we who walk

early morning February sun!people stand and gawk,by the old tracks, train forgotten…childhood memories, up in smoke.they call it America,the land of opportunity;freedom weeps, no one hears!cars built overseaspowered by Middle East oil,race by, headed for Walmart…and tonight they’ll debateover family values and taxes.somewhere, a church bell ringing,and someone goes to bed hungry!

build hollow houses,live hollow lives.poverty whispers,we turn away.poverty shouts,we walk away!orphans, or bastards,we defile our beds.our mothers lay dying,our fathers forgotten.the wheel turns,we drink, and move on.our sisters buried,our brothers on the street.churches and graveyards,flags drenched in blood.stray dogs, lost pilgrims,heat lightning….and an empty cup!

Let me but sleep,Beneath thy breast.Let me but hope,To be remembered…In the softness ofYour soul!

fog rising in the cold….across the way two kidswere getting ready to raisethe flag… just another day….they’d been married for 30 years.he met her when he was thirty,and she was just sixteen….now he was over sixty,and his health was bad….and she’d been fooling aroundwith a man her own age.he just couldnt see, just couldntbelieve… nowhere…

i am the gas pump,guarded by guns.i am the foreclosed house,weeping and vacant.i am the oil rig,convicted of murder.i am the big truck,parked in disgust.i am the nursing home,with grave like beds.i am the field,unplowed and untended.i am the bowl,filled with empty.i am the boots,left by the door.i am the ache,the want and the need.i…

has no owner.the river never repents,and takes no prisoners…we love, or we cannot breathe

too close to the blade, too far from the fire,too long defined by lonliness and grief.they say there’s a wind,that comes from a forbidden place.that strips leaves from the trees,and causes mountains to shudder.they say there’s a god,whose name we cant say.who walks naked in the instant,just before dawn.and they say there’s a lover,who smells…

someone is hungry.every night when i go tosleep in my bed,someone is homeless.every time i speak out,someone is oppressed.every time i walkdown the street,someone is imprisoned.every time i open my eyes,someone else is blinded.every day that i live,someone else is dying…every time i know i am loved,someone else is alone…responsible!

in the human condition.a free societyallows the individualto be individual.a real communityis as responsiblefor the least as forthe most…the concept of freedombecomes a realitywhen based in mutual respect.equality demandsequal effort!how hard is thisfor us to understand?

that i was free…i told you the truthwhen i told youthat i was free!you never held the key!

of something elsethis just makes merealizehow many more thingsi haveto let go of!

in the dead of night,when you thought no one cared.i saw the light in your eyes,when you fed the hungry child,and brushed the dirt from his facewith hands that trembled.i felt the tears,that you couldnt cry…as you buried your only son,killed in their wars.i smelled the fear in your body,but tasted the grit and determination,as…