Religious Freedom Restoration Act

Why d'you have to make laws,
To protect religion,
Specifically and exclusive of acts,
That are just 'bout livin'?

Like living with the person that you love,
Going out together,
Buying streamers for your big gay party,
Without being rejected as cust'mers,

Because their freedom to be big bigots,
Overrides who you are,
Limiting where you can and cannot go.
There should be just one bar,

The golden rule,
Do what you'd like done, too,
E'en if you'd like to be prejudiced 'gainst,
For then the law'd be prejudiced 'gainst you.

Waiting

When you're waiting for news,
And you know that it's bad,
Just not to what extent you should feel fear,
Or preemptively sad,

The world you're in becomes surreally false,
Though you ain't letting go,
Living within the fake security,
For as long as you can, before you know,

Then you are thrust into reality,
Ne'er to return again,
Longing for the days when you could deny,
With vigorous elan.

But until then,
Ignorance is true bliss,
'Til you can later state with confidence,
In your despair, "I never asked for this."

For You, 9525

If you knew you were sick,
With an ailment of death,
At an age less than one would expect,
Would that make your life less?

Would you destroy the world that cut you loose,
Because you couldn't be,
A famous and impactful cynosure,
And example to all human beings?

Would the existential turmoil consume,
The thought you're not alone,
Turning all you see to a reminder,
Of all you've never known,

And never will?
Why not just end it all,
In a fantastic blaze of fire and death?
Or would you rethink it during the fall?

Thanks For The Memories

Oft times I forget things,

Or fail to remember,

A condition I have learned to live with,

Common 'mong the younger,

For what do they have to keep in their heads?

It's at their fingertips,

As it's now for me with technology,

There's not much to know with the internet,

'Cept maybe the fact that a friend's dad's died,

When you meet for a drink,

You ask how he's doing, matter of fact,

And tears are on the brink,

That's why it's good,

To retain memory,

In fact, I should have more space freed up now,

To store data that's specific to me.

Let's Dance

I went dancing last night,
Not a hard thing to do,
Not while my body's still strong and able,
When it's nothing to move,

Before age demands that I move no more,
Through pain or paral'sis,
Something that now seems so simple and right,
Will leave off as sure as death and taxes.

Unless, of course, I one day die dancing,
P'haps from a heart attack,
Or cutting the rug too close to a cliff,
I'd like to go like that.

Still in my prime,
If it hasn't passed, yet,
You can afford to take things for granted,
When moving to music's easy as breath.

Happy Spring

Spring is finally here!
It's like Earth watches time.
The sun is out and rain is on the way,
That's what for which we've pined,

So that now we can curse all the wetness,
Longing for heat and sweat,
Days during which we beg heaven and earth,
For the summer's suffocating effects,

At which point a breeze would be most welcome,
To rustle leaves and hair,
To remind us that change can ere soothe with,
A briskness in the air.

Ah, the seasons,
Humbler of human pride,
How can one become an arrogant ass,
With threat of revolution on all sides?

Would'veshould'vecould've

'What if', they always say,
'Things could have been diff'rent',
'I could have had the life I should have had,'
'For which I was ere meant.'

As if the future's open, now it's past,
Retr'spect reveals all things,
Don't they know you can never know 'what if'?
It's as hidden as ev'ry wondering,

'If only', 'could have done', 'shouldn't have e'er',
May's well know the future,
All you can do is learn from what you've done,
Not that it makes things sure,

It's just a ruse,
You ne'er know anything,
Future, past, just dress the moment you're in,
That distract you from actually living.

Throbbing Thoughts

There're so many worse off,
Than what you're going through,
That can be a comfort when times are tough,
Thinking of what you'll do,

Then there is what good old Pascal had wrote,
The thing about the mite,
Through thinking how big you're compared to it,
That, after gazing on vast Nature's light

Things really get put into proportion,
Though there's one thing that's missed,
Theoretically, if you were alone,
They just wouldn't exist,

Thus, we're back 'gain,
Thumbing our nose at death,
Thwarting its attempts at frightening us,
Thanking our mind for its lack of distress.

Finished It

Well, I have finished it,
At least this stage of it,
I must admit I'm kind of proud of it,
Can't believe I did it,

Will probably look back and laugh at it,
Like an am'teur wrote it,
Which is true, but it's true too I did it,
Which is the first step to repeating it,

For now I'm just going to bask in it,
Only for one minute,
Because I've still got work to do to it,
Before I can leave it,

Then that's not it,
There will be more of it,
The two years it's taken to finish it,
Was only to fin'lly give birth to it.

18 Left

What does it actu'lly take,
To live for your beliefs?
First you need to know what they actu'lly are,
Real as a sword in sheath,

That you're not afraid to pull out and wield,
Confident as the waves,
Seeing clearer than the world's multitudes,
Lost in the darkness of a maze of caves.

Many say that these are dangerous thoughts,
That will breed tyranny,
Be wary they are not tyrants themselves,
Counting on servil'ty.

That's the fine line,
In the absence of truth,
Finding something that you can believe in,
Without the arrogance and greed of youth.

Hello Spring

Well, Spring is fin'lly here,
Do you know what that means?
Change's coming to the world like nothing else,
Wilder than your dreams,

Animals of all ilk twisting their minds,
Prepared for a new life,
The sky itself, the very earth and sun,
Are displaying a completely new side,

Ice is turning to water, freed at last,
Finding ev'ry crevice,
The warmth is bringing humans out in droves,
Drinking in all Spring's bliss.

That is the point,
Of winter's discontent,
To remind us the miracle of birth,
Once its dreary, lame ass, away's been sent.

The Princess Bride

I watched the Princess Bride,
For maybe the tenth time,
P'haps the most perfect movie ever made,
If I may so opine,

There are no walls for anyone to climb,
This film embraces all,
A fairy tale seen through th'eyes of a child,
Told by the old and illustrious Pete Falk.

A tale of love with no complications,
Which evil tries to court,
But then a giant, swordsman, man in black,
All conspire to thwart.

'Spite being dead!
Well, being mostly dead,
Can true love e'er be truly defeated?
"Inconceivable", as Wallace Shawn said.

It's Hard To Get Up

This daylight savings time,
Saves me no time at all,
Maybe it used to be good for farmers,
When summer changed to fall,

Back when time was determined by the sun,
People would rise and shine,
But now, whether you greet the sun or moon,
You still have to be at your job for nine,

Which means if it is March, you lose an hour,
Until you can adjust,
What purpose, in god's name, does this now have?
Not e'en farmers need dusk,

They need power,
To run their big machines,
They conquered daylight many years ago,
It doesn't need saving by human beings.

Where Are You From?

Do you know where you're from?
It is not Toronto,
If you live north of Steeles or even Finch,
Or just don't really know,

If 'don't know how to dress, e'en iron'c'lly,
And cannot talk 'bout it,
Don't believe that higher taxes are good,
Then say you're from the T dot? I doubt it,

Y'should drive aggressively, but politely,
While talking on the phone,
Pay too much for your home, but say't's worth it
Whether you rent or own,

But most of all,
Do not make eye contact,
Unless you're willing to go all the way,
Most of all, Torontonians don't act.

Gettin' 'er Done

Wasn't gonna do this,
Insp'ration didn't hit,
But sometimes you just gotta get 'er done,
'Stead of letting things slip,

It don't have to be the best thing ever,
None of them ever are,
Quality's based on so many factors,
There's no basis for actual measure,

Who's looking at it, if anyone is,
And how are they feeling?
What is the culture in which they're living,
With what are they dealing?

What year is it?
Is there anyone there?
I can't even hear myself think right now,
Hope this is the best thing you've read today.

Conversation With A Bluebird

If a little bluebird,
Flew up to you and talked,
Begging you to let sleep take you away,
Joining it and its flock,

Then you could help it find food for its young,
Saving its family,
Doing good for once in your mindless life,
Despite the efforts of authority,

Would that help you understand where you're at?
Unblocking your mad mind,
That thinks that because you are not starving,
That you're living just fine.

No need to fight,
For something more than that,
Just flutter around with the other birds,
But do not land lest your caught by the cat.

The Chamber

I just read The Chamber,
Written by John Grisham,
'Bout a Klansman on death row for bombing,
Nine-year-old Jewish twins,

His long-lost grandson tries hard to save him,
From a Chicago firm,
Not 'cause he thinks what granddad did was right,
'Cause govs shouldn't kill under any terms.

Grisham beautifully shows the last days,
As he waits to be gassed,
From desperation to anger to calm,
Time slows, then it goes fast.

It's so unique,
To be killed by the state,
'Magine knowing the time of your own death,
A publicly endorsed seal of your fate.

A Must Read, Part One

Just read Ove's part one,
Saga through the U.S.,
If you want to know what makes him so great,
Go ahead and read this,

I don't know how many parts there will be,
But this one's ten k words,
Describing in detail the things he did,
To make the trip's first few days just awkward,

He lost his license before this road trip,
Then failed to renew it,
Plugged up the toilet at his first hotel,
Tried his hand to clear it,

Proclaimed how great,
That the Times had hired him!
To describe America through his eyes,
But plans not to talk to one citizen.

The Poor

There are a lot of poor,
And it's no fault of theirs,
When most humans, if they could, would stop it,
'Cause mostly humans care,

'Least when they're face to face with another,
Not so much when far 'way,
Not because distance makes the heart less fond,
'Cause there's more poor with ev'ry foot away,

Gets too much to think of helping them all,
Governments can do that,
That's what we have them for anyway, no?
Live in union, get fat.

And there's the rub,
Ev'ryone wants it all,
After all, you know you only live once,
Why deny your life its desirables?

Riding

I've been meditating,
While riding a chairlift,
Alone or with strangers, I close my eyes,
And enter the abyss,

With confidence that I won't fail to feel,
The bumps of each pole's wheels,
Or that I'll miscount the number I pass,
Stay on and break the emergency seal.

I try to concentrate on my breathing,
And not get distracted,
By hoots and howls of skiers down below.
At times, in fact, I did.

It is just hard,
To ignore all around,
But if I manage and hear just my breath,
I sometimes solve problems the most profound.

Getting It Finished

It has to get finished,
The hardest part is now,
When everything has to come together,
With no one guessing how,

Time is precious, even this time right now,
Should be given to it,
It's like each moment that it is delayed,
Is a moment closer to losing it,

But hopefully this very wastefulness,
Truly's meditation,
Speeding up the real work that must be done,
Until true completion,

Well, that's the hope,
Focus for truthfulness,
Getting in touch with the fire inside,
For the production of the heart's pureness.