churning...
the rippling backyard creek...
a cat's purr...
a mouse's claws on a hardwood floor...
a buzzing bee...
or ice cubes in a tall glass of tea...


what sounds do I miss?
the morning alarm...
frying bacon and grease popping...
a dog's yawn...
or the morning news with the
weather forecast I always liked...

what do I not hear anymore?

we hear what we want to hear
I suppose
but I lost my choice
and all because of a cough
that would not go away.
1Oct14

Branded

cellophane encasement
prevent exposure but
not erased attitudes as
they last longer that a
lifetime of winds that
had carried them away;
cheated memories fall
by the wayside, like
bad cotton picked on
a cold day and each
word is etched into our
minds like cattle branding,
and isolated like all the
tearful joys of intimidated
hate and rage too outrageous
to bear spitting out like
watermelon seeds at those
who might be in our way.

1Oct14

Rewards

ordinary people
accomplish
un-ordinary things
and we praise them
years later
before they die

or afterwards
and they are
remembered
sensitively and fondly
and we
recall events
and attitudes
and misery endured
for all those years
so they can come out
to the other side
polished up a bit
and relatively cured.

1Oct14

Recognized Radicals

many a line, I crossed
many a rule broke
many a fortune lost
but no recognition comes my way
since I am not famous;
but what is fame
other than public notoriety
for a skill given
or a talent born
that few knew about
but with which identified;
a hardship born
ridicule righteously received
reborn and returned
and year later
recognized by peers
who heard but cannot remember
but clap anyway and praise nonetheless
as it becomes the thing to do;
and, I wonder why
all those others who
were there as well and endured
only received condemnation for
their radical behavior.

1Oct14

Breakfast

a table for one
in the corner of the room,
leave me with
opportunity to see who is
at the Charles,
and I doubt they are
tourists like me,
who are not touring
but wasting away the day
with a muffin and tea
just watching
all the suits and dresses
with their
laptops and phones
pretending
to be serious and feeling
fortunate just to be here...
instead of elsewhere
wherever
elsewhere might be.

30Sept14

Teen Soup

how innocent
we are
at this age
thinking
life is just a
family vacation
to the seashore
and
dinner with friends;

how innocent
we are
at this age
when
we see death
and perceive it
to be someone else;

how innocent
we are
at this age
in our minds
before
being molded
but mentors
with
cunning and deceit;

how innocent
we are
at this age
with
limited expectations
and perceptions
and experiences
and too amazed
to be fooled.

30Sept14

Time Factory

a factory of time spits
us out like soot from a
poorly constructed chimney,
breathing in remnants
of a previous life and
a previous time when
memories were made by fools
and stored on a flash drive
for hackers to find;

a factory of time generates
distortions of time that
permeate the isolation of
life as they are known today
creating pockets of time
in which last rights are
performed on those who
deformed by the process;

a factory of time glows red hot
churning out all sorts of life...

30Sept14

Cambridge

in the commons, our spirits fly
against the wind,
beating our skulls into the ground,
along with our dreams;

in the commons, we soar like
wounded eagles whose
last battle was fought with two
intellectual goblins in thought;

in the commons, we merge, match, and blend
establishing countenances with
commoners who drift
in and out from time to time;

in the commons, we circulate and meditate
and ponder the fates of those not here,
wondering in a bold but ever so quiet way
why they were not here today.

30Sept14

Bitter Lies

life mocks the truths
I have told as if still
living in a womb of
illusions while waiting
to be born again and
into a world of deception
where lies control one's
reality and those who
have harnessed more
are simply able to
convey better liees.

29Sept14

Laughing Leaders

a rug of encouragement 

lays on the floor

 at my feet, daring me 

to walk upon its 

historical significance 

as so many before me 

have done and

having succeeded 

where others failed

rise to new heights 

of incompetence

learning what's right

to say and when.

29Sept14

Weeping Dead

around and around and around
it moves with a sound like a
squishy rocking chair in which
old people like to sit, rocking
their lives away in the hopes
of forgetting the life just lived,
and in my lap you lay like a
Sphinx surveying all that has
been forgotten too by past
generations, who know not
why they must weep today
for that which goes nowhere.

27Sept14

Being Challenged

if you were to beg to differ
what would be my response
since no one has ever done
that to me before today?
"curiously interesting," I suspect
I would say to you...
but only under my breath
before slamming you into
the ground with words
because I know that I can.

28Sept14

Sight Unseen

from where I sit,
only a slice is
provided to my sight
and,
all the rest
can be only imagined
or

digitally projected,
depending upon
circumstance,
but,
we make decisions
as if we see it all
so clearly
like a
panorama view,
undistorted
by the lens we use
which is now

being called
poetic justice of a
militaristic kind
since
we are all athletes
at heart.

28Sept14

Speak to me

no one speaks to me
in riddles anymore
since I solved the
last one too quickly;



no one speaks to me
as a member of a family
since I ridiculed the
last suggestion offered;

no one speaks to me
in the classroom since
my tenure was erased
without provocation;



no one speaks to me
like a lover would since
my age and disease
precludes all contact;


no one speaks to me
from the grave anymore
since that is where all
these thoughts originated.



28Sept14

A Wealthy Death

wealth is a mistress that
can never be satisfied
without compromise and
conflict with one's ability
to rationalize outcomes;
her tantalizing body
performs like a narcotic
on the soul and moves in ways
only cirque du soleil knows;
she harbors no contempt
nor does she offer love, but
she expects obedience,
otherwise, all is lost,
including one's family;
escape comes with death
that wealth cannot prevent
and moments before the end
one always wonders why...
I was the one chosen?

28Sept14

House Guest

after a lifetime of
obedient disobedience,
I find myself trapped
inside my own
mental isolation chambers.
called retirement,

where I can witness
replays of my life,
choreographed by those
who possess power and
by those who possess weath,
and feel manipulated
from one room to another
in life's mansion
as if
I were some sort of
paying house guest
and tolerated because
my short lived stay
will present no real
threat towards change.

28Sept14

Outcomes

you sit on the throne
of my dark imagination,
linking me to your
possessive struggles
with which your have
fought so long; but,
my involvement
is not longer quite
predictable since my
last thoughts were for
positive outcomes
ahead, and in these lands
you are a total stranger
and not really welcome.

25Sept14

Disharmony

we reflect upon
    
          a thought,

               a sight,

                    a memory,

                         whether

                              good or bad
       
                                   and

                                        draw conclusions

                                             about

                                                  that reflection

                                                       even if

                                                            and when it

                                                                 is no longer

                                                                      accurate.

                                                                           25Sept14

Slice of Life

 eyes focus wide but

sometime narrow,

and what they see

only represents

a slice...

not a version

but

a partial

of could be or

what actually is,

but no one ever stops

to gather more

yet makes

decisions based

upon the slice.

25Sept14

Points

we make points
all the time
but few
are really seen
not to mention
understood;
so,
why the trouble
to we go to
over and over
again,
expecting
different results?

25Sept14