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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 - 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.

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.

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.