rungs and necessary elements…

when if turns into is –
tomorrow,
yesterday –
i’ll still be waiting here for you,
midnight anticipating dawn…
 
long –
the shadows on the road –
with miles left yet to travel –
but i’ve grown weary of the journey…
 
time used to be a friend of mine –
until the days behind were greater than ahead.
 
quickly –
earnestly –
i grasp for one more rung on this ladder of my life –
ambitious –
determined –
seeking consistency
in a mercurial world…
 
can you reach out a hand today?
this friend indeed –
is more than just a friend in need –
 
and you,
much more than just the axis to a world
ever so quickly turning!

and sometimes…

sometimes we sing,
un-compromised –
no one listening.
irrelevant – the need to be heard.
sometimes we just cannot contain the emotion –
corral the words back to their silent place –
deep inside.
and so we sing…
 
sometimes –
the song –
becomes our anthem.
rebellion shouted from lungs trapped in a shell of perceived should-have-been –
could-have-been.
the escape becomes our escape.
the release –
our freedom –
sometimes…
 
and then –
sometimes –
we no longer hear the music –
and there –
facing the silence –
when we feel we’ve nothing left to say.
before we bow –
final curtain call –
we close our eyes –
 
and sometimes we just – pray…

of supposition and meaning undefined…

words.
taken out of context can magnify,
or crucify.
peace and war initiated within the same collection of letters –
assembly,
the defining variable.
 
so much of who we are finds animation from our expression –
dialect –
inflection.
spoken,
read –
punctuated and pronounced.
emotion born within the simplicity of a syllable.
intention misconstrued.
passion pursued.
ignorance and genius separated ever so slightly.
fascinating –
the way we communicate before learning how to speak.
initiating interaction outside the paradigms of language.
and then –
acquiring intelligence –
we articulate our thoughts –
bring to life suppose and possibly –
as we struggle to declare opinion.
 
and yet –
regardless our intention –
fail to say exactly how we feel…

prayer for judgment

outstretched –
without restriction –
a hand.
 
offered –
free –
unqualified –
open arms of compassion.
simple things all too often taken for granted.
 
confined to rooms of routine,
we lose the passion for living –
commit ourselves to merely,
life.
 
for some of us,
the process suffocating.
disallowed to authenticate our disillusion,
we pursue alternative methods of engagement.
once unrestrained,
the freedom from mundane becomes our drug of choice.
 
and you.
standing defiant in your Chasuble of condemnation –
conspire to chastise –
categorize our behavior within paradigms of dissension.
i suppose,
if measured by standards of secular jurisprudence,
our mercurial behavior could be considered deviant –
perhaps radical.
however,
if allowed,
prayer for judgment?
 
how can you stand in posture of authority over courts of supposition?
surely you do not feel justified to gather stones!
how can you entertain acts of accommodation with conviction –
pass sentence for crimes you merely postulate as accused –
ill-informed,
bearing witness to effect,
 
yet no affiliation with the cause…

Simply rocks

i stopped by to paint my mood,
but rain set in and the colors ran muted to grey…
i stopped by to drop off my baggage of frustration –
realized the gates to acceptance were closed –
access denied…
i stopped by – (third time’s the charm) – to trade in my chaos, for calm –
to no avail – (three strikes, you’re out!)…
 
almost as seldom as never –
generosity chosen instead of obtain.
in this world so full of people,
unimaginable – thoughts of feeling alone.
and yet,
in place of shells with stories to tell,
we end up less than polished stones –
on this shore of life,
 
unnecessary –
uncollected –
 
simply – rocks.

this truth –

if we can pass by – on the street – our brother without a coat,

standing in the rain.

if we can ignore – sitting all alone –

our sister giving in to demons,

resistance gone.

 

if we can close our eyes at night –

recite prayers inclined to elevate our us,

and yet recuse ourselves from ownership of the sin of indifference,

what merit is there in our testimony?

 

how can we utter allegiance to this God we’ve never seen,

yet disallow admittance of even the least of these into our sanctuary?

 

voices,

we have.

and yet we choose silence.

all the while –

on bended knee –

 

assuming blessing we simply have not earned…

loneliness (part 1)

and i –
your heroin have become.
accouterments of discontent –
the pain you feel – no one –
can understand…
emphatic –
to the definition of all alone –
you cling with defiance to your pain,
darkness – attached to night…
 
i wonder –
in your room of disallowed,
do shadows fall?
or is – perhaps – the sorrow so profound
no light dare enter in?
 
no setting sun.
no rising moon.
no longer stars in your midnight sky –
merely holes,
allowing darkness in…

beyond what you can bear…

within the essence of a sigh –
contained within the silence of contemplation –
there is that moment when it seems the world stands still.
nothing really matters.
it’s in the confines of the space before – where matter was abandoned.
out of routine –
ritual to supposed-to-be –
importance met it’s untimely demise.
and now,
afloat upon the waters of indifference,
it matters not the absence of the wind.
when there is no desire to leave the harbor,
it matters not which way the current flows,
nor how often the oars hit even the surface of the water…

becoming Jericho

oh my duplicitous Pygmalion!
while you were sleeping,
i was years away…
 
… trapped,
as you would say –
contained within my pre-assembled tomb of ambiguity.
but there is where i find –
i,
my – me…
 
and while you walk in circles
around my truth,
expecting walls of nonchalance to crumble,
i smile –
free of your contagious animosity…
 
how simply –
archaic!
your words,
so fervent in their request to be my savior –
however,
your eyes do not invite –
and your clenched fists can never hold these trembling hands…

of sheep – imagined

for what purpose,
may i ask,
suggestions of compassion?
 
would it not be more genuine to pass the superficial statements of solidarity
through a filter of truth?
remove the assumed perception of empathy
from the diatribes they conceal?
 
i for one would much rather face a wolf –
understand the opposition –
than mingle with imagined sheep and become victim to defamation by deceit…
 
confused?
how so?
surely you realize,
even the perfection of your (fake) make-up can’t hide the truth
when standing alone outside –
(animal)
in the rain.