i am, become…

but gives…money…buys possessions,owns you…love…heart broken,living pieces.war…impotent menwaving swords!death,body given,spirit taken.passion,rain falling,drops whisper!anger,fear frustrated,turning inwards.hunger,empty bowl,empty soul!lover,hears, feels,respects, touches.God,human faces,dawn’s body!

there is a stillness now, and a waiting,though i know not for what.i’ve always been different,heard voices in the shadows.and often i dont know,whether i’m dreaming, or a dream.i’ve seen things that should have been nightmares….i’ve seen the hungry child dying in the rose that blooms!i look at people and feel their sorrow.i hear what…

…is my body,then..may….my……spirit………fly………..away!if the cost of freedom….is my identity,then…may…..you……see……..yourself………..in………. ….me!if the cost of freedom….is my time,then…forever…..is…….m y………gift!

bucket in hand…i am the handle,the water, and the spicket…and two feet who,without a name or regret,silently do their job,walking back up the hill!all generated by theaction of pumping!

by the light that reaches…my eyes.i cannot understandthe ocean’s depths,by pressing the shell to my ears…and listening.i cannot comphrehendthe freedom of the wind,as i walk ‘neath the treesin the moonlight.but i can know lovethat moved whole mountains,and stopped eternity….in your touch!

we are with the most,and are closest to…is the person we know least about…our self!

i’d say it,and go home.if one actionwould stop the wars,i’d do it,whatever the cost.if one intentcould change the waywe see each other,i’d follow itto my grave.if one desirecould feed the hungry,it would be,my only desire!if one lifewould pay the cost,that brings freedom,and equality to all…i’d pay the price today!

who can shoe a horse,plow with a mule….build their own house,hunt for their food,and grow the rest…talk to you about booksno one reads anymore….sharpen a knife, bait a hook,teach a boy to be a man…and a girl that she’s loved.work all day and love all night….string their own guitar…treat a woman with respect….stand beside you…

i realized we are strangers,drawn by an intimate flame.your soul smells like my socks,and yet my voice falls empty…unnamed raindrops,clinging to unspoken grass!

we are not the body we have,but the blood that enlivens the body.we are not the blood coarsing through,but the breath that feeds the blood.we are not the breath we breathe in,but the breath we breathe out,and nothing more!

peaceful protestersmarching for human rights,equality, and changebeing slaughteredby their own government…now here…shadows of Kent State…common peoplepushed to the edgein the battle forsurvival, human dignity,and hope for a future…already abandonedby our own government…will it take beingkilled to get their attention?will it take dyingto give our childrena chance?you say it cant happen here!open your eyes, your ears,your…

of the man,who stood between you,and the oppressor.love smells like…the blood and shiton the boots,of the man shovellingin the ditch,pulling still breathing bodiesfrom the smoking ruins….love tastes like…the hungry lips,that just gave youtheir last morsel of food.love acts like…God, before you named ‘him’ God,before you bound her in concepts,drawn by your fears!

old and young,male and female.tired and poor,pushed too far!too honest forour own good…small towns, big cities,farms and factories…hands that workjoined together…we are a peoplethat believe in people…the faces of freedom,and we have names!red, white, and blue!

we are where we are becausewe’ve put ourselves here,we’ve allowed this to happen to us!we blame the government,we blame people who are ‘different’,we blame the economy,we blame god,we blame each other.bottom line, we are to blame.we cannot evolve as human beingswithout evolving as a society.we cannot evolve as people,without evolving as a nation.we cannot evolve…

through the darkest nights,some that remain unlit.some that wait for passion unreserved,some that applaud holiness,some that undress for sin.some that have names, others faces….some that sound faintly like rain.some that smell strongly of love,others as bright as the stars.and the last one nearly burnt down,waiting for the wind to come…when silence strikes the final match,and…

of the working poor,both here, andaround the world…till these backs are broken!now these backs have faces,and the faces have names.we can no longer allowthe few to own the many…the time of economic slaveryis over! it is finished!dignity, respect,and equality….these are the stepson the road to tomorrow,a tomorrow based andfounded on freedom!

grass moans,mountains whimper like children.trees groan and turn,rivers dance in silence.owls speak Greek and Hebrew,and cattle speak in tongues.snakes plant corn by moonlight,and snails dance in the dark.turtles carry messages from god,and hawks search the skies for truth.buddhas laugh…and small children know.why have we forgotten?

racing wildly acrossthe plains,bodies painted,ponies nostrils flared,bow and arrow ready…to the victorthe spoils…a prayer of gratitudeto the spiritof the beast….meat for the long winter…maybe even a tasteof raw liver…there were great herdsof buffalo then…when the peopleof the earthwere free!

or made of sky?do we come from the womb?or return to it?do we plow the earth?or does it plow us?where will we be at harvest?do we spend all of our livestrying to go backto what we knew as a child?are we then mouth,nipple,or the lonely phallusof a forgotten god?the empty hand,or the sound of wings…testify!

we are the work of chapters,the forging of steel.the spider’s web empty for a month of nights,the garden sowed again and again.trees cut and stacked in firewood lengths,babies born in cementaries,atop unmarked graves.maps lost, histories forgotten,dull knives sharpened again and again.footprints in sand,that the waves wash away.wise men following the star,generation to generation.brown hands picking…

turning from green to orange to red…we spend our loving burning branchesin the shadow of the tree.we spend our faith trying to capture,and hold the wind for a moment…never knowing that what we search foris only our own being!we are the leaf, the branches, the fire,the tree, and the wind…the sound, the loving, and the…

kneeling before tofu altarsof your own conveniencebut what you search forhas never been lost!cant be defined by rhetoric’s shape,cant be contained by names, sects, or creeds…& cant be bought with plastic card faith…what you search foris the spaceinside the shellthe place where the soundof the oceanabides in stillnessyou are that shell!what you search foris already…

walk a hollow pathwith hollow hearts.speaking often, never talking.listening, but never hearing.touching, but never feeling.inhaling, but never exhaling.with nothing behind theirhollow eyes…. insulated,burning nuclear fuelin a carbon world…an ingrown toenailon the foot…of an angry God!the hollow ones…

are we the only ones still bleeding,infidels by choice!whose house and whose light,whose name on the box?will the soldiers then come,and bury what we’ve been?when feeling departs,another intimacy begins…too often lost in the waves,and insects that sing of night.have we lived our life,to be flashlights and rubber boots?doth not this ache strip silence,to that which…

the print of the raccoon,on the hood of the car.i am oil tinged rainwater,caught in a bucket.the sound of truckson a distant highway.i am snake skin, and spider’s web,and the trail of the ants.the old woman hanging clothes,the dog on the porch.i am children dirty half naked,the watermelon, and the broomstick.i am poverty boiling,on the…

no difference here!all built onthe actions of respect.and sadly,what we’ve lost,and cant seem to find,is respect!

grey thin soul you can see through.chapters written in faded jeans,and shoes too worn for footprints.a mother, a daughter, a sister, a lover,somebody’s somebody, nobody’s home.bloomed out of season to a different beat,in a garden of stone in the alley.they say beauty walks these homeless streets,perfumed by soup kitchen longing.while babies bear babies and numbers…

with nothing leftbut the clothes on my back,and feet that knowthe way home…rain begins to fallwith the coming of night.i seek shelter beneath a bridge.staring into the blacknessi see, i think i see…one solitary star.a star that tastes like bread,and meat scorched by the flame.that feels like warm blankets,clean sheets, the bare skin of a…

in perfected stillness…stillness that healswithout questioningwhy or who!stillness that sings,with every pulse of bloodthrough bodies worn…stillness that redeems,bringing the searcherto his final destination…stillness that removes,the cross, , the crown of thorns,lays down the shield of honor…stillness that fills,the empty cup, the box forgotten,bringing the loverto the lips of longing…spilling his passionon the fertile earth!i pray…

the only unforgivable sin is indifference.

the history of the ages,creation and destruction.saw passion and faith,wars, freedom, and hunger.saw the murderer and the murdered,the philosopher, and the thief.saw both justice and injustice,ignorance and understanding.saw peoples of all colors,crying out for help.saw fury and forgiveness,saw beauty and ugliness.saw the face of my neighbor,saw the image of God…i shook my head,and looked again…and…

and drink strong moonlight.i sing with the rocks,and crow with the dawn….i beat the drum primeval!i rush with the wavesto strip the shores,of all vestiges of passing.i howl with the wind,i dance with shadows and sounds,and lay naked on the cool earth.i am the ache inside the shell,the hand that sprinkles dust…come walk with me,let…

that swallowed Atlantis….those same children,starving ‘neath Africa’s sun….dead from the bombingsin Iraq, Afghanistan, and soon Iran….their bodies thrown into dumpstershere in the United States….dead on the borders,dead in the oil filled waters,dead on the cocaine streets,dead in the prisons…dead in the colleges,dead in the unemployment lines….dead on the picket lines,dead, handcuffed, and beaten….dying, and dead,…

struck dumb with aweby the smallest of things!i have stood on the shore,and felt the pull of the waves,feeling both tiny and large beyond definition.all my time my eyes upon the lighthouse,strong whether there be storm or calm…am i here or am i there?i do not think it matters!i have spent my time hereas a…

that didnt….over battles i fought and lost,over lovers that walked away.over loved ones that diedtoo soon, always too soon.over kingdoms i built that fell.over mistakes i madethat i cant change….over dreams that werent real….but, dammit, every timei see the face of a hungry child,dont matter what color, or where,dont even matter whose child….i cant help…

love transcends lawand becomes.any true goddoes not limitthat for which we were born.the only boundaryto love is honesty,and the willingnessto give at all costs!

an hourglass,on a bare table,in an empty room.what we desire…total and recklessabandon,drenched in touch!what stands between us…the tight grip of your handson your bags!

sunlight siftingthrough dirty blinds.the cough of the clock,the body, and stillness!

do you love your neighbor?do you hurt when he hurts?do you feel need when he needs?do you care enough to be involved?do you believe all people are equal?do you love yourself?do you love God?

while cast aside nests lay weeping,in silent tribute to forgotten paths.empty cages with doors flung open,cigarette butts on temple floors.footprints from nowhere to nothing,canned thoughts on dusty shelves.it’s easy to say peace will come,not so easy to take the arms.while crippled poets walk past burning huts,and aircraft carriers meditate on troubled waters.children’s faces drift through…

speaks with silent venom,thunders when it opens!a thousand deaths,that love might live,footprints that lead nowhere.the bitter tasteof self, and empty…the body plowed,cries out for rain.hungry, for more!

to be the ‘in’ thing,to be cool, to be hip,never understood the needfor fame…never waited to be pattedon the back,never wanted to be followed…i am what i am!nothing more, nothing less.a common man,with a common heart,a common soul,and common hard working hands.i can honestly saythat i have lived,i have loved,i have given pastthe point of…

whether it be homeless people,street bums, addicts, or small children…and even dogs and cats abandonedby their ‘owners’….the hunger they feelis a part of me…drives me like a harsh wind…morsels of food, whatever i’ve got…come sit by the fire….we are one!

the waves of feelingso strong, so dangerous…the hurt so deep itpenetrates and shakesyour very being…suffocates your thinking,till words are too painfulto be spoken…and the darkness is so coldthat you burn down the housetrying to get warm…leaving only the flappingof shadowy wingsin a ghost grey sky….may your spirit be at peace,may your heart be healed….may you…

she whispers to fallen petals,and mountains and rivers speak forth.her lips call crows and name them eagles,her hands are filled with bowls.she names the darkness morning,and from the light she weaves the night.she bathes the human spirit,in the sweat of tribulation.she nurses the unwanted child,and places flowers on unmarked graves.she gives lost lovers candles,builds bridges…

and the fire we seekis but a reflectionof the fire within us…when the cross is a part of the body,and the war we protest,is the war within us…when the leaf is knownas always tree…and the dropp of watercontains a river.when breath is hunger,and love is fullness.when the spirit is a finger,and the soul is a…

as i learned to breathe…i’m not sure there’smuch difference.sometimes i thinkif you get beaten downso much in life….it allows you to let goof everything you thoughtyou had to have, of everythingthat you thought you had to be….and you learn to feel,and to see with new eyes,with prayer eyes….eyes that know the connected,eyes that feel whether…

build it back, board by board,nail by nail, stone by stone,with honest human hands.seize the moment…all that we have,no tomorrow without today,no today withoutliving and giving!redeem the time…put a human face on your god…put a godly heart in your humanity!

and small touches…for it is in these most simple andreal of moments that we evolve…a word spoken in kindness….a meal shared, an hour or twoof listening…a choice made from selfless compassion…these are the moments of eternity,the trace of our living that remains…and the steps to the temple,of understanding, and freedom.

a peacemaker, and a clown.i saw an activist, an apathetic ghoul,a healer, and a killer.i saw Jesus, Buddha, Gandhi, and King…i saw Hitler, Manson, Bush, and Cheney.i saw JFK, i saw Oswald,i saw the shooter in the distance.i saw the monk immoliated,and the napalm skies.i saw equality and prejudice,i saw compassion and indifference.i saw the…

over the hills andthrough the valleys deep.across the plains,from night unto day.through storms, harsh winds,and unforgiving rain….my hand remains in yours!we have sought shelterby the way, underneath the trees.built small fires, and huddled,exchanging the words of the soul.from season unto season,as the bark grew grey…my hand remains in yours!and if there be God,was this so…

nuclear sites,or their troops deployed,or their airstrips…maybe, just maybe,we should try removingthe gun from their hearts…and the first stepis removing it from ours!

aint got a dime…broke!what color is hungry?does it have a languageknown only to empty bowls?what color is homeless?does it keep the bodywarm in the night?does anybody give a damn?what color is jobless?does it redeem the thiefthat breaks out the window,moving with silent desperation?and what color is alone?can anybody hear?does anybody really give a damn?

tumbleweed blown across the land.day work, no work,cigarettes, roll your own,keep a fire under the pot!old cars rusting,just left by the road…women and babies bathingin service station sinks.desperate hunger,knock down the clerk,grab the cash and run…while ghostlike cities moanand groan in the sun….smokestacks still write epitaphs,black caskets in a line!

real bodies… made in the image of god.has nothing to do with race, religion, language,sexual orientation, or citizenship…it has to do with basic need….a dollar in the cup, a prayer, and a shaking of thehead will not do!these people are part of your family.bottom line, we are responsible… for each other,for the state of the…

will it touch my innermost longings,and leave me breathless?i mourned for closeness,and now i am drunk,staggering with the intimacyof each and every tiny breath!

our own national parksused as collateralon loans from China!water rights to the Great Lakes,and other bodies of water here…sold to China!our jobs, Joe blue collar workingfamilies…. sold to China!our oil profiteer wars,financed by China!sleeping with the countrywith the worst human rights record,dancing with the devil!and now, our own police forcescommitting acts of violenceand oppression against…

touch the petal, the thorn,lie naked on the ground….know the wind as your lover,bathe in the rain…..touch the one beside you,really touch…. read withthe tips of your fingers….paint your hunger with your lipsupon her neck, her breasts…run your tongue deep insideher thoughts, her secret garden;suck the darkness from her soul.breathe light into her longing,unlock the…

lie to me, love meone more time…the arching of your soul,wrapped in legs around me…the cry of the oceanjust outside the shell…i kiss you, you tastelike my wanting,words mean nothing;black and white photographsin a world of color…i can feel the rumbleof the train on the tracks,you bite my shoulder….i open my eyes…and the room is…

and nothing existswhich is less.the birth of a universeis not more thanthe opening of thelast rose of summer.and the secret of infinityis not more thanthe smell and the tastemy hand remembers of yours.a falling star merely the echoof your footsteps, walkingout my door the last time…the morning dew just your love juicesleft on the long…

i wont live in your house,i wont sweep your floors.i wont share your food,i wont wipe your ass.i wont sleep in your bed,i wont build your fire.i will wear your clothes,will wear your shoes.i will live in your house,i will sweep your floors.i will share your food,i will wipe your ass.i will sleep in your…

then the ones we’re dropping the bombs on,the ones hungry, sick, and homeless,the ones we hate out of fear….are…

without your eyes in my darkness,i am gone blind.without your tongue on my desire,my heart stops beating….without your wetness on my prayers,my god is dead!without your moan in my stillness,even the tomb is harsh and cold.without your kiss upon my freedom,everywhere i look…bars, and more bars!

or wore a self-imposed crown of thorns,you cannot experience resurrection!the life we’re trained from birth to live,on a see-me, feed-me premise,is a form of death,aka, a type of hell!in order to redeem ourselves,to validate the experience of the human condition,all that is body, the outer body,the body that sucks and grinds,has to die.we have to…

like fallen leaves beneath weeping trees.like the sound of the tirethat strikes the stray cat.like the trembling dark skinned handsyou ban from your voting booths.like the flag draped casketsof your sacrificed young.like the books you burnwith religious fervor….like the shuffle of bootsin your unemployment lines.like the faceless onesin your clinics shutting down.like the ones who…

on the page,the cup chippedon the windowsill.wood stacked againstthe porch,the shadows on theempty swing.the kiss lost,and the ring.red dirt driedon the shovel,the old boots leftby the door.the creaking of thescreen door opening,the box tied andpacked away.hunger sap driedon novel sheets,the half smoked cigarettelying in the ashtray.the sound of the empty room,in that old house on…

become what you need to be…. human!

hard eyes that have listened and seen.hard eyes that have touched.hard eyes that have foughtbattles that couldnt be won…hard eyes that have sharedthe suffering of others….hard eyes that have known beauty and loss…hard eyes that make choices that are not easy.hard eyes that have been betrayed,hard eyes that have loved…hard eyes that cross the threshold…hard…

who discovered fire in long ago caves,and found treasures in books long sealed.who took the hands of the orphaned child,and held the old woman as she passed.who laid down weapons and took up love,and sought a future not bound to past.who toppled kingdoms with peaceful truths,who loved much at the cost of dying.who valued a…

most trouble with.these are the treasures we seek for…they hold the wisdom we cannot define!for they contain the eternal, which westrive for with mortal minds… thesecret of the wind, which we cannothold in our hands, or possess!

written in hours and minutes,in days and weeks…and weeks become months,and months become years…footsteps woven into one.days of work for nights of small things…food, fire, children, good booksand good wine…quiet words spoken, falling like leaves,the candle lit by touchingin the darkest hours…do we forget, do we lose memory,do thoughts become echoes.bricks laid by sweat and…

that still tastes like you!the sound of thunder,as snowflakes dance to the ground.the wet stain on cardboard legs….ah, yes, and more!the words that only silence knew,barefoot prayers, and clouds of breath.forests lost in shadows,in eyes both timeless and raw.the scent of perfume in the book on the shelf.tis fire that must be touched,must be tasted…

before he’ll come backand tear it all down!people arent cattle,arent meant to be herded…even a man of peacehas a breaking point!when you finally take away hope,then the man becomes a beast…trapped with back to the wall,he’ll turn and fight!

no flags, no troops to protect…no laws but the law of the heart.no illegal immigrants.and no religion…other than kindness!

stirs your soul…but the darknessthat defines the light!

memory and taste.

the garden of you,and spider webbed dreams.pine sap running, hot and molten,my tongue rests…inside your soul.love me dammit,or write me letters.send them to‘destination unknown’!buy a dress for my funeral,a hat, and new shoes…any color but black!inside and inside,peeling layer after layer.conversation of sparrows,struck mute by flesh.you taste sweat of summer,i am past late autumn.the gods…

perhaps the wind i feel,and the brotherhood of trees.the worship of the feminine,the gateway and the path.made drunk by beauty,maddened with desire.yet still as the mountains,sipping time by the moment.the bare foot in the mud,the feather by the door.the birth of the child,the death of the father.it is the night i walk…because that’s who i…

of desire,throbbing for the candlelit by inspiration.a dropp of sweatfalls from the knitted browof god speaking forth…existence.when nothing remainsbut embers and ashes,the heart cries for the plowin the field of silence!a hunger within,much deeper, much sharper,bellows one word…beginning!and darkness becomes light!

green beans… waitingon the storm.wind whips through the trees,a streak of lightning, occasionalthunder… breaking beans.thinking about my grandparents,working down at the mill…farming, grew four gardens…cows, pigs, chickens, andturkeys…no one ever went hungrythere… no one around themwent hungry…there was always food to eat,and work to be done….but that day has come and gone….now we work on…

by wise men and cattle.every afternoon i stand and jeeras they nail his hands and feetto the cross…and every night i weepat the distance i have travelled,looking for the starthat i lost in the clouds!

and greying tree limbs…wet ashes after the rain…you smell likethe book on the shelf,that goes unnoticed,and needs to be read!and we probably smell likethe broken glass, the limbson the car, the rain drenched seat…and love stains agedfrom under the wheel,in the gravel driveof an old abandoned house!

we walk, strangers,even to ourselves…battling demons,most of our own conceptions,grasping, groping, hungrilytaking what we can,more than we need,or could ever want.falling down, pushing aside,we stagger, drool on our chins….say a quick prayer,hope for the best….close our eyes to those around us.raising the banner of self,suddenly we look up,to find time and age at the door.afraid…

heroin and iwere loversmany years ago…and dependence lefta bad taste in my mouth…it just aint worth it!it’s a waste of time,a dead end road…it’s not the answer.no matter how hard,how hopeless, how lonesomeit gets…life’s still the bestthing going…it’s all we have!live it!

the used bear the marks,on their backs, in their eyes.and the price of the present,the childrens’ lives.we bury our dreamswith guns and knives.the earth weeps for us,as the sky falls down.cant see beyond our mouths,cant hear the sound…and the tears of the fallen,stand like puddles of rain.you can wash your hands,cant wash off the stain.we…

the stray cat sleeps in a cardboard box,the old oak tree groans with morning.table set for three,you, me, and the guest…too long on the road,he’s forgotten the turn,and love’s address is unlisted.the feather drawn lines of arch and thrust,define your eyes with headstones.your hand slips between the bread,tastes better without mayonnaise.the cup of whispers grows…

where the wind stops to sleepon the long journey back to god.returning,what we do at our best,in spite of and because of…the footfalls of angels,the beat of our hearts.the grinding of our souls,the stranger builds a fire.and starts a soup,with the wings of bats and owls,whistling up clouds that bathe in moonlight.the dew soft falls…

will be a war withinit’s own boundaries…the stench of poverty andinjustice has become too foul…the old, the homeless, theforgotten ones have been pushedtoo far, left with too little…and the sound of righteous angerrips through the air…now the largest minorityis the common man and woman…the faceless ones bought and sold,and left to die on black and…

leaving bricks to testify.and destiny perceived,the debt relieved,who pays the cost to die?the hallowed clothedin rags and dust,kneel beneath the cross denied.we pray to ghosts,while ignorance grows,walking suicides.still the rebel windbreaks windowpanes,tears roofs from vacant souls.calling to the few,who dare be true,to give what cant be sold!

calls for new hands.when the wind we have rode,beckons for new friends.and when the path thatleads to discovery,needs a new body, a new soul.when the battle for justice,calls for new voices.leaves turn brown and fall,and winter snows come.but spring always returns,with new leaves and new song.take what we have given,and build an even bigger fire.spread…

with dignity, in stillness.that rare momentwhen the bird flies from the cage,is not the time for weeping.does the river mournwhen it breaks through the dam?does the storm apologize for passion?then who are we to cling to dust,to darkness as dawn approaches?the leaf turnsin a fury of color..for just a moment,then brown, and falls.the tree stands…

food stamp traileron the corner…withthirteencats…died two weeksago.they found her today;and animal controlcameforthecats.the county camefor her…there wasnoonetocall.a few linesin the paper…nopicture.cremation,for all involved!

counting nickels, dimes, and quarters,to pay the rent.turning down the pot to simmer slow,listening to the news with a hollow ache.,thoughts come and go, the air still chill.nothing changes much, except the date.a half a tank of gas, and a borrowed hoe…hands moving in silence, back to the sun.death waits patiently, like an old friend.never…

….you……sacrifice?sent off to your unholy wars…in your prisons, on your streets….to addiction, no hope, to bondage…..their futures traded as your stocks rise,their jobs sold away, their future borrowed.they believed that you loved them most of all…is…this…..what…….love…… …looks………..like?

cracking heads like eggs,yolk running down on hallowed ground….they’re burning flags again…soldier boys coming hometo no work, living in cars,no help, without a country…they’re burning flags again…your sister died giving birth.your brother-in-law cant get work,making meth in the tub…crying at night ‘neath a pictureof Jesus hanging on the cross….they’re burning flags again…small town football heroesin…

when those that invoke your name,do so on the field of battle;in the name of prejudice and hatreds,from well insulated rooms,padded against the criesof the needy and hungry.in the name of a ‘holiness’that forgets the sacredness of life.in the name of a justicethat sees colors and wealth and privilege.dont cry for me, Jesus,for they would…