Reflections on Happiness: 06/01/2009

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

evolution

A handful of creation,

we exist,

nimble creatures

set on creating

paper from thought,

emerging

like words out of stone,

we are numb

to a world of criticisms,

we count minutes

and eternity

in another,

concentrating

on our subtle

differences...

the incantations

of our environment,

evolution is this way...

slow and cruel,

torturing us

with anticipation;

we need a break through,

we see a spot on the wall

and call it passion,

finding art

in an industry for youth,

manufacturing our lives

from religion,

torture,

eternity...

thoughts

on a pedestal

for us to admire

as our own

as we search

for the antithesis

of our passions

in every day life;

we groan from the pain

of tireless lovemaking

pent up

in the unrequieted

passions of the flesh,

coming to a halt

as we realize

we are human;

we stand

baffled

by the disappointment

of our shortcomings,

cursing god

and revealing

the truth

Monday, June 29, 2009

Apathy

We can only forget

for a little while

until it hurts

and we take our pain

in tears and pills,

we're too numb

and its hard to feel

when you don't care,

we give up too soon

as we become weaker

we starve for simplicity

in a tangle of ropes

and everyone

is pulling;

we need to be free;

the youth have open sores

that need healing;

let us out of the cage,

let us fly,

let our words

change the world.

War

We stand here,

our emotions hand-picked

out of a box of crayolas,

we are molded metal

slowly bending itself

to become

the children of poverty,

lust,

we are the muted jewels

that can no longer

shine;

we fall slowly

like moths into a jar,

we are creatures

robbed of our peace,

our places taken

by alibies,

tears of blood

falling

into the hands

of our enemies,

our pain,

our trust,

our misfortune

being thrust

int a grab-bag

of happiness

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Idol

I watched you

and saw

all that I ever dreamed

inside of you;

the pain,

the happiness,

the sorrow...

everything I ever knew

seemed to be bound

in a single

emotion

and now

I turn the page

and forget

Refugee

Its restless,

the air around us,

life

is filled with confusion,

of questions

with feathers

and answers

with chains,

I want

to find my way,

but I'm scared

and

without a light,

I know who I am,

but I'm afraid of the wind,

yet free from it,

and as the currents

carry me,

I find myself

floating on a raft

of dignity,

stranded

with other refugees,

praying

for the waves

to take us to safety.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Into the night

The air is thick here,

black velvet collecting static,

we are humbled

by technology,

replacing

a human heart

with things we can

repair;

we place beads on a string,

hoping

we don't come to an end,

that the thread won't run out,

we're uncertain

of what the future holds,

blotting out the stars

with industrial lights,

forcing us to look

to human stupidity

to answer our questions,

satisfying our appetite

for ruin;

we die,

leaving a legacy

of disaster,

letting the dawn come

after we're gone

each day darker.

1984

I commit thought crime,

driving passion

from a syringe

into the crux

of what I am supposed to be--

fighting materialism

for our downfall,

purchasing time

with my pen,

absorbing the heat

of a city that never sleeps,

for it draws on drugs

for entertainment,

letting the human spirit

die in the gutter;

the persistence of memory

becomes just a painting

as we deny

the reality of our lives,

we have amputated our history,

maiming our fortune

as we slander old age;

our bodies become cancerous,

and then we tie a ribbon around our disease,

pumping dollars

into a corporate machine,

but holding them on our backs,

the value of protest

coming secondary

to the dollar;

we are not free

but ignorant of our chains.

A call to youth

A clock ticks by hours,

deciding fate

by the second,

we run on a path

of twisted karma

we thought we threw away,

only to dig up old bones,

pieces of our past

left behind

like miles on a road,

we run on the asphalt,

following

the little white lines,

perforating weakness

with heavy footprints;

we march into the sunrise;

taking our weapons--

our staff of hope,

the spear of light,

fighting off injustice

with wisdom

Friday, June 26, 2009

The activist

I am a triangle,

a traveller

bent over an axis

of hope

stuck on a road

toward peace,

the highway of my life

like a snake

coiled around injustice,

choking off apartheid,

digesting hatred

like fate

where we've lost the thread;

I want to cut

the lifespan

of indignity,

to chop off intolerance

like an extra limb,

to leave the body of humanity

bold, naked and enlightened,

no longer mangled

by war,

nourished by peace

free to be

what it is.

carpe diem

We put bandages

over our indignity,

selling confidence

like day-old newspapers,

placing the future

in a cardboard box

only to be put

on a shelf

with the wine from our funeral

Reflections on Happiness