A Blip While I Struggle

It feels like a million,
Well, it may as well be,
Skip one moment of being who you are,
It's an eternity,

You have to relearn from the beginning,
To reach that crucial flow,
That pushes through what we are told to be,
To the truth everybody should know,

That the only law that you should follow,
Is what comes from the heart,
To encourage the same in ev'ryone,
Even when it might smart,

Else it don't count,
Selfishness is easy,
Sure, live, but have you tried letting live, too?
You learn who you are pretty damn quickly.

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.