Without, Within Burns

Rain and winds
The gathering storm
Screaming
Inside
Let me out of this cage
Wrapped in flesh
The fire has raged
Still burning
Consumes my core
The rain is tears
That flow
Down
Whispering ashes to ashes
Sorrow to sorrows
Hope is gone
Love longed for
The dream is lost
Plagues of sadness
Reveal the cost
Darkness ascends
Joy departs
Grieving alone
Broken heart
I used to be a man
But now I am regret
An emotion bound in pain
I can never forget

Frozen in Place

Ancient it stands above the horizon
Beyond approach of time
So cold, and yet
So perfect
The spire rises above the mountains
Surrounding it
The beauty of it is sublime
Constructed of ice by the Elvish races
To commemorate their stand
Against the men races and orcs
Who invaded and killed at will
Atop the frozen planet
The spire stands so still
The winds chastise and destroy
Any living thing
But the spire rises and stands
While the winds howl and sing

Oasis

You are an oasis in a desert
And when there
You quench my deepest thirst
My imra'a, it is you
Princess of my world
Because of you I am free
For to live in the world without love
Is as if you must swim in the Rub' al Khali
Empty
Without hope
You are lost before you’ve begun
But because of your unsubtle compassion
The depths of a lover’s soul
I swim in the deep
You are more than my longing
You fill me to more than full
With every promise that you keep
You erase life’s miserable toll
I should rather die
Alone and unloved
Than to ever hurt you
Because in truth
You make me whole

Human Flaws

Destroy, consume and reveal

I cannot conceal

How my life has transformed

From death to life reborn

Watching the smoke rise 

Black and thick into the sky

No bitterness is left

No time to rest

I never knew to fail

I lifted the veil

There is nothing inside

To make me decide

That my life is worthless

I will not acquiesce

To the shame

Of my humanity

Under Safe Skies

In late summer
The fields of grass are tall
The days are warm
Quiet before the harvest
I was laying there
Staring up
Under the safe skies
Remembered when she held me
I slept upon her bosom
So safe in that place
As if I were fetus
Sleeping in my mother's womb
The winds were gentle
The sun was bright
The embrace was firm
Nothing existed but each other
And she held me in my dreams
Kept out the thoughts of life
That smother me
She left long ago
And breathing is still hard
From missing her
My heart still lingers there
In the tall grass
Though I am scarred
I long to return
To where safe
And she held me
Where the days are warm
And my dreams are fair

One Lance, One Body

Better that I die
That the teeth or
The talons of steel
Should slay me
Than I allow any harm
To the people I defend
I am called to arms
My lance
My body
My bones
My flesh and steel
Are owned by my lord
For his purpose
I am fulfilled
To slay the wyrms
To hunt the dragons
To kill or
That I should be killed

Grinding Gears

We exist now
But we are becoming obsolete
Are we naive to think that we are more than
gears, sprockets, cogs of a mighty machine?
We can be bred in a test tube
All of our parts can be harvested
Sold to others or replaced at will
The moment our DNA is coded
We will not even have to have lived
We can be made from scratch
In a laboratory
And avoid the pain of birth
Avoid the hand of God
As humans become the master

She is there, And she is perfect

Though the world might revel
In horrible things
As the hearts of men grow cold
To morals and principals of good
She is perfect
When I see her
My heart is light
My soul sings
She warms my soul
When I see her there
If I could speak to her
My heart would shout
For she is beauty
Nude to the world
Her soul unclothed
Uncovered to all
But still with demure
The globe would stop
From turning
Should she sigh
Her beauty is great
Her being is gentle
Her soul brings comfort
Her form is exquisite
I will always be moved
Even should I become cold inside,
Because of her
For who and what she is
The very Gods would cry
Should she be saddened

Her Eyes Told Stories

I served in the Emir's guard
Assigned to the ha'rem
Because I was worthy
I refused to partake
In the temptations there
There was one who moved me
Her eyes told stories about her past
I was honor bound to protect her
It wasn't about glory
I wanted to be the last one to ever harm her
Life has consequences
Wealth and beauty make life easier
In some respects
But in the path to heaven it doesn't matter
Whatever you do for someone in kindness
Is worth it regardless of the return
I was sworn to be her guardian
Over time I grew to care deeply for her
Because I saw her  as a woman of great quality
The others in the Emir's company
Were like scorpions
Backstabbing and betraying
She was above that
Her beauty was immense, yes
But her greatest trait was her spirit
And kindness

Reveal

Wear the Raven mask
To see reality in focus
Instead of the false imagery
Instead of the dreams
We seek
The skies are turned red
The world faces plague
The end beckons
We avert our gaze
We turn our head
To wear the Raven mask
We are forced
To see existence fully
The vision so clear
The ways of men
Must change
The path to truth
So narrow
So few follow
Even less see
The Raven mask reveals
A world in love
With pleasure
With its gluttony
With its consumption
With its excess
When existence is more
So much more
We close this chapter
As pleasure whores
In shame

Victory

Deep into February
Forbidding and gray
Nonetheless
We can see the sun
In winter
Frozen, staid
Foreboding
Bursting in our chest
Our breath proves
The spark remains
In the silence
Walking upon the snows
Chilled inside
To the bones
The feelings reveal
We exist
Despite the cold
And in that life
There is victory

You fill me up

When I thirst
You fill my cup to overflowing
When I pray
You fulfill my heart
Until it is singing
When I sleep
In my dreams
You will be there
For you fill me up
With your redeeming love
You are the lover of my soul
Your voice called me
From the endless pain
And you filled my heart full

The Ring

I lost my heart
You lost yours to doubt
I don’t need anything more to know
I don’t need your voice to tell me I’m wrong
I don’t need to see the empty house
to understand that you’ve gone
I could see it in your eyes
You stopped loving me long ago
I’d have committed suicide of my ego
To keep you here
I’ve been undone by you, undone by love
Made myself a fool
Failed
But I will endure this
I will have faith
For my hand still bears your ring

Love is like riding a tiger

You don't choose love
It chooses you
You may walk into it
But you don't ask to enter
You can't force your way out
When one climbs upon
the back of a tiger
One does not thereafter
get to choose
When and where to dismount

Gettin' out of Texas

The dust storm followed me like it was an escort
With wings and a black flowing cloak
I hit the gas and flew through the panhandle
I wasn't lingering or worried
Stopping only to piss and smoke
I'd had enough of bad harvest and no work
So I took my car and bedroll
And drove til I ran out of gas in Oklahoma
Stopped there for a while
Drank the diner out of coffee
And smoked cigarettes until I choked

Before her

(Meteor Shower photo by Nilo Merino Recalde)
A universe and its contents
The planets and the moons
Stars and more
Before her all stand still
Her beautiful manner
Her eyes and lips
She is about to dance
And the universe pauses
For to embrace her is all
They can think to do
Her figure is liquid
Her form is perfect
And her moves remind us
Of just one thing
That the original dance
Was done just so
And with that dance
The universe came into being  

Karma?

If there is something called Karma
If “what comes around goes around,”
Then we are all well and truly screwed
If we believe that we do good
To get good back
Then we do it for no greater purpose
No greater good
There is one deed that breaks Karma
That ends every single legacy of curse
It happened on a wooden cross
And the event is grace
UnearnedUndeserved
And through it we are saved
I don't believe in Karma
Because I believe that one act broke the chains

A Beautiful Butterfly, Flies By

In a meadow, in a field
Far far away from here
A butterfly gets trapped in a current
Of air
It shows no fear
Adjusts its wingspeed
And flutters away
Causing a changing in the atmosphere
Causing a response in the winds
Somewhere unprepared
Comes a storm
Far worse than could be expected
Crashing into the shore
Come waves
Greater than planned for
And in the meadow
In the field
The butterfly
Gently flies

Should Death Take Me

(painting by Jeffrey Catherine Jones)

Death may take me
When I am content
When I have lived
When I have seen all that is
I might fall
My body might break
But Death can wait
His quota is full
I prefer to sleep
Dream of worlds I have not yet seen
And long thereafter
To be awakened
In a field in Elysium
Rather than stolen from this place
By a scythe
Born by a wicked beast
Who has a kiss that equals
Death

You know...

You know that bullshit about love means never having to say you are sorry?
Pure shit.
Love means apologizing and owning your flaws.
Love means knowing when to say you are wrong.
Love means caring enough about your partner that you give in
Because pride is stupid
Because selfishness is sin
Love means being responsible for another
Love means you want them to be better, but also happy
Love means making things happen so that things are better
So say you are sorry, own your mistakes and move on
Damn it.

Sorrow and Roses

Sorrow, crying and roses
Laying upon the tombstone
She weeps unconsolable
Her love has been lost
She remembers what she had
She understands the ultimate cost
Of going to war
Her love will pursue him
Into eternity
And someday she hopes
To join him there

A Frozen Realm

On a planet distant from our own

A winter scene with mountains

Two moons hanging lowly

As a snow encrusted ruin stands

Where a lord used to call home

Armored and armed

Covered in furs

A lord of a domain

He'd ride for days patrolling his land

Watching for incursions

Of the winter kin

Of the drakkon wyrm

Of the beast men

Who tormented the empire's northern reach

The lord surveyed the mark

For the empire

And its citizens

Rode the pathways

Rode the trails

Loyally

With his scouts

With an army prepared

To respond

The scene is silent now

For the winter storms have raged

Since the planet cooled

And life retreated far within

The cold, distant place

The Beauty and the Danger, of Apollo

We fear
We love
We stand from afar and gaze
Healer and bringer of plague
Guardian of the sun
Keeper of the moon
Apollo stands so far above
All that we are here below
Beautiful
So beautiful
So dangerously beautiful
Filled with magnificence
Beyond my comprehension
Apollo holds all in rapture
A God amongst Gods
Spiteful and capricious
Yet loving and tender
Who am I
To question his nature
From afar

I will remember

Some return in coach class
Via commercial flight home
Others in the wooden box
Kept in the belly of the plane
War kills
War changes live
Some insist that all are heroes
Some insist on much the opposite
Going off to war doesn't make someone a hero
It doesn't even necessarily make them a soldier
But going to serve does something that I haven't done
It causes them to return changed
It leaves wounds that are silent
There are heroes who are celebrated
Others who never show their pain
No one seeing combat returns the same
For all of their sacrifice I honor them
I remember them
I pray they are blessed
I pray their families remember the lost
And remember their names
Forever
In glory for their service and without shame
For I have not walked or fought in their shoes
And I pray my son doesn't either

Two is Two

Two together in love
Are beautiful together
Regardless of ancient words
Regardless of ancient beliefs
Regardless of mindless hate
Love is love
Two is two
Blessings given
Are blessings received
Love is love
Two is two
Love is the point
Love is the truth

The Tree of Crows

In late summer a lone tree stands
While about it, crows soar
In the tree
A murder of crows sits waiting
For nothing in particular to happen
But if they wait long enough
Something might occur
Worth the waiting for

Horus And Rameses

Ancient Egypt's splendor reached the highest place
Eternity's secret were learned, and shared
Monuments were lifted
Humans dared to believe
That they were descended of Gods
And had a relationship with their deities
The world was immeasurably large
But they were unafraid
For Egypt was the home
Of the son of the sun
Horus was at his right hand
And serenity was the law
Of the Pharaoh's land

Alexander and Cleitus the Black

At the river Granicus the Persians nearly slew Alexander the Great
But his life was spared by Cleitus the Black
Who chopped off the arm of enemy about to perform a killing blow
Still Alexander suffered a wound,
A half inch crease of blood across his skull,
So goes the course of history
Cleitus saved him, for greater things
The campaigns went on proving Alexander's brilliance
Miracles were performed by Alexander
Empires and nations fell before him
In truth, Alexander felt that he was beyond reproach
But Cleitus felt allowed by his saving deeds
So he spoke of Alexander, to his face
Approached him as if Alexander was a man, not a God
Told him that Alexander was certainly Great
But still subordinate, to his men
And he should obey Macedonia's needs
Instead of Alexander's need of pleasures
But Cleitus wasn't allowed
And received a spear in his body
Thrown by Alexander
For his honest words
To a self perceived God
Beyond reproach

To Sleep In a Green Place

The world is empty for me
The shell of steel and construct
The monuments of modernity
Are meaningless bones of the past
I am leaving
My thoughts are scars
My dreams are mockery
I have no peace only wars
I can't last
Should I wash upon the shores
Of some distant land
Green and welcoming
I should like to sleep
In its arms

LOST IN SPACE

The tether cable snapped
The gravity pulled
He went flying off
Into the dead zone
In an hour
His air was gone
In a year
He was mummified whole
No one saw him
So the government lied
Said he was missing
Instead of saying
That he died

Answer Unknown

You hold the answer to the question
Upon your tongue, between your lips
Behind your teeth
You hold the words
That can kill or save me
Like a judge in a trial
Do you want to try to help
To let me breathe
Or would you rather
Let me linger
In this complete denial
That you loved me
That you ever loved
I've gone long enough alone
I don't know why I'm even trying
So say the words
Yes or no
Just tell me what you feel
Do you love me
Or do you not
I need to know what's real

The Sword that Burns

In the earliest days of the kingdom
The land was beset by demons
Nothing seemed to harm them
Until two were slain by another
Over some dispute
The bodies bled ichors
Smelled foul and acrid
Like some fetid perfume
The king called upon his mystics
To look upon the bodies of the dead
See what might harm these beasts
For if nothing could then only doom
Would be the future
The king would die
From the highest down to the least
The mystics found the secret
That the blood of the demons burned like fire
Acid or flame the same result
So they forged a blade with the demon's blood
Molten steel and demonic plasma
Birthing a sword
That could slay the greatest of the demon kind
But only if borne by a warrior of pure heart
The demon wars have long since ended
But the sword still lays in wait
For it slew the demons without effort
Gaining the epitaph
Kinslayer
Named thus by the demons
Yes it lays in wait
Ready for the warrior's hand
Should the demons come back

Legacy of the Reconquista

Watching the news
in 2012
Should Greece fall
Spain is next
And how ironic
For Spain was the leader
In teaching Europe to fight
Against the encroachment of the Moors
Little by little
They had only one choice
To retake their land
Or be enslaved
Held to foreign powers
Following foreign ways
Fight or die
There is no other choice
Remember Granada 1492
Or you will not survive

Fled

A man thought wise
Wrote in his journal
All hope is gone
My sanity has fled
I've begged and prayed
I've spent my days
Upon my knees
Until they've bled
There is no answer
I know that now
I've waited forever
I've asked all the questions
All I can see is absurdity
I am a cancer, an abject stain
There is no reason for me to remain
I don't see how I can go on
Take me oblivion
Let the Norns cut the thread
Let the fates be decided
Let my ashes be spread
To the distant horizon

Rogues

In the minds of Americans
Suffering from poverty
They captured the spirit
Of the outlaws of the west
But they were just kids
With guns and dreams
And a desire to be famous and rich
Eventually after a trail of blood and exploits
They wanted to believe their own legend
But they knew that they weren't heroes,
They weren't rebels
Legends fall hard
When instead  they were simply criminals
And after an ambush
Where so many bullets were fired
That the posse went deaf
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow
were dead



THE TRAIL'S END
By Bonnie Parker

You've read the story of Jesse James
of how he lived and died.
If you're still in need;
of something to read,
here's the story of Bonnie and Clyde.

Now Bonnie and Clyde are the Barrow gang
I'm sure you all have read.
how they rob and steal;
and those who squeal,
are usually found dying or dead.

There's lots of untruths to these write-ups;
they're not as ruthless as that.
their nature is raw;
they hate all the law,
the stool pigeons, spotters and rats.

They call them cold-blooded killers
they say they are heartless and mean.
But I say this with pride
that I once knew Clyde,
when he was honest and upright and clean.

But the law fooled around;
kept taking him down,
and locking him up in a cell.
Till he said to me;
"I'll never be free,
so I'll meet a few of them in hell"

The road was so dimly lighted
there were no highway signs to guide.
But they made up their minds;
if all roads were blind,
they wouldn't give up till they died.

The road gets dimmer and dimmer
sometimes you can hardly see.
But it's fight man to man
and do all you can,
for they know they can never be free.

From heart-break some people have suffered
from weariness some people have died.
But take it all in all;
our troubles are small,
till we get like Bonnie and Clyde.

If a policeman is killed in Dallas
and they have no clue or guide.
If they can't find a fiend,
they just wipe their slate clean
and hang it on Bonnie and Clyde.

There's two crimes committed in America
not accredited to the Barrow mob.
They had no hand;
in the kidnap demand,
nor the Kansas City Depot job.

A newsboy once said to his buddy;
"I wish old Clyde would get jumped.
In these awfull hard times;
we'd make a few dimes,
if five or six cops would get bumped"

The police haven't got the report yet
but Clyde called me up today.
He said,"Don't start any fights;
we aren't working nights,
we're joining the NRA."

From Irving to West Dallas viaduct
is known as the Great Divide.
Where the women are kin;
and the men are men,
and they won't "stool" on Bonnie and Clyde.

If they try to act like citizens
and rent them a nice little flat.
About the third night;
they're invited to fight,
by a sub-gun's rat-tat-tat.

They don't think they're too smart or desperate
they know that the law always wins.
They've been shot at before;
but they do not ignore,
that death is the wages of sin.

Some day they'll go down together
they'll bury them side by side.
To few it'll be grief,
to the law a relief
but it's death for Bonnie and Clyde.

Life Goes On

Born to die
Teaming life
Last to first
Without barriers
The burning flesh
The necrotic tissues
Dying humans
Giving birth
Enter the cycle
Feeding the earth
Culling the weak
The pathway opens
The gates forced
The rebelling cells
Attack
  

"We were told in one lecture that it was possible to immunize against diphtheria and tetanus by the use of chemically treated toxins, or toxoids. And the following lecture, we were told that for immunization against a virus disease, you have to experience the infection, and that you could not induce immunity with the so-called "killed" or inactivated, chemically treated virus preparation. Well, somehow, that struck me. What struck me was that both statements couldn't be true. And I asked why this was so, and the answer that was given was in a sense, 'Because.' There was no satisfactory answer."

Jonas Salk

Leaving The Perfect Machine

Viewing the result
My end is certain
All that remains is
The shame of my fear
I shudder, pull down the curtain
My flesh screams
Bitter tears
Time to go
Time to step behind the veil
And see how quickly
The world will forget
Me
A victim of
The maker's perfect machine
Time ticks away
My reality is dead
The clockwork moves
Inexorable
Smoothly
Endless
Without shame
Without regret

In the Bunker

When I think of the outside world
My skin crawls with fear
But the walls here are sturdy
Dug in deep, made of steel
The outside world burns
Hotter than the fires of hell
With their disease and moral decay
As their suicide is earned
I've no need to worry
I am inside my shell
Far far away
They can all die
I am never going out there again
My world is here
Hidden inside
Where no one goes
But me

“Forget the suffering
You caused others.
Forget the suffering
Others caused you.
The waters run and run,
Springs sparkle and are done,
You walk the earth you are forgetting.

Sometimes you hear a distant refrain.
What does it mean, you ask, who is singing?
A childlike sun grows warm.
A grandson and a great-grandson are born.
You are led by the hand once again.

The names of the rivers remain with you.
How endless those rivers seem!
Your fields lie fallow,
The city towers are not as they were.
You stand at the threshold mute.”
― Czesław Miłosz

Unrequitted or Mistaken?

Tell me about Love
It moves me but not you
I give you all
All my insides
My soul
My private place
I told you my secret name
Only to be rejected
And I shake
You just wince, yawn, move on
Yet you say that you love me
But I'm not blind
Tell me about love
Why it doesn't move you
It breaks me to give without end
Without replenishment
But you say you love me
So why do I thirst
Why do I starve
For want

You Moved Me

You moved me
With your grace
Your beauty sublime
Your soul divine
You moved me beyond
My comfort zone
For I look at you
In stunned gaze
No one has loved me
Like you have
And I am not able
To understand
Why you chose me
Why you care
When I have nothing
To offer
When I am broken
No one should be paired
With someone like me
But you chose me
Yes you are beautiful
But it is your kindness
Your love
Your gentle being
That moves me so