Category Archives: POETRY

WAKING NIGHTMARES

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I rise again from a tousled bed

into the darkest night.

No lights are yet lit in my neighbors’ homes.

Yet, I do not feel entirely alone.

Ghosts of those who fought earlier wars

lie beside me, and make their cares my own.

Their warnings bubble to the surface

as the tea kettle heats, whistles and warns.

The silence of the night blasts so loud

I believe I hear bombs, missiles and drones

falling onto rooftops, and yards, and neighbors;

in every American neighborhood, and my own.

In this neighborhood, where there is so little fear,

where we have never the devastation of war known.

The detestation of war, too often, is mine alone.

Those who have never gone to war

make war too easily,

Talk about death and destruction

relaxed and breezily.

They send others to march, to fight, to die;

after picking the pockets of the working class

and poor, they select our children to go to war.

Selective service is still in force, but not enforced

lest children of the wealthy have to declare

bone spurs, bad knees, or thinning hair.

Another example of the war made against our own

picking our pockets of hard-earned cash

to wage wars from febrile minds heatedly grown,

while treating our young men and women like trash.

While war protects the the few, their assets and reputations,

it forcefully destroys our chaotically-controlled nation.

The silent night screams out 

to waken me with blasts and shouts,

“Make war no more!”

“Make war no more!”

We have no excuses.

Not any more.

Are you awake yet?

White House released photo. Note the makeshift, unsecured skiff, making war from Mar a Lago, taking time away from a gala fundraiser.

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MORE ON WAR

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My father fought the War

to End all Wars.

My Godfather fought the War

that has no end.

My brother fought the War

that was a police action.

My nephew fought the War

undeclared for Kuwait’s liberation

and Hussein’s annihilation.

My great-nephew fights the War

To save an autocrat’s administration.

We all fight the War

opposing cruel opposition to immigration.

Once more, people of peace

protest a war taking place abroad

and its counterpart taking place in our streets.

All to save a man from accusation

of pedophilia, rape and sheer brutality 

who will be asked for an explanation

during his interrogation

which could lead to his incarceration.

Have I got that right?

It is not his sons nor daughter who will fight.

But, yours and mine.

Have I got that right?

It all comes from The Right

so I must be Right

or face the consequences.

Have I got that right?

We make such war at our cost

until all is lost.

Have I got that right?

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Place your shoes under the bed.

Where you go in your dreams

Is best walked barefoot.

Feel the surface you trod,hard or soft,

Rough or smooth,

Hot or cold.

Learn the truth, grounded and sure

So lies cannot find you unaware,

Unready, unable to discern

The truth you need to know

To find your way on ground that is real

And leads to the place you need to go.

A place you neither want nor expect

But need to be. The temple of honesty.

Barefoot. Grounded. Free.

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DIABETIC LESSONS

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Each morning I draw blood

pressing a needle beneath my skin.

It no longer hurts nerves 

deadened by repetition.

I watch blood drawn in the streets,

the blood of others

I shall never meet.

I have learned to bear my own pain.

The pain of others is a heavier rain

upon a parched soul

in need of hope.

My greatest fear is that one day,

as in all things,

that greater pain will fade away.

I will become numb to others’ pain.

That is the day I shall be dead

even as my heart still beats

and I still bleed.

Blood will flow in streets I no longer see.

But, I shall no longer feel a thing.

Government has become 

too sickeningly sweet.

The only cure is to stop feeding off

brutality, lies and corruption,

hoping for gain that is never enough.

A nation feeding off its own

cannot survive.

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SOCIAL MEDIA HAIKU

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Hate lassoed his cords

around the necks of children,

strangulating all.

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BACKED UP SEWER

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No longer can we ignore life

which imitates art 

while art imitates life.

Each part imitates the whole

while the whole

is the sum of its parts.

When the parts break

the whole breaks apart.

The dark drain bears the burden

of  too many broken peaces

and pushes back against gravity;

releases the depravity

and frees the broken whole.

Cleaning crews appear to

remove the waste, fraud and abuse

of leadership run amok among the muck;

Now, so clearly broken, and out of luck.

Hot air blows around every media space

to dry the tears of such disgrace.

Sanitize all you will.

Pack the dirty remnants into opaque bags,

redacted files hidden under seal,

and hide the crimes away.

The sewer can only handle so much

of the dirty secrets we are afraid to touch.

Truth always come to light

when the drain is filled too tight.

Ignoring the dirt contaminates us all,

as we watch the walls of a nation fall.

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IT IS JUST TOO MUCH

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How much is too much?

Resilience and self-reliance

are cherished and elevated

with religious fervor in defiance

of what we humans know to be true.

You must rely on me; and I, on you.

We now discover on a daily basis

how out of touch we all are

as we see the suffering faces.

Out of touch with self.

Out of touch with one another.

Afraid to ask for help for ourselves;

we avoid those in need of our help, too.

Admitting any weakness

would never do.

We prefer to believe we are the better

for never needing one another;

unlike the homeless, impoverished

we wish were not our sister nor brother.

How much is too much in this day and age?

Not enough.

Not enough.

Never enough.

Time to engage.

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OLYMPIANS IN FLIGHT

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The skiers stride and slide,

sometimes 80 feet high

they fly.

Skaters swirl and twirl,

sometimes 15 feet high

they fly.

Then, down to earth they come

welcomed by cheers and cries,

among us once again.

And while they flew

we soared, too.

Able to breathe once more.

Let us see what they scored.

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THE FALL

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The snow is falling 

again.

She feels like an old

friend.

I fall with her at my

ease.

With one request, if you

please.

I beg her to break  my

fall,

and allow grace to cover the sins of

all.

Sun strikingly yearns to rise and 

heat

the frozen earth beneath my

feet.

My fall, I fear is not easy nor

soft.

Minds cooling their anger keep hope

aloft.

But, I am sinking beneath the 

weight

of my own government filled with such

hate.

Will we ever see another summer  of

love?

If cold snow keeps falling from

above?

One thing I truly

know.

No one can make me hate the

snow.

My heart melts as the snow soon

will.

I hold fast to love for all,

still.

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CHORUS

The blinds have been opened. But, I sit in the dark.

Another morning at the table, set for one.

Alone in thoughtful reverie, with nowhere to run.

Heaving from grief and sorrow, viewed on every screen.

We are all aging fast before the onslaught

of armed men, masked and acting obscene.

This is not some video game we are playing,

detached and watching, divorced from reality.

When did Americans stop believing 

what their own eyes could clearly see?

It did not just happen. It is not new.

It happened many years ago.

Americans took flight in fright

from the reality unfolding before their eyes.

How we came to this fraught moment

is actually, not a great surprise.

People of color best know the story.

Wages stagnated and prices rose.

Profits soared for those “in the know”.

Americans ignored responsibility

and entertained themselves endlessly.

While women and girls became commodities;

and discounted people, un-housed and un-fed

roamed the streets living in dread.

Soldiers returning home from un-named wars 

and too many tours, stopped being cared for.

Now fake soldiers, cowardly cruel, take their cue

from technocrats and bureaucrats

seeking wealth and power.

There is no man of the hour calling the shots.

This is not what all this evil is about.

We did not get here led by a single man;

nor by a single party, nor political  stance.

We got here as the great pirates planned,

as we entertained ourselves with games of chance.

We could have noticed where we were headed

with a single, wake-full, glance.

But we were led on a merry dance.

And the dance no longer matters, as we die

at the feet of civil disorder.

We rise up and listen to new voices.

We now have limited choices.

But, still we can open our eyes

and seize the prize, once earned

by those who  have gone before us.

Lift voices of hope and power

into a freedom-seekers’ chorus.

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