FAITH

When at last the house is quiet

And day has relinquished its noisy riot

I wade in the deep waters of grace

Not trying to put every thought in its place

And peace, like a love song, captures my heart

And delights my soul, that most precious part.

As I ponder the lives that we live,

I find it clear that they are a gift

That march along at God’s perfect pace

And beckon homeward the whole human race.

The beauty of which I freshly see it

That life gives way but death’s been defeated.

The grave cannot hold what’s been made eternal

And destiny calls this race to relearn all

The myths of the past which tell of great things

Like magic and dragons and powerful kings.

These tales are designed to awaken our dreams

And give us the courage to believe the unseen.

EARTH SONG

Between all the clutter

Beneath the disease

Above every mutter

You’ll find me at ease

Riding the crest of an opulent wave

Safe on His breast

From cradle to grave.

It isn’t so often,

Inform you I must

These ears of mine soften

And shake off the dust

In order to hear

The song of the earth

Which fills me with cheer

And a sense of rebirth

But when it does happen

I’m fondly reminded

That once all the rappin’

And noise has subsided

There’s more life inside

The silence and calm

Than in all the joy rides

I’ve ever been on.

FOR TROY DAVIS

Your cooperation is requested

But not vested

Stray from the fray you’ll be arrested

Molested

Tried and tested, you guessed it

Verdict guilty, evidence planted

Pardon not granted

Plea bargain just jargon

Needle primed, 

final stay rejected

Poison injected

Eyes dim, Grim Reaper appears, tears 

in his eyes, no surprise, 

The demise

Of innocent men 

not his true prize

IF EVER I SHALL REST

If ever I shall rest

Upon this blessed bed

Without such tribulation

I must admit

I’d throw a fit

Of greatest exultation

EDEN

My spirit’s congested

My body molested

By thoughts of delusion

A cosmic illusion

Water becomes wine

Like diamonds in coal mines

It’s all in my own mind

Let’s pause to rewind

To first manifesto

We come from incest, though

The last fruit forbidden

From them nothing hidden

Quite possibly sublime

Could they have stopped time

To purchase for mankind

A way out of this bind?

Assessing the damage,

Their failure to manage

Their sins by omission

Though cause for derision

It won’t stop the mission.

HOPE

Something’s broken 

just a token

Left behind 

for me to find

Which shows my weakness

At my peakness

I need help from none. 

Now I’m done

Pretending otherwise, never claim the prize

Without a broken spirit- contrite at least

The dough is spoiled by a little yeast

That being my pride and self-reliance

Tired of thinking I’m a giant

But the letting go of that great sin

Has led me to the fix I’m in

Very anxious, tired and fearful

Been undone and slightly tearful

Without my shield, my pretense

Unable to mount my normal defense. 

Naked and bare, I shiver in fear

Waiting in vain for my Hope to appear.

And somehow, in Its loving wisdom

Hope sees fit to withhold some

Of Its presence and provision

Or could it just be my tunnel vision

That cannot see, past my own pain

My Hope, there waiting, to wash my stain?

HIGH SEAS

Pages have been moistened

With the tears of my choices

Keeping life on a string

To Independence I cling

Not with strength from muscle and sinew

But rather a limb that my heart grew

Which reaches out to grab a hold

Of this ship, but like a captain, bold,

In stormy seas soon comes to learn

The more he struggles, the less she turns.

FREESTYLE

Keep it flowing

Based on what’s growing

In the upstairs garden

The beat will harden

In time I’ll learn the cure of words

Shrapnel in the air

Ripping flesh stinging bare

Skin singes 

Life hinges

On doctor’s incision

No precision

Play for keeps 

The reaper reaps

What he doesn’t sow

That’s down below

Work of the devil 

Comin through in treble 

Tones in the ears

Sound disappears

As lighting strikes 

The empire back.

Can’t steal what I wrote 

Promissory note 

Won’t cut it 

Bank’s gonna gut it

Like hogs on the spit

Can’t take another hit

Slit the wrist by the midnight lights

The view from these heights

It’s all great, applause

In sight, it’s a cause

For celebration

SON

Did you know you had no pants on

As you sat there with your hands on

The apple slices you were eating

As if it were your final greeting?

I should have told you that I know

What it is like to watch you grow

But you don’t yet have the comprehension

Pants removed, and free of tension

REPRIEVE

Pain my great teacher

Today I beseech her

To shorten the lesson

Forgive my transgression

But I’ve had my fill for a while

So much I am learning

But the fire keeps on burning

And singes my heart in great style

Let this be my plea, then:

I’d love a reprieve from

The emotional pain I’m enduring

Although I am grateful

To sit at her table

There’s too much hard shit that’s been stirring

My insides are raw;

Like a camel’s last straw

I fear that I soon may collapse

So with her permission

I’ll take that remission

Before something inside of me snaps.

DREAM

In my lover’s arms so complete

She and I dancing, spinning

Grinning.

No words. 

Charcoal bubbles of smoke 

Float by gracefully

Filled to the fullest measure

With the joyful tease of pleasure

Nothing is better than this feeling we share

Pillowing through the midnight air

Surely a love such as this can only come

In dreams and fantasies 

Untainted by reality

With its dark stains of discord and calamity

Constant reminders that this is not home

But how long to suffer in a land that’s so stale

While true love awaits on that side of the veil?

If only to slip into sweet lengthy slumber

And dream such a dream continuously

So that after a while I, unencumbered, 

Envision this, my reality.

Yet now to be ripped from the arms of my lover

And thrown to the wolves without any cover

And naked thus standing, defenses not mounted

I’ll only survive on the blessings I’ve counted

Disdaining the curse that’s gripping my senses

Without any terse or shallow pretenses.

SHADOWS

Shadows cast upon my bed 

Dancing though there be no light

Save for the slowly dying flame

That lingers after wars subside

But battles yet to fight remain

As if the peace may never come

And lovers in repose lie waiting

For the two to become one.

And if I ever see the promise

Offered on that sacred mount

My heart will leap on wingless flight

With cries of freedom ringing out

And flame, once faded, bursting forth

Devouring shadows in the night.

THE PATH

Prevailing winds have shifted

My data is un-encrypted

My heart has been uplifted.

It seems that God has sifted

The greediness from me.

The need to be moving

quickly through life, preoccupied with 

what's next on the list

Not pausing to think

I am on the brink 

Of a natural disaster

My head made of plaster

a slave to my master

But now it's all different

At least when I am hell-bent 

On keeping my feet on the ground

And on placing one foot in front of the other

Not hoping to see how much ground I can cover

No, I'd rather tarry 

in this moment, I'm very

Excited to start

Replaying my part

In the grand scheme of things

BONDAGE

The greatest sin I’ve e’er committed

Was to let myself get fitted

For a straight and slender suit

Which had, attached a bitter root

That quickly fed upon my wounds

and in good time began to swoon

Until, to date, it’s like an oak tree

Which from its root I cannot break free

For seven years I’ve paid my dues

And tried in vain to be cut loose

But the roots are thick, the axe is small

And it’s got me all twisted in a ball.

BEING HUMAN

Can I rest in you, complete?

Assuredly no simple feat

For restless I was born to be

With humankind my company

Ever wishing to be better

Accomplishment our fetter

To improve we’re ceaseless striving

Toward the shore without arriving

COLD COMFORT

Please forgive me
should I give thee
a piece of flesh,
fresh
meat for the pyre?
      Faith's expired
God's tired and lame
responses to shame
that haunts us, taunts us
with grace
 and broken promises-
Believable when perceivable,
cold comfort if
    confronted with
the icy cold
wind chilling, freezing rain
constant pain, off the handle
   Light the candle
of despair- I care
less
for your moral complacencies,
        recipes
for success- Let me guess:
you're white and wealthy
healthy and sober,
not hungover
from a drunken orgy?
  Don't bore me
with your judgment, or words
of wisdom.
     It's come
down to this:
let my shit stink
and your ego shrink-
       then think
before you speak
walk a while in my sneaks
sneak peaks, freak shows,
            blows
your mind
with dark thoughts and distress.
  I guess
you should quit talking
and keep walking

                     home.

FADING

Some things never change.
     Rearrange
the furniture
The walls remain
 still stain
my conscience, but since
There's no escaping,
the only sane thing
is to keep refraining
from abstaining
and containing
my pleasures;
conscience no measure-
gave her the slip
couldn't equip me
with tools for survival.
     Unrivaled
in my pursuit
of the rainbow's loot-
Pain's slow to recede
when you've made veins bleed
in all directions
surgeon's election
is to cauterize the wounds,
not soon enough,
tough to repair
a man who's not there
fading quickly to black
heart attack
my deliverance
ever since
I fell under this spell
living hell, hot water
not cooling, no fooling
the Maker
taker of all who bend their knee, free
grace bitter pill to swallow,
hollow leg can't get full
heavy guilt will annul
the forgiveness he offers,
much softer
than the anvil
that will
kill the hope.
  Tie a rope
round my neck
wreck what's left.
  Fallen prey to the lion,
speck of dust blown away
                       off to Zion

DESPAIR

Dreams deferred-
  Not reassured
By the assurance of fate
  Hesitate
    when sirens blare
signaling despair
bullets found their mark, dark-
ness never felt so good
wish i could
   fly away
      stay
at the place i've seen, clean
conscience, all this nonsense
   swept away
by wandering winds
holding hopeful glimpses
of what could be
 
    but reality
like a heavy stone
so soon returns
       burns
the branch of enmity.

did it ever leave?

 reprieve
from nightly horrors-
when sun appears between the clouds
    momentarily
then, lost in shadow,
too soon departs, smell of despair
 still in the air
    the yoke i bear
so willingly.


cruel hoax,
joke's
on me,
how i dreamt so foolishly.

Is this my fate,
this tragedy-
   devil hides, waits
behind a mask of piety?

son of man stands,
his hands
     still torn for me.

THE AWAKENING

Nothing’s as it seems.

It seems

my perceptions

Cannot fathom the direction

In which I am truly going

Instead they keep me slowing

To languish over milkish spills

And swallow oblong pinkish pills

Which keep the horrish voices still

But cannot give my life the thrill

That it was made for

Before the Great War

Delivered the death blow

But victory comes slow

When you’re king of eternity

Eyes open when it’s time to see

Can’t rush the awakening

Some boots will be quakening

But others will be kneeling

Or dancing on the ceiling

Bodies reeling

From the blows of love

Sent from above

Like a mighty thunder

You best get under

The sacred umbrella

And like Cinderella

Let the magic transform you

The clothes that are worn through

And torn by the wicked witch

Receive much more than a stitch

When the black night falls from the sky.

Now learn the mystery

Passed down through history:

To live we all must die.

MY AMERICA

Time to clear the air, take some spare

Time to evaluate the ways we hesitate

And let opportunities pass

To follow the mass

Of people instead of trusting

Our instincts and busting

Out of the mold, risking the cold

Shoulders of others, our sisters and brothers

Who prefer to swallow

The party line and follow

The herd to the slaughter

Political fodder

For the power-elite

Oops, press delete

Rather be spared the treat

of a boarding of water

my resolve likely totter

and my faith in the system

flushed down the cistern, this term

will outlast my will as an outcast,

drinking an empty glass

that’s full of some more crass

statements that alienate

the people of this great

           nation.

NORTHBOUND REDLINE

Squeezing, cramped,

Lowered gazes

Nothing phases

Me anymore

Life’s a chore

And infinity jests

As it flexes

Its mighty arm

Like a charm

My gaze is steadied

And my heart readied

To battle demons

Red, blue and green ones

Seen some in purple too

I.O.U.

An explanation

Morse code destination

Now parked at the station

Meanwhile the nation

Watches from satellite

As from the train I alight.

WORDS

Stain the pages with talk of the ages

Religious convictions that keep causing frictions.

Verbal abuse, you’ve been so profuse

I’ve suffered an overdose of diction.

Ironically speaking, it is quite intriguing

How words speak of shutting up words.

Like fire on fire, it often inspires

a raging inferno at first.

Then, once subsided, each world has collided

and finally runs out of thirst.

JOURNEY

Time to cut loose

Still have that noose

Around my neck

Life is a wreck

Since I’m constrained here

Through some pained tears

Want to fly but

Stuck with dry gut

No juices flowing

Winds, they’re not blowing

My direction

Insurrection

From within,

But through the din

A light is shining

Dimly my King

Comes to view

After a few

Minutes of waiting

Heart’s hesitating

What’s the matter, son?

Can’t help come undone?

That’s my problem

Poets, I rob them

Tryin’ to get high

But only you can fly

You said you’d teach me

it’s so hard to reach me

So we’ll take a rain check

I’ll be at the train deck-

You could say the station-

Waiting for my destination

RESTORATION

Relinquish this life would I readily

For the promise of love that grows steadily

In place of the state of the world as we know it

Where decay robs all things, including this poet

For never to age nor perish we long

As if for the chords of a faraway song

That once we had sung but long since forgotten

Now dismayed and disdained,

blood-stained and rotten

We labor along, hastening that day

When, in a flash, the chorus will play

And there, be restored to the glory once held

Behind fateful journeys that promises spelled

To return to our places of glorious splendor

Seated on thrones with touches so tender

That hearts will be melted in pools of communion

Not Midas, but better, more precious than bullion