What If

Start your life today,
As if it ne’er began,
Enter your body like it’s been given,
T‘accomplish what you can,

Would you keep any of the bad baggage,
Keeping you back right now?
Would you feel you’ve lots of time to plan out,
What you want and then to figure out how?

Maybe you would look around and inside,
Then sit down and give up,
For what you have built for yourself so far,
Looks like an empty cup.

Or would you run,
To someplace wholly new,
Treat the past as lost and nonexistent,
Then see what it is you can act’lly do.

Could Happen

If you had the freedom,
To do what you’d like to,
Time, cash and no responsibilities,
To nobody but you,

An example of what humans could be,
Once robots do it all,
The scarc’ty of resources figured out,
Failure unheard of ‘less you want to fall,

No discrimination of any group,
Plenty to go around,
Luxury a concept none comprehend,
Greed just cannot he found,

It’s not innate,
‘tleast that’s what will be learned,
Impossible to imagine today,
But in a gen’ration may be discerned.

No away Out

What’s really the problem?
Others are e’er worse off,
Simply because we all have diff’rent wants,
Plus enough’s not enough,

Oh, and some people have it really bad,
Like poverty and pain,
While if you are middle class in the west,
You have more than most and a lot to gain,

At least that’s what they want you to believe,
So you ignore the fact,
Your life’s less than ideal while you promote,
What leads to th’other’s lack,

Just your living,
The way they want you to,
If not you’re either put in jail for it,
Or made rich for there e’er needs be a few.

Your Safe Place

Watching the wind blow by,
Without feeling its touch,
Is as tort’rous for me as still windmills,
In gales are for the Dutch,

Were I a deciduous tree on the plains,
Or sailor on the sea,
Enveloped in its cleansing soft caress,
I could be happy for eternity,

It’s something I know without pondering,
‘T’sgood to know one’s safe place,
Let’s make a room for each one of us,
That we can call home base,

To escape to.
What would it be for you?
You must first know what makes you feel secure,
Which is knowledge granted to very few.

The River

Some rivers you can't cross,
No matter how shallow,
Even with a bridge built of strong timber,
You must never e'er go,

For what awaits beyond the entreaties,
Are devious intents,
Woven to ensnare and imprison you,
Then when you look back, you will find a fence,

You will have lost all that you left behind,
With nothing gained ahead,
All you grew will wilt away and decay,
For not having been fed,

For carelessness,
Like so often before,
Your mistakes should not define what you are,
But you should certainly make them no more.

Love Dad

Your head is slightly turned,
Your curved fingers relaxed,
Your brother's silent ten feet to the south,
These are the simple facts,

Just like the joy you get from bugging him,
Memories of my youth :)
It's hard to imagine watching you sleep,
How beautif'lly wild you are when let loose,

Married to the seriousness of him,
You're like the yin and yang,
Sometimes exchanging roles like ping pong balls,
Which you both like to play,

Such blessed kids,
No less a blessed father,
Despite the challenges ev'ry life has,
We will e'er share a bond like no other.

Silly Silly

You know you’re contented,
When you’ve nothing to say,
When you rack your brain for some expression,
To relive inner pain,

When you look around you and want no more,
Than only what you see,
When hopes and dreams that were so dominant,
Are harder to recall than your first pee,

When the silliest ideas seem right,
No matter how silly,
When repetition is a natural,
Expression of your glee,

When you’ve no fears,
Of what is yet to come,
Because you know things will always be good,
When you’re doing nothing while having fun.

Before

How much can you forget,
Before you feel okay,
Before you’re ev’ry move’s not determined,
By what you’ve had to pay,

Before your daily life is affected,
Before people worry?
Before, you used to be so buttoned up,
No one could penetrate your auster’ty,

Before the fresh trama upon your life,
Before which you’re in awe,
Be forewarned, you’ll not enjoy this next truth,
Which you already saw,

Before today,
Before we even met,
Before you can get on with your own life,
You must first truly forgive and forget.

No Win

Are you out there thinking,
About what I’m doing,
With all the knowledge I have collected,
While you’re continuing,

Maintaining rule over a dead domain;
Made stale by possession?
If you love something you must let it free,
So you can witness its evolution,

If it comes back to you, you are lucky,
But still do not own it,
If it moves on, it hasn’t quite left you,
But it hurts you, don’t it?

’cause you’re selfish,
Plus unhappy, to boot,
You tried to hold on to what wasn’t yours,
Now you’re surprised that you’re being rebuked.

Which Way

Each day when you wake up,
You have a choice to make,
Do you struggle with what's given to you,
Or do you choose to take,

Collect what's at hand to combine for more?
Devices that did not exist before,
Bad for Mother Nature,
If you believe she has a goal at core,

Or care's a wit about where we end up,
It's crucial for your day,
You don't want to make choices not knowing,
But then again, you may.

Who's to say?
None of this has made sense,
'specially if your god has given you rules,
That demand that this poem makes you tense.

The Waves

E'vry wave is special,
Like snowflakes and babies,
Lie the first, they can be soft and gentle,
Th'other, like they've rabies,

Or like the first landing on th'other's tongue,
It always makes you smile,
But leave the latter in a pile of the first,
You'll maybe find yourself on the Green Mile,

Or, say, name the second after the first,
Then throw it to the wolves,
Children can be as cruel as the water,
Or trampling horse's hooves,

Gently rhythmic,
Nature's soothing heartbeat,
Oh waves, may one of you wash me away,
I'm getting delirious from this heat.

Speechless

This can't be happening,
I have nothing to say,
No thoughts of prescription of description,
Or any shun, today!

No musing about life's obviousness,
Packaged as a hidden,
To justify a vague proclamation,
Born of some self-absorbed contemplation,

The end of which congratulate myself,
That is not a bad deal,
Because if you don't elevate yourself,
Just who do you think will?

You bet not me,
'specially with these lines,
It's hard enough between work and fam'ly,
For me to find some kind of semblance of fine.

Nothing In Your Way

When there are distractions,
From what you want to do,
You've not recognized the diff'rent layers,
Available to you,

If you were placed upon this Earth right now,
With no experience,
The overwhelming influx of senses,
Would leave you in a state of impotence,

But you, right now, are blocking out so much,
Try letting it all in,
Stop counting them when you reach five thousand,
Which is the distraction?

Do you e'en know?
You have so much control,
Yet let the smallest matter derail you,
As if your brain is a wide open hole.

This New Hammock

I've got a new hammock,
My last one tore apart,
I wasn't even there to see it die,
Though felt it in my heart,

It was cloth suspended by two batons,
When dry, it cradled me like a baby,
Fifteen years together,
I've been thinking a lot 'bout it lately,

Times of loneliness surrounded by hate,
The sough through trees o'erhead,
Waiting for the kids to be done with it,
Back when I was still wed,

Well, times have changed,
As they e'er promise to,
This nylon sling will hold happyer mem'ries,
It's ne'er too late to make life something new.

Who You Know

Seven point six billion,
The Earth’s population,
Chances are you know six hundred of them,
According to Tian Zheng,

Assuming you live in North Amer’ca,
‘bout six hundred million,
That’s point zero zero zero zero,
Zero per cent of folks you’ve hit upon,

Of which maybe five are close friends of yours,
Point zero zero eight,
A small sampling based on geography,
Income, beliefs and race,

Plus what you do,
Minus what’s in your heart,
Is it a miracle that we find love,
Or are we connected right from the start?

The Wind

First, it opened my mind,
Pressing against my skin,
Closing the gap between me and nature,
As if it had ne’er been,

Then it pushed right through my physical self,
Showed me my fears and hopes,
How the first kept me clear of the last,
Then it untangled the intricate ropes,

It carried me in a cradle of air,
The fear enveloped me,
I wanted so much to succumb once more,
To find security,

But I refrained,
Still, hope I have not found,
Until the wind puts me back on my feet,
A vague sense of purpose will be my ground.

No Other Way

We are the champeeons,
There’s no time for losing,
We win by strong-arming the things we want,
Yelling and accusing,

Our point is made when you come to us,
There is just no half way,
Relinquish all of the things that you want,
Even after we win, we will not play,

For how you gain is also how you live,
The two are the same thing,
Don’t wait for the fun, it will never come,
If you’re always fighting.

Then ‘gain, who knows,
You may be born of hate,
In which case, how could life be different?
Your attitude is conditioned by fate.

Not Now

How kind's the universe?
That's what Albert asked us,
If we relinquish ourselves to its fate,
What havoc would that cause?

There is too much spinning around my brain,
To answer this questions,
I fear tears would be my only response,
Perhaps I am short a couple sessions,

Or just remind myself of my own powers,
To own my decisions,
Not in light of those I've already made,
But the future vision.

It is all bunk,
In the end there's just now,
If it feels like the universe hates you,
Then you have just answered the question, 'how?'.

Getting There

Life does not stop moving,
It’s relentless as time,
Carrying some along as if a ride,
Leaving others behind,

Disconnecting many, despite their tears,
No one is owed a thing,
It don't respect hard work or condemn slack,
Despite what you have heard many preaching,

There are all kinds that provide proof for this,
They're just hidden away,
But it takes all kinds to make up the world,
Whether blessed or in pain.

So how to live?
One moment at a time,
With an awareness of what came before,
Knowing what you will want to leave behind.

That Noise

A noise like no other,
Not the mew of a cat,
The sough of the wind rustling through the trees,
The scurry of a rat,

Gushing water pushed white over the rocks,
Owls hooting in the day,
Air full of rain, the water in your ears,
Mingled with the words you could never say,

The silence of the moment the world sleeps,
All these sounds reverb’rate,
But the rumble of a fridge compressor,
Proclaims our final fate,

At once jarring,
Consuming energy,
Pumping to protect your food’s envir’ment,
Against the forces born naturally.

Given The Choice

Just to be an echo,
Of the softest whisper,
Blowing through the leaves of the tallest trees,
Past the widest desert,

Barely captured by the deadest of ears,
Upon a windswept plain,
Amidst the screams of a million people,
Hammering beside a moving freight train,

In a thunderstorm of epic expanse,
In unfamiliar words,
Speaking a truth denied for centuries,
Even when it was heard.

That’s what I want,
If given the option,
Of being lauded for the sweetest voice,
Fueled by the fear of persecution.

The Classics

Take a group of people,
Ere they are of one mind,
Ere edifices are built around them,
Th'universal defined,

Faced directly with the dichotomy,
Of the inside and out,
Knowing their own universality,
Straining 'gainst what the physical's about,

No erected god to take care of them,
To focus on themselves,
Using that backdrop as the solution,
To not having to delve,

Deeper than them,
Instead be romantic,
Build you a palace to keep you in place,
To keep you from knowing you're fantastic.

It’s Time

You can’t change the future,
It is what it will be,
The past can be a millyon diff’rent things,
If you just wait and see,

There’s not much to say about the moment,
Oops, it just passed you by,
Was it everything you imagined?
You can always give it another try.

Where does that leave all this contemplation?
Perhaps you’re out of time,
Best focus on fixing what you’ve ere broke,
Unless ev’rything’s fine.

I’ll tell you what,
Sit on it for a bit,
There’s no guarantee when you’ll leave this world,
So you best be sure you understand it.

Fishing for Fate

You must put your lines out,
As many as you can,
Finding the right time and place for who you are,
Is just a game of chance,

Some folk are born with horseshoes up their ass,
All they need do is breathe,
Others spend life doing nothing but try,
Never knowing what it’s like to be free,

If you’re somewhere in the middle of both,
Nothing easy or hard,
You must cherish the nibbles that you get,
Not bewail the bad cards,

And ne’er give up,
That’s what it means to die,
As long as you’re alive, you still have hope,
Live dogs are better off than dead lions.

Being Fished

It is a waiting game,
A game of chance for them,
Makes you wonder what bait you’ve avoided,
Aimed at pulling you in,

There are only two ends when you are caught,
That’s injury or death,
You may be seen for possessing a soul,
A worthless trade for what has been bequeathed,

You’re judged by the meat you can surrender,
If you are worth the time,
Puts wishing for death in a whole new light,
The apex of confined,

Of defined, too,
But naming comes after,
If you can’t avoid living in duress,
‘tleast you should learn the name of your captor.

The Next Step

There's a very fine line,
For ev'rything you do,
Will you give yourself uncondition'lly,
Or think only of you,

Fear the unknown until you are inert,
Or live without a thought,
Make yourself invisible to the grid,
Or have no idea what you just bought,

Reject ev'rything as unnatural,
Or live in the future,
Make each step like there could be no other,
Or be always unsure?

Here is the trick,
Not that you really asked,
Each moment demands, 'do you know or not?'
Answer, 'not until this moment has passed.'

Follow the Light

Do you see the light now?
It has never been hid,
Just close your eyes and turn your head until,
You see it through eyelids,

You'll never reach it, but the path it lights,
'sperfect in ev'ry way,
Though unless you keep your eye on the flame,
There are long stretches of pain and dismay,

It's the glow that paints the world with purpose,
Not god, more myster'ous,
Fueled by faith and tested by your death,
Without it, you are lost,

With it as well,
There is no map to see,
Just the hand of whatever gave you birth,
You must blindly follow religiously.