Television

Television
Greatly dims
The lump that in your brain-case swims

Heed my advice
And do not balk,
Take the poor thing for a walk.

Once upon a time

Once upon a time
A man had an accidental and embarrassing slip
Injuring his leg.

Upon examination,
The doctors found he had broken a bone.
It was a simple break
And relatively easy to treat.

Soon, his leg was in a cast
And healing could begin.

Of course, due to the pain in his leg,
For some time he had to support himself with crutches
And later a stick,
And he continued to walk with a pronounced limp.

Strangely,
When he met his friends,
He noticed they treated him differently,
Sometimes ignoring him altogether.

Some thought he must have been drunk
To have that fall.

Some thought his leg was only bruised
And not broken
And that he was exaggerating his injury
For sympathy.

Some thought he was now prone to falls
And they disassociated themselves from him
In case they, too, might fall.

Some saw his injury as a character flaw
And blamed him both for his accident
And his slow recovery.

Nobody told him any of this, of course,
In fact most people just cut off communication with him altogether.

Who needs all that drama, right?

This Fleshly Fortress

This tired and fleshly fortress,
Having fallen into decline,
Stands decaying on the idle shore,
Unlit windows gaping,
Stained by bitterness and age,
Futility its banner ever more

Stay Away from Robert

Stay Away from Robert

You should stay away from Robert
He’s not been very well
He’s had some kind of breakdown
Which I’m sure that you can tell

You should stay away from Robert
He’s ashamed of what he’s done
But no one gets a second chance
No, not even one

You should stay away from Robert
If you don’t know what to do
For he might be contagious
And you could catch it too

You should stay away from Robert
Desert him as a friend
You don’t need the drama
Of a patient on the mend

You should stay away from Robert
Leave him on his own
You should not be near him
When he’s sinking like a stone

You should stay away from Robert
He’s sad and he’s depressed
And the comfort that he craves from you
Must never be expressed

You should stay away from Robert
There are dragons in his mind
And you mustn’t waste your effort
Being merciful or kind

You should stay away from Robert
He’ll wound you, it is true
And friends are just for keeping
For what they do for you

You should stay away from Robert
Don’t say a single word
Perhaps your love could help him
But that would be absurd

A contradiction

Contradiction went out walking
On a day so fair and sweet
And saw himself come walking back
On the far side of the street.
He tried to hide his massive bulk
Behind a handy tree
But his other self did just the same
Paradoxically.

On Ozymandias

Ozymandias,
The King of Kings,
Left his likeness
On the burning sands
To slowly fall into decay
Over thousands of years

Though broken,
His cold visage
Still stares out across the wastes,
Triumphant in the glory
That has long outlived
His memory

And, as we should,
we despair

For myself,
I will have no such monument

I stir the air a little:
A charmed phrase,
A gentle rhyme,
A fragment of melody,
And all disappear
Even as they are made

My errors too
are small,
No catastrophes will follow my name
Beyond those many small catastrophes
That follow all men
And hence follow none

So my name will be writ in water too,
A moment passing,
Then all will return as if we never were

And the question we must ask ourselves is this:
Was it worth it?
Was it worth it?

Threat

Stop complaining right away,
You’re getting on my goat
And if you do not cut it out
I’ll punch you in the throat!

Borders

You and me
Us and them
Flesh and spirit

The border lands
Are where we pause

Love and loss
War and peace
Life and death

We cross over
Our passports carved into
The palms of our hands
Constant refugees
Fleeing something
Longing for something else

Past and present
Earth and sky
Hope and despair

Standing in orderly lines
We wait our turns
Anxiously anticipating the new
Leaving the familiar
For the foreign land

Fire and ice
Body and mind
Chaos and order
We are a pilgrim people
Restless to be gone
Carried on the crest of time
From state to state
Our spirits flash and turn
Like fish beneath the tide

Let it be love

When we are gone
When everything is said and done
If something lives on
Let it be love
Let it be love

 

Be kind to all

Be kind to all
Regardless of their nature,
Regardless of their stature

Be compassionate to all
Regardless of their tribe,
Regardless of their virtue in your eyes

Be gentle to all
Regardless of how they might treat you,
Regardless of how difficult they might be

Comfort those who struggle
Regardless of whether their struggle is against an outward oppression
Or against their own nature

Show your open hand to all
Regardless of whether it is accepted
Regardless of whether it is struck

Remember we are all one people
Especially those who seem most foreign to us

Remember we all want peace for our children,
Justice for our kin,
A little time to access our own piece of land
To bring forth fruit,
To laugh
To cry,
And without shame
To truly express our humanity
Without fear
But with pride and celebration

Why is this so hard?