Ciao For Now

'fore the riots begin,
'rthe search for my remains,
Let all who never peruse these pages,
Allay their pulsing veins,

Sometimes a respite is necessary,
What's life but not changes?
Even turtles come up for air sometimes,
Like sharpshooters at Vegas gun ranges,

Like Nike in the late nineteen nineties,
To condemn its sweatshops,
Looks like it will come up again real soon,
'cause, yeah, those yet to stop.

So, bye for now,
I've other work to do,
You can always catch up @Ape_Biggles,
'til then, conscientiously buy your shoes.

Careful Words

There’s too much distraction,
Fear of being heeded,
Knowledge you have to say things different,
T’e’vry mouth you feed it,

In order to make yourself understood,
Hope your message is good,
Don’t mistakenly lead souls to do wrong,
To nourish well you must prepare good food,

Catered to the body it’s nourishing,
We do things oft too fast,
Yet, one doesn’t have much time in this life,
To do something that lasts,

Not many do,
It’s not an easy thing,
Nor reserved for those with best intentions,
Which led us to what we’re experyencing.

Time Gone

Add up all your bad times,
The ones when you were mean,
Count them a hundred times 'gainst each good one,
Which is the winning team?

A hundred because they never leave you,
They're with you o'er and o'er,
Adam bit the apple eons ago,
Yet it's a guilt ridden religion's core,

There are good things that offer one respite,
Alms to a homeless man,
But don't think too much 'bout what got him there,
'Cause you're part of the plan,

That creates him,
You're a good soul, I know,
If you could start right now with both teams tied,
Tell me how you'd ensure only good goals.

Revenue Streams

How many revenues,
Have you for your income?
Some are saying you must have at least five,
In this modern nation,

I don't know but I am going to guess,
Without knowing nothing,
That one has to be flexible because,
Capitalism has stopped housekeeping,

So have a job, but maybe make it three,
None prob'ly pay a lot,
Invest in stocks, hand make quilts if you can,
Just sell your blood, if not.

Lots of choices!
A new economy,
Either spend your life consumed by money,
Or you're so rich, it doesn't mean a thing.

Thank You

Your actions confound me,
Either absent or kind,
Like a mama bird whose love can be eyed,
By the worms she did find,

While her babies cry with mouths stretched open,
In unrelenting cries,
Safe in their nest, not dying of hunger,
Just more concerned with hearing a reply,

But mama has work that she has to do,
I'm sure that you do, too,
One eye on the prize and one eye on me,
Knowing when my food's due.

I should have faith,
Plus gratitude for you,
You've ne'er left me to die midst hunger or threat,
No matter how easy it be to do.

To Live Out Loud

Even the kindest ones,
The ones who wish no harm,
Wanting to only coast by unobserved,
Must now pull the alarm,

For the comfort they enjoy's based on lies,
Built to keep them at bay,
Until it collapses, then they're alone,
Left to die slowly outside of the fray,

An example to those left to exist,
Quietly where they were,
That the sacrifice for not living poor,
Is to live indentured,

In fearful still,
Don't rock the teeming boat,
Not built for expression of one's freedom,
But to precariously stay afloat.

Back On Track

Feels like the beginning,
Now that I've seen the end,
Now that the summer's heat's become harsh cold,
Beside debt, my old friend,

The constant struggle to understand life,
Despite the need to live,
The angst of possibly not surviving,
With so many in need to which to give,

Doors I walk out might not let me back in,
No others may appear,
The great desire to just be who i am,
Battles with crying fear,

'til I stand up,
Despite what I've been told,
Truth is the speaker is usually me,
Wanting to only skip to being old.

Ace - Consciousness

Forget head in the clouds,
Yours is beyond it all,
Beyond the cycle of death and rebirth,
Mortal and immortal,

An all-encompassing understanding,
Ironic'lly, no-mind,
You can leave all the worrisome, fretting,
Self-conscious, boring bull-shit behind,

Of all the cards you can draw from the clouds,
None come close to this one,
This one is not cartoony or troubled,
It's Buddha's conclusion,

Congrats to you!
You're now not of this world,
Actually, you're not part of any,
A final round of applause, boys and girls.

2 - Schizophrenia

We're all schizophrenic,
May sound insensitive,
But that a condition exists at all,
Makes it derivative,

Of behaviour that no one wants to have,
At least in the extreme,
But to be split just 'nough to be docile,
Well, that is Capitalism's dream,

So do not get stuck between yes and no,
Neither answer is right,
You must decide on the terms of your heart,
That follows only light,

No need to know,
The problem's pros or cons,
If both sides simply keep you in the dark,
Then the time has come for revolution.

Page - Playfulness

Unearth your playfulness,
Free the child inside you,
Remember when you had no cares at all,
A purely joyful view,

You claim that this is not possible now,
You must be serious,
For this world was built by serious men,
All who claim different are spurious,

But this is an all hail to arms, my friend,
The universe wants you,
You've the right mix of playful innocence,
For the fresh and the new,

So just let loose,
You will be rewarded,
Don't give  up this chance for a life restart,
Hesitation cannot be afforded.

18 - Past Lives

Have you dug deep enough,
In the lives you have lived,
To unlock the door to understanding,
Your own unconsciousness,

The one conditioned by what you have done,
Then promptly forgotten,
In the cyclic discontinuity,
Of the journey of death's oblivion,

Through the cosmic mother's love opening,
The V of her two hands,
Guarded from a shattering vision by,
The two rainbow dragons?

'cause if you have,
The pattern of your soul,
Re-formed with ev'ry birth to a new world,
Can finally show you how to be whole.

15 - Conditioning

There was once a lion,
That was brought up by sheep,
He grew up thinking he was one of them,
Don't get how that could be,

One day he was captured by one of him,
Again, I don't know why,
For the first time he looked into a pond,
And discovered that he was a lion,

This is the lesson you are meant to learn,
Society wants sheep,
Until you see you are not that at all,
You've no identity,

Look at yourself,
Free of expectations,
Ev'ry structure needs slaves to keep its hold,
The cause of each war waged between nations.

5 - Comparison

Well, here we are again,
Looking for the middle,
This time through the eyes of comparison,
Starting with a riddle,

What does the bamboo envy the oak for?
Not that it's not hollow,
Not for its size or color-changing leaves,
For nothing, for the reasons that follow,

The bamboo is exactly what it is,
It need be nothing else,
To envy the traits of another thing,
Is to abandon self,

To be nothing,
Which isn't a bad thing,
'less you're not talking about finding peace,
You must be sure you know your true being.

5 - No-Thingness

Dick Gregory has died,
Back into no-thingness,
Yet, he returned there many times in life,
In the name of justice,

When he refused to eat for days and days,
So others might be fed,
He must have embraced the gap of pure choice,
Just look at the selfless life that he led,

You can delve into no-thingness, also,
It will do your heart good,
That space where all's equal 'cause nothing's there,
Not even personhood,

Just potential,
Pure and simple being,
Come back to the world's nonsense and croo'lty,
You'll see the pettiness of your naggings.

5 - The Outsider

Look closely at that gate,
It is not even locked,
Your mind convinced you you're an outsider,
Though your reasoning's blocked,

It is deeply rooted in your childhood,
It is in ev'ryone,
But the inclusion your seeking' not lost,
It just requires a change in perception,

The connection you lost with your mother,
Well that was simply fate,
Great awareness is your key to freedom,
Then you can ope' the gate!

Get what you seek,
Don't depend on others,
You must see what's outside is inside, too,
Until you do you'll ne'er have true lovers.

6 - The Dream

You've left your mother's womb,
You will never go back,
Yet so many of us seek out that love,
Of which we feel we lack,

But the happiness you are looking for,
Can't come from someone else,
Being alone is just our condition,
We all must learn to commune with ourselves,

Wake up from the dream of your true soulmate,
No one's found, nor e'er will,
Whether through people, money or power,
You seek to be fullfilled.

Don't look outside,
Look inside, not above,
Then will others be drawn by your richness,
Then can you teach them the true source of love.

Ace - The Source

There's a fire inside you,
Never ending slow burn,
It's the tap of energy for the mind,
Yet has nothing to learn,

It is your grounding and source of self-truth,
Where creativ'ty sits,
Where you can rest after a long ordeal,
Extinguish resentment, fear and regret,

Rest protected from the air's pollutants,
From Beijing to the States,
Forgetting time and space for long enough,
To feel it's not too late,

To energize,
It is in all of us,
A source of strength when one's heart is tested,
A pur'ty 'neath a crust of worldliness.

9 - Sorrow

Once there was Ananda,
Buddha's loyal cousin,
The Zen master's constant companion,
Never was enlightened,

The sorrow he felt when the great one died,
Was not for the world's loss,
But that his eyes ne'er opened all that time,
There was no hope he'd one day be conscious,

Then by morning Ananda reached his goal,
It was the deep, deep pain,
Experienced pure without self-pity,
Then enlightenment came.

That is now you,
When life's easy, who cares?
Embrace the sorrow as a road to life,
True self-understanding may meet you there.

2 - Friendliness

It's time to say good-bye,
To a very good friend,
Not to say that the friendship is finished,
For friendships never end,

Nor do they start any later than birth,
We are all companions,
Sharing ourselves when our paths draw us close,
A direction that we have no hand in,

Only gratitude should mark the parting,
For the pleasures you shared,
Expectation is what brews bitterness,
As if you never cared,

Oh, but you did!
You'll never be the same,
Next you entwine your branches with others,
Be sure to extol your past friends' names.

9 - Ripeness

It might be hard to think,
Through life's heartache and pain,
The debt and grind and suffering around,
That all of this could wane,

That you have been growing into yourself,
Ripening on the limb,
That you will soon be released fully formed,
To follow a new more personal whim,

One that's not prescribed or thrust upon you,
Don't quit your day job, yet,
This card could mean a new relationship,
Or relief of a debt,

Just let it be,
Like fruit falls from a tree,
The ground will absorb you, then you will find,
A whole new world of possibility.

8 - Traveling

There's no destination,
E'en though you think it so,
Life is a journey each step towards death,
Why such a rush to go?

It's like I e'er used to say in the day,
'fyou focus on the ends,
The person you will be is a seeker,
So what you achieve won't make any sense,

To enjoy it, you must be satisfied,
Which is a diff'rent you,
Accomplish things through planning and desire,
That's all you'll ever do,

So ne'er arrive,
All you will do is roam,
The problem with living in the future,
 Is that you have abandoned your true home.

4 - Participation

Time to participate,
To the world as a whole,
Those thoughts you had about how you fit in,
Is what you call your soul,

Its only chance at living is in life,
'mongst other living things,
You form a part of your society,
Or've no right to condemn its happenings,

So raise your right hand so you might receive,
Lower the left to give,
You are now in the current of lightning,
With th'right to say you live,

Congrat'lations!
Soon you'll be called to speak,
While others complain that there's too much noise,
They can't understand because they're too meek.

Queen - Flowering

You are overflowing!
A nexus of bright life,
What y'ingest's better for being eaten,
You are nobody's wife,

But the apex of what is possible,
Shedding seeds from your arm,
Flowers settling on your head and shoulders,
Protecting the world from all fear and harm,

There is too much of you to keep contained,
E'en the climate will bow,
Through the compassion that flows out your heart,
Hate is just not allowed,

So now go out,
While you spread so much good,
On an earth starving from pure extraction,
You're a welcome and needed source of food.

6 - The Lovers

There are three types of love,
From lowest to highest,
Lowest, the love of sexuality,
Is most person's bias,

Exactly in the middle is just love,
It's the flower of the seed of desire,
When th'other's your mirror,
Neither 'xpect more, still you can go higher,

You can become whole and reach compassion,
It's the flower's fragrance,
Moving beyond any needs to giving,
Rise from beggar to prince,

Which do you want?
The choice is up to you,
But only the highest includes them all,
Nor the lowest offer anything new.

Page - Adventure

Come out of the darkness,
Away from restrictions,
Layer 'pon layer like paint through your life,
Mostly built on fictions,

Where not, truth cannot be frozen in time,
It is of the moment,
The unknown, not safe or predictable,
Else it is a distraction of showmen.

Seize fear's dark forest or hope's bright rainbow,
Only you make that choice,
At home, work or relationships you find,
It is all in your voice,

Neither is safe,
The former kills your soul,
The latter has the risk of suffering,
Or realization of your heart's hushed goal.

3 - Experiencing

Be gentle in approach,
With your eyes open wide,
You're connected with all things around you,
Things you sing and deride,

Feel the wisdom of a tree you're hugging,
Calling you to its touch,
The parasites being ravaged by warmth,
Caused by society burning too much,

The protesters kept apart,
For demanding kindness,
The raped, battered, chased and underemployed,
Who will always have less,

Experience,
To the fullest extent,
It means more than reading things in the news,
You must embrace all with loving intent.

9 - Exhaustion

You have built a structure,
To protect how you live,
Blood, sweat and hours of work you have put in,
You've nothing left to give,

But if you walk away it will crumble,
For you're a part of it,
You are born in freedom then cage yourself,
So all of your actions I could predict,

Try your consciousness instead of conscience,
Sounds capricious, I know,
To answer from your heart and not your rules,
Who gave you leave to go?

No one needs to,
Life has nothing on you,
Your choice, tie yourself t'one way of living,
Or do what the moment tells you to do.

9 - Laziness

You've accomplished so much,
Of course you get to rest,
That piña colada won't drink itself,
No spirit to invest,

But you don't see reality cracking,
Your world's falling apart,
You've done something but not ev'rything's done,
Causing your pride to obfuscate your heart,

It is time for a state of non-doing,
Which is very diff'rent,
Alertness and energy guide the mind,
Searching the next event,

To win again,
Then maybe rest a spell,
But guard against laziness lest you fall,
To its claims that you are riding the swells.

Queen - Morality

Let your awareness rule,
Not stale, rigid morals,
With warm oceans stoking violent storms,
Whitening the corals,

Genocide in places more than Burma,
Orchestrated by states,
Pres'dents retracting laws meant to protect,
Humans of different genders and race,

All in the name of a morality,
Namely, the church of coin,
A dried up old prune we're led to believe,
Must guide where we're going.

But what if not?
If we just spent our hearts,
Bowing down to no god but common sense,
Where such injustice could not even start.

Time for Global Pettiness

It all seems so hopeless,
Storms like we've never known,
Predicted by science of climate change,
As it is soon full blown,

Saying too things must change decades ago,
While they've just gotten worse,
There's too much money in oil baron hands,
Fighting activists with naught in their purse,

Then Trump giving green lights to oil pipe lines!
Dismantling no-brainers,
Either this is a prelude to our end,
Or spark for campaigners,

Who preach revolt,
'midst fires in the midwest,
With no harsh backlash to these wanton acts,
All will die but the most priv'leged at best.

3 - Guidance

I always looked outward,
When my mom said to me,
May your guardian angel protect you,
On every journey,

Like it was a call for it from afar,
In case it had forgot,
But I know now that angel's deep inside,
With information that need not be sought,

Just listen to that bright voice advising,
It exists in all 'fus,
Shedding a ray of light on your true path,
Amidst all this chaos,

Like climate change,
Divorce and raising kids,
The trip don't start when you open the door,
You are on it with each would, should and did.

3 - Ice-olation

Ho! The iceman cometh,
He's turned into his wares,
He wishes that tears were acceptable,
But he can't show he cares,

No matter his actions he is a self,
Only love will melt him,
'cause now he's himself one giant ice cube,
It's ironic that he also sells 'em,

He risks being Parritt, jumping to death,
Rather than live with truth,
Fear of losing boundaries can trump life,
You must discard the noose,

Let the hurt flow,
Your tears will form rainbows,
Hickey imagined you to hide his fears,
Which is common as far as humans go.

5 - Totality

There is so much to do,
It is overwhelming,
Try to focus on one thing, and the rest,
End up disappearing,

You don't let your mind stray on a trapeze,
That's the point of the pic,
One split second of distraction, you die,
Like me stopping this to check out a link,

There's just one way to eat an elephant,
That's one bite at a time,
You must be there wholly, savor each chew,
Now I'm stuck for a rhyme,

I'm not all there,
Bad habits bring you down,
The more you're tot'lly there, the more your there,
The more you're living right, pound for pound.

Queen - Sharing

It's a time of giving,
Your joy, love and laughter,
It doesn't matter how much you let go,
More will e'er come after,

Don't be afraid of your capacity,
You know when things will change,
Contribute to the feeling there is hope,
To keep the most valued outcome in range,

Like respect for the balance Nature wrought,
When she ushered us in,
Unless we can live outside her favor,
Such typical humans.

Back to the point!
You have much to bestow,
You've moved above the fourth center, your heart,
Where you're more balanced than ever you'll know.

King - The Creator

It's time to move aside,
You are in your own way,
Just as those who make art forget themselves,
So too does your path lay,

Harness the passions of fire within you,
Your canvas is perdu,
You've let the oil rigs devastate the land,
Because they are too far removed from you,

That's the thinking of pettiness and fear,
Who're you to be so small?
You have learned a lot, but now you must teach,
To be one's to be all,

Then they will know,
That the master has come,
So that all might become the master, too,
Finally spreading life, not destruction.

6 - Success

Congratulations, you!
If you didn't know, yet,
You are on or will be on a peak soon,
Like ev'rybody gets,

Though it may not seem it, given some lives,
That is Nature's rhythm,
It goes up and down like an ocean's waves,
No matter what, you are always in one,

So enjoy the accolades while they last,
For guaranteed they won't,
You'll want to hold onto them long's you can,
It's important you don't,

Enjoy the lows,
They are a time of rest,
God, can't I just lay off preaching balance?
Milk what happiness you can from success.

5 - Clinging to the Past

Your clothes torn and ragged,
A beggar wearing them,
Ignoring riches sitting at your feet,
At your own detriment,

Clinging, instead, to a past long gone by,
Erasing the present,
Time is a product of mind's perception,
We organize our sensations on it,

Wrap up what you have already been through,
Let the sleeping dogs lie,
When woken, you must feed and care for them,
Life is passing you by.

Or maybe not,
P'haps the past's what you want,
There's a certain allure to suffering,
That happiness don't allow you to flaunt.

7 - Patience

Some times you just can't wait,
Like with global warming,
Others need patience to fully mature,
Like a child that's forming,

You must sit many moons patient, alert,
Content with passing time,
Trees do not rush its blooms or falling leaves,
Say to yourself, "why then would I rush mine?"

Still condemn those who enslave for big brands,
Fight so the poor can live,
But the seeds in you, to open and thrive,
Need all that you can give:

That's room to grow,
You know of what I speak,
You are a forest with new and old life,
The best potential in you yet to peak.

Page - Understanding

This cage that you are in,
Have you tested its bars?
Tried passing your wing across the metal,
Per the appeals of ours?

If they stop your attempt, just close your eyes,
Lift off and fly away,
All cages are supported by one's mind,
Built to direct you in a certain way,

To think of the earth as a mining ground,
The animals as beasts,
The belief that you'll start saving the world,
Once you've made 'nough, at least.

Guess what? You have!
You live in freedom, friend,
Now bestow it on all you connect with,
Your new life is incarceration's end.

8 - Courage

There is courage in growth,
Despite circumstances,
A seed can stay safe in its husk for e'er,
But yet, never dances,

Nor mightn't you if you expose yourself,
'midst the rocks and the guns,
But your roots will find their way to water,
Your leaves will turn their faces to the sun,

You will bloom, a small, delicate flower,
Having let go of blame,
Dismissing the hurt that kept you in seed,
Until the courage came,

Now look at you,
What you were meant to be,
Nothing is guaranteed if you choose life,
Except that the choice that you made was free.

Knight - Trust

Wouldn't it be something,
If ev'rytime you jumped,
Careless, unplanned, trusting at the bottom,
Rose petals, pink and plump,

Nothing to lose that cannot be taken,
Just you know what that is,
That which must and will always be with you,
While that which you can't's not e'en on the list,

'magine the freedom and heart-pumping fear,
The exhilaration,
Unsullied by planning of any kind,
It's not 'bout conclusion,

That's not the point,
This is a total break,
Let go of ev'rything, that's what you'll get,
After you land and finally awake.

Knight - Fighting

Your wounds are festering,
Trapped beneath your armor,
How far from your home have you strayed, my son,
Since our days as farmers,

You brandish your fists to avoid more hurt,
Will explode at a touch,
People may be frightened, but the pain's yours,
As for time, there isn't really that much,

To heal, you must let your defenses down,
The only chance at love,
Life is too short to fill it up with hate,
Try hugs in lieu of shoves.

Does this sound trite?
Sounds better than anger,
Things have never improved in midst of war,
Though troubles are hid amidst the danger.

7 - Projections

Your mind's a projector,
The screen, other people,
 A person's looked so beautiful to me,
Then turned to a creepo,

What you must ask yourself is what is real,
How does a person change?
Are they one thing in one single moment,
Before their psychie's tot'lly rearranged?

Or do you see what you wish that was there,
Which is really in you?
Everyone's truth is that they are complex,
Though good's what they wish do,

'less they project,
Then they're caught in their mind,
You know what happens when it gets to that,
It is really hard not to be unkind.

Connecting

There is no phone for me,
Nor is there internet,
I am an eating, sleeping, shitting thing,
Scooping fish with a net,

A person unconnected, but still man,
What will you think of me?
I’ve corrected my posture, not my tongue,
Still the same perspective of sanctity,

My dreams have come clear and seem to advise,
Oh, if I could live there,
Just spectacle, acceptance, you and me,
With ev’ry thought laid bare.

When I return,
P’haps we can make it so,
It exists here midst the eagles and lakes,
We could join them ‘fore they finally go.

King - Control

You have become entombed,
In your own hard, cold lines,
Built up from years of needing to control,
The turmoil deep inside,

There is a time and place for buckling down,
And living my a rule,
But stifling life energy all the time,
Leave your interactions distant and cool,

This is a call for you to loosen up,
No one can live this way,
Maintaining coldness a asking those around,
'Hi, how are you today?'

You must ask more,
Truly feel the other,
Let go of the control you hang on to,
Otherwise you mayn't even bother.

Happy Birthday, Yesterday, Mom

It was just mom’s birthday,
She died two years ago,
Dad and I went to a cottage to fish,
Think mom wanted to go,

On the way there she disabled my phone,
Glad we e’en found the place,
I backed the boat trailer into a truck,
You should have seen the look on my dad’s face,

The wifi was down, no contact at all,
Then it started to rain,
The owner then left when we went to bed,
Now my dad went insane.

What had we done?
He woke me late at night,
Then in the morning we caught lots of fish,
Mom saying e’rything would be alright.

6 - Compromise

You have a truth in you,
It defies confusion,
Guiding you down the path that you must take,
Fost'ring evolution,

To operate on half-techniques of love,
Is called a compromise,
It's only a repression of your growth,
Draping false views of the world o'er your eyes,

Clothing you in a disguise for others,
Trapping you on a wheel,
So you contribute to soci'ty's ills,
So it will never heal,

So don't cave in,
Intrigue and drama kill,
To find yourself, you must shed all deceit,
When you feel sleazy and conspiratorial.

6 - The Burden

You are ragged and worn,
A tyrant on your back,
You are climbing a mountain to nowhere,
For things you think you lack,

Expectations told to you by others,
They, too, have their burdens,
Conjured up, like an illusionist's trick,
So that all but what is real is certain,

The truth does not need to be sought after,
It is already there,
Just clear the smoke and cover the mirrors,
Lay your own ideals bare,

Others will see,
If not, they'll benefit,
For you will recognize their truth as well,
Shining a light on and exalting it.

2 - Possibilities

The skies you fly don't end,
The land is yours to see,
Before you it's stretched out like a road map,
Of possibilities,

The love you have shown yourself raised you up,
Now, enjoy the new height,
You will see things before those around you,
Who're not disciplined enough to take flight,

Do not weigh yourself down with boundaries,
The mind's bigger than that,
Once you free yourself you can free others,
Who've so far simply sat.

What 'bout feelings?
Have you thrown them away?
Perhaps just the ones that are stepping stones,
To the ecstasy you're feeling today.

3 - Celebration

It's time to celebrate,
No, nothing has happened,
Sweatshops still make over-branded clothing,
Th'world's still run by white men,

There's still too much injustice to tackle,
Too much justified fear,
Too little time to know how to live right,
To effect the minimum global tears,

You must search out those moments outside time,
They're there for ev'ryone,
They feed your heart, not your gut, nor clothe you,
Still, needed nutrition,

Or what's the point?
Life filled with misery?
The ideal world's one where ev'ryone's glad,
Practice now to one day make history.

8 - Letting Go

You're a drop of water,
Fell from a lotus leaf,
Trembling just before gravity took you,
Cleansing you of belief,

The old ways must be e'er forgotten, now,
You are on a new path,
Complete the natural sorrow and tears,
For you will ne'er 'gain have what you did hath,

Something greater is now awaiting you,
What, pray tell, could be worse?
Letting go's about uncomplicating,
So lifting the I's curse,

To be reborn,
Rise back up from the stream,
In existence nobody's superyor,
Despite how many assholes make it seem.

11 - Breakthrough

Red power surrounds you,
Exploding from your core,
You've turned your breakdown into a breakthrough,
You're not weak anymore,

You are also not guaranteed success,
This could be a mistake,
But going on the way you were going,
Was no longer a path that you could take,

One often reaches a point in their life,
When enough is enough,
Needing to raze the world they find themselves,
E'en though times will be tough,

That is you now,
There are no guarantees,
You may find yourself bleeding on your back,
Still better than succumbing on your knees.

Ace - Going With The Flow

You're floating in water,
Let it take you where't will,
Which is e'er the path of least resistance,
Never vainly uphill,

Water's the opposite of ambition,
Let it cradle you, now,
Have faith that it will flow to the right place,
There is always a watchmen at the bow,

Master the art of being receptive,
Life moves around itself,
Disturb its flow and you will waste your time,
And compromise your health,

It's hard, I know,
Like you don't give a shit,
But already that starts with th'assumption,
That surrendering is the same as quit.

10 - Change

Sometimes you are happy,
You'll have to live with it,
That will pass, as existence is a wheel,
And you're in its orbit,

You might rather move into its centre,
It is much calmer there,
Just watch the cycle of life pass you by,
Observe the grief and pain without a care,

Otherwise you'll get dizzy on the edge,
What is the point in that?
'fyou ever want a specific feeling,
Just wait, it will come back,

Then just jump on,
Once you get how change works,
You can see it for what it really is,
If not, it will surely make you berserk.

19 - Innocence

If you drop your knowledge,
All that's been given you,
Your name, identity, expectations,
You can be born anew,

A child with the innocence they all have,
No, not to be childish,
Before the mistrust and doubt life teaches,
When change is a wonder and goals a wish,

A praying mantis perched on your finger,
Sharing stories of joy,
Pink flowers cascade all around you,
Abandon like a boy,

Or a girl, too!
It's about acceptance,
Imagine a world that is magical,
It's more real than an imagined semblance.

16 - Thunderbolt

The tower is burning,
Why don't really matter,
Disasters happen in life all the time,
E'en high on the ladder,

You may want to hold on, not lose what's gained,
Though that's not natural,
Forests grow back once the fire has consumed,
As you will stand taller after your fall,

Your consciousness must stand back and observe,
Detached, let it proceed,
There is nothing you can do to stop it,
't'salso something you need,

To improve things,
Though you may not see now,
To you it seems like giving up, I know,
It's a way to control when you allow.

Knight - Intensity

You have stopped believing,
There's nothing you can learn,
If someone has gotten close to your fire,
They have already burned,

You are an arrow fired straight to he sky,
The earth is not for you,
The goal sits in the moment you're living,
For you know not where you are going to,

Worry not for your effect on the world,
This journey is unique,
The ripples you form need time to exist,
Just irking those who seek,

Which you do not,
Nor do you e'er believe,
True religion inquires constantly,
It's the false that make you afraid to leave.

12 -New Vision

You are growing wings, now,
Embraced by dimensions,
Manifest, not, and the person you are,
Married in completion,

The geometry tells the whole story,
The square is what is real,
The circle, the spirit in all of us,
The triangle is the whole three-course meal,

Now the opportunities are all yours,
From the depths to the heights,
You understand that they exist as one,
With the dark, comes the light,

And you are free!
The world has opened up,
Let the world's colours penetrate your soul,
As you drink from your overflowing cup.

17 - Silence

You're a goddess of night,
Reflected in a lake,
Its dark, ominous depths can't be fathomed,
Its calmness you can't make,

It is there to be discovered only,
Eternally present,
A never changing refuge of the mind,
Where self and the universe intersect,

Now is the time to come home to yourself,
You'll be outside again,
Once you are filled to your feet with silence,
Soon's there's equilibr'um,

Then you can start,
Living your life once more,
Or, rather, p'haps, for the very first time,
Then you will understand what it's all for.

10 - We Are The World

Only when you cel'brate,
'swhen you are not alone,
Join your hands with others around the world,
Like a great big rainbow,

We all bring treasures we share with the whole,
Do not sell yourself short,
When you hide yourself under a bushel,
You deny yourself the chance to cavort,

Instead you wallow in your misery,
No one wants to see that,
Try those things that will let you shine again,
P'haps get yourself a cat.

Just let it go,
Whatever it is hurts,
It's like banging your head against a wall,
All the pain stops if you just don't exert.

7 - Stress

The balls are in the air,
The pitfalls under foot,
Each step could spell the end of the journey,
Depending where it's put,

The monkey sits in ambush with the pin,
Your bubble's soon to burst,
Your mistake was having goals in this world,
Only the universal can't be cursed,

Separate yourself and you are alone,
Too distracted to know,
What you're doing is insignificant,
You have nowhere to go,

Only in now,
'sthere no uncertainty,
Go 'head and burden yourself with worry,
About sure outcomes that you just can't see.

3 - Creativity

Create with all you do,
That is the only way,
If you don't, you simply do not exist,
Then do not get to play,

Play with the materyals you have to give,
Unique to only you,
No need to paint or perform or jot down,
You can put yourself in whats'ev' you do,

Then you will become more like the divine,
You'll spread your joy and growth,
With fire and water you are possessed,
O'er you light ent'ring both.

You're not alone,
Just look at Jim Carrey,
Find the strength in yourself to be who you're,
Suddenly, life doesn't seem that scary.

13 - Transformation

It is time to give up,
Shed your skin like a snake,
Slay illusion, break chains, embrace yin/yang,
Let go, for goodness sake,

Surrender is not accepting defeat,
It is the final step,
Put the pain and difficulty aside,
The time has come to finally accept,

Eighty-four thousand doors will be open,
Where once there were just walls,
Reach down, touch the mouth of the sleeping face,
That is silence that calls,

Like death, yet life,
To a new dimension,
Accept this is a time of deep let-go,
Live in peace in this new transformation.

2 - Inner Voice

There's a voice inside you,
Beyond good and evil,
Surpassing the duality of life,
Just like I hope you will,

The mouth that speaks it knows no known language,
It goes by the name truth,
Born of the deep emotions within you,
That were far more simplified in your youth,

It's only this voice you need listen to,
To guide you on your way,
For there is no other you know so well,
Of those that wish to sway,

The way you think.
Some people are selfish,
To be at peace is be one with yourself,
For you have then taught yourself how to fish.

The Master

What are you master of?
What domain do you rule?
If you think you have an answer to these,
You should go ask your fool,

The true master has no need for answers,
Such things come from the mind,
As do preoccupations with a world,
Where self-mastery you will never find,

You must seek beyond what is the outside,
That includes what you think,
There is only one place peace can be found,
It exists on the brink,

'fthat's what you want,
It's a matter of taste,
The outside is no less real than what's in,
Depending on what episodes you've faced.

Knight - Slowing Down

It is time to slow down,
There is nowhere to be,
You carry your own house with you always,
In pure tranquility,

It is when you forget this you are lost,
The essence is at ease,
Ambitions and expectations distract,
From the beauty that your true nature sees,

Now unreal dreams can simply fade away,
They were not possible,
Set in your ways, you ignored what was real,
You became dutiful,

But now you're free,
Recognize that always,
Tourists only look through colored glasses,
You are home, no matter what your forays.

4 - The Rebel

You have found your own truth,
No fear of what's to come,
The flaming torch you hold casts its own light,
On the institutions,

Their chains are broken, lying at your feet,
Eagle perched at your side,
You do not oppress with your behavior,
Though the miserable around you hide,

Their chains have become too comfortable,
Where would they go, if free?
They'd have to carry a heavy burden,
Responsibility,

For what they do,
Something that you embrace,
There is nothing more difficult, my friend,
Than daring to show the world your true face.

10 - Rebirth

Are you still a camel,
Lost in your mundane thoughts,
Preoccupied by the world around you,
And other people's lots?

Or perhaps you've evolved to a lion,
Unchained from base demands,
Free to be you no matter consequence,
Standing large and proud as you forge new lands.

Maybe you have evolved at last to the child,
Not meek nor highly proud,
True to your nature, whatever that is,
Comfortable in or out of the crowd.

Whatever you're,
You are always living,
P'haps you've discovered a fourth way to be,
Somehow free of the last three's misgivings.

8 - Ordinariness

You don't have to be grand,
In this world to succeed,
Gently tugging the sheets taught on your bed,
May now be all you need,

Bask in the greens and purples of nature,
It has always been there,
The moment before your ax rends the wood,
You can learn that each moment is quite rare,

In the minutiae of the everyday,
That's where you can find peace,
At least until you are ready again,
For your soul to unleash.

For now, just breathe,
As you walk into work,
Perform each task as extr'ordinary,
Treat the right to do your job as a perk.

8 - Guilt

You've rejected your truth,
It happens time to time,
It's what you should calibrate your acts to,
To lead to the sublime,

Guilt is what you feel when you're off the path,
S'you can find your way back,
Once you do, it is best you let it go,
Lest you're not able to adjust your tack,

Then it's like the magnetic poles are broke,
The night sky's clouded o'er,
You'll ne'er know 'gain if you've done the wrong thing,
Which is what guilt is for,

Not to look aft,
You're not going backwards,
Right yourself and keep your eye on the bow,
It's the only way you can move forwards.

7 - Politics

'Ttimes, look in the mirror,
Make sure there's just one face,
For only the most pure and simple 'fus,
Ain't running in a race,

For the office of the most regarded,
While your mind is scheming,
Trying t'shape the world in its own image,
Trying to fly as if you were dreaming,

It is no place to live for very long,
This is a world of lies,
No matter who you are, it is not you,
Which is why it e'er dies,

It is not real,
It is games inside games,
Which all come to an end when someone wins,
I'd rather observe, if it's all the same.

Meditation

Where is your umbrella?
Did you pay attention?
Ev'ry moment's as precious as the next,
That is meditation,

There is never any time to do it,
Time's not a part of it,
If you sit down separate from your life,
Then you are a butcher who must carve it,

Ev'rything's not a part of a whole,
Where value's not a thing,
Is it on the left or right of your shoes?
Of what am I speaking?

You're umbrella!
Live in meditation,
If you must sit down, eyes closed, cross legged,
Then call it what it is, self reflection.

Queen - Receptivity

Let me be your vessel,
I will chop off my head,
There will be nothing left of me but ears,
To capture all you said,

I will erase every trace of me,
Aren't I amazing?
Submerged in water that's ever-flowing,
There are no goals at which I am gazing,

I will bring you closer to god for naught,
Arms extended upwards,
For whatever comes I will be grateful,
I've put away all swords,

All, just for you,
I have let myself go,
Pure receptivity of what you have,
Loosing what keeps one from becoming whole.

PredPol

The technology's there,
The mathematics, too,
Combined with statistics and video,
To pre-imprison you,

Well, maybe not you, but future crim'nals,
Bent on being evil,
Probably confined to those neighbourhoods,
Where you'd 'xpect to find those kinds of people,

Where apartments are cheap and subsidized,
Identified by race,
Makes calculations much easier when,
You keep crime in its place,

It's good business,
So is law enforcement,
First cause a problem then fix the problem,
So legitimizing the government.

7 - Awareness

Outer skin is burning,
Melting away like wax,
No fire is causing this transformation,
You're completely relaxed,

It's the child in you revealing itself,
Seeing unrestrained,
Pure, thinking and wholly unshakable,
It's what your drama had tried to contain,

Now there is no medium between them,
The child will observe all,
You need not do anything to assist,
Just let the curtain fall,

Go on living,
Or live for the first time,
We should all be so lucky to be free,
Of the petty, self-preoccupied mind.

Repost

The truth will set you free,
If you know what that is,
Please forward it to all of the contacts,
'Nyour social med'a list,

Because up until now I'd have assumed,
If someone had found it,
It would have been tweeted around the world,
Overthrowing ev'ry unjust gov'ment,

Instantly redistributing the wealth,
In the one percent's hand,
Eradicated contracts of all kind,
Uniting all humans.

Maybe it's blocked,
P'haps it's been posted lots,
But'd be the demise of the medium,
Crushing the potential worth of its stock.

3 - Creator

You are a masterpiece,
Like all living creatures,
To create for you is to step aside,
Reveal your best features,

The natural expression of yourself,
Forged of the fire within,
Some create art from the physical world,
Examples of a baser creation,

Just vague pointers to what they imitate,
The beauty that you are,
Become a creator by letting go,
It's not really that far,

It's ever there,
Behind the hate and fear,
Just like the old adage about aiming,
To get there's to see it's already here.

4 - Postponement

The world you're in is grey,
'Cause you've yet to decide,
Do you want to live or think about it,
That's why you're on this side,

If you wait for tomorrow it's harder,
You're letting your world set,
Time is a slowly drying piece of clay,
It's e'er as malleable as 'twill get,

Don't look at the colors covetingly,
They are yours, should you choose,
It is fear and lack of self-confidence,
That lead you to refuse,

To be who you're,
P'haps due to other's dreams,
You might be grasping to one that can't be,
Sometimes circumstances are what they seem.

You Got You Where You Are

Ev’ryone has stories,
T’explain their origin,
Dig deep and the world they’ve built for themselves,
Were preordained for them,

From the moment your eyes took in the light,
Reflecting where they were,
There were specific directions from there,
So only limited things could occur,

Each choice after that narrows down the path,
‘Til your life is no more,
That doesn’t even mean that you have died,
Might just mean that you’re poor,

In soul or wealth,
Some say one is much worse,
May the choices you make enrichen both,
For lots of mourners and a decent hearse.

Page - Mind

Your head is in the clouds,
Or the clouds in your head,
Either way, your mind is confusing you,
Try letting go, instead,

Of the thoughts that run you ragged each day,
Rubbish if you listen,
Preoccupation with everything but,
What will help your spirit'al condition,

Try looking through the mind's eye of your heart,
Is life really unfair?
'Tis if you count on the word of others,
To fill what wasn't there.

What have you done,
With your holyer than thou?
There's more than one way to get what you want,
And there is no one that can tell you how.

1 - Existence

You are where you should be,
Don't matter where you go,
The fear and loneliness you are feeling,
Are for what you don't know,

Open your eyes as if you were just born,
Everything is new,
It is trite to say that it's a new day,
But it is wrong to say it is not, too.

Life wan't given to you, nor you it,
Nor to any other,
The doors you close 'cause you know how it is,
Can't be because you're sure,

Just rest a while,
Know that you're always home,
Things can change around you and you change, too,
But you are you wherever you do roam.

King - Healing

Around you is a world,
Not concerned with your plight,
While egos live tethered to what they want,
Guided by their own light,

You are hurt before you are even touched,
'Til you let yourself go,
You are a lotus, perched above the mud,
Less vulnerable than you'll ever know,

Y'must cut off your head 'fore you can be healed,
So there's no you to hurt,
Light can only shine through the transparent,
Light is what we all thirst,

It makes us whole,
Many linked by the one,
Has hurt ever existed in this place,
Without the ego's participation?

9 - Ripeness

There always comes a time,
When the fruit's become ripe,
Its juices are bursting, the weight too much,
Too dangerous to bite,

The stem just lets go its grip on the tree,
Belongs to the ground now,
It served its purpose in one existence,
Life's purpose is just what it will allow,

So, too, must you grow to your potential,
Be not afraid to fall,
For e'en that is a journey to somewhere,
You're answering a call,

At the right time,
You couldn't have, if not,
Be not afraid of what you've done or do,
If in support of your ultimate lot.

New Beginnings

There's nothing to describe,
When reality's new,
'Cept for knowledge of who you really are,
Some say the only truth,

Others say it's only one of many,
If it is even that,
There's no more surety in awareness,
Than in all random, manufactured fact,

There are the feelings of rightness and wrong,
Though different for all,
Sure, the golden rule is universal,
But also a high wall,

That some have built,
Because of who they are,
Or due to the upbringing they received,
Which they, dolefully, will never descar.

10 - Suppression

You are empty inside,
You've released all tension,
The knots that held you tight in the darkness,
Tied by expectations,

Could not hold in your light any longer,
You were about to burst,
When you considered what freedom would mean,
Then decided that things could be much worse,

You could spiral into a depression,
Weighed down by your own guilt,
Or explode into maniacal ire,
Razing all that you've built,

Or what you've done,
Let go of all the hate,
Have faith in your faith that all will be good,
If you don't embrace your calling too late.

Medicine Unbundled

The Indian Problem,
Canada called it that,
There was a suppressed people still living,
An inconvenient fact,

So it stifled data about abuse,
Across all departments,
Over-administration of vaccines,
Causing cancer in most of the patients,

Removal of lungs as a TB cure,
Death a common outcome,
Sterilization without one's consent,
Official reg'lation,

It is all true,
It hasn't ended yet,
The survivors of these and much more,
Are still a problem for this government.

14 - Integration

The conflict is in you,
As it's in ev'ryone,
Nighttime and day, despot and the oppressed,
The eagle and the swan,

 It's not avoidable by the most meek,
Nor those who overwhelm,
What one can do is meld the two in one,
By handing each its own hand on the helm,

 In this way do the weak attain their strength,
So too bullies take pause,
Conflict between one's inner dimension,
Is schizophren'a's cause.

But that's not all!
You might be shocked to learn,
You see in others what you have in you,
Which is why I find the world taciturn.

9 - Aloneness

You are not lonely,
Just 'cause you are alone,
That is like saying you are a vagrant,
Just 'cause you have no home,

Or you have had no opportunities,
So you are far behind,
Where you should be should life have behaved like,
You'd already envisioned in your mind,

P'haps you think because a tap is dripping,
The world is against you,
It may be, but e'en if you're mauled by dogs,
Do what you've got to do,

Which is to serve,
Until your hands fall off,
Do not complain or wish you had freedom,
You only have that right when you're in love.

10 - Harmony

Your heart has its own beat,
Unique to all others,
When weak, it stays hid beneath the rumble,
Of your mundane bothers,

If you want to experiment with life,
'Fcourse, if you have the time,
Surrender all thought to your uniqueness,
Your potential to express the sublime,

The timber of your passion might be rough,
But still be beautiful,
All art defies definition until,
Its given a label,

Which will you be,
Defined or defining?
You want to change the world, start with yourself,
You're the first warden of your confining.

4 - Turning In

You are going nowhere,
But that is a good thing,
It's the only route to true happiness,
Short of up and dying,

The voices in your head are amusing,
They can't influence you,
Your actions are now guided by silence,
It will take you where you want to get to,

Everything else is motivated,
By random thoughts and facts,
Obfuscated because complicated,
No guide for how to act,

'T's'not based on truth,
Just trust in your heart's sway,
Name something else with no motivation,
Other than showing you the purest way.

0 - The Fool

You were once full of trust,
The womb your universe,
Then quite soon after your initial breath,
You succumbed to a curse,

It is planted deep inside each human,
We cast it on ourselves,
'Cause we 'magine we know the path we're on,
'Stead of embracing wherever we delve,

Forgetting each of us is just a fool,
What the fuck do we know?
Why not shed all assumptions 'fwhat's to come,
And not learn as you go?

Trust your instincts,
That what feels right is right,
You're not on a path to some distant goal,
The path is the goal, the goal is delight.

21 - Completion

What you must understand,

Completion's not an end,

Unless, of course, you are leaving this earth,

Maybe not even then,

If the examples we have are a clue,

We live multiple lives,

An end is at the same time a new start,

Will you focus on what leaves or arrives?

Naught is really gone, it's inside of you,

It made you what you are,

Some make the mistake of suppressing it,

You following so far?

That's when you die,
Sticking with what once was,
Denying the chance of new beginnings,
Surviving on death like a vulture does.

The Less

What's the use in trying,
When ev'ryone's alone?
No insight into what they really see,
Origin is unknown,

Recompense for the things you've been through,
'Snot your right anymore,
Correct me if I'm wrong, but are we not,
All inexplicably void in our souls?

Today the decree has been clearly made,
Everything must change,
It's not enough to have a lot to buy,
From an infinite range,

We demand peace,
From all selfish demands,
If what you want is purely per your needs,
It should not be for me to understand.

Amazing

Take Miami Beach heat,
Then take away your home,
There's plenty places to plop down yourself,
If you're inclined to roam,

There's plenty people sleeping on the streets,
Park benches, grass and curbs,
Respected as the city's real'ty,
There are no soup kitchens in the suburbs,

Maybe you'll find yourself without a home,
Better folks than you did,
There's a fine line between have and have not,
Poorness your parents hid.

Why, I don't know,

We should all bask in it,

Only then we'll see our most common trait,

Then revolution will take a minute. 

Wake Up

What are you deserving,
That you demand so much,
To be the person that you want to be,
'Tyou're meant to be, as such,

After getting so far in 'nother life?
It kind of seems to me,
That you made your bed now you want to sleep,
In another one never meant to be,

At least not now that you have the other,
You cannot just switch beds,
A canine that goes to the wrong food bowl,
Will ne'er ever be fed.

But you're no dog,
That relies on others,
To tell you where you should eat or lie down,
Not sure why anyone even bothers.

World Wrestling

The vidyo's ironic,
Where Trump mauls CNN,
It was just ten years ago it was made,
Now he is president,

It's like it's still the wrestling fed'ration,
Vague good against evil,
The press has given some shots to the head.
When the ref's not looking, many folks will,

But there are still good reporters out there,
Though you rarely hear them,
Their role in this world's as a pressure valve,
To release real chagrin,

It's all a stage,
Tweets like that are jesters,
'Fwe keep the divisiveness in the ring,
We may yet avoid global disasters.

An Ode to Patreon

This one makes me squirmish,
Self-consciousness burns me,
It's supposed to be about patr'onage,
As opportunity,

But even though this may never be read,
I'm overwhelmed by eyes,
The same as when people watch me walking,
Inevitably, I stop walking right,

The natural rhythm is disrupted,
I'm outside looking in,
There's no honesty when you think like that,
Destroying attraction,

Your art then dies,
So my apologies,
I must proceed as if you don't exist,
The only way to create properly.

The Pain

Let me drown in silence,
Away from ev'ryone,
No feeling something is owed for nothing,
Only oblivion,

The kind where you know you're tot'lly alone,
Ev'ry thought is your own,
Something kind of close to meditation,
Except you are eternally alone,

A touch like solitary confinement,
Not that I'd really know,
But I 'magine to be locked up like that,
Avoids a lot of woe,

Like what to say,
When anything's not good,
While, still, saying nothing is just as bad,
You would disappear if only you could.

4 - The Miser

What do you hold onto,
As if, if you let go,
It will forever be out of your grasp,
Diminishing you so,

Is it the money you stockpile in banks,
Not spent, and so nothing,
Is't the time you can't spare that slips away,
Without doing one thing,

Is it beautiful things that you create,
For which others must pay,
Which they don't, so they stay hidden from all,
Ne'er see the light of day?

You are weighed down,
In a fortress you've made,
Protecting you, sure, from what I don't know,
Making your form ugly along the way.

King - Abundance

Your heart thumps through your skin,
The elements surround,
You couldn't be anymore human now,
'Fno other could be found,

The deepest wisdom is e'er on your mind,
While you sing, dance and drink,
At once in love with spirit and the flesh,
There's no room in this euphor'a to think,

You're beyond diff'rence of man or woman,
Some would say, 'what's the point?',
I must admit without procreation,
There's still reason to boink,

Which you do, too,
It's 'nother dance, really,
If e'er there was a time to say no more,
I'd say it's now 'less it comes natur'lly.

20 - Beyond Illusion

What is inside is real,
Communion with your self,
Let not you believe that what then's outside,
Should be placed on a shelf,

For there would be nothing if not outside,
It's how you see the world,
But that perception is rooted in you,
Though it can be wrinkled as its unfurled,

Use the steam of your heart to smooth it out,
Your soul's hands to raise it,
Survey the new frontier with your mind's eye,
How your spirit lays it,

It is all you,
You rear it from its birth,
Not from your beginning, in each moment,
From your own image your create this earth.

2 - Moment to Moment

Dancing among rainbows,
The city far away,
The marketplace is swirling all around,
Geared towards another day,

His intentions simply do not exist,
What's coming will ne'er be,
Only the footfall upon the next stone,
Leaving the one before in history,

His success cannot be measured in time,
Rather, in its absence,
He is alone, for sure, but not lonely,
He's maintaining balance.

Commune with self,
Then reach out to others,
Only time will tell if ignoring it,
Was wiser than living with its bothers.

Card Laid

How about we play cards,
Some simple game of chance,
So that no matter how many are shown,
We feel exuberance,

At the constancy of human frailties,
The whole deck's never known,
Even card counters are at the mercy,
Of the possibil'ties yet to be thrown,

Each hand is a new opportunity,
For further joy or ire,
Oft times how you've done paints your perception,
Of what's yet to transpire.

When we are done,
That's where the game begins,
Do you play o'er the decisions you made,
Or pick up and shuffle the cards again?

The Heart Gets Broken

Connections can be broke,
Or they wouldn't exist,
Even an offspring's bond with a parent,
Can, with abuse be nixed,

Though less so in the other direction,
Either way, at what cost?
Lacking a relationship with one's blood,
Is your sense of humanity then lost,

Or does that connection of progeny,
Need to be satisfied,
So that if it's replaced with a good heart,
Your soul can still survive?

Or must it be?
What is the endgame, here?
To spend your days in peaceful contentment,
No matter the way which you have been reared.

What They say

There are many of you,
One for ev'ry person,
Building their viewpoint from a few snapshots,
It's not a perversion,

It's all as real as you see yourself,
It is as false, as well,
The admonishment, 'understand thyself',
Is not just meant for ev'rybody else,

You must learn to live with all your demons,
Both within and without,
How you do that is purely up to you,
Of that be of no doubt.

Others may cry,
They have a right to know,
A thousand words couldn't paint the picture,
Though there is no point in telling them so.

Freedom

'Ltell you what freedom is,
As if you didn't know,
It is the holy grail of existence,
Humankind's greatest foe,

'Tsbeen the route of all evil since money,
It was sex before then,
Wait, 't'snever been good to expose yourself,
That's always encouraged revolution,

It's best when not ev'rybody has it,
Less people in your way,
That's true for even those who don't have it,
'Thing to strive for one day,

Still, either way,
Be you have or have-not,
We all think of it as a possession,
Because that is what we have all been taught.

Fuck It

You don't need epiph'nies,
One day after the next,
To return to that place where you realized,
Reality's context,

That of a provider of stimulus,
That our body translates,
Providing the sights and sounds and feelings,
The mater'als we use to cogitate.

For sure it all needs to be clothed for sense,
So's to communicate,
But the point is to return to that place,
Where instincts are innate,

To guide your moves,
In this fucked up cosmos,
Then give it a rinse through your perspective,
So's to translate that for those you hold close.

21 - Completion

There're battles in Yemen,
Should have known this before,
Though it's hard to guess from the media,
Where there's actu'lly war,

It hasn't really been kept a secret,
The opposite, in fact,
It's hard to see the trees for the forest,
When they are blocked by the war in Iraq,

When your own circumstances are not firm,
Due to divisiveness,
Makes you wonder is drama natural,
Or meant to make you less,

Less human, sure,
S'you don't fight for justice,
There's no point in  protesting anymore,
Everyone must change their consciousness.

Miko

I hear your whimpering,
You want to come in here,
Even just a hint of my existence,
The knowledge I am near,

Tugs at your heart like a winch on a truck,
Bet you wish it would stop,
But the prospect of getting close to me,
Would lead you to never-ending distraught,

Gladly you would walk across burning rocks,
Pain moments paid for love,
Even if it ends more quickly than that,
Th'euphoria's enough,

To get you by,
Until the next chance comes,
So I silently stalk to the exit,
While you roll about in self-delusion

Ace - Maturity

There're flowers in your hair,
On your body and face,
There's such contentment in your half-closed eyes,
'Syou bask in their embrace,

You're looking in at your outward power,
Grounded in peace and love,
You shall never go back nor need go forth,
You have no fear of below or above,

You are just what you've e'er known you should be,
Everyone can see,
When one has attained their ideal person,
You feel the harmony,

It's palpable,
You want to breath it in,
But until you accept it's possible,
You'll never exper'ence maturation.

Soon, Raccoon

Left to its own device,
Walking alone at night,
Blending in with the shadows and mumblings,
Of creatures out of sight,

As dedicated to its own children,
As any human here,
Enmeshed as 'tis within the habitat,
To which they so religiously adhere,

It will never understand poverty,
Or its adverse effects,
There're no studies on divorce's impact,
It hasn't got there, yet,

'T'sjust a raccoon,
It eats garbage to live,
That's only reserved for the least of us,
To be pitied by those with 'nough to give.

The Round About Way

For what are you grateful?
The evangelist said,
A classic opening in advance of,
Pointing out you'll be dead,

That you should think about what comes between,
The middle and the end,
Not like those other godless hedonists,
Who have no one to whom they can repent,

You have him and he admits he needs you,
For that is his calling,
There must be shepherds and those that he tends,
Stamp out what is appalling,

Which is satan,
None of this will end good,
But there is a way to avoid it all,
Do unto others not just what you should.

Breeze Face

Is there any value,
When experiencing,
Without perception overlaying it,
Like list'ning to birds sing,

Or the sensation of wind 'gainst your face?
You feel it, so it's there,
But I challenge your mind to ask itself,
Are you just sensing yourself or the air?

Ain't the engine's roar a vibrating drum?
You're finding this banal,
The car's existence is not in question,
Nor is the ear canal,

What is the point,
Is not what's real'ty,
But knowing where you end and the world starts,
To understand where your control might be.

The Narcissist

1. Let me change your hist'ry,
To accommodate mine,
2. File away what you shared in confidence,
Then bring it up in time,

3. Point out your faults, then deride when your mad,
4. I'm the victim, you know,
5. But this is all because of your actions,
6. Also your inability to grow,

7. God would surely have struck you down by now,
8. If I didn't hit first,
9. There is so much you just can't understand,
10. While I'm fully immersed,

And one more thing,
11. I'm better looking, too,
If you''d just take better care of yourself,
You might then be the person I once knew.

Looking

Have you ever felt like,
Someone was watching you,
Through the trees with binoculars and time,
Obsessed with what you do,

Writing it down to review it later,
Then review it again,
Like the one life lived is for the other,
Is not even quite worth the attention,

'Cause there's something greater happening there,
No matter the reason,
Whether one's grand or th'other not worth it,
Both are now in prison?

Inauthentic,
They're looking out, not in,
Wait, who can say if there's a purpose here,
Or that it's aught to do with progression?

The Holy Trinity

Body, mind and spirit,
The holy trinity,
There's something in the sermon yesterday,
That really spoke to me,

That what all humans should endeavor for,
Is balance in all three,
A unified goal shared with ev'ryone,
Marked by openness and consistency,

An approach that one would think'd be easy,
And come naturally,
But is only expected from loved ones,
Lawyers and family,

'Cause exper'ence,
Tells us differently,
Everyone will be out for themselves,
'Til good will's valued universally.

Breeze Face

Someone said yesterday,
To my son, 'you're the face!'
An epitaph of true admiration,
I guess, in this new age,

Which makes me think the time is perhaps right,
To resurrect a thought,
Based on a sensation I exper'enced,
Driving along with my mom and my pop,

The wind was pressing hard against my face,
When my mind played a game,
It was as if the wind just disappeared,
But the feeling remained,

Man, what a trip,
Plus a lesson to share,
If not that you force your thoughts on the world,
Then that it exists in your sense of it.

What You Do

Action is a teacher,
By you or someone else,
By learning from mistakes or example,
Taken into yourself,

Mingling with the genetics that you have,
Influ'ncing what you take,
Imagine you had no one in this world,
What are the decisions that you would make?

Now take 'way all responsibility,
For ev'rything you do,
Which one or what combination of both,
Do you call really you?

Or neither one,
You're part of a great plan?
No matter what, only time will tell you,
The consequences of your exertions.

Welcome

No one asked to be here,
Thrust, as't were, into life,
Then you're, if you're lucky, born into privilege,
Odds are, though, into strife,

Luckier, still, you're given liberty,
And opportunity,
Without the fear of personal assault,
Or repression of ideology,

Then may your disposition grow freely,
No matter the flavor,
Morose, optimistic or ornery,
Naught to do with squalor,

But with humor,
No, not the funny kind,
The disposition you cannot escape,
That self-awareness allows you to find.

A Good Death

You must keep on living,
'Til you decide to stop,
Despite the connections that yet bind you,
You've ev'ry right to crop,

Perhaps you've grown tired of society,
Its convoluted ways,
Maybe you are worth more dead than alive,
With unreasonable bills still to pay,

Existence may too be a blip in time,
No beginning or end,
Ev'rything 'round be gone one day,
So who really cares when?

Just be yourself,
You've ev'ry right to be,
If you're the type to leave when you get bored,
Then, by all means go 'head, leave the party.

I Ching

Sometimes when you argue,
Resistance stops your will,
You become tangled in a losing fight,
When instead should be still,

In control of yourself and where you go,
Guided by your silence,
Thoughts passing by, neither correct or wrong,
Dispersed to avoid outside malfeasance,

Like a king strengthens himself by spreading,
Streaming across the land,
May the seeds you scatter find furtile ground,
Tamed by your guiding hand,

So you find growth,
That is what the stacks said,
Fight for your life by surrendering it,
Unless you would rather wish you were dead.

Lion's Head

Sits atop a window,
Porcelain stained with dirt,
Obsfucated by a young saplings leaves,
Inhabitants alert,

Was your body ever contemplated,
Just left as unfinished,
Perhaps too gruesome to make real'ty,
The world's safety leaving you diminished?

Or is it hiding in the bricks behind,
Flailing for its freedom?
Whatever the hell you are living with,
My commiserations,

It's not deserved,
All you did was get born,
If I could I would save you from this fate,
May the rain wash away all of your scorn.

Dying

If you dream, then dream big,
Want to be rich? Then be.
You realize that no one that's come before,
Can repudiate these?

It's not to say that you will get results,
Again, no one can know,
But one thing is for certain in this world,
If you never ask, the answer's e'er 'no',

And no one dying wishes they'd worked more,
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,
What you have to do with all you have learned,
Is just use it, don't ya'?

Or ignore it,
Who knows what's the right way,
But on your deathbed would't you rather,
Know you tried your best at th'end of the day?

Back Again

Get as far as you can,
Then stop and look around,
If there's nothing there you want to explore,
Then please be outward bound,

Don't stay if it's just 'cause you got that far,
That's no reason at all,
One point on one path among countless more,
Are you telling me you don't have the gall?

Is it that you don't want to work again,
E'en though you've just one life?
Or you afraid of what the next point brings,
For it may bring you strife?

Well, y'know it will,
That's what it's all about,
It's hope that you are really looking for,
Found only when there's still things to find out.

Waiting

Well, there goes my record,
Of you know what I mean,
Surrounded now by homegrown foreigners,
Nothing like I have seen,

Unable to imagine origins,
To my left or my right,
Luddites staring into oblivion,
Blurry-eyed sleepers after a late night,

Nighttime fumes meant to cover one's odors,
With nothing that's better,
Reminds me that there's a very thin line,
You wish you ne'er met her,

Oh my lord god,
That these things the exist,
Makes it hard to believe in a future,
Not destined to finish in bloody fists.

Never

They all made the same deal,
For immortality,
It's never the same as you imagine,
When gi'en th'opportun'ty,

One will never want for money or luck,
Except for his child's love,
She will kill herself in a thousand ways,
The last, well, he didn't look up above,

Just death and murder and murder and death,
Now look at where they are,
A misfit crew with no real direction,
Yet still traveling far.

There's never time,
To even think it out,
One moment sitting waiting around,
Next, someone's calling your name with a shout.

See You Tomorrow

Your silhouette hunches,
Lasts the life of a smoke,
Soon you will disappear back through the door,
We're probably both broke,

Swallowed up by the roofs over our heads,
Peace only these moments,
You, warmed by the red ember in your hand,
Back-light illuminating my torment,

If this darkness could never go away,
Where we wait life's restart,
Blessed with the freedom to consider it,
Creating our own art,

You with your fire,
High above my sorrows,
Let's promise, should this night last forever,
We'll both fix our wrong-doings tomorrow,

Artivism

Everything is green,
Does that mean a new start?
If ever Nature did teach us something,
It's the nature of art,

That no matter the era that you're in,
Life can be expressed new,
Sure, it's the same message in a fresh skin,
Chronologic'lly relevant to you,

Just like the theory of evolution,
You must take what is best,
Nurture it and use it, but it is not,
An unexpected guest,

It's e'er been known,
There's nothing to bemoan,
Nothing revolutionary in it,
It's only dangerous if left alone.

The Good Ol' Days

I'd like to say step back,
Back to the good old days,
When love and equality were normal,
Before media haze,

When we weren't told what we should think 'bout,
When injustice was clear,
Race, gender, beliefs didn't mean a thing,
Encounter and pet a bear without fear,

When people would go without luxury,
To afford others meals,
Community was 'bout mut'al support,
When we strove for ideals,

That had been, right?
I'm not imag'ning it?
Else we're telling ourselves that's what we want,
While we are striving for something diff'rent,

Time To Go

I don't have much time, now,
None of us really do,
At least, not when you stop to think 'bout it,
It's not all that imbues,

There are also those things that erase time,
Joy, love and excitement,
If you are lucky, they will pay the bills,
Else your mind is osc'llating betwixt them,

A constant distraction from what is real,
Joy, love and excitement,
This ain't a problem, for a moment of one,
Is the whole sentiment,

Of what life is,
You can die after that,
The rest is just striving for it again,
Or forgetting you were ever that glad.

The Tough Questions

Where's the social justice,
When you're traversing beds,
Discovering treasures that are not there,
For hours and hours on end,

When protesters born in another land,
Beaten at the White House,
As a cam'ra shot sent back to Turkey,
To remind the world just who is the mouse?

A useless gesture appropriated,
Yes, that is what I said,
We keep talking about needing to talk,
Everyone's afraid,

Of saying boo,
Well, that's just what they want!
While they manufacture their own consent,
We don't fight back 'cause we're convinced we can't.

Debate

If you are divided,
On what 'tis you should think,
You are at least a step closer to truth,
Than a nudge and wink, wink,

Than a rash response to a discomfort,
An aversion to work,
The kind of time needed to understand,
To stand up to the evil that e'er lurks,

That aims to pit human against human,
So divided we fall,
Stifled as soon as we choose to speak up,
By other made people,

Taught to be small,
Minded being called out,
Confused into thinking about ourselves,
Then paralyzed by subsequent self-doubt.

Reconciliation

You understand others,
By walking in their shoes,
Feeling the pain that's rooted in their past,
A bomb set with a fuse,

Hidden under a thin layer of soil,
Like it's not even there,
It doesn't take much to expose the wick,
With roots exposed, they will now live in fear,

Others can now see how to set them off,
Trust me, there're those who will,
Out of the fear of exposure themselves,
You must kill or be killed,

So don't change shoes,
They tie their own tighter,
Instead of respect they hurl out insults,
Instead of making love, they make fighters.

Indian Horse

There are things that are wrong,
That's what his body knew,
Without his family to tell him so,
His mind hid it, in lieu,

Pushed him instead to the happy actions,
Hockey distracted pain,
But then even that was taken from him,
The prejudice of the whites was insane,

He was forced fight instead of playing,
His only freedom lost,
They told him that he had a chance at life,
But left out at what cost.

What would you do?
Numb the pain with drinking?
Try to escape from this world of abuse,
That called you names as it watched you sinking?

The Comers

When my dad was eighteen,
He came from Italy,
Lived with his Paesan' in St. Catharines,
For moolah liberty,

It wasn't hard to work in construction,
Basic'lly wop country,
Still the foreman yelled you better work hard,
There's a ship coming filled with more of ye,

This was the treatment of the new comers,
By the newly arrived,
Who'd already displaced the existing,
Indigenous one's lives,

Systemat'cly,
Stamped white into their kin,
While ensuring they'll never be equal,
Ident'fied by the color of their skin.

In Bloom

He tore his dress away,
It was ne'er meant to be,
There were too many demons in his brain,
They cloud up what he sees,

Then there's the one sat behind ev'ryone,
Plugged in somewhere unknown,
The connection was made through other ways,
So he could still play completely alone,

The crowd didn't know what they're looking at,
Still couldn't look away,
Felt what was happening was important,
To all their future days.

They still look back,
It doesn't matter who,
Ev'rything was smashed as matter of course,
My god, how this planet could use more youth.

My Eyes!

I can't stand the backlight,
My eyes have revolted,
Thank god I learned to type back in highschool,
S'os to lean back my head,

I close my eyes and the light still pours through,
My brain is now hurting,
If screens were not so integral to life...
But why e'en muse, there is no refuting,

If I could just get away for one day,
Nay, let's make that a year,
To be among what we just call nature,
I could 'gain be a seer,

Of what there is,
Not what is presented,
There's enough to look at without pixels,
Just shut it down if god did not send it.

The Ideal

There'll be the perfect storm,
Of outrage and action,
Incredulity aligned 'cross the world,
And every faction,

A global foot put down 'gainst injustice,
Condemning the rich few,
Supporting a system that needs the poor,
Building the chains with which they are subdued,

Who would probably do the same if let,
E'en just for avengment,
But mostly because when your comfortable,
You think you deserve it,

Not that you don't,
But so does ev'ryone,
So now we ask ourselves, are we ready,
To organize such an equal nation?

Happy Anniversary

Fifty-one years ago,
Or is it fifty-two?
A young man married a younger woman,
Now, what is he to do?

It wasn't long ago he was thinking,
"We can finally live,
Done with this life's responsibilities,
To you, love, your rewards I can now give,

You no longer have to care for others,
Let me take care of you,
The struggle, the toil, your sacrifices,
We can start fresh, anew."

But then, she died,
He is left with his guilt,
Alone, he tries his best to speak to her,
He can almost hear her bright, smiling lilt.

Her Journals

You used to write of birds,
The thoughts that they must spawn,
Free as they are from the human follies,
Of selfish ambition,

There is naught to prove they're any less deep,
A cocky presumption,
That our blundering grope for some meaning,
Shows we possess some greater perception.

"But what," you said, "do we have on the birds?"
Content in their motions,
If any faith at all can be granted,
To our observations,

Which are oft base,
Grounded in aversion,
More than likely we're observed from on high,
An example of nature's perversion.

A Meditation On Hal Niedzviecki

This one is truly tough,
For't speaks to soci'ty,
Not whether the left has become fascist,
Or fears controversy,

Certainly if one wishes no offence,
There's two needs that I see,
First that the speaker has good intentions,
Then, th'list'ner must believe his amity,

Wait, there's more to it than just those factors,
Such a world must exist,
Either as an ideal or what we want,
Where there's no prejudice,

Not one doubter,
T'upset the apple cart,
Either we're all in for the perfect world,
Or we should chalk any such thoughts to art.

Down Below

The bottom of your breath,
Provides you an escape,
A moment where nothing is happening,
Where nothing is too late,

Where you exist 'tween you and you one day,
Like waiting for a plane,
There is all you will do when you arrive,
Not yet real, but existing on a plane,

There is e'er the chance you will not arrive,
Things out of your control,
Fear of alighting where you want to be,
To then answer your soul.

"So, where to now?
You're who you wished to be,
Now that you are no longer traveling,
Do you think you can comfortably breathe?"

Hidden Figures

I sometimes cry at films,
Get caught in spectacle,
Usually the surmounting of odds,
Threat’ning what’s respect’ble,

The allowance of one to live freely,
Why is that my trigger?
Born maybe in the most lib’ral of states,
Plus I am white, also male, go figure,

There is no battle I am forced to fight,
Near the truly oppressed,
Nor would my fights ever lead to bloodshed,
If I e’er chose to press,

Which I have not,
Because, well, I don’t know,
My heart bleeds for those who have overcome,
Surely for it’s a courage I wish show.

The Drop Off

Not sure if this is sketch,
Standing outside this store,
Waiting for someone I have never met,
It is new age rapport,

The last stanza will tell if this was wise,
Digital rendez-vous,
But the sun is out and people around,
There isn't much this guy could really do,

The only real risk is the merchandise,
Will it do what it should,
Am I buying something that is stolen,
From someone who's not good,

Well there you go,
He was such a nice guy!
Though I shouldn't have asked him out for beers,
That is out of the scope of online buys.

Too Much to Do

Will I shower today?
That is a great question,
It's not the default in my daily life,
Has your respect lessened?

For there was a time when bathing was rare,
Yes, and so was long life,
But it's qual'ty not quantity we seek,
Like a metal on the edge of a knife,

Or like paradise by the dashboard light,
Soap will affect your taste,
You will lose the oils that give you your smell,
The time will make you haste,

Yet still you judge,
Bathing's ushered in health,
At what price have we bought this steril'ty?
Hasn't it washed away our sense of self?

Snoozing

Hard to get out of bed,
Though body's not in pain,
Sleep hours were in line with what one should get,
The day's prospect's the same,

But there is something about seclusion,
Like walls are protecting,
You from the inevitable outside,
Still, you're trying to dislodge from time's wing,

To institute a minor hiatus,
A regroup for your brain,
Mixed in with your schedule anxiety,
Making your problem plain,

You are human,
You have human problems,
The universal ones of survival,
Mixed with injustice, thoughts and emotions.

The Gap After The Down Breath

Didn't know where you were,
But hoped that you were near,
It is strange, but if I thought you were gone,
I'd have no strength 'gainst fear,

I know that's what you lived with all your life,
You wrote enough 'bout that,
But would you have changed your life 'nother,
Or spend any time of life looking back?

Well, you would and you did 'cause you told me,
I read your diary,
Both personal and a guide to living,
If that you act'lly be,

I'll never know,
Nor do you want me to,
True joy rests in finding your pers'nal path,
Maybe it's enough I fin'lly found you.

What You Are

It is day three of four,
The rain's supposed to fall,
It will be a sign for some of cleansing,
For the guilt in her soul,

She will walk into the past to the times,
She has cringed to think of,
Take herself by the hand, pointing forward,
To see the future self that she will love,

That the moment from which they now view her,
A step along the path,
Was maybe not necessary, but was,
Is what the future hath.

It cannot change,
But would you if you could,
Risk changing the person that you are now?
Then you've bigger problems than all your shoulds.

Accept You

Look at your future self,
Walking along ahead,
You may not catch up to him, but you can,
Follow in his footsteps,

Just make sure he's someone you want to be,
The future's not one path,
But if you are, summon him back to you,
For, my friend, there are questions you must ask,

Or rather, an assessment you must make,
How does he make you feel?
It is time that you confess to yourself,
That who you are is real,

You're no one else,
There is no way to be,
Like molecules of water seem the same,
There is only one of each in the sea.

Mind Palace

The warehouse was massive,
Curiosities stacked,
Why I thought to go was a good notion,
Is still an unknown fact,

Surrounded by an angry, confused mob,
I soon feared for my life,
Until it was clear they'd no direction,
I picked out one to represent my strife,

We agreed we should all sit down to talk,
Soon their tumult was clear,
They refocused themselves to reorganize,
I helped myself to beer,

It was a mind,
If the metaphor's lost,
Whether it was mine or someone else's,
Is a thought that shows that the meaning was lost.

Correspondence

It's not the quantity,
Of the minutes you spend,
How many have you wasted just thinking,
'bout what's going to happen,

A future that's truly unknowable?
C'mon, you know what I mean,
Trying hard thinking you know what you want,
Leaving ev'rything around you unseen,

Looking back to understand the present,
The two do not relate,
'cept so far as the former defines you,
Orchestrating your fate,

You never know,
Mostly, it is just you,
You choose what it is that you focus on,
Which defines where it is you're heading to.