Caught in a crossfire, the orphans flee
Bombs and bullets cross the sky wildly
The moral and immoral alike are killed
When a violent destiny is then fulfilled
For war doesn't ask for your approval
This violence doesn't demand your vote
Lives are lost, the survivors ever rueful
The fires of war result in black smoke
The thunder is heard, without a storm
For this attack came without warning
And only the few will survive
Asking why, but knowing no answer
If modernity is a question
And humanity is a cancer
When high towers of civilization fall
If the cities have crumbled and die
Will we see our own folly
When all we've built is turned dust
Or is there nothing, are we lost
Or will we ever return
Will we become dust to dust
Spread as ashes to ashes
Nothing but our bestial impulse
Nothing we do can save ourselves
If we are lost, extinct
Upon who can we trust
What is there, if anything
If there's nothing left
My crime was to believe that I could ever be forgiven
I know my flesh is complicit, I am guilty and ashamed
I asked my God to judge me immediately, for all I've done
Looked at me with disgust, contempt upon hearing my name
For I'd seemingly had disdain towards a real faith in him
As I possessed an absolute faith in my lack of worth
My fears and wickedness can never be tamed
By any act of my own hand, I am just a man
Willing to be judged guilty because I am
But for me to accept forgiveness
For my many crimes
Requires understanding
Of all that I've done
If the snow falls, it will fall softly, as in an embrace of frozen silk
If winter winds blow, as they prevail, there is a sound comforting
Every flake of snow is different, so we've been told, even there
In a cold white dawn of the morning, there's a feeling of majesty
In all of creation is a form of love, every being alive is unique
From the artist and creator's hand, all things are worth seeing
We must appreciate with awe, how nature is built without flaw
And all that we know must come from a design, perfect and true
From a baby's giggle in sleep, to a wrought universe in dream
Surrounded by perfection, gathering the greatness in the residue
As we stand, in existence transfixed, waiting for the next phase
Transformed by the power, of the creator of every hour
The architect of the universe allows us to forever renew
And eternity beckons, I am ready for Heaven
I long for the moment I bid this world adieu
Psalm 19:1 "The
heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his
hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they
display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is
not heard."
She wasn't like most people who made war
She was a girl, young, a subject of scorn
She'd heard voices sent by God in her ear
Unlike others she acted upon it, not fear
At the siege of city of Orleans
Joan entered A desperate scene
And the English army broke
At Patay, the English lost hope
The French led by girl, hearing God
Finally the English were stopped
When the English had captured her,
They then made her a martyr
Calling her a heretic
Burning her to show dishonor
She nonetheless was honorable
And continues to inspire
The memory of her is one of a vision of hope
Her flesh became a burning pyre
Marked with ink, the flesh a canvas
She'd chosen to express her dreams
As the world around her acted dead
Her honesty made it very anxious
She'd chosen to present herself
In the form of flesh and art
And if there was nothing left
She was going to rise
High above and far beyond
The reaching horizon
Above the globe and stars
Her will amazing
Both powerful and graceful
Her dream realized with expertise
She had dreams that turned into life
A scenic winter vision
Perfectly framed for beauty
This pristine view is surreal
It will be a scene of death
By a careful hunter
Preparing to strike
In the frozen white
As mists rise
From mother's mouth comes breath
Wisps of white vapor
Moves with the winds
Following the path of prey
Predators stalk in dawning light
Need for warmth and hunger
Driving every life
By the need within
With a shout they will march, going off to war
As the enemy approaches in malice or anger
Leaders have hope to stem the coming storm
Drum beats accompany the march forward
Before an unaware village, upon the border
People left weak in fear, from forewarning
Some who respond, now burn for vengeance
They find it unanswered in their soul's core
Ignoring fear and the dangers warriors face
It is only the few who stand against this tide
But others will see, cowards can be brave
As a spirit of war gives them their orders
Those who fight, all through the night remain
They'll wait for the victory in the morning
“Theseus soon found himself involved in factions and
troubles; those who long had hated him had now added
to their hatred contempt; and the minds of the people
were so generally corrupted, that, instead of obeying
commands with silence, they expected to be flattered
into their duty.” Plutarch
She poses in sweet serenity
Her form woven, in repose
There upon a living mountain
And perfectly quiet meadow
One untouched by human feet
A goddess takes in morning sun
Wherever she walks is alive
Around her life thrives
Verdant, lush with beauty
Nature reflects perfection
With wisdom that echoes
Vision that goes beyond the ken
She'll be the rescue of humanity
From our fears, and oblivion
For our flesh fails, and we age
But in her spirit, we have hope
But not an equal reflection
Modern life is a form of madness
Lunacy will be the sole decider
Of who'll live or who'll die
Will we descend or will we rise
Morals are placed in an atomic collider
Separated, destroyed, christened and baptized
Upon the whims of our arbitrary leaders
And we fall under the spell of demagogues
Our future is one without a guide
We have no forward path
Culture demands obedience
And we become lap dogs
Not the first but perhaps the last
Fed scraps, false hopes and downcast
In the race we've all run
The end has begun
No one will survive the wrath
If we are good it is only in deception
However powerful the response
How glorious the reception
All that we know, all we want
Leads to goals that are impossible
With a legacy of shame that haunts
They never realized the true beauty of earth
Outside of a sort of idolatrous imagery
While we could see beauty in her form
It was contingent to how it provided
We reveled in the perfect symmetry
The graceful curves and surf
But still we thought, it could do more
Our selfishness made us hunger
Leading us to constantly roam
As we soared across the stars
We had a moment of true joy
We recognized a surface of water, blue
With distinct verdant regions of land
A green shroud of trees reach skyward
As if in a serene dream
The landing done perfectly
Our messages were sent home
Joyful cries could be heard, on earth
Way deep inside space command
Our species would have been doomed
But now we will be redeemed
One world was damaged beyond
But we found a sacred ground
In another world of our own
With one sip from the fire-hose, I take it all in
It's my taste of a flood that defines me
That tells the story of my miserable life
It's a nightmare, deep, lost in darkest dreams
When a scent of death is carried by the wind
A sickly sweet smell that permeates my mind
This rot is begun, flesh shredded by machine
The toxic, black air burns, I refuse to breathe
A world of flames, a rage that won't be tamed
Oblivion beckons, until we change our ways
Charon guides his boat in the fetid haze
He is prepared, ready for the trip
His boat will be filled with souls
To be taken across the Styx
Death approaches me and gives me a kiss
My destiny and fate become entwined
From Death we'll learn
There is no more time
Spilling all of the pristine vintage
Of the highest quality of wine
Unable to restore life
Nor give you more
An emptied flask
The flesh are dead at the core
Behind the veil of all knowledge and secrets
Lays a truth that isn't bound by law or logic
It exists, lives to be experienced, not known
It remains unknowable, however one tries
The species of human was born, a new fetus
An experience of living, one also symbolic
Is a journey, a path from youth to being old
And if each life does not survive this life
We are not alone in that loss, for we all die
But ask yourself how many of us truly live
And between permanence and oblivion
What is there? Is this planet all there is?
Is the secret of all how to live each day?
Knowing what we do passes away
And then our spirit moves on.
When there was the resignation of the judge
It was followed by a confession of a gunman
That he'd meant to shoot even more people
Dreamed of being able to kill with a touch
With powers of Hell he'd like to summon
Not as a demon or as Jesus, but as lethal
How can society prevent the inevitable
We are a mad society driven by violence
Who all have access to tools of killing
Once fired, the result is irrevocable
It is a form of controlled lightning
When released, the result is final
In a place where life is captured in ice
A veil hides the fragility of humanity
Gathered there watching and waiting
Are death, time, hope and memory
The life that is lost frozen in her flesh
The spirit dwells inside her, asleep
Her flesh decays and refuses to flee
Until awakened will she be renewed
Or will she remain forsaken and doomed
Humans build walls and raise towers
However fine the workmanship
We seem to only find perfection
In reaching span of nature's depth
But if it is so
It is only so by design
We also admire power
But human hands cannot create
To any degree equal to nature
In mere seconds of time
Worlds and universes come to life
By the unseen hand of the creator
We are fools
Neither perceiving nuance nor fate
Substituting size and function
For the creator's genius mind
Nothing human made
Is as important or as true
As the one who made it
All we can achieve is less
In the collective of lifetimes
We are all measured
By all that the creator achieved
With a blink of his eye
Or pause of that enormous mind
Is by far greater
Within the spectre of unjust war
There are evil acts possible
A task open to a warrior
The choice is clear
Moral warriors choose honor
Do not allow hatred, refuse fear
Or they will enter bestial slaughter
Find honor, choose the path
Of greatest yield, a message sent
Avoid violence, the fire or wrath
Become steel, never relent
Defend what is moral, good
Live without regret
Make every action
One without pretense
Let no message be sent
Other than by choices you make
And the actions you take
My broken flesh died long ago
My life was surrendered freely
Made no sense for me to endure
For now the world took a toll
Upon all those who I love
My friends, family, my home
But survival stole my soul
The life I have doesn't qualify
As any kind of asylum
She was my only one
My perfect love
The dreamer of my being
And now she is gone
I am broken
I'd longed for her
Always cried for her
I needed her
And she was gone
I faced a world of hurting
Endured a plague of sorrow
Life was worthless by the day
I'd lost all my tomorrows
My love lost
Only for her so deeply
And I'll never again
There is only pain
The shame of losing her
Oh it remains
Memories and solemn prayers help but give us little comfort
Yet, if we are honest, we live very short lives on the earth
What can we accomplish in that short time? I don't know
All we have is the chance, there's nothing owed us at birth
I must ask, if nothing's guaranteed, and future is unwritten
Why worry? Instead why not pursue a new path forward
Finding hope, efforts to share, and power in our words
In every circumstance we must try to endure, appreciate
View the opportunity present rather than the disaster
James 1:27, NIV: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless
is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from
being polluted by the world."
The duty of every believer is to make a pilgrimage to Mecca
An epic path to such a remote place is wrought with danger
But dangerous conditions of life outside of faith results in pain
To live a solemn faith is hard, offering little immediate reward
Walking upon the hot sands of the desert can not be Heaven
But the result of such a walk brings one closer to seeing angels
A pilgrimage isn't about travel, is found within, without shame
When finished the soul is sharpened, as if by God's own sword
I caught your scent upon the wind
I knew that it was you, felt it within
You carry with you an awareness
If I'm not careful, if I am careless
I tell everyone, how lost I am
I share to others the facts of the draw
Pulled into your orbit, I hear the call
You are the one for me
You are the one to redeem
All of my errors
All of my flaws
You are the one
Who completes me
I know I am miserable
But you are a miracle
So you know me
And what I need
We've reached a place in time of a global world
We live in manner of a once dreamed future
But our culture tries to cancel one's career
While judging one's foolish youthful acts
At times mistaking bad choices for evil ones
Our current social existence leads to deletion
The new cost of friendship comes with fear
Going deaf from our echo chamber voices
Our technological existence refutes reason
Modernity and the future were a promise
A future world that imagined never arrived
In ways our imagination led to treason
Plastic surgery for an appearance of Adonis
Modernity offers choices, all lead to Hell
With surgery edited flesh beauty derived
For now we've no love for each other
And far less for our vile self
“The future is there... looking back at us. Trying to
make sense of the fiction we will have become.”
William Gibson
Here in the abandoned land
By our own hand destroyed
Those responsible, the damned
We sneak inside, with no sound
Make our way towards the door
Then once within begin to slide
Down a very treacherous slope
Once we arrived at a place
Where hope can't be found
We act as if we are great
Deserve of some reward
But we do not
We've broken our world
Our homeland is dying
All we've done is dross
As we spit upon this
Once a holy ground
Defiling her innocence
Defiling all of nature
Destroying our home
Lost and future-less
Bringers of pestilence
Riders of the white horse
Destroyers of hope
Destroyer of memory
Leaving the earth bereft
Of life and existence
A toxic legacy
It used to tear me up inside, to hear the lies
To be the subject of intimidation
Not because I am so hurt
Something different
I wear a disguise, a smiling happy face
The bullies don't realize
That I am so much more than dirt
Beneath their odorous feet
In their face I might cry, or smile
I might be a fool, or try
But they won't relent
So the best answer is to defend
By ignoring them inside
Let them take their ride
And think they are so strong
But the fear in me towards them
Is long gone, past the point of worry
When I hear them bluster, inside me I laugh
Because the truth is that they are worthless
And I've lived long enough, that I've had enough
A ghost or spirit whispered in my ear
She said why settle for less
When so much more is near
Love is not a commodity
You know it is weird but
It is becoming an oddity
So never fear
Because I love you
You have the right to be heard
Whatever you believe
There is truth in every life lived
I wish you lived in my reach
In the world where I seek
You are the one I need
So now, let me know
What you are saying
Really please won't you
Please tell me so
You are the one who allows me
To fly, and some day
We'll tell a story
That will shake
The world of the others
Who never knew
Love was true
We could have one
Rising above our fears
Come near
I love you
I need you to be
Near
Or I'll fade away
Decay
The madness cannot be defined by any checklist of symptoms
An asylum is not a material form, nor is it able to be measured
It is in the mind, more than anything, where we become victims
Our brain is not like a machine to dream or choose, but severed
Born into our form, we can only try to follow a path of conviction
Destiny does not exist, only action, our mind dreams untethered
Madness is a disease, one that begs fate, one that leads the way
Our future is unknown and unwritten, with only a fear of shame
“Sanity is a madness put to good uses.” George Santayana
In a different day than this one now
There with all lessons learned and so
There'll be freedom, no need to bow
We'll rise with what we need to know
No worries, fears, nor even doubts
Watched by our species cousin crows
Rising from this state, no longer beasts
We'll do what finally must be done
And there will be joy for everyone
From the greatest to the very least
The story that was once begun
The troubled path will end, truly
And another will begin
Having grown to a higher state
With a dream all might reach
With an ecstasy all will taste
None to be left behind
No life considered one of waste
For we've risen the beast
Ready to challenge the old ways
From the greatest to the least
We will evolve into a new form
And all will join us
To a place where there is only justice
No tears, no more pain
We will rise, again
When you called my name, I took shelter
Within your depths, protection and keep
Lingering in your presence, still waiting
For freedom and hope found in your deep
I'll not stop dreaming, no, never retreat
For you are the end of the quest that I seek!
“I know how men in exile feed on dreams of hope.” Aeschylus
The day before never again
If the devil has his dance
All hopes are severed
If no dreams remained
But if he endures
We are cast into the pit
But if we do too, we twist
In the hope of a circumstance
That never comes through
The balance of hopes
And desperate wishes
That never come true
What does it matter
Why do we try
Staring the devil
Straight in the eye
We cannot trust
Circumstance
All the time and effort
Everything is shattered
For a falsehood
For a lost view
Of nothing real
Or real enough it matters
Any way we must dance
Dance if you wish
Move if you must
Trapped in a moment
Between divinity and lust
And losing our soul
To the temptations
Of the final dance
