I Shall One Day Wake (day 300)

I struggle
I struggle
I struggle
And I see

I push
I push
I push
And I feel

But for all these errors
For all the hours a dark
When the wind cries softly
I shall blow my faithful winds
Sitting amongst the poplars
With eyes so content and far
The whispers of my fathers
Caress me with these stars
Shaping my immediate thought
So profoundly that I begin
To shake from the inner confines
Of my scared and lonely soul
I shall one day wake
From this horrible torment
I face with every breath
I shall not walk alone

Old Cars and New Livin’ (day 294)

It’s funny how an old car
Yesterday was new
We face life so differently
In the race for tomorrow

With life comes sacrifices
We must make every day
Sometimes we’re conscious
Other times we lay slow

For true greatness
For an unspoken award
In all that life can offer
Where do we gather our weapons from?

In the lost arts of mankind
When virtues became known
There lived a great answer
Truth we’ve never known

In this time that has passed
We’ve lost a great goodness
Head over heels
For what tomorrow will bring

Perhaps in this game
As we look for the new
We’ll remember the past
Pull closer what we knew

Luminescence (day 293)

Perhaps it’s the luminescence of the situation that drives one to distraction when playing the small little games away from the goal.

I like to think otherwise though. I like to think it’s the severity of every single little nuance that will effect the end that sinks its way so deeply into my seared skin.

This, I’m ok with. This I’ve worked out long ago to be the true essence of life. The true essence of every single step that we take as we push forth. And in fact, with all of this that we push forth with every single day, everything combined, this is what makes us who we truly are.

When some of us sit on the the milk crates and watch the world pass by, or take the car down to easy road for a bite, or push the effort so easily away from the direct line of sight, some of us tend to also make our own destiny with the same efforts that it would take to take one single step into the future: forward.

Then some of us do not sit. Some of us push into the ground for stronger traction as we lean up against the building, tempting it to move a foot to the left. Some of us take that step into the darkness, and play with the fate of the unknown, unspeakable, unrealized, but oh so enjoyable.

In a lurch of passion the crucible fell to the floor and silence ensued. Lord have mercy on our souls; we were still standing. Still able to breath and had not yet been ruptured into the unholy gates of hell. There was no fancy smoke machine inhibiting our abilities and senses. And yet, as we lazily gained our wits and made our way casually back to the cheap diner for our fix of a makeshift, half way to noon morning breakfast, we still felt a nagging luminescence of the situation lurching forward into our sub-conscience.

I like to think we have no idea what we’re doing. I like to think that this is all just a dance as we make our way through the stratosphere of energies and emotions, trying to balance delicately on the surface as we push our consciences north, into the space that is a pretty good fit for a long haul home.

Brothers and Sisters (day 288)

We fight for our money
We fight for our bread
We fight for the clothes on our back
But do we fight for our brothers and sisters?

We fight for our gold
We fight for our oil
We fight for the car that we drive
But do we fight for our brothers and sisters?

We fight for our computers
We fight for our iphones
We fight for the laptop we squander
But do we fight for our brothers and sisters?

We fight for our drugs
We fight for our pension
We fight for the crimes we commit
But do we fight for our brothers and sisters?

[This poem is dedicated to the brothers and sisters who are effected every day by the terror of what is known as Kony. Please give the Invisible Children a voice.]

Never Night (day 281)

I punch out the wounds
The passage of time inflicts
It is I, proud and fair
That pushes forth with the scars
The touch of perfection
The outlook of gods
The ransom letter held in private
The blood that sets deep within
Leaving a bastardly sight
A gruesome sight
Towards the long awaited memories
Of tomorrows never night

Enjoyably (day 280)

Today I woke
I woke with a drive
I hustled and bustled
And smiled at the necessary times
Today was
As it usually is
A day I have lived enjoyably

Perhaps sometimes,
In the hustle bustle of things
When all projects come to a spearhead
When all roads converge
It gets less fun
But that’s short term
That’s only temporary

For in the end
When the diamonds have been cut
When the tiger has stretched and roared
I shall again feel refreshed
As I woke today
With the drive and desire
A day I shall live enjoyably

Homemade (day 279)

Homemade in the ethical sense of the world
In the sense that pulls at our sleeves
In the sense that reigns in the whole body
Lets go the ruthless edges of sanity
Into the most repulsive, otherwise ordinary
Seemingly positive, but cordoned off
Regions of my mind
Regions of my body that lurch forward
With the thick scent of another blown anatomy check
Pitted against the random notes
Of unfamiliar strangers
Pitted against the sanity
Of the only race regarded for their treacherous
Angles of sacrilege
Don’t trust the empty can
Don’t believe in the full one
Don’t listen to wise words
With half the mind for progress
Feel the homemade ethical sprout
Feeding deep within thy soul
Feel the sense of the world
As you bend down and look deep
Hold your hand out for the mother of the age
For the senseless wonders
Each and every breath takes from you
With baited breath
Like the newborn kicking for air
Stick out your tongue and bear it proudly
Bring back the novelty in the insane cruelty
Which latches itself onto the rounded
Edges of your hourly wage
Survival of the fittest
When the homemade and ethical dribble
Fall, and the sprout of our progress

While I Shall (day 273)

While I’m afraid of what tomorrow brings
I shall pull up my socks and trod forth
While I can only see habitual retreating
I shall encourage you till the end
While my breath comes slower in my dying age
I will squeeze the last of it into you
While my whispers hit only your ears
I will make sure they embrace your thoughts

..and then
In the power of the history
We shall be forever more

Sometimes (day 268)

Sometimes it hurts
Sometimes the blood trickles down the sides of your cheeks
And the cold cold hard ground is the only place to lay down

Sometimes faces stare back
Deep and ugly in contorted disgust with what their own eyes meet
Searching for an exit plan, a way out, or a weakness to abuse

Sometimes the is sunshine
Escaping through the clouds in little rays of dancing
Upon walls, upon half faces, upon new growth of flowers

Sometimes it just works
Sometimes when you put all the ducks in a row, and tie your shoes tight
Take those first steps, the others just seem to roll with the flow

Sometimes is what I look forward to
Each and every day that hands us chances to dive into the unknown
The shades of light that flicker back at our conscience and glow

Business, As Usual (day 267)

I wander the streets in a seeming cloud of confusion
Faces laughing, talking, swearing in my ear
Sometimes at me, most of the time amongst themselves
And I think: “How obscure this society is,
How little their lives seem to impact mine
Yet without their nonchalance about my business
I would have no business at all”
So it is this way, that I wander through town
Looking upward at the rooftops above
Smiling at strangers, that are confused with my gaze
I notice their inadvertent discomfort at seeing my own eyes
Staring right back at them, with a smile written across their lids
But mostly I notice their interest, behind the scenes

People usually have their own agendas
Scuttling here and there to get done what is to be done
Ignorance yells at me, through some of their gazes
Yet, in some, I see interest and kindness

Today an old lady stopped me in the street
“Isn’t it beautiful” she asked of me
“Look up” I directed
As we both gazed up at the high rise
Which just then, in that moment that we stood there
Had turned a magical gold
We both realized and were inspired by the act of sharing
What a few words of kindness can do towards a better tomorrow