“Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices.” – Voltaire
Tag Archives: fear
HOLY SATURDAY
Time hangs suspended in the tomb,
rolled back behind a solid stone
chasing thoughts away
of what occurred yesterday.
Shrouded in a mystery
foretold by history
evil reaches across the space
where fearing loss of power
the great losers rage by the hour.
We helped create our own purgatory,
where all we do is worry
rather than embrace the true reality
we not so suddenly face.
We must roll away the stone
and bring truth home;
look at what we have done
and what we have failed to do.
The stillness of this day must renew
a strength we once embraced with pride.
Now we cower and we hide.
Are we so fearful and so weak
we dare not take a peak
into our shaking souls to see
the selves we have come to be?
Only we. Only we. Only we
becomes our litany.
Only we can stop the hate
that acts upon the institutions
we must rely upon
to uphold law and seek justice
to protect all of us
and this country we proclaim to be
the seat of freedom and democracy.
We must open up our eyes
and roll away the lies
that block this holy space
where salvation will arise.
Vote away the hate.
it is not too late.
SNOW FALL
The world is falling apart, its people deranged.
War and famine join as climates change.
People are on the move to escape the pain.
Water cleanses in blasts and depths unseen.
We wade through facts, the truth unseen.
Snow starts in the upper atmosphere.
Warm air below alters snow
unless we remain cool
where heated skies collide
and moisture tears up in our eyes.
Watching the snowfall gives us hope.
It blankets ugliness’ scope falling on all of us with equal glaze.
Snow reminds us of our better selves and better days.
Spring warmth is gentle like our souls.
It melts the snow so flowers may grow
within the gardens of our hearts.
We are in the midst of a great change.
Unsettled as Spring weather
we must remember we go through this change together.
And those of us who garden will share the bounty of what we sow
with all who are willing to enter
our gates, their needs in tow.
The old world is dying with every angry breath.
Snow in Spring reminds us there is new life after death.
Filed under POETRY
Campaign Music
No single note is discordant.
No single vote voiced is wrong.
How the songwriter
puts the notes together
determines the song.
Our brains fine-tune our ears
to listen for the meaning
of words carried on the notes.
Some songs lift our spirits
to reach a higher cause.
Some songs depress our spirits
and make our hearts pause
with the fear of the other
we hated all along.
Some songs get us on our feet
to dance together, smile and sing.
Some songs hold us in our seats
ready to shout out in defeat.
The songs which truly make us strong
Are those we can rely upon
to offer hope, and love, and peace.
How the notes are brought together means everything.
The music that is America
is hard to sing if notes
are not treasured,
So many notes over so many years
from so many places refugees fled in fear
of famine, crime and even war.
We have sung the song of safety and of freedom,
welcoming all to our shore.
Songs that open minds and hearts
are the best place to start
a journey to a better future;
unlike the songs meant to keep us apart.
So many discordant notes
strung together create chaos,
not a strong and lovely song.
Filed under POETRY
THE NARCISSIST
IN LOVE
what goes around
comes around
in never-ending
ripples of affection
and deep attention
one to the other.
Love is communion,
the gasping union
of recognizing self
in one another.
Love is only love
when it is both
given and accepted.
Love that goes one way
is not love at all;
but manipulation
and destruction
of any chance for union.
Love that goes one way
inevitably rings false,
a masterful deception
which destroys communion.
Narcissism gives nothing,
but takes all it can get
and more, of those who
cannot accept love
in all its forms and favor.
Accepting love is too hard
for those who are its stranger.
Accepting love warns them
of the past disappointments
when their hearts were in danger.
The narcissist breeds more fear,
and warns them to resist
the call for love both given and received.
In this way, he deceives.
He alone is worthy of love and safe,
so in his arms they place
every dream of being loved.
Love must go both ways.
Always.
One-way love is not love at all.
It only brings destruction and our fall.
Alone, and unloved, we remain after all.
Filed under POETRY
NOT JUST A DREAM
Dream bigger.
Seek more.
There are no limits
beyond the door.
Stand at the fence.
Find your spot.
Peek through the holes.
Let your interest be caught
by what you enjoy,
by what you have not.
It is all yours
wherever you look.
It is yours to explore.
One foot, then another.
Keep on going
until you discover
something you never
imagined before.
Let dreams guide your way.
Let them tow you along
to places of light and music
where you sing along.
Then dance through the night
and on into the light
emboldened and strong.
What a beautiful sight !
Filed under POETRY
TITAN
How far up and how far down
do we measure courage so profound
that lives are turned upside-down?
Perhaps we are meant stay on the surface
held by the gravity.
Shallow lives can ease our way
but they do not deepen understanding,
if lived day-by-day being afraid
to take deep dives to understanding
all the forces at play.
Were we made to stay in the light
and never explore the darker side?
Even plants begin as seeds
buried in darkness as if asleep.
Mysteries are stored and buried deep.
Must every mystery be solved
and every risk taken
that we may never be mistaken?
Those who brave such deep thoughts
or climb steep cliffs to greater heights
give the rest of us time to discover our fright
of what and who are unknown,
questioning the safety of such insanity,
questioning our own inane humanity.
Why do we go where none have gone before?
Why do we wonder “what for ?”
Like seeds we reach higher as we aspire
to see the light and know much more
as we deepen the roots to explore
all that has been and could be still
in unsafe places where we could be killed.
It is the very core of our folklore
that we were meant to challenge and explore.
And still, I mourn.
And still, I mourn.
Filed under POETRY
COURAGE!
Too many today feel disaffection
expecting a loving connection
where none is possible.
Independence is overrated
in a culture soaked in sex
and self-gratification.
What bonds can be created
when self-focus reigns supreme
and dodges vulnerability
at every opportunity.
What love can grow in such infertility?
Have we lost the basic ability
to fall in love, to wrap in feeling
the deepest needs we fear to speak?
Courage! Courage! Take the risk to try
to open your heart, deep and wide.
Yes, love may fail. It almost certainly will.
But taking love’s ride is such a thrill.
Grab that hand. Touch that cheek.
Allow your deepest longings to speak.
Perhaps this one will
be the one who listens
with a heart ready to be filled
with you.
Filed under POETRY
BREAKING NEWS
Consistency, complacency
share a history
we underestimate
to keep the peace.
There is no “breaking news”
for such as these.
Chaos theory is more sexy,
a more golden fleece.
“Breaking news” breaks us, too.
It is meant to raise the hackles
and disclose the jackals
on the prowl again.
It breaks the calm.
It destroys the peace.
It steals the breath
until fear is all that is left.
We yearn for consistency
to shape our days,
and for complacency
to calm our nights.
We remember and remake history
of calmer, safer days
when heartbeats steadied.
“Breaking news” keeps us ready
for the next assault
and coils of thought and fault
to drag us down below the sea
where our heart rate pounds ceaselessly.
How can we survive this way,
when every single moment
of every single day
we await in repetitive agony
for ‘breaking news”.
“Breaking news”breaks us, too.
It breaks cities, states and whole countries.
Its persistence destroys real news, too.
Now, we need “talking heads” to explain
news reported, so inane,
we doubt its authenticity.
Smiling faces fill in gaps between the breaks
with stories of good Samaritans
then swing back quickly at the sound
of news breaking and shaking the ground
upon which we stand and hold hands.
Hands now trembling so hard they fall apart,
unable to hold together the bonds we have built,
to overcome guilt and build something new.
“Breaking news” breaks progress, too.
Perhaps, that is the point.
The point of no return to better ways and better days
when people felt free of fear
and were learning to hold one another dear.
Filed under POETRY
DUCK DUCK GOOSE
“What a goose I am!”
said a thousand times a day,
unlike ducks who stay
put.
While geese expand their range
from pond to pond
the ducks remain tucked away
in the same pond
all day long.
Ducks duck and cover
and seldom fly away.
A few strokes of the wings,
a few inches lifted above the fray,
A few feet they stray
until the threat fades.
The geese have no fear of flight.
They simply find
another pond on which to alight.
They are not bound by precedence.
They do not fear imprudence.
They have a key to ease such moves,
shared leadership and honking blares
to make the group totally aware
of dangers coming their way.
The ducks listen, too, yet stay.
While geese blithely find a better place.
Filed under POETRY
annarino writes 