12/7/1941

Two nations, neighbors
Oft times friends
Adversarial
Soon to be enemies
Racist tidings
The message was sent

EAST
WIND
RAIN



Weapons aimed
Men trained
Armies moving
Navies cruising

TIGER
TIGER
TIGER



A nation sleeping
Dreaming of prosperity
Another creeping
To the edge of launch

TORA
TORA
TORA



Zeroes, Kates and Vals
Crashing down
Upon a sleeping fleet
Some men never waking
From the now
Eternal dream

Sounds of 50 caliber MGs
Flak being sent up
Without relief
December 7th, 1941
Air Raid Pearl Harbor This Is No Drill
All Hands, Battle Stations
All Hands Battle Stations




2459

THE MARATHON RUN

“In peace sons bury fathers, but in war fathers bury sons.”
Herodotus

490 BC
Running from Marathon plain
Pheidippides ran to Athens
25 miles To tell them
We have won
But before this
He ran 150 miles
To tell the Spartans
That a battle was waged
Between King Darius
And his Persian empire
And the Athenians
Who raged against the invader
For brother Greeks
And they were roused but
Came too slowly to help
The Athenians and Plataeans
Sought battle where
Darius had landed
And like a tiger fighting an elephant
The numbers did not favor
The defenders
But Greeks cherished their freedom
More than others
Cherish even their very lives
So Athenians
And their Hoplite valor,
Despite being swarmed
By greater numbers
Pushed back against the tide
Bled the Persians white
And then, by superior tactics
Pushed the Persians
To the shores
And cast them into the sea
For brother Greeks they fought
And for the future
Of this world
And democracy

Dreaming Dragon

Dragon sleeps soundly
Dreams of burning the town with
Fire and angry breath

WOLF IN SNOW

Wolf in winter stands
Snow piled high, she stares away
Distant horizon

SPARROWS

Sparrows in the tree
Looking over a small pond
Their wings make them free

I Lift Her Up

(I am asked often how I can write such deeply felt love poems, and be married. I think all I can say in response is, my wife Beth is my partner, and first loved me in this life. )



I lift her up
Both of my arms raised
She balances upon them
And deserves praise
For her isolation there
Is hard
And is so delicately placed
Upon the horizon between
Light and dark
Our dance is one
Where the end is not the point
But rather the place we arrive at
To let us know
The journey has changed
To begin anew
Together again
And I remain
At her side
I hold her up
So she will not be undone
By the damages of fate
And the pains that come
From life
Together or apart
She dwells in my heart
I lift her up
God hear my prayer

The Enemy is Endless in Number

The empire we served had died
When the neighboring states contrived
And their jealous hordes rose up
And the empire was strangled
By the nameless numbers
We never stood down
Our arms still held
We shall never cast them aside
We have chosen to fight
Despite the cost
Our numbers were hollowed
With our youth ended
Laying upon the fields
Under a sky burning
Bleeding into the tall grass
The burning sun never dies
Illuminating the field
Day to night
The castle ramparts are occupied
The inner keep filled by an army
Each with weapons at the ready
But we, the resistance are prepared
To set that army to flight
Our world set afire
By the treachery and deceit
Of supposed allies
We bore the burden of battle
They fled and left us to die
But we survived
Hunted though
Hounded unto death
We refused to surrender
Because now our nation has passed
Into the archives of scholars
But the empire's honor still lives
We carry it with us
We have risen despite the odds
It is a task only the most brave bear
And we are brave
For there is no existence
Living a lesser life
When one has lived as the chosen
One who would never flee
One who would always stand
While others flee the field
Knowing the enemy is endless

Too Young

Child soldier
Little warrior
Your lives are spent
Far too soon
Mother assault gun
Father uniform
Where will you get
Your next meal
So many things you’ll see
That nobody should
So many lessons you’ll learn
So few are good
Nightmares if you survive
And if you survive
Are you alive
Child soldier
Your life is worth
More than you know



But you’ve seen
All that can be
And you know
So much that
You can’t unknow
You deserve
More than this
But what you have
But what is there
You couldn’t resist
They’d have killed you too
So now you live
You exist



Just to hold a gun
And shoot
At the enemy
Or anyone
Who is over there
No where really
Don’t spare the injured
Don’t spare the women
What is a child
Younger than you?
Just shoot them all
And get a meal
Some clothing maybe
But you are never free



Will you ever feel
Normal again?

He Paid For Wanting Freedom

Ravens stood upon the cross bar
As others circled above
A slave who’d led revolt
Was crucified as a message
To others who’d see
And know
That their lives
Were only worth
What their masters had paid
No matter what they’d paid
Whatever the talents
Whatever the dreams
A slave was property
And could not be allowed
To become independent
To become proud
And however many
Would have to be slain
Slaves had no value, except up front
When the auction ended
And money changed hands
The slave was bound
By law
By the code
To obey
Or die
As the tortured soul
Upon the cross knew
Surrounded by ravens
He’d paid the toll
For desiring freedom
And hope
For a future
Instead of being
Controlled

Maybe a Fool

Who are you to tell me
I’m a fool to love you
It wouldn’t be your decision
Feel free to remain aloof
It wouldn’t be my mistake
Because my heart is honest
When I love I love forever
And I live upon truth
Not hope
You aren’t that
At any rate
You are my dream
And I can live
If the answer is never
But you are not a fantasy
I don’t cover my thoughts
Of you in ecstasy
All I imagine is walking
Hand in hand
Side by side
With you loving me
Til the end of time
So dont worry
I am not asking you
For anything
I am not hoping
That you will be
My everything
I have no hope
All I have
Is dreams

Kingdom End

A King being lauded by the people
In the open air
His knights behind him
And to the sides
Brave to the dangers
That such freedom would offer
A single attack from a distance
From a stranger
Would end his reign
But the king's act was one
Of trust in a golden era



Bestrode by admirers
At a distance jeered by his foes
The moment was pristine
But forebode woe
Despite the seeming gild
Despite the holy fire
Accompanied by a quest
To take the kingdom higher
From a distance
An assassin reached out
Firing at the king
With deadly accuracy
Destroying the legacy
Consuming the fire
Of a golden age
Consuming the desire
To be more

An assassin's victory
Robbed a kingdom
Of its king
Of its being


And ill came to the one
However and whoever led
But it brought no justice
Only one more dead

Seeing

A baby chuckles
Sleeping
A climber sees God
Reaching
A singer finds a note
Seeking
Seeing the unseen
One must know how to look
One must know where it is
To see what is hidden
Requires a spirit
Filled with hope
Filled with love
And a willingness
To hear it
For the voice within
Is sometimes quiet
Sometimes barely audible
And no matter how we wish it
Does not respond to pride
We are so foolish
Rather
We must shuttle our conscience
From thinking and knowing
To knowing and doing
To find the truth
But that proof
Is inside all of us

“Everyone sees the unseen in proportion to the clarity of his
heart, and that depends upon how much he has polished it.
Whoever has polished it more sees more — more unseen
forms become manifest to him.” Rumi

Laying there

Butternuts, Johnny Reb,
Dixie boys in gray
I served with Henry Sibley
In the Army of New Mexico
We were young, and hopeful thought if not us
At least our deeds would be remembered forever
Like the Alamo
But nobody remembers the dead who died
In forgotten wars
Or the fallen in battkes
Unremembered with any glory or notice
We were supposed to run the Feds
Down through the Glorieta Pass
And hoped we could get rid of them
From the territory
But they stood mostly
I saw comrades die in Apache Canyon
All the way up through the pass
And there I died
In time
My bones were buried
But I was an orphan
Nobody remembered me or cried
But the vultures
Circled the battle field
And the sun beat down
Cooking the Sante Fe county grass
In early Spring
The blood baked
And no harvest would yield
But my memory remains
Laying in the ground
Shattered by a Fed bullet
Running for my life
Died in the Spring sun
Never to be found

Stand Alone

Mordechai Vanunu told the truth.
And it cost him most of his adult life.




Tell the truth and get punished
Tell lies and get praised
The masses don't want the truth
They just want to hate
Let one voice be different
Then the world is changed
Let one voice rise above
They'll call him deranged
The world isn't prepared
For one good man to speak
So let us all slit our throats
So that the idiots may drink
From our lives
From our hope
So that there is nothing
But consensus
And lies



Go Here to See what the truth can do, and how it is crushed

A Princess of the Lilies

You are nobility in your domain
The Princess of the waters
But I do not know your name
It matters not
Your eyes are lamps to my darkness
Your skin so soft I long to caress
Your voice alone brings me chills
Like a perfect church bell rings
Along with the beauty is purity
To see your form and my tears spill
So perfect angels sing
Like the water and pads
By the lilies
Unbelievably pristine
Let me sit by the water’s edge
Let me lay down in the rushes
Near to where you rise
From the water
From the still cool water
And watch you
Just watch
As you sing
The world into being
As you glory in God’s garden
And hear your voice
That moves me so
Leaves me unguarded
Open to joy
And hopeful
Fills my heart so hollow
Let me watch you
As you sing
For you make me smile
Despite my sorrow

let me sleep

Finally done
Rising from the depth
Of the winter of my sleep
Any who might have seen me
Might have thought I was dead
I lay still forever
But I just was hoping instead
To stay asleep
Asleep
I cannot sleep any longer
I’ve dreamed for so many hours
My mind is full of stories
Of love and loss
And heroic glory
The mind has such power
It can replace life with pictures
From thoughts that linger
Then adds a story from my memory
Leaving me without reality
Gentle echoes pour over me
How I long to remain asleep
Nothing can hurt me when I dream
The echoes of life
Are made so serene
Dreaming is freedom
From this world
That crushes my heart
From my life
That slips away
Moment by moment
Day after day
There is no reason
For me to ever be awake
So let me sleep again
Let me sleep forever
Let my being remain
In the gray lands
So I will not remember
What has gone on before
Or what I miss from now on
Come take me man of sand
Make me sleep
Make me sleep
Let me sleep
Forever
Let me live
In my dreams
Let me sever
This existence
Let me go
Let me sleep

Wordless Despair

 
Say not a word and make no sound be still
In this moment affections become unheard
As I bleed upon the ground and struggle
Give birth to the torment, in a hostile world
If we are allowed to live at the mercy of existence
Too proud to give an ounce of hope, resistance
Let us in our world be born, let our hope be scorned
Let blessings be poured upon the ground, in sorrow
Through hands more like a sieve, twisted whispers
Aimed at deaf ears begged for hope or to be forgiven
It doesn’t matter at all, the way forward isn’t clear
Existence is our only offering, but given destiny
We must reject fate, we look up to the stars
A new sun has arisen but life offers nothing
but constant need, but hope in the distance
Far from the horizon we've no warmth
Light of a distant sun born every day
Arrives to this dark planet huddled in fright
My chains of sin are worn like a cloak
A cloak covering me, weighing me down
With words of prayer from my throat choked
For some hope to escape the eternal night
In our beating hearts

Return to Nothing

I rode
With the King’s companion cavalry
Across three continents
I saw battles with foes
Countless and fierce
I was wounded
Repeatedly
My armor pierced
But none of it injured me
None of it hurt
Nearly as much
As when you weren’t there
When I returned
I know you suffered
I know you couldn’t wait
When the Gods demanded
Your presence in Elysium
You had to come
It was an act of fate
But my love
I am here
And you are gone
And I am undone
And the toll of victory
Is more painful than all battles lost
The cost is worse
Than any gains
By battles won
I am alone
And the laurels they’d have me wear
Are bitter remnants
Of failure

Let Me Enter the Veil

Your beauty is surreal
And I am moved but I must relent
For it is coming
The gossamer mist
That closes the door
Kiss my lips then go
Shake me to my core

Escape through the veil
Run before I change my mind
Like every other time
As if I shouldn’t resist
So go before it arrives
Although I long for more

Let this moment be gone
As if never been
Let the torment begin
Again Again Again
I welcome the pain
I welcome the rain
Pouring down spit
Upon my remains

Because this is where it ends
I love you but if you are a dream
I cannot have you in this life
If only at night
If only when I sleep

So world let me go
Where I can sleep
Forever without waking
I don’t care how it happens
I don’t care what is taken
Just let me be released

Love take my hand then
Let me walk those gray lands
Where you are and I believe
That I’d give anything
To be with you including
This living flesh
My last breath
My being

JOIN OR DIE

Like flames that cannot be consumed
The revolution against the Empire
Grows indeed grows
The response is like fire
Every voice is fuel
Every sound is loud
The Empire is cruel
And our response is proud
This may be a last stand
You may sever our heads
But this is our land
And if we cannot live free
We’d rather be dead
Let the blood of the patriots
Baptize the land
Change every fate
Let our voices be found
Make it sacred
Human made
Holy ground

THE MESSENGER

Across a billion galaxies
And countless stars the warrior runs
For the wall approaches, the eater of all
The end is begun with epic blackness
Where nothing exists, where nothing resists
The wall is impenetrably void
And only one is aware and he runs
With the message to the worlds
Standing in the path of the end
For when the yarn is unspun
The worlds are undone
However many stand to die
The warrior is crying for the worlds
That have been lost to the wall
Darkness
Ever encroaching, so very near
The warrior cries but refuses to stop
For the message needs to be shared
To any who might hear

RUN AWAY

I never knew how hollow I could feel
Until you left my side
Now I can’t believe the emptiness
There’s nothing there
Any longer
How wrong it feels but I wasn’t deceived
I just had thought someday we’d build a life
Together make a plan, be more than this
And now there isn’t even that
I am so empty
Tears pound loudly down
In my heart there is a vacuum
In my mind there is no sound
Struck deaf by the pain
That you’ve left and gone
Because I saw the babies
In your eyes we’d have
But now you aren’t around
To see me smile, to hold my hand
To make love to me, to let me love you
To walk upon the beach, to run across the sands
You were my Queen of all I am
Now you are gone, and this is the end
For I lived to be with you and without your face
There’s nothing left but to pretend
Or run
Run away until my flesh turns gray
And someone finds me
And buries my fetid remains

In the Dragon Lair

“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his
angels fought against the dragon;
and the dragon fought and his angels,
And prevailed not; neither was their place
found any more in heaven.
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent,
called the Devil,
and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world:
he was cast out into the earth,
and his angels were cast out with him.”

The Bible : Revelation 12:7-9

The blessed warriors
The slayers of the dragon,
And of his lesser dragons, long knew that
Someday he’d be reborn, in some new form
Beautiful perhaps, but foul nonetheless
And so New Earth, perfect, made by the true
Was to bleed anew, when the dragons of wrath
Birthed in this place, full of anger and so vile
Arose from their hellish ash
The fires of hell long cooled
But still embers cook
In the Dragon Lair

New Earth Diary
Book I: Born of Fire

Señora de la madera, mi corazón está roto por el toque

We laid in splendor
Held in the other’s arms
In the days we spent
I never ever thought
We’d be apart
Now we are
And there is nothing
Only the silence
Of my thoughts
And rain
Tears falling
And pain
Hands wringing
No children singing
No miracles
Just an old man thinking
How he’d rather be gone
We used to be young
Our love was wild
And then you left
I cannot get up
From falling down
And won’t
I will make this ground
My death bed
And won’t move
Death won’t take long
And then I can sleep
Forever
Without you
Not even
In my dreams

PAINTED BLACK

I shivered the moment I saw you
I knew something was different
I could see it in your spirit
So beautiful, so true
In your eyes I saw children
Our souls entwined would create
My desire for you was not lust
But a committment to a belief
That our life together was destiny
We’d build a legacy
Of love, of hope, and trust
But it never happened
No children
No moments forever
To remember
And I am left
Alone, as ever
For I refuse to accept
What I am left
Rather than what
I should have had
Farewell
Farewell
My heart will be painted
Black

Burn

screaming answers
that burn like fire
filled with cancers
of society’s desires
we are the youth
without birth
we are the ones
who bear the cross
of the burdens
of those never
begun
burn in us
burn in us
like a storm
raging out of control
with flame instead of rain
burn in us
our veins bear your mark
we are the ones
who bear your message
burn in us
brand my heart
burn
let it burn
and may our ash
be the gentle ground
for a new world
at last
we will be done
and returned
to where this
was begun

Emptied Within

Cannot count the tears
Pouring in endless
Streams
Can’t count the fears
Of being left
For dead
Unredeemed
What did I do
What could I do
But what I did?
You wanted more
Than I could give
You needed more
Now I am emptied
Within
For you
I gave everything
And then you left me
For the want of more
But I was emptied
And there is nothing left
To give
To give
But I forgave
Because love doesn’t keep score
But you are still gone
And there is no comfort
From that closed door
Now the solitude
Humbles my hopes
For there is no sanctuary
In loneliness
And again I wonder
Why you left
And still I wonder
What did I do
My hopes are gone
They left with you

You are my Quest

My heart is stained
More red than crimson
My eyes are tired
From crying before
The morning sun
Nothing I can say
That I haven’t said before
Not a lot to do
That hasn’t all been done
When it is about love
I don’t keep score
When it is about love
I don’t care if you hide or run
If I love you it is all I am
If you love me
Let it be begun
This life is meaningless
Without you
Away from you
There’s only doubt
With you I am complete
And I promise to you
I will give you a love
Sacred
I will be devout
Filled with desire
Hope and forgiveness
And faithful throughout
For your love is redemption
And love is all there is

SINCE YOU WENT AWAY

Telling me a joke
May make me seem elated
I tell everyone who asks
I am so happy
And I refuse to act as if I’m down
But the truth is out there waiting
To make the lie well known
Since you’ve been gone
There is nothing worth doing
There is nothing worth being
And you haven’t been gone long
These wounds won’t heal
And there is nothing, nothing
That can make me feel
As if life is worth living
Because you were all
And that is enough
For me
Streaming tears remind me
It isn’t going to change
Without you here
My life is empty
Without you near
I can’t turn a page
Because you were all
And that was enough
For me

Spent a year thinking

I spent the last year thinking
And I am still unsure
How it could have happened to me
My heart was never so certain
And then you left
And unloved me
Unneeded me
Unwanted me
Took my heart with you
That I'd given freely
And now I have nothing
And you are gone

Iberian Fire

Crimson red the flag was
Standing atop the hill
The Loyalists to the Republic
Waited for the blood to spill
When the Monarchists
And their allies of fate
Along side of the butchers
Collaborators against the state
From Fascist regimes
The German Condor Legion
The Italian force
Corpo Truppe Volontarie
Poured into the valley
Supported by planes
Bombing the innocent
Destroying
Iberia enflamed
The terror of the war
Came not from the battle
But from the hatreds exposed
Between ideologies
Between neighbors
Between modernity
And the ancient regimes
Many fought for a cause
Some were forced to fight
In the end war would go on
And the land and people
Bled until white

Never Let Me Go

Never let me go
Never let me go
I pray you never let me go
Please
You moved me
You saved me
You made me dream
I found serenity
In your arms
When I sleep
I see you there
Dancing atop the sky
Playing amongst the stars
My heart is full with you
I saw happiness
Because you loved me
I long to be held
Forever now
Into eternity
In your arms
So comforting
I pray you find me too
The way I want you
Being moved by me
Afire with my charms
You are all I desire
You create my inner fire
I become alive
Never growing tired
Because you love me
I certainly
Search for you
Whenever I sleep
In your embrace I dream
Even in my sleeping hours
I desire you
You are graceful
You possess divinity
I long for you
Every second
Every minute
Every hour

Le Paris Métro

Read a poetry book by E. Pound
Smoked two packs of cigarettes
Drank a pot of coffee with cream
Early May 1988 Le Paris Métro
Waiting for her in the noisy station
Coffee to stay awake
While sitting slumped in a chair
A nearly empty cafe
I knew she’d never come but
Still I waited until the gates were closed
And the cleaning staff with brooms
Pushed me out
No matter that I’d waited
No matter that I’d been the one
She said that she loved me
But it wasn’t true
I spent a lifetime waiting
I spent a lifetime praying
For her to be mine
I did everything I was asked
Jumped through every hoop
Short of suicide
Gave her every ounce
Still she didn’t love me
I was so tired
If I’d said I loved her
It wouldn’t matter in the end
All there was, was heartache
From dreams I could no longer have
Not allowed
Any more
Never again
Because I loved her
And she was too proud
To ever love another
So
What was the point of trying
You end up tossed aside
Laying upon the floor
Dying from lack of love
Crying from lack of love
The end was begun
For without her
Loving me
I was done