a level of separation

sometimes there's a weight
on your back
and it becomes hard to stand.

so much pressure weighing down,
pushing, maintaining a void
inside yourself
that you're afraid to fall, and
you're afraid to get back up
if you should stumble.

but the weight builds.
it's always there.
it comes disguised as problems,
issues too hard to face,
places from childhood
that are dark, yet always lit up
in the back of your mind.
it comes from wondering about
the decisions you've made
along the way.
it comes from being a young
adult, a 30 something, a middle aged
something or other, elderly,
too old to know better.

it comes from all the things tossed
upon your shoulders that never really have
any true meaning, just labels thrown around
by those that believe they know the way.

racist, god fearing, right wing,
left wing, conspiracy theorist,
bigot, bold, beautiful, too fat, too thin,
marked for death, prodigy, loser,
lover, tamed, tried, sinful,
science, damaged ...

all the labels by those
who try to absorb
what they can not possibly understand
in any other way.

they give it a name,
make it stronger than it should be,
treat it like an infection,
tell you they have the cure.

they tell you that
certain lives matter to give the message
function, to cause separation,
hoping to make one issue clear
while driving all the other issues
out of focus.

they run on issues of hope and change.
they begin endless wars,
confident struggles
without end.

they make sweeping promises
to lower taxes,
increase education,
and take away the powers of the wealthy.

they'll tell you
there's a war over race,
but it is only perpetuated by those
that they allow into power.

because, you see,
if they can get you to believe
in an endless struggle,
they can keep you in the dark forever
while they build more bombs.
they can keep you at each others throats
indefinitely, and keep the factories
running to supply the soldiers
on both sides.

all they need to do is
maintain a level of separation,
and we will do the rest.

wars for heathens and whores

something bigger than us
don't make a fuss
over small things
just sing away
the creatures
of ink black midnight
and tap your foot
to the beat

bought flowers
every hour we were together
and we like to pretend in forever
in any kind of weather
where the rain is for never

laugh out at the
pouring pain
again and again
until we win
some sort of prize
for the lies
of tongues dyed with
seeping vengeance

hold me closer
count the stars
call me lover
touch the scars

and somewhere deep
we're one and the same
playing some viscous game
from within a somber sleep

hold your head up
past the knots in your throat
however remote
until our hearts erupt

and there's something in the distance
from another time
call it penance
or reasons for rhyme
but i want to take you there

as the last laugh was had
and we felt the piercing stab
of the creatures of reason
who judged us heathens
in the misty morning rain
we gave our all
and we were never tamed

hold me closer
count the stars
call me lover
touch the scars

maybe one day we'll look back
and laugh away the war
but that almost never happens
for heathens and whores

served as pleasure

we all carry violence-
it is in our hearts,
this willing need to blow off steam
and rejoice in our own normalcy,
driving away anything that is different
from us.

we make murder like
the sun makes shine,
and we wallow in the stink of
anger like the gods
we hold divine.

not two of us are totally alike,
we plant the seed of hate
and water it with a river
that has burst its seams
and the devil may cry at our
mistaken bludgeoning
of the suffering of our brothers.

but we hold true
and dash the deeds
that make us the animals
we fear,
and we tear apart anything
outside the spectrum
of our particular beliefs
to cause grief
for those who may
restrain us.

it comes slick
in our minds to harm,
to hurt, to maim, to break
until nothing is left
of that which we fear
and we shed a tear for those who fall
by our hands
in foreign lands
for the sins of leaders
bent on weeding out the weak.

of all our made up gods,
vengeance is the voice
of the Lord, Amen.

anything outside of our
forced learning may succumb
to the righteous weapons
of the blessed.

but no one likes to look at
themselves.
no one wants to be the
victim.
no one wants to be the
single voice
shouting out into the night,
"This must end!"

what changes have you made?

Common Core

So much is left unexplained.
Science tiptoes through the
unknown only to wipe away
a small clearing on the mirror
that reflects our own images.
Under it all there is still only
insight, a tiny reflection where
we are staring into our own eyes.

We try to believe that those who
would do us harm only need to
see things from our perspective
to become right with the world.
As if we have all the answers
to the riddles that plague humanity.
Through us and our understanding,
all will be well again. No more
fussing and fighting, no more pain
and intolerance. No more undue
death in the name of some lesser
perspective.

But the problem remains: no one
has the answers for those that are
looking for a cause to back and
support with all their being.

It is simple. We are looking for a
purpose. Something that sets us apart
from the rest, something great that we
can  look back upon fondly. As if we
have made a difference with our lives.

So we get caught up in doctrine to unravel
the mysteries of the universe to give some
truth to the world in which we live. We
follow those philosophies to the ends of
the Earth without question, without faltering,
no matter the consequences. We try to
upend society to better fit the principles we
believe in even if those principles do not
fit the values of others.

And then we insight conflict if our principles
are not met. We will plow through anything
that gets in our way just to prove our point.

I have always believed that it is our education
that sets us apart from the rest, allows us to see
clearly through broken history how best to not
react to a particular situation. But when we have
religions and governments banning certain types
of learning, we begin to fail. We again lean
toward old doctrines that are allowed rather that
understandings that are true.

The one question I have asked myself when faced
with any trial is, 'Does this decision harm anyone
around me?' If it does, I move on to something else,
a better answer to the questions I face. If at any point
my decision disrupts the healthy freedoms of another,
I take another looks until my question is resolved.

One of the biggest problems we have in this life is
the lack of sympathy. No one seems to want to look
at life in any other format than their own. They simply
can not relate. It is that relation to one another that
keeps us whole.

(I could play my music loudly and get enjoyment for
myself, but how will that impact the people around me
that may not like the type of music I enjoy?)

(I could let my children out to scream around the
neighborhood, effectively giving me free, quiet time,
but how would that impact my neighbors?)

We are all on a path to personal realization,
and not everyone is at the same place. So
when we take another look at the people around
us, we have to look at their situations, and the
impact our decisions make on their lives.

Or we could just sit here spinning our tires,
hoping to somehow get a little traction.

One act of Reason, and We can All move away from Hate.

Any act committed in the name of a higher power

is done outside of the intended intention,

and does more harm than good.

Unless your thoughts are directed to the benefit

of all mankind, regulated to prevent further speculation

under the direction of a mute god, and with heart aimed

at the furthermost acceleration of the species,

you will doom us all with your own ignorance rather than

what you believe your particular deity demands.

It is with us that the world progresses. It is of us that our

brothers and sisters from all nations and creeds are able 

to become prosperous. It is through single acts of reason

that we are able to combine our efforts and enact true,

positive change that does not allow death in the streets,

hunger in our neighborhoods, pain in our schools, and

hate in our countries.

It is by not allowing for foolish prophecy, or broad 

speculation that we continue forward as a single people 

with good intent. We must move away from doctrine

and focus on the truths of the time. We must put away

our tomes unless it is tombs we wish to construct for

the future. 

Lay down your bibles and pick up the tools that we need

to build a better world. It is for your children and their

children and their children. It is for the creed of humanity

that we must act now.

Every individual moving forward for the momentum of all.

the hardest heartbreak around (4:44 AM)

there's that one song
              she sings
when everything seems
      so far away
         and today
       resembles a dream
             in the way
      she closes her eyes
         this time
it's forever
              ah

she shops around for
            heartstrings
             and brings
   the candles down from
           the cupboard
so hard
             and sometimes life
reminds her of
                         death
      but not always
                   not always forever
                 ah

so many people on the streets
               she meets
                                a few
     and maybe you're there too
             on the wind swept streets
         one of the ones she meets
         one of the songs she sings
                      hums to herself
                as the sun drips
                   across the sky
                        tonight
               it's forever
                                        ah

the next great war

the great Cock fight
begins-
one country shoots off
a missile
to show what
it can do.
another country
makes its move
and the outcome is
just as impressive.
big men in sealed rooms
making decisions
that kill thousands,
hundreds of thousands,
entire civilizations
just to impress another leader
with just as much firepower.
it starts as a game,
flexing the muscles,
and ends in an all out war.
and it is all at the cost
of innocent lives
that don't have a particular beef
with anyone from another nation.
there's a little boy somewhere
that has lost his father, his brother, his mom
to a war created by mighty men
with unrealistic expectations
of what their tiny Cocks can do.

conflict

the network hums
along lit screens,
compounding the problem
of illusory dreams.

a fascination of bigotry
and fear of the unknown-
a commonwealth of the paltry-
a trap through images shown.

the lies are built upon
tiny truths and fear-
all for an illusion
of needed security.

we are guided toward
our doom
like birds flying
into the sun
so bright and tempting,
the light traps us
in the flame of our
infinite desire.

we are snuffed out
through the anxious moments
waiting for our turn
in the streams of blood
that came before us.

we ready ourselves
for turbulent times,
as if expected to set
the world in motion,
one meandering mind at a time,
hoping for a quick end
before the pain begins.

it is a catastrophe
for the moment.
bloodshed of the day.
... and we expect it all
to come crashing down like
it has done since the dawn
of civilization.
we need the mayhem,
the disorder,
the final painful purge
to make the suffering
seem just.

and that is why we strive for
a bigger, better bomb
to blow us all away.

Hearts that Beat

We lead by heart,
through character,
despite pain.

We mend those hearts,
and deliver
through stained
memory.

It is not enough
to help those in need,
but we must also
guide.

We must show
the path through
screaming hearts
so when the tide recedes,
there is something left
of what we once were.

We must teach
broken hearts
to mend.

We must show
compassion,
and do away with
judgment.

We must be
the bandage
for the broken,
the cure
for the sick,
the laughter
behind
crying eyes.

For in strength
there is always
weakness.
And in weakness
there is always
strength.

some way we wander

there is a long road
          before you
and it doesn't care
   who treads upon it

it winds through the valleys
and mountains,
across rivers that play at the banks
and cross the sure path
before you

up hills and through meadows,
the trail thickens
                      before becoming
              sparse
and it does not mind
those who would trek it's surface

it will take you through
     the days and the nights,
in grace, in trying delight,
and still,
it does not mind those who may
make the journey

but it will not take
                  the first step
                     for you

it will show no caution
for those whose only trial
is to begin

but it will be there always
for those that take the first step