Grace

Peculiar angles pointing towards souls

Insipid behavior betraying men’s goals

An angry reflection of lopsided pasts

Interrupted by the pious ending their fasts

I stole a moment from the lap of the Gods

Only to witness a thousand jihads

The lackluster speeches of the dead and the dying

Reveal life’s obsession with lovers who are crying

They leap and the jump and they fall and they tumble

But we reflect on eras and how soon they crumble

A light year of thinking of nothing but love

Equates to the rustling in the wings of the dove

All of this imagery is constant and needed

Whether or not its messages are heeded

Amnesty, love and a heart most gracious

Offsets the wailing of the cruel and outrageous

We have little chance for good in this muddled old world

As long as bellicose nations keep their flags unfurled

Persistence and grit are healthy and glowing

The words of the wise are also worth knowing

Rally the troops for causes of grace

And you’ll be valued among the human race 

My Weaponry

I’ve got Charles Dickens prose

As sweet as a rose

I’ve Neil Young songs

That cry out to right wrongs

I’ve got the films of John Ford

For if ever I’m bored

And I’ve got grayish green breakwater dreams of pure silk

That are soothing as mother's milk

Yes I have long flowing embers of life

That incinerate trouble and strife

Along with simmering salads in oyster shells of nudity

To slap across the face of all prudity

And with me are the tremulous barks

Of fir trees in heat

Helping turn the bitter sour

Into the delicious sweet

Among the soft barely lit pine saunas of lust

And still more ways to change the hate into dust

There’s all we need in all places at all times

What’s important is that it’s there not whether it rhymes

We need not live in despair or mope

There’s so much from which we create joy and hope

Look to others look to ourselves our minds

To free us from any sorrow that our heart binds

Hollah!

Eat the Rich

“This, again, was among the fictions of Coketown. Any capitalist there, who had made sixty thousand pounds out of sixpence, always professed to wonder why the sixty thousand nearest Hands didn’t each make sixty thousand pounds out of sixpence, and more or less reproached them every one for not accomplishing the little feat. What I did you can do. Why don’t you go and do it?” From Hard Times by Charles Dickens

The ripping yarns and the elusive charms

Of rich nouveau and old

They care a lot for what they’ve got

But not a bit for the hungry and cold

Their money they keep in pockets most deep

Scrimping and saving they often do tell

While disdaining each tax angrily they wax

About spending to help those unwell

Living off their greed shunning those in need

Their selfishness knows no bounds

We got rich its true and surely so can you

They pronounce while releasing the hounds

The hungry and poor want nothing more

Than a chance to live in grace

They only ask for what’s needed but their cries go unheeded

As cold reality they face

Life is a difficult chore for those who are poor

The wealthy don't understand

They gloat and they preen while making the scene 

Unwilling to lend a hand

Foggy Night Passion

Rites of passage under cloud cover

When clocks chime and lovers purr

The tingling dancing of cute little feet

On nightstands of wooden security

Iambic pentameter is off for the singers

Of songs proclaiming affection’s desires

Kisses long and loud and deep

Ease the catastrophic fear of alone

Capering about nude and happy

Fighting of desperation’s chill

Creating heat

A measure of love so gracious

Cannot pass without giving luminescence

To the bravado of seduction

Long deep sleeps await

But first the comforting caress

Of two perhaps more bodies

Enraptured by the idea of physical bliss

And undoing of restraint precedes

The shiny happiness of passion

Beauty beauty beauty

Everywhere and in everything the beholder admires

Eyes ears lips tongues and especially the nether regions

Proclaim a triumph of the flesh

On this most foggy night

Of love’s desire

Hallelujah!

Pay Attention

Did you ever notice

The blueness of the sky after a rainy day

The lilting laugh of a small child

The fullness of a warm hug

(The warmth of a full hug)

The shininess of stones by a stream

The smell of fresh baked cookies

The wonderful sweaty exhaustion of vigorous exercise

Did you ever notice 

The beauty of the people you love

The pleasure of being sincerely thanked

The yumminess of a fresh apple

The brilliance of your best friends

The raw power of love

The thrill of travel

Notice, people, please stop and notice

Learn to Wait

“I have a friend I’ve never seen, he hides his head inside a dream.” From “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” by Neil Young.

Can’t wait to start middle school

Can’t wait to start high school

Can’t wait to start college

Can’t wait to get a job

Can’t wait to get married

Can’t wait to buy a house

Can’t wait to have children

Can’t wait for the children to grow up

Can’t wait to retire

Can’t wait to die

Die?

Redolent of past deaths

Pick up your empty scabbard

Rattle it rattle it

Change your heart

Face the forces and grab at clouds

Defy the whispering winds that call you

Unto a new day be born

Reborn

As a being of depth and meaning

Rail at the wrongs and make them right

Hop to

You musn’t live by rote

Memorize your dreams 

Don’t rely on your blueprints 

Dwell on the everdayness of soaring

And light the candles of the great sweeping fullness of eternal smoky joy

You deserve the best

Only you need to know it

Call now while supplies last

The River of Your Dreams

On the river of your dreams

Floats the fragrant flowers

Of yesterday’s long lost loves

There under the willow sits the maiden

She who tempted you from her window

On snowy nights rich with loves promise

Flying overhead are robins of destiny

Foretelling voyages yet untaken

Full of starry nights in welcoming villages

Surrounding you are happy children

Dancing freely and singing joyously

As you offer a thousand smiles

To the wise bearded overseer of your fantasies

Calling you now in the rapturous voice

Are the soggy rabbits on sandbars of pure perfection

Their voices echo endlessly across the epic vistas

And you in your every sinew know that all good scenes are transparent

Through them you look deep

Deep into the heart of lustrous clouds

They fill the skies lending mysticism and wonder

Now every scene is pregnant with possibilities

Newness, possibility and beauty unexplored

The river of your dreams is endless

Requiring only your sleep

And your acceptance of the magic

That we all possess

In rich rich abundance