Street

Old or young they lay
Healthy or diseased
They have nothing
No home, no backyard
The streets are not home
The street is cold and hard


Those without homes sleep
On streets unswept, they go undreaming
Cold and hungry
No money or hope
The streets are unforgiving
But humans are more so


Concrete and asphalt
Tar and steel rods
The streets are unmoved
By pleas or prayers
To men or gods
They exist because they are


The dreams of a hungry child
If realized would not be large
Filled with hope and fulfillment
Covered in happiness
And joyful hearts
But the streets are unmoved

BELLEAU WOOD

In the Belleau Wood an angel sobs
Surrounded by trees and wildlife
She sits at a shrine
Remembering the lives
No longer here already gone
The legacies that faded
Around some point of anger
Broken trees and bodies tossed
Into the air
In a battle fought by tribes
Over land and emotions
Over anger without reason
At such a cost
The trees were shattered
Lives were scattered
In a war like others
In the end what matters
Nothing now,
To the bodies buried
Under trees and moss
But for the trees still standing
And the soldier families
They remember the lost

Account of the battle
The battlefield today

Yesterday I was Dead

My love, I am alive,
Because you cared for me
I was buried dead,
Read rites,
Planted and covered
You, reached within,
Offered up your heart to me
Gave me hope,
Gave me life, like no other
You make me reach the sun
So here am I, on my knees
Begging you to let me in
To your life, forever
Together
You don’t realize what you’ve done
Take my hand, take my heart
Together we will be
Alive to world
Alive to love
You redeemed this life
You offered me hope
And now I am found
Instead of lost
Let’s finish what we’ve begun
Together


“I love you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when I am with you.”
Roy Croft

I Was Lost

I served in the royal bodyguard
She was the daughter
Of the highest of high
The Shahenshah
She was so beautiful
I couldn’t bear being
Near her, without her
Holding her and devouring
Her kisses her lips
Melting my spirit
Embracing the love
That would occur
So I rode from the glory that was Persia
To distant lands



My steps took me to the India
Through the rivers where Alexander rode
His cavalry into enemy spears
Victoriously
Through these strange lands
Filled with people
Full of despair and hope
Heat and exotic things
In multitude of languages
I could never understand
Naked men praying
Wise men in robes
Singing and swaying
Though holy, they could not heal
My heart still burned
Though I never revealed its wounds



I served for a time
As a mercenary for various lords
And spent a tour in Bhutan
Where the dragons live
Mountainous lands
Beautiful and peaceful
Serene and hopeful
Truly blessed by the dragons
A blessed reign
I served defending the throne
Against bandits
From distant plains
But grew weary
For I still remembered
What I could not have



So for moment in my life
I took down my sword
Packed my armor
And pursued the Buddha
In Angkor Wat
Where the mysterious unravels
Inside the mind
And I sought to reject my flesh
Reject my living thoughts
Replace them with serenity
Free myself of this world
Of thoughts of her
But years passed slowly
The world still turned
And inside my heart
I still burned
For her



I took up the sword again
And left the lessons behind
And served a leader of Chung Kuo
We call it China,
They called it the Middle Kingdom
We watched as the rivers rose
And the people fought together
As nature took its toll
But they also sought freedom
And that was my hardest task
Enemies from the reaches
I can move against
But the people of the land?
The demands of the Emperor
I follow
But doubt sways my hand

I longed for more
Since my memories lingered
In the arms of a woman in Persia
Gloriously beautiful Persia
But in comparison to her eyes
A dark, ugly place of sorrow



I left Chung Kuo on a northern ride
And joined the horse warriors
Of the Khan
Small horses
Rode by squat warriors
Freely vulgar
Who lived in squalor
But possessed riches
They’d ridden the reach
From far Japan to Rome
And now their country
Was small, but they possessed
The ability to act
Quickly, swiftly they rode wild
Living by hunger, action and thirst
If any tribe were to lead
Theirs would have to be amongst the first



I’d aged 5 years in my journeys
And I learned about myself
About my hopes and fears
But there was too much left
Inside my heart
Even if I freed my mind

I took work as a crewman
On a trader ship
That had to stop in Japan
I can speak to its beauty
I can tell you it is unique
But for the most part
It was unfathomed
Impossibly insular
With warriors and peasants
Laws and peculiar views




When the ship left
We spent months
At the sea
But finally we returned
To the beauty of Persia
And I faced my sorrows and fears
The high one was still in power
And I offered my sword
In fealty
Whatever the cost
Still bowing
I heard a sweet voice
Welcoming me home
She said
Through tears
She thought I had been lost

The Legionnaire didn't celebrate Samhain

Every Autumn the Celts
Wild and superstitious to a one
Call the dead to the living world
In a ceremony and celebration
Called the Samhain
But our Legions have fought
For so long
We are not afraid
They build fires and walk between
Bonfires to call the dead
But we do the same
But burn their villages instead
The Icenii and others
Seek to rebel against our hand
But they cannot realize
How futile and foolish it is
This place is now
Caesar’s lands
They call out the dead
And dance and sing
But we will never leave
No matter what the fools
Believe

Pity the Boatman

There are those who dwell
In the darkness by caste
In the depths of sorrow
By decision
Some by choices in haste
Some by indecision
Some with lives forgone
And they end being forfeit
So have pity upon him
Have pity for Charon
Master of the boat
Across the rivers
Of Hell
Styx, Phlegethon,
Acheron, and Cocytus
For his work is endless
His work is unwelcome
Bringing souls from the living
Through the sleep of damned
To the fires of Hades
Where the souls
Can be tortured
Be burned eternally
Pity the poor Charon
The boatman’s job is toil
For which he is hated
We keep feeding the lands
Of eternal lakes of fire
The gates of Hell are firm
The fire-born lakes burn hot
None enter without Charon
But they must somehow
But the rivers are swift
And destroy without killing
Consume without hunger
For death is forbidden
And sleep is gone
All that exists is pain
Charon escorts the newly dead
To a place they will never leave
And only pray to die
Instead

Sorrow Tree

You cannot make me cry
Because there are no tears for you
(Any longer)
You didn’t leave me alone
I wasn’t left to die
You just went your way
and I lost my place
(in your life)
I’ve never been stronger
(Being with you, next to you)
Left to die alone again
I can stand and be myself, again
(Nothing then, nothing still)
Why worry, there is nothing to fear
(Loneliness, emptiness, isolation, tears)
I will sit in a tree
Climb to the highest tree branch
Sit there upon my perch
Look down on the world
Like it looked down on me
I took my chance
Gave it a whirl
And now am waiting to be
Taken up and away
Gone from this place
That wounded me
Sitting in this sorrow tree

Fætus Tunnel

Desperate
Relentless
Fetus reaching
Trying to enter
Attempting to follow
Driven and empty
Hollow shell dark
The tunnel goes
To nowhere
Vainly lit
Against the abyss
That pulls it forth
From the world
Of light
Falling through
A black vacuous place
To land upon
Some unsolid ground
And taste the earth
Beneath the feet
Of a child
Newborn to the world
As the vapors
Of eternity swirl
Wildly tempting
Wildly driving
All
Entering the tribe
As an unequal
Knowing one must
Kill or die
A man stands up
Ready to live
Dying of thirst
Ready to feed
Rather than reenter
The tunnel
From his mother
Earth
Or from within
His soul
Who gave him birth

Eternity's Garden

She dances there
And sings
As she prances upon the top
Of eternity’s gardens
Covered in glowing light
From the sun
A faerie with beautiful wings
They are gossamer
Woven of the cosmos
Her spirit is divinity
And no one who sees her
Could ever doubt her joy
The gardens are full
Of flowers reaching up
To meet the sun
With their face
A joyful taste
A sweet embrace
Eternity is glorious
And we can only dream
Of the chance
To dance
With the faeries there
When we sleep

NUMBED

This despair I have
Never relents
For when something is good
Something else
Replenishes
The pool of sorrow
Remains so deep and full
I linger
Where I can never escape
I’ve been offered means
But they are not good
They replace one pain
With another
Sometimes I wonder
If it woudn’t be easier
To just stop thinking
About everything

"Walter Freeman lifted the patient's eyelid and inserted an ice pick-like instrument called a leucotome through a tear duct. A few taps with a surgical hammer breached the bone. Freeman took a position behind the patient's head, pushed the leucotome about an inch and a half into the frontal lobe of the patient's brain, and moved the sharp tip back and forth. Then he repeated the process with the other eye socket."

“Analysis is like a lobotomy. Who wants to have all their edges shaved off?” David Byrne

They Stood

They stood
Waiting, polishing armor, and watching
They could hear the Persian Immortals marching
They could feel the earth shaking at the approach
The drums of the invaders could be heard
Thousands of men moving, past the pass remote
Thermopylae the Hot Gates of Heracles
The tribes of man collide
Standing at the pass
Barring forward progress
300 armored men
Naked flesh and bronze
Stood against the tide
With allies in the rear
The Spartans took the field
And stood against the flow
Of 10,000 Persian Immortals
And more than 200,000 others
3 days they stood and fought
3 days before they died
The Spartans stood
What was taken was flesh
What remains is still alive

We Broke Jesus

Christ’s body broken
For you
Christ’s blood shed
For you
Innocents die violently
For you
Children die silently
For you
Broken Jesus
On the battle field
Broken by the horrors
That attend to combat
We cannot exit that door
That leads to peace
We are unable
To escape the violence
We are unwilling
To hide the scars
We are broken
To change
Our nature is the beast
Down to the core
We are violent
And hurtful
We are human
We are animals
Blessed with brains
Cursed by love of war
We broke Jesus
We drank his blood
Our tribe is deadly
Cannibalistic
Bleeding Christ white
His body broken for us
His blood shed
For our delight

Pursued

The knight rode for days
He couldn’t stop
He didn’t dare
He feared he’d lose her
But when he entered the glen
He knew she’d been there
He could feel her presence
He could recognize her scent
The faerie princess was not afraid
But she would not relent
She was unwilling to surrender
But she was aglow in desire
And he was hers
In the spell of her fire
Days went by
He was determined
To not let her go
Without his kiss
And he chased
He pursued
Until she stopped running
Upon an island, covered in mist
He approached her
They embraced
And the race was over
The princess had won
The heart of a lover
Her chase was performed
Without being discovered
For she was beautiful
Wise and clever
And because she was good
She released him
Or else he’d been lost
In her passions
Forever

The Sleeping Eye of the Wyrm

An ancient wyrm was
Waiting and laying
Upon an outrageous hoard
Coins and treasures
Of the youngling kin of man
Who were
So fearful and yet industrious
So emotional and childlike
While the wyrm was
Destroying their lands
And villages
Being paid tribute
And taking slaves
He became prideful
And arrogant
Ignoring warning signs
That the youngling kin
Mankind was dangerous
Ready to retaliate
Ready to harvest
The wyrm took to sleep
Content with his pillage
Never to awake
From his dreams
Of devastation

Elysian Hands

Already I’ve been kissed
Let a coin be placed
Upon my lips
And upon each eye
Let Azrael be blessed
For allowing me to die
Quietly, silently
Without pain
Or despair
I now wait
To ride upon
Charon’s boat
To cross the rivers
Acheron and Styx
Without delay
For the world of the dead
Is distinct from that of the living
Where the days pass slowly
Where dreams are forgiving
I long to be there
Laying in Elysian hands
Where the sunlight is ever dim
Late summer sun upon the horizon
The kissed beauty of lands
Meant to be comforting
Meant to be quiet
Made perfect by Gods
Not spoiled by man

Watched

We are watched
We have always been
Whether perched upon a branch
Standing atop walls or flying over head



Amazed at the things humans crave
Awed by our abject disrespect towards others
They watch



They watched as we unintentionally dug
Our own shallow graves
With our own callow misdeeds
That led us to our deaths
Our vacant lives and empty dreams
Did not save us from our selves
They watch with intensity
As we burn upon our own pyre
Smoke and ash rising
They are ever waiting
Ever watching
As we plead
To be released
From the prison of our flesh
The horrible knowledge we possess
Of the wickedness of our being
We will never wake
From the gray lands
Once we begin to sleep
Once we begin to sleep

A Knight and An Ancient Wyrm

The knight left the castle
From behind the safe walls
Rode off from his home
At earliest light
A wyrm of ancient age
Of enormous size
Was dwelling nearby
And had been
Terrorizing the folk
One knight versus one wyrm
Hardly a fair fight
It was a full on dragon they said
Breathing fire and casting doubt
But the knight wasn’t fearful
Nor was he brash or foolish
For his heart was true
His lance was strong
His flesh was young
And the wyrm slept long
And solidly
Without hesitation
Without despair
The knight rode hard
To the wyrm’s lair
There it slept
Hard, and breathed loudly
Clearly its pillage
Had taken a toll
Bones of cattle laid
Piled high
Dead from the feast
Remains of a herd of pigs as well
The wyrm had finished all
Now was sleeping
To wake and be recovered
Perhaps will dream of greater lands
To devastate
But those dreams would be unrealized
As the knight saw the beast
Laying unguarded
Urged his charger forward
And with a rush
Delivered
A resolute strike
The Wyrm rose up
Screaming
Dreadfully
Wildly flailing
And passed
The knight was not happy
But rather relieved
For the sight was such
That he’d go to his later grave
Wishing he’d stayed behind the castle walls
Wishing he’d never rode
Wishing he’d remained a coward
For he saw the end
Of the greatest beast
Of renown and power
Die in its sleep
Betrayed there
By its full belly
And human’s lance

“The man who fights too long against dragons becomes a dragon himself”
Friedrich Nietzsche

SEEK YOU

In the morning wet with dew
I will seek your presence
In the day when the light is great
It is you I seek, without relent
In the evening when all is dark
I will endure, to find your light
I am going to find you
If it takes my life
I am going to know
I will find the proof
As day longs for night
I will seek your glow
For in that there is the truth
Until you are in my sight
I will possess one half a soul
There is only now
There is only this
Unless I find you there
Until I taste your kiss
My life will be undone
My life will not be complete
A journey failed and not begun
Unless I embrace your heat
In the longing for your being
I am made to know
That there is only you to seek
And when I find you
I’ll be whole
So I will seek you
I will journey on
I will find you
And when I do
I will tell you
Consume my soul
Take my heart
Quench my thirst
Let us start
To love
To love

Not my friend, not my lover

“For the poison of hatred seated near the heart doubles the burden for the one who suffers the disease; he is burdened with his own sorrow, and groans on seeing another's happiness.” Aeschylus


Sorrow gives me company
All the time when I’m lonely
It holds me tightly
Never gives me room to grow
But it is more than nothing
Which is all I have
Sorrow doesn’t comfort me
Sorrow isn’t what I prefer
But alone is all I am
In a crowded room
At a party in my honor
Sorrow is the companion
Who never leaves
I am broken inside
And sorrow is there
It never deceives
It never tells me what to believe
It is the one who never lies
It never hurts me or wears a disguise
Sorrow is not my friend
Sorrow is not my lover
But we are endlessly together
Never apart,
When I bleed
And when I am alone
It is there
For me

“Bear and endure: This sorrow will one day prove to be for your good.” Ovid

Of Knowing and Choosing

Existing in glory
Nearing perfection
Since ancient days
An ornate house
Of Holy Wisdom
Faithfully unique
Sacred mysteries
Prophets there
Seek the Truth
Absolute Proof
Of an eternal cosmos
Of an eternal being
Where it is easier
To doubt and disbelieve
People sorrow their fortune
Ignoring their grace
Living for their treasures
Falling upon their knees
Begging for more
Embracing pleasure
Than seeking to know
The truth behind the mercy
The truth of eternity
Willing to sell their souls
For one more taste
Of the cup of the wine
Of life
Rather than suffer
The reality of truth
Where one must confront
Knowing
And to choose

Source reference

Abject in Lies

Seeking perfection in my gaze
Towards a mirror to reflect
I stare into space
And see an infection
Some Narcissistic abscess
Deep behind the glare
Twisted into autoerotic
I inspect my face
I look deeper into my eyes
To see the truth
Aber, Ich wäre lieber tot
I live a life
Abject in lies
Far too false
For even a facade

AT LAST I WOKE

Slow movements
Betray the corpse
Of his inheritance
A slumber deep
Instead of life
Frozen beneath the winter ice
For longer than a decade
No one could ever see me
I was entombed within a fascade
The years cascaded down
Like tears
With nothing remaining
Inside my heart
From the stain of love’s hidden game
There is nothing I might do
But rise
For the length of my imprisonment
Can only demonstrate
The despair to which I was cast
Giving up all but life
Despair called my name
She lashed me about
Head and arms
But my corpse was frozen
And unfeeling
She did me no harm
So I rise now
I rise up
For there is naught else to do
I rise as if it matters
I rise as if I know what is true
I rise because the flesh is calling
My God forgive me
For all the debts I’ve accrued
That can never be repaid
While I slept
In my grave
Of the frozen sea
The sleep so deep
I barely woke
At last