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by: Joseph D. Chafe 2008 |
 This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence. |
Joseph D. Chafe c/o Acorn Community Farm 1259 Indian Creek Road Mineral VA 23117 Email: jdchafe@gmail.com |
| Table of Contents | Preface | Index |
Anonymous Hands
With anonymous, female hands
she pats her hair into place
and settles into the seat
in front of me
on the bus.
Bus Stop 1
Dusty orange-peel sun,
splotches of shade,
merciless noise,
and filthy light,
waiting at the busstop.
Bus Stop 2
Planes scrape away the sunset
at the bus stop
and cars whine like mosquitoes.
Another mugger night comes
for proletarians
numbed with work.
Buttercups
Creamy buttercups
ringing to the sky
in the chilly breeze,
keep me company,
send me home.
Catching the Bus
Squeezing pins out of the clock,
I wait for the bus.
Finally arriving, it swallows me
and I slide over heads
past fluffy scenery
through another wash of time.
Family at a Bus Stop
Two well-dressed children
with their grandmother
wait at the busstop.
The short heavyset mother arrives.
One of the sons kisses her.
Then the grandmother
breaks a piece of pizza in two
and gives half to the older son
and half to the mother.French Fries on the Bus
With delicate fingers
a child eats french fries on the bus
exposing business eaters
and scrooges such as myself.
Inside a Bus
Compact faces,
checkerboard space,
thick color,
and melted time.
Lady Speaking Spanish on the Bus
She lifts me from my crib
with filigree hands
onto warm and dreamy
Spanish breasts.
Little Girl Crushing Cans
A little girl crushes aluminum cans
on a downtown sidewalk
late on a Saturday afternoon.
She takes each can carefully from her plastic bag,
stomps it with her foot,
then with a deft movement of the same foot,
moves it off to the side to make room for the next.
I notice her as I pass by on the bus.
Nail Polisher
To escape nail polisher
I take a noisy, hot seat
at the rear of the bus.
When I can no longer stand this,
I move back to the front.
Though nail polisher has gotten off,
there is now "standing room only."Twig of Female
A twig of female
with curly eyelashes
proudly eats her banana
then falls asleep
in her mother's arms.
Woman on Her Way to Work
She plows through chocolate waves
with styrofoam cup, lipstick, donut, and ticking cane,
this stubborn winter leaf
that distracts weary travelers.
Woman on the Bus
Her crossed legs
and pointed shoes
wrap me in heavy male,
and I slip off her steep curves
into a purring abyss.
Worker's Grit-etched Hand
A worker's grit-etched hand
embraces child
and a lady flourishing in her native tongue.
So Far, So Good
A man jumps off a 30-story building.
As he passes the 15th story he says,
"So far, so good."At the Horseraces
After receiving his weekly paycheck,
instead of going to pay the rent which is due,
a man goes to the horseraces.
He bets his whole paycheck
on what he considers a sure bet.
His horse is the last horse out of the gate
and trails the pack at the first turn.
The man begins to pray,
"Please God, help my horse win."
His horse begins to move through the pack.
"Oh God, please," continues the man.
His horse moves up with the front-runners.
"Come on," shouts the man.
His horse takes the lead by a wide margin
as they approach the finish line,
and the man says, "That's OK God, I'll take over now."
American Muggles*
In tangled, knotted time,
the American muggle,
marches off to
the land of silence
with reams of dreams,
pocket idols,
and wind-up toys.
*J. K. Rowling uses the term "muggle" in her Harry Potter novels to describe non-magical beings and their world. Here it is used to designate reactionary people who have chosen to stay behind rather than embrace new development.Banana Sky
She is a banana-sky earth quilt
with sunshine eyes
that brings sweets from the nursery.
He booms
while his eyes
run off with a smile.
Perennial Woman
Heartland woman
with perennial soul,
you redeem and cleanse the world
then leave it.
Flower in the Hay
Flower in the hay
wrapping up the day,
singing muffled tunes
to attract other moons.
Ghost in the Making
Another sharp-edged ruler ticking off bruises, another ghost in the making floating in the ether.Historical Bed
She sleeps in an historical bed
and sprinkles dollies along the way.
He snaps whips,
has Santa Claus cheeks,
and a driveway-brush mustache.
Iron Tears
Iron tears
has embedded fears
and barges through
would-be years.
Prophet Eyes
Prophet eyes
pierces your heart
then remains
like a cherry stain.
Shop Keeper
Backwater-sweet
and eager for sales,
self contained
and tamer of males,
she cranks her machines,
and sits on a shelf,
collecting dreams
in the land of darkness.
Teddy Bear
She's a teddy bear,
with pocket icons,
trinket words,
banister sighs,
and an invisible footprint.
Seed in the Wilderness
She once flourished
in the wilderness
but now has been burnt
by the harsh sun,
pounded into dust,
and blown away.
Placard Face
He has settled
for a placard face
and waits beneath
where there's "weeping
and gnashing of teeth."
Yankee
Master of bailiwicks,
pal of kings,
you walk on flowers,
fill pockets with crackers,
sell dreamworlds,
sleep with mannequins,
stuff ghosts into cracks,
and live a trading-card life.
Your face floats on the tide,
and the moon and birds
are stiched to your pillow.
Great Stone Child
The great stone child
moves through fields
under a sharp-edged moon.
Mother Behind the Railing
She sits behind the railing,
sells Pinocchios to lunchtime passengers,
and squeezes into tight places
to hang words out to dry.
Proletarian Prince
The proletarian prince
drives hard stakes
into the ground.
He is an overtime owl,
a white-paper jester
standing beyond the pale.Warm-moon Statue
The big-boned,
warm-moon statue
controls tides
and elements.
Youth on the Corner
Youth on the corner
flash alerts
and dummies pass by.
Martinet
The martinet is dressed for sale,
the martinet a slice of male.
Proletarian Queen
Time, colors, and money
spill from her eyes,
this seldom seen
proletarian queen.Child Tamer
Word string master,
snapper,
bolter,
beachcomber,
shiva,
gastronomic wonder,
and child tamer.
She Who Knows the Planets
She who knows the planets
stays in the backyard
with her large rough tree,
her little prince,
and a picture of her daughter.
Trolley
The friendly little trolley
gives free rides to all
except when he's on strike.
Complete Proletarian
The compleat proletarian
with his box of hieroglyphics
and futurities.
Image From the Nebula
Through the ether
out of the nebula,
comes a steady, strong image,
an original pulse.
Proletarian King
xxxxx The transparent, proletarian king
slips through time,
does his appointed work,
nibbles here and there
and enjoys the scenery.
Messiah
He who turns the humanity's wheel
slips into tight places
to anoint the people.
Stream upon the Plain
She is a stream upon the plain,
an evergreen tree,
a dusky lens,
a light in the closet,
a place-holder and guarantor
for humanity.
Beacon in the Forest
This beacon in the forest,
this resurrected farmer,
is a lover of lollypops.
Manager
xxxxx High above the canopy
for you and me
he manages things,
he pulls the strings
Statue of Youth
This statue of youth
weighed down with the webs of time
speaks to fellow statues.
Sharp Eyes
Sharp eyes
to shave things to nothing
and streams of iron
to keep the male away.
Indigo Child
It's still in dreamland,
picking its way through
indigo childhood wilderness.
Part-Time Teen
The part-time teen
between womanhood
and a messiah's birth
looks for handles
in the wilderness.
Smooth-Mountain Woman
Smooth-mountain woman
churns out millennias
in the secrecy of a tree.
She Who Suddenly Narrows
She opens large,
suddenly narrows,
then continues
as always.
Spring Wire
Like a repeating groove,
like a deathsome* race,
spring wire snaps
back into place.
*"death" + "some" which is "a native English suffix formerly used in the formation of adjectives: quarrelsome; burdensome;" see http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=-some&db=lunaClockwork Manager
The bulletin-board manager
with clockwork wings,
not quite alien
nor yet a comrade,
remains adrift
in the mist.
Iron Flower
Bright-shiny iron flower
barges through wasteland
bringing spices and energy,
tuging a heavy load.
Acorn Folks 20060908Paper Man
The rarely seen,
following-his-nose paperman
moves in and out of cracks
in no-man's land.
Cowboy The Cat
Friendly-cat-puffs
cowboy the cat
presides on cushioned chairs
and railings,
tags you in fields,
and reminds you
who's runing the world.
Peewee
Peewee, the professional dog
with some rough edges,
though retired
still knows the ropes.
Big Warm Sun
She's a big warm sun
with soft shoes
that finds comfortable places
for folks.
Slice of Culture
xxxxx A slice of culture
pounded into the ground
holds him him back,
stretches him into blues
where neither flashlights nor nails
can stop the crash
or give him peace.
Abilities
- Native talent bears fruit, strained efforts, barrenness.
- Those who hoard, bury, or fail to use their talents do the same to themselves.
- Cooperate with the world now lest you be forced to haunt it later.*
- Don't try to calculate mutual benefit; it works out on the average.
*See Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol.
Abortion
- Abortion is one of the many "channels" (See Jack Fischel's Handbook of Complete Logic http://www.jdchafe.freeservers.com/handbookofcompletelogicbyjackfischelsecondedition20080411introduction.html ) that immoral ruling classes force people into. Immoral ruling classes coverup the truth that parents and others produce human beings (workers) by means of their care and labor. The rulers of the immoral state do not compensate this care and labor though they hypocritically sing the praises of parents and teachers. Socialist countries are beginning to correct this by offering pre-school, babysitting services, compulsory primary and secondary education, healthcare, social security payments for household work,* etc.
*(A step in the right direction: "...Finally, Article 88 of Venezuelas 1999 constitution recognizes housework as a valuable job that, like any other vocation, entitles the worker to social security benefits. This provision has substantially furthered the cause of womens rights because it allows many women to receive social security and other protections which...in the past were denied to them." See http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3644 )xxxxx
Action
- Person appears when we act.
- Don't stir yourself; pour yourself out. (This means that it is unnatural to hold on to talents or creations as "negation of the negation," the third fundamental law, instructs us.
- Make what you do fit for eternity.
- If you wish your children to do great things, do them yourself. Doing great things is natural; enslavement, oppression, and exploitation keep us from doing them which is why slave masters and reactionary capitalists suffer so much.
- If you want to see all, keep moving.
- Only action can cleanse the mind. (Conduct your life like a scientist using trial and error to establish principles and rid yourself of erroneous behavior.)
- The universe is yours if you open it.
- Make good deeds (right action) rituals of life. Comradeship knows not opportunism but childlike simplicity and sincerityxxxxx.
- On the road of progress, when you take the first step, the next one comes asier.
- Worry is unnatural. Rather, focus on "producing according to your abilities and receiving according to your needs."
Aging
- Aging means losing our connection to nature; when we remain connected, there is no aging. What now passes as aging will eventually be remedied.
- People who accept aging tame their dreams, bury their treasure, and fear strength.
- When you become hard as a seed, then it's time to plant yourself.
Ancestors
- There is no reality unless we "stand on the shoulders" of the ancestors, and God/Nature, who supports us, is our ancestors.
Artists
- Artists burn but remain unconsumed. They are directly connected with nature.
Balance
- All have a handle within that they can grab hold of to keep their balance.
Beauty
- Beauty is that which dies for you, and that is why it is eternal.
- Don't mess with "good looks;" it has enough problems of its own.
Capitalism
- Reactionary capitalists use capital to enslave you; progressives supply you with what you need.
- With socialism staring it in the face, capitalism is more than happy to collude with feudalists.
- Fascism or rather neofascism (fascism to suit our times) is capitalism's last desperate stand against the people.
- The most trustworthy citizens--communists and their allies--represent the interests of workers; they apply the laws of human development that make the step from capitalism to socialism possible.
- Do not send soldiers to kill, torture and enslave the people.
- Sooner or later immoral ruling classes get around to asking politicians to participate in killing the people.
Change
- To change a world, you must first have it inside you.
Children
- Children find their own way to God/Nature; the most we can do is to communicate with them.
- You must remove heavy blocks to find the child.
- Children think they're something special, and they are.
- If you give children the key, they will surely open you up.
- Never do business with a child.
Cleanliness and Order
- Order is the substance of cleanliness.
- Cleanliness and order remove stumbling blocks.
- Fill your mind with what interests you. Consider all else clutter.
- Keep your home clean enough so you can enjoy company but not so clean as to make you dread coming there.
- Struggling to bring things into order is always a good place to start.
Communism
- Communism exists in that place where if you put your talents at the service of others then you receive what you need.
Communism and Religion
- Communists address the needs of the people, apply the laws of nature, and take the responsibility for progress upon their shoulders. Religionists neglect the needs of the people, are unaware of the laws of nature, and are not responsible--they are fanatics who fear to lose their grip on the people.
- Communists have a childlike trust in the goodness of matter, while religionists hate matter and the facts associated with it.
Community
- Care for your community/collective/commune as you would for your family.
Comrades
- There is nothing wrong with "big brother" as long as "big brother" really is your big brother. ("Big Brother: apparently benevolent but repressive authority; first recorded 1949, from George Orwell's novel "1984;" http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/big%20brother)
- Comrades are those who are willing to lay down their lives for you.
Connection
- Contacts link you to your mission in life.
Courage
- The courageous do not know what bravery is. The fearful know what it is but can never find the right time for it.
- Only those who have an absolute reason for things can be brave.
- Fear looks for weakness in others; courage for strength.
Courtship
- Only love can guide in matters of courtship.
- Nature's laws govern the antics and rituals of courtship.
Creation
- Give yourself completely to creation.
- Fully live each situation lest it return to haunt you.
- Let communication with, awareness of, and love for the people be your guide. This is how we get what we need, how we develop, and how we become creative.
- Anything that is not the truth, which is not creative (but repeditive), numbs the mind.
Death
- If nothing else, death shows you what needs to be done and what needs to be buried.
- Death is not a solution; it doesn't change things much.
- Live a principled life and don't let death get in your way.
Democracy
- Only by serving the majority (not the minority) can you get what you need.
- Individualists fail to cooperate with nature and so become isolated and lost.
Desire
- What you seek you will surely get.
Development
- All are in stages of development playing their role as best they can.
Devils and Angels
- Angels represent majority interests. Devils represent minority interests.
- Don't try to reason with the devil.
- We are tempted most on the threshhold of development.
- At best, the devil presents us with a choice.
- What the devil hates most is that we learn from our mistakes.
Dreams
- Learn from mistakes and from dreams, and then forget them both.
- As someone has already observed, dreams are the good sense of former development speaking to us, supporting us.
- Dreams are the stories we tell about ourselves.
- As strange as it may seem, you are the theme, protagonist, and nemesis in all your dreams.
- Story-consciousness (dreams) defers to collective-consciousness (planning).
Education
- When students set out to explore, they look for teachers to supply them with what they need.
- Teachers first become that which they wish to teach.
- Learn only what you need lest you clutter yourself.
- The fundamentals of education are: 1) students challenge opposites to find what they need; 2) their labors issue in a new state of development; 3) love reveals itself as students gain control over their new state and then set out to explore once again. Alternatively: materialism means students and teachers need each other to get what they need; history means students and teachers use time to evolve to higher states of consciousness; dialectics means students and teachers share creation responsibly.
Energy
- There is nothing to be gained by contradicting nature's laws; nature's energy is abundant and free to those who respect it.
- Pain decreases as we remove that which blocks energy.
Evil
- Evil comes after we already have what we need, after we've completed our assessment, after we have gained control and are ready for the next step. ("Then it says, 'I will return to the person I came from.' So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation." Bible NLT Matthew 12:44-45; http://www.newlivingtranslation.com )
- Those who embrace evil become its slaves and fanatics.
- Fear and hatred consume all who use them.
- Evil prefers the "old wine skins" which crack and are unable to hold the new wine of progress and development. ("And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins." Bible NLT Mark 2:22; http://www.newlivingtranslation.com
Evolution
- Evolution's best kept secret is that it's still going on.
Experience
- Nature gives to all the right of self-defense, but reserves to itself the teaching of lessons. This is why indiscriminate killing of civilians used by the fascist imperialists--state terrorism--is wrong.
- Struggle and communication help you overcome bad experience.
Faith
- Faith is our connection to the universe, our bonding with nature.
Fear
- Fear has no time for others, no time for sharing.
- There is no end to fear; if you give in to any part of it, it eventually consumes all of you. You are never free until you conquer it.
- All fear is fear of God.
- Fear never finishes preaching beautiful sermons.
Feelings
- Feelings are like roots; though they may not be seen, they are still very important.
Fools (See "Wisdom and Folly" below)
- Fools have no time for others.
- Fools cheat themselves; they don't need others for this.
Fundamentals
- In capitalism youth learns how to kill and grownups learn that people are killed. In socialism youth learns that people are killed and grownups learn how to stop the killing. In communism youth learns how to stop the killing and grownups learn how to achieve universal abundance.
- First there was matter, then matter with mind, then matter and mind with spirit.
- First struggle* to get what you need--and only that--by communicating with others; then by means of trial and error develop awareness of the steps toward progress; finally seek to exchange with the community what you create in return for their continued support.
- The three fundamental virtues are cooperation, naturalness, and responsibility. All are tied together like a chain; if any of these are missing, then the whole breaks apart.
- Taking care of physical needs gives us the time we need to think and plan. When we have time to think and plan then we can take action.
*Those who struggle get what they need. "For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened," Bible, NLT; Luke 11:10; http://www.newlivingtranslation.com
Ghosts
- Ghosts are those who choose to stay where they are, who fail to build in this life the substance for the next.
Gifts
- Better to give no gift than one that does not satisfy; gifts that bring bitterness to self or others are not gifts.
- Give like the sun which shines on all.
- If you wish to remain free from fear, give each what they need.
God
- If you want to deal with God, follow nature's laws.
- God is the body, mind, and soul of nature; trust it.
- All that is not God "returns to dust."
- If you want to be God, take responsibility.
- God doesn't force, but it does defend itself.
- Even God can't help you if you can't stand still.
- Time is for those who are not yet God.
- Mercy and sacrifice are unworthy of God.
- It's much easier to have God outside yourself rather than inside.
- God came out of the Tao, first as body, then as body with a mind, then as body and mind with spirit.
- You limit yourself when you cut yourself off from God.
- Few wish to see/(deal with) God or its miracles except maybe in a circus, on stage, or on an altar.
- God/Nature is wholesome.
- God is the body, mind, and spirit of the collective.
- Don't look for God in cartoons; look for those who act responsibly and you'll find God.
- If you wish to see God, look at the facts.
- The sooner you begin to act like God, the sooner you will get some place.
- Solidarity with God helps us realize how conditioned we are.
- It is better to interface with God as a comrade rather than as an object of worship.
- God is material, progressive, and responsible.
God and the Devil
- You 'deal with'/see God only if you know the truth or genuinely seek it; you 'deal with'/see the devil if you don't know the truth or care about it.
- God eats and digests its own mistakes; the devil excuses them.
- God asks you to risk all; the devil peddles security.
- God goes through hell; the devil knows nothing of hell.
- Death is nothing to God but a very big thing to the devil.
Good and Evil
- If you want to know what is good, go to the people and they will tell you.
- Goodness is what you absolutely need; evil is what you don't need.
- To overcome evil struggle and communicate with others to get what you need, develop understanding by learning from mistakes, and find eternal life by becoming a responsible member of society.
Hatred
- Hatred along with fear is a trap; as with the devil, don't go onto their turf.
- When anyone curses in your presence, remember that you too are included.
Healing
- When you heal yourself, you heal others as well.
Health
- We are healthy when: we cooperate with the community to get what we need; know we're going in the right direction; and have the support of the community for our work.
Hell
- The worst hell is not to die.
- Repetition is hell for the spirit.
- Life is for real and forever which is why failing to make something of ourselves is hell.
History
- History is progress we've made that supports us.
- History links us with our ancestors.
- Tyrants fear history and are the first to smother, falsify and destroy it.
Hope
- Hope means that though we make mistakes, we still have the ability to learn from them.
Immortality
Only those who create are immortal; it is what you give to society that makes you immortal, not what you take from it.
Interest
- Make interest--not strain--your energy source.
- Only you can find what interests you, provided you look for it.
- Let interest be your baptism and sanctuary.
- Only those with interests are free.
- It is better to risk all that you have and find you are uninterested than to risk nothing and be no closer to self-knowledge.
- Do not torture yourself. Work with what interests you, starting with that which is at hand and then progressing.
- Pursue all that interests you with childlike enthusiasm.
- In others, look for what interests you.
Life
- Seek only that which lives forever.
- Life means taking the time to find out what is the matter.
- Without principle, life is dull.
- Life and death are perfect; don't settle for anything less.
- The key to life is letting go of your precious.
- Share your life; don't impose it.
- Life's for those who do not fear death.
Love
- Measure your life by steps toward love.
- Though nothing can limit love, lawyers try to do it with a device called "prudent measures."
- Love, when it comes, crushes you if you hold on to your precious. ("But if you were free to-day, to-morrow, yesterday, can even I believe that you would choose a dowerless girl -- you who, in your very confidence with her, weigh everything by Gain: or, choosing her, if for a moment you were false enough to your one guiding principle to do so, do I not know that your repentance and regret would surely follow."...."Spirit," said Scrooge, "show me no more. Conduct me home. Why do you delight to torture me."--Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol--http://www.fidnet.com/~dap1955/dickens/a_christmas_carol.txt--The ghost of Christmas past shows Scrooge the scene from his past when his fiancιe, Belle, breaks off their engagement and Scrooge can not bear it.)
- You are never free until you love all.
- What you control you cannot love.
- Children are just as interested in how much you love yourself as in how much you love them.
- Love is hell for the righteous. In fact, all that is not love is hell.
- No one is immune to love.
- Love is the only thing you can give.
- Reason cannot keep up with love.
- Only love is brave.
- Love makes us eternal.
- Only love escapes time.
- The people forget those who do not love.
- Let love pour like the rain and shine like the sun.
Materialism
- Whatever exists has a material base. Humans without bodies (their material base) are unthinkable. Any entity, including God or Gods, also have a material base or we deal with nonsense. Governments, for example, although you cannot exactly see or touch them, have a material base which is the collective formed by its representatives, supporters, and resources.
Middle Class
- Proletarians or the working class always have starvation to worry about; the wealthy ruling class (the capitalists) give enough to the middle class (the managers, bosses, petit bourgeois, along with their families and friends) so that these are effectively kept separated from the workers.
- The danger for capitalists is when the middle class develop a higher level of consciousness, begin to share the interests of the working class, and join with them to revolutionize the state.
Narrow Pathway
- The narrow pathway calls for justice, truth, and love.
- The "narrow pathway"* is not for those stuck in the past or present.
- You can not force others to walk the "narrow road." The most you can do is show it to them.
*Bible, NLT, "But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it," Matthew 7:14; http://www.newlivingtranslation.com/ .
Nature
- Whatever exists is real, aware, and responsible.
- Just as you would not tamper with another's life, don't tamper with nature.
- Imitation is unnatural.
- Communicate with what is natural in others, not with what is unnatural in them.
- Those who deny nature soon find themselves looking for a savior.
- Do not desecrate the vibration, mind, and plan of nature.
- Don't suppress or fear anything that is a part of nature.
- Nature doesn't speak through filters (unscientific/unnatural ideas serving the interests of the immoral ruling class); it speaks of the reality--which it sees--and acts responsibly in the interests of the majority of the people, not in the interests of the minority.
Need
- All that you need--what you absolutely need--is yours, but nothing else.
People
- Community and religion the people's first two steps. In community the people learn to cooperate first in family life then in higher forms like clans,tribes, villages, etc. In religion the people determine and bond with the laws of nature including the laws regulating human behavior. Finally in the state, the current step the people acquire political power and responsibility.
- Other people do not limit but enhance you, and you enhance them. Those who preach isolation and limitation are themselves cut off.
Pleasure
- Right action (good work) is the source of all pleasure.
- Accept all pleasures that satisfy and recreate your spirit.
- Treat pleasure with all due respect, for it tells you what God feels like. Only don't let it lead you around by the nose.
Poetry
- Poems are like potholders; they help you hold something hot.
- Although poetry is free, it costs a lot.
- Poetry takes you where the action is.
- Poetry is the voice of nature.
- Poetry pioneers future language much as science fiction pioneers future science.
- Self does not get in the way of poetry.
Power
- Only the responsible have power; the "power" of tyrants is an illusion, a "paper tiger."
Meditation/Concentration
- It is meditation that enables you to pass thru hell.
- Progressives use ritual to help us meditate/concentrate. Reactionaries use it to hoodwink the people.
- Meditation/Concentration is that communion with others in which God/Nature emerges.
Preaching (See also "Sermons")
- God has nothing to do with preachers/dogmatists who do not permit even God/Nature to upset their precious.
- Leaders are meant to mediate God or the Laws of Nature to the people--to speak the truth--but this is exactly what preachers fear to do.
- To avoid preaching, give the people what is unique to yourself and accept from them in return only what you absolutely need.
- Preachers tell the people to accept exploitation, but letting another--wealthier class--take advantage of you violates the law of unity and struggle of opposites.
- Preachers can multiply their words exponentially because they have nothing to say and they know that no one is listening to them.
Principle
- Beware of "principles" which impose costs and suffering on others and not on yourself.
Production
- If you produce something make sure it serves your needs, agrees with conscience, and supports the next step toward life.
- Only the productive understand peace and ally themselves with others to protect it. The unproductive enlist the gullible and fainthearted to torture, kill, and wage interminable war.
Progress
- Progressives create; they are not created.
- Pioneers leave what they've created behind in their search for something better.
- If you want to progress, grab ahold of reality.
- You know you are moving forward when the majority comes with you.
- Life moves forward; death stays where it is.
- Only progress yields freedom.
- Balanced mental activity requires us to have the presence of mind to build on the past and move responsibly into the future.
Racism
- Racism turns people into trophies. It cuts like old razor blades; it is an obscenity close to home.
Reactionaries
- Reactionaries make business out of competition, possession, and crime; they are opportunists (they sacrifice principle for personal gain). Because they refuse to stand up for the truth, they eventually find themselves safely in the camp of the enemy of the people--the immoral ruling class.
- Reactionaries concoct seemingly flawless "revolutionary theory," but fail to act in the interests of the people; revolutionaries, on the other hand, adjust and develop revolutionary theory to meet the needs of the people. ("If that is Marxism, then I am not a Marxist," a paraphrase of Marx's statement in a letter to the French workers' leader Jules Guesde and to his own son-in-law Paul Lafargue, both of whom claimed to represent Marxist principles, in which he accused them of "revolutionary phrase-mongering" and of denying the value of reformist struggles." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism)).
Religion
- Bonding with nature is the end/purpose of religion.
- Family yields to religion, religion to state, and state to communism.
Respect
- To trust others you must first respect them.
- Like flames words bring light and warmth unless, of course, they come too close. To get respect, first treat yourself according to nature.*
*"And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.'31 The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'* No other commandment is greater than these." Bible, NLT, Mark 12:30-31; http://www.newlivingtranslation.com/
Responsibility
- Without responsibility we are an obscenity.
- Responsibility means we share with society what we value most in order to get from it what we desperately need.
Reverence
- Save reverence for life itself.
Revolutionary Theory
- Revolutionary theory is a science without which people do not know what they are doing. ("Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing. And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice." Bible, NLT, Luke 23:34; http://www.newlivingtranslation.com
Righteousness
- The wicked kill themselves; the righteous kill millions.
- Those who burn with righteousness burn in hell.
Sacrifice
- God does not sacrifice its children.
Security
- Only productivity (not wars) can bring security.
Salvation
- Only that which is loved is saved.
- Only the people can save you; don't try to do it by yourself.
Scientists Versus Intellectuals
- Words are old friends to scientists;
intellectuals use words to protect themselves.- Scientists tell you what they know;
intellectuals tell you what others think.- Scientists make things simple;
intellectuals make them complex.- Scientists are concerned with progress,
intellectuals with saving face.- Scientists give you the time you need to develop;
intellectuals use force.- Scientists spend their last resources to get what they need;
intellectuals hoard.- Scientists delight in details;
intellectuals walk over them.- Scientists are concerned with safety,
intellectuals with profit.
Self
- Be free of the tyranny of self.
- Consume self, and you do not die; hold on to it, and you surely will.
- You can only work with something you know, and this includes your self.
- As trees spread their leaves to catch the sun, so spread self to catch life.
- You eventually treat others as you treat yourself.
- You have not yet found your self if you are still afraid to get involved.
Sermons (See also "Preaching")
- Do not settle for a sermon.
- Sermons are like plastic; you cannot eat them, and they don't go away.
Sex
- Though sex is shallow, you can easily drown in it.
- Sex is a story best told once.
Simplicity
- Everyone likes simple things, but few take them seriously.
Sin and Forgiveness
- Though people describe sin with such phrases as "giving up the struggle, loosening the animal within, hardening our minds and hearts," sinning can simply be described as a certain willingness to repeat what we know to be an error.
- There is no forgiveness, only lessons to be learned.
Socialism
- Socialism is that step of human development between capitalism and communism which while it eliminates the exploitation of workers by the wealthy elite class is still unable to eliminate antagonisms between workers themselves (proletarians vs. managers; people vs. bureaucrats; etc.).
- Capitalists use and then discard unfortunate, discouraged, and corrupted workers but the organized and compassionate working class in the socialist revolution redeems them.
- Socialism is a collection of stars. Fascism is collective hell.
- Capitalist organizations are word-based; socialist collectives are vibration-based.
Soul
- Deal only with souls.
Struggle
- Only those who struggle and communicate get answers.
Style
- Work on style until it's free.
Thought
- Few thoughts survive reentry.
Time
- Time wasted is worse than poverty; it's a filth you cannot wash away.
- Show me someone with hatred and I'll show you someone with time on their hands.
- The best thing we can say about time is that we don't need it.
- Time is the closest one can get to forgiveness.
- Our days are trials of time.
Truth
- Truth is always the best way to treat others.
- Only truth-seekers can expect a harvest.
- Truth enables us to interface with world; otherwise life is an illusion and we become less than human.
.
Universe
- Universe begins with you.
Wealth
- Scratch wealth and you uncover violence.
Wisdom and Folly
- The wise pay dearly for knowledge;
fools hope to get it free.- The wise stand on principle;
fools load their problems on your back.- Truth moves the wise;
fools drown in it.- The wise live each moment;
fools flee the moment.- There is neither a wise person nor a fool, only nature.
Writing
- Let writing expand to its proper size then stop.
- The people listen only to those who know their part in the master plan.
- Seek not to impress or deceive the people but to fulfill their needs.
- Writing with strain is unnatural. Writing or whatever you wish to do should bring continued health, happiness, strength, and motivation.
- Readers deserve a certain courtesy; certain protocols should be followed so that communication is clear and easy. This is what editing or "cleaning up" your writing is all about. Editing is the "work" of writing as opposed to the inspiration/creativity side of writing. Both are necessary.t
Youth
- Give youth some slack for they bear the brunt of the immoral ruling class's culture.
Animals
Peas and poppies,
pickles and beer,
without the animals
we wouldn't be here.
Ants
Ants never worry,
are always in a hurry,
scour at all hours,
never shirk good work,
can be pesty when we're messy.
Is there a chance, that God is ants?
Apes
Apes are brutes
and unafraid of suits.Baubles and Beads
You make baubles
and I make beads;
they dig us up
with the weeds.
Beginnings
Beginnings are monsters
that eat hands and tongues,
make eyes wild,
and blow away minds
like sands in the desert .
Birds
Birds
live day to day,
seldom get in the way,
make frequent stops,
dislike bangs and pops,
know their trees,
go on sprees,
peck in lots,
have favorite spots,
have legs like wire,
never seem to tire,
are always busy,
(watching them makes me dizzy),
have their spats,
gather for chats,
never fall,
want it all,
never cry,
sometimes die,
wake with the light,
and disappear at night.Butterfly
Bumpy butterfly,
wizard of flight,
over the hedge,
out of sight.
Bus Driver
Bus driver, bus driver
eyes like a bee;
bus driver, bus driver
stop for me.
Bus driver, bus driver
be on time;
bus driver, bus driver
I've dropped my dime.
Bus driver, bus driver,
get me to work;
bus driver, bus driver,
don't go berserk.
Bus driver, bus driver,
please bend the rule;
bus driver, bus driver,
get me to school.Cars
Tiger ribbons,
cowboy deals,
fishbowl hideouts,
moonshine wheels.
Cats
Inventors of tact,
diviners of cuddly places,
warriors of the night,
connoisseurs of pleasure.
Children
Wizards of smell,
drinkers of rhyme,
designers of clouds,
prodigals of time.Cement
Cement for sidewalks
freeways and schools,
skyscrapers, signatures,
driveways and pools;
cement for puddles
bicycles and skates,
walking and running
and finding playmates;
cement for hopscotch
and bouncing balls high,
cement for rockets
on the Fourth of July.
Sometimes it's smooth.
Sometimes it's rough.
We never seem to have
enough of the stuff.
It's no place to snooze
or snuggle or crawl,
and when you're running,
you'd better not fall.
Good old cement!
A little more can't hurt,
but what ever happened
to just plain old dirt?Children Go to God
Children go to God
for stories, trumpets,
spectacles of water,
and holiday marble.Clouds
Clouds make
a very soft bed
though sometimes
they're like lead.
Though awfully slow,
turn around
and off they go.
They're great for shade.
I wonder where they're made.
Cold
Coldness blinds me,
cracks my skin,
and plays old movies
that make me forget
about blood.
Commercials
Are we
ever free
if we can't run
our own TV?
Cork
Pull the cork,
pour yourself out;
let everyone know
what you're all about.Cowboy Hat
Down the street it comes
dispensing white-marble dreams,
squeezing tiresome hours
into gift-wrapped boxes.
Creators
Creators steal past warm beds
and drag pleasure off
into the night.
Darkness
Darkness I need
for I've become a seed.
Dread Mosquito Sound
Like clockwork nurse
or cooling sun
comes dread mosquito sound
at close of day
to chase comfort away.
Duck
I'm a duck
and not very busy.
Don't you think
my feathers pretty?
Dungeon Cat
How alien
to eat a rat.
How precious
the dungeon cat.
Earth Says
Earth says,
"If you love me,
leave your body with me
when you go."
Eating an Apple
An interloper
snaps stalks,
crushes them
and sends the juice
streaming through glades
down to the sea.
Elephant
Elephant,
set me high on your back
and don't forget
I'm not a sack.
Flower by the Wayside
"Take me with you,"
shouted flower to traveler;
"I too wish to see the world."
The traveler enjoyed
seeing and smelling the beautiful flower
but did not stop to pick it
and take it with him.
Flowers are
the nooks of life,
the sun's eye,
beauty's soldier,
death's mediator,
feeling's breath,
our companion in the wilderness.
Dance and sleep with them
before you go.
Fog
Cozy fog,
mysterious tent,
sometimes I wish
you were permanent.
Fresh-Morning Sea
Out of my stuffy pajamas
and off to greet
fresh-morning sea.
God the Parlor Guest
God came into my parlor
but didn't have much to say.
I went about my business
and God went away.
Gorilla
Like a tree
baptized in strength,
with legs cocked,
arms hanging from towers,
and chest supporting the earth.
Hills at Night
Black breasts
moving under the moon
wisper their sacraments.
Keys
Key after key!
There sure are a lot!
Finally the right one
and all keys forgot.
My Kite
I fly my kite
amid clouds of snow
away from problems
and grumbling below.Laundromat
I'm caught
in the spokes of time
at the laundromat
where the air is chalky,
mouths are made of metal,
and windows are TVs.Little Baby
Little baby
wild and free,
swept by kisses
down to the sea.
The world swims
in your head,
don't you think
it's time for bed?
Little Flower
Flower of my dreams
with your yellows and creams,
"Why do feelings hurt,
and why--so long ago--
did you stay in the dirt?"
Music
Music tames the snakes of the mind,
leaves tired world behind,
reminds me of all the "whys,"
tells me that nothing dies.Nightmares
Nightmares are
whispering kettles,
kicked balls,
wakeup calls,
pickax attacks,
but as you grow
they mellow.
On a Shelf
We put people
on a shelf
till we find them
in ourself.
Pain Keeps Vigil
Pain keeps vigil
at the edge of light
and breaks life into
the slivers of night.Parade
There's a
waves-of-eyes,
plastic-and-tinsel-boned,
music-filling-up-the-cracks,
squeaky-souled
parade
down Main Street.
Parking Lots
Parking lots are an indefinite death,
that smother the earth,
that have no eyes, lips, or breath.
Peach and Cobbler
Peach and cobbler,
brine and dirt,
don't go under
or you'll get hurt.
Pesty Flea
Pesty flea,
little black spot,
first you're there,
then you're not.Pigeons
Pigeons spin pyramids
over city spires
then settle down
on telephone wires.
Pigeons and Other Birds
Pigeons with sewing-machine heads,
where do you make your beds?
Sparrows so rowdy,
why are your meetings so crowdy?
Mocking birds with tunes like laces,
do you get them from far off places?
Notorious crows with your caws,
are you not a pack of outlaws?Posture
With the back thrusting forward
a proudly cabled chest,
with shoulders towering,
and arms, legs alive, free,
a whip-chord torso glides along.
Processions, Parades, Etc.
Processions are stuffy
parades fluffy,
marches brassy,
and picket lines sassy.
Preposterous Hippopotamus
Preposterous hippopotamus,
laughable giraffe,
preponderous walrus,
and rickity calf.
Pushing a River
I was pushing a river,
as it flowed to the sea.
"Stop your pushing," it said,
and flow with me.Quackers
Quackers quacking on the fence
never seem to make much sense.
If any quackers within you lurk,
I suggest you put them to work.
Sea Dogs
Old sea dogs,
biscuits, and bread,
tales of sailors
stuffed in my head.
Sleep
Red-eyed monster sleep
finally brings out its moons.
Jittery messengers
are left in the vestibule,
and, once more,
faces float upon the waters.
Sleep and the Devil
"A little more sleep," said I.
"I need sleep myself," replied the devil.
Spiders
Spider legs
invade air,
wrinkle time,
wrap up light;
then
with their sacks of fear
they disappear.
Sprinting
I am a point,
then suddenly the wind,
then a glider,
then once again a denizen of storybook land.
Sun
Big hot sun
burning off the dew
make me clean and shiny
too.
Sunrise
Trumpets vibrate the air,
trees blush,
fresh breezes blow,
the great one bowls marbles down the street
summoning all to work.
Sunset
xxxxx Earth tilts and pours silver and gold onto city streets,
Jell-O mountains and clowd-museums appear,
logs of day are thrown into the furnace,
great organ master flourishes,
canons attack the sky.
Day sinks into night;
earth gives over the fight.
Trees
Trees wrap up time,
balance mountains,
and stay with us
till the end.
Water
Treat water well for it saves you from hell.Wave
The sea stands up,
opens its eye,
speaks,
then withdraws.
What I'm Made Of
My head's a stew,
my stomach a clock,
my arm's a club,
my foot a block.
My hands you seldom see
which is OK with me.
TV or Me
I asked myself
while watching TV,
"Which will it be,
TV or me?"Youth
They slice thru turbulence
like the butterfly.
Go to them
and to find the answer why.
Mc Coy
With corkscrew smiles
Mc Coy tames yankees
and measures life
with pieces of his heart.
Spock
Spock
contributes alien blood
sleeps on slabs,
measures with robotic eyes.
Comrades rely on him;
bureaucrats fear him.
Wesley Crusher
He does cartwheels around giants,
has tasted wormwood,
and knows the scorpion's sting.
Interview with Worf
Host's Introductory Remarks:
Good morning ladies and gentlemen.
By now I'm sure most of you
are familiar with the redoubtable Mr. Worf,
security chief aboard the Enterprise starship;
his whirlwind tour of the country,
his chat with the President,
and his addresses to Congress and the UN
have received extensive coverage.
I hope most of you have had an opportunity
to read the autobiography
that he has graciously made available to us.
In the short time he has been with us,
he's become somewhat of a household legend
winning the hearts of millions
and at the same time managing to develop
a rather stormy relationship with the press.
Host: Welcome to our program, Mr. Worf.
I understand that you come from the Klingon race,
a warrior people who even now
are bound to the Federation by
only the most tenuous of treaties.
I gather from your stormy relationship with the press
since you have been visiting swith us
that Kingons have not changed much in their ways.
How do you reconcile this rather violent, confrontational approach
in dealing with others
with your position aboard the Enterprise
which is on a mission of peace and exploration?
Mr. Worf: Klingons are direct and confrontational
because we are out to change the world.
We are a stormy people, I admit,
but what is life without a few storms?
Host: Don't you think such an attitude will have a negative influence on children? Shouldn't they be tought to respect and obey.
Mr. Worf: Children are naturally confrontational
and have a touch of the wild in them.
What we as well as children need to respect
are the laws of nature.
Host: Wouldn't it be better
if we tried to cooperate and get along with others?
Mr. Worf: Your bible, I think,
has the last word on this:
"I know you well--you are neither hot nor cold;
I wish you were one of the other!
But since you are merely lukewarm,
I will spit you out of my mouth!"
Host: How about Klingon honor and glory, Mr. Worf?
What of all the blood spilt to erect these monuments?
Mr. Worf: We stand firm for what we believe in
and it is this that brings us honor and glory;
deceit and trickery are alien to our culture.
We make good friends but catastrophic enemies.
Host: What about killing?
Mr. Worf: Only those that are afraid kill.
Host: What words do you have for the fainthearted?
Mr. Worf: The weak hang on to the coattails of life.
The strong are colleagues with death.
If you wish to be weak no longer, confront death.
You will find that it is nothing.
Host: What final message do you have for us
who are embarking on a new century?
Mr. Worf: Secure your planet.
Energy flows where there is vision.
If you can't see beyond your market,
you and your children
are doomed to stagnation and death.
Host: What are your plans for the future?
Mr. Worf: I plan to keep abreast
of the latest advancements in my field
and raise my son.
I may seek a teaching position later on.
We'll see.
Host: How about a parting shot?
Mr. Worf: Here is a quote from a Klingon philosopher:
The great devour;
The insignificant are satisfied with crumbs.
Autumn-Leaf Syrup
She serves autumn-leaf syrup
and opens nooks of time
with her smile.
Blossom in the Backwoods
Olive eyes and dark hair
blossom in the backwoods.
Her sun moves through thickets.
She travels rowboat waters
and wraps her words
in maiden puffs and hooklet smiles.Doctor
He fits words well
in his beetle shell
and stocks the fort
for his next report.
Frank Barry
Fires smolder in his cockpit.
The king's wizard marshals machines,
mixes underworld and sky,
and pulls out bushy rabbits
and polyester smiles.
King's Daughter
God appears
in the king's daughter
who plays among the monoliths.
Noble Son
The tweedy-suited,
windy-haired,
jungle-stick
son of nobility
scoops up hearts
and sets them
round his warm fire.
No Time for Leaves
She keeps her dollhouse
on a craggy mountain
where twisted trees
have no time for leaves.
Old-World Snapshot
He is an old-world snapshot,
a collection of
ribbons, paper words,
and roadshow entrails.
Soft Jungle-Kiss Dresses
Soft jungle-kiss dresses,
chocolate-glade mouth,
eyes that reveal
the secret of feathers.
Squeaky Pontiff
Squeaky pontiff of the landings,
friend of the weather,
elemental man at harvest time.
Summer Cream Pillow
Circuit to the stars,
summer-cream pillow,
satin flower,
enchanted jungle.
She comes softly at dawn
to tear up white paper.
Toy Soldiers, His
He sits on a great wheel
every day setting out his toy soldiers
and dreaming parchment-lists worth of devils.
Tuxedo Smile
A slippery chute,
a black hole
with pointed eyes
and tuxedo smiles.
Unyet* Full Moon
An unyet full moon
moves city workers
who delight in its light
and warmth.
(* "(adj.) A negative indicator used to denote a lack of actualization. Example: He is unyet ready to perform at the recital tonight," http://www.unwords.com/unword/unyet.html)
African
With miraculous strength
the African who is fastened to the ceiling
unties himself
and falls to the cathedral floor
where robots march
and squadrons of hooded monks
pass by on motorcycles.
Archangel
Archangel escaped early one morning,
and I went looking for him.
I found him asleep
on a stranger's front porch.
As the stranger came out I blurted,
"My friend has been to a masquerade party
and has had too much to drink."
I picked up archangel and started down the steps
with the stranger helping me.
Corridor of Eyes
Souls flit like flies
in the corridor of eyes
where there are no "whys,"
where no one dies.Babe on Mother's Breast
I wish I were a babe again
upon its mother's breast,
adrift in the softness
of sweet womanliness.
Death in the Morning
A shaft of light
thru cellar window
touches green man.
Long ago the savior
asked him for a drink,
but he hardened his heart;
the words were lost,
the screws tightened.
Death's Mystery
There is no love to cover
what age has exposed.
Perhaps I could cope for a while
as a robot,
but I'm lost
if I do not learn
death's mystery
soon.
Depression
Tired lights push me
from motherland.
I hang on strings
and robots bring my food.
Devils for Sale
I was looking for the devil.
The merchant put out a rich assortment of them,
and I grew old waiting in line to get one.
Devil Under Arrest
Recently at a resort,
the devil showed up.
As usual he was crippled
and getting others into trouble.
Finally the righteous blurted out,
"Can't you see that sign over there that says
the devil is subject to immediate arrest?"
The devil smiled
and went about his business.
Edge of Loneliness
At the edge of loneliness
in a pot of tyrant hours,
I sing comforting songs to myself,
keeping just ahead of the devil,
wallowing through dreams,
waiting and watching with the spider.Escaping Mother's Tides
Only now that she has passed,
do I begin
to escape her tide,
to walk at her side.
Eyes, Come Back
xxxxx Come back, eyes.
Save me
so I can see souls,
the streams, the sky, the sea.
Father Haran
Time washes away the soldier
and leaves an angel
signaling for those who come.
Harmony in the Classroom
Standing naked in the hallway
I hear harmony from the classroom.
Adding a few notes of my own
I feel better.Horseface Land
It's hot in Horseface Land.
From high above you can view
the heat-blanched expanse of the city.
Those in power have horsefaces,
and they go around the city
in dark-windowed limousines.
Common folk only catch fleeting glimpses of them.
Periodically the horsefaces let drops of water
fall into the streets from their limosines
for appearance's sake.
A frequent occurrence in Horseface Land
is that of the water boys
running to splash water into the limousines
which are parked along the curbs.
Lamentations
I am an owl on a bus,
a ticket collector,
a witch's brew,
an alien horse with one eye,
a cracked wall,
a penguin butler,
a starched bear,
a dusty plow,
the end of blood.
I gulp pleasure,
try to escape my face,
rake my heart and paste sequin-eyed women on it.
I am a wrapper tossed to the wind by my mother.
Feelings spill out.
My eyes are animal eyes,
my face a dragon's tail.
Days are photocopies.
I serve dusty rulers,
wear badges of starched children.
Time is a dirty sidewalk.
Ghosts snap at me.
People are books on shelves.
Beggars chase me onto the fence.
Night is an old film.
The young plow through me.
Dreams suffocate me.
Money struts by.
Radios pound nails into my brain.
I am on the wrong side of death,
and no one is left to play with,
only squeaky-clean guns,
running paint,
and boiling air.
Lion-Colored Sun
She's a lion-colored sun
gliding behind state buildings,
wraping my eyes in hot apple swirls,
and sleeping with moons from her closet.Little Boys and Little Birds
A boat with little boys sank.
Then a long time afterwards
the little boys revived
and flew back as little birds.
Lina
Lina is the seahorse
whose attack I can no longer stand.
Dance with her
and brats come like rain.
Little Boy that Drowned
A little boy stepped into the river.
His foot got stuck.
Though he began to sink,
he showed no emotion.
Finally he disappeared.
Then a man came and opened the water like a chest
showing a row of lifelike children
the last of which was the boy who had just drowned.Looking for the Devil
A merchant put out
a rich assortment of devils.
I was looking for one
and grew old
waiting in line for one.
Melody in My Mind
A prominent lady
came to visit an orphanage.
A waif ran out
and began to joke and play with her.
The lady became indignant
and stormed inside
to confront the fairy godmother.
The fairy godmother
put her cheek next to the lady's and said,
"Listen to the melody in my mind."Moon on a Shelf
The moon sits
on a shelf in my cellar
where no blood or rumbling seeds
disturb the wax faces
or statues of the savior.
Mother's Prayers
Mother's prayers weigh a lot
and occupy a great blank spot
where devils sow
and religions grow.Mother Was a Bramble Bush
When I was a child,
mother was a bramble bush
and father a hard tree.
I myself became brittle.
I buried death at an early age.
In school I began to pick my way thru mountains
dreaming pious filigrees;
I was an insect buzzing thru incense,
a dummy overcome by faces,
a fool thirsty for death.
Then I was bapitzed
and set out to earn badges
balancing flagpoles,
walking backstage,
and carrying dusty books.
Now I'm a child
protected by its guardian angel
as it crosses the rickety bridge.
On His Father's Back
A father, in order to break his willfulness,
carried his son on his shoulders
everywhere he went.
After a long time
the boy melted across his father's back.
Many began to criticize the man.
Finally the man set his son down
into the cool waters of a stream.
In the water, the boy's body
became whole, muscular, and supple once again
but drowned shortly thereafter.Onion-Tree Claws
Onion-tree claws threaten from above.
In the marketplace below,
I search from bin to bin
trying to decide on
which onion-tree fruit
I should buy,
which are cheapest and tastiest.
I ask a lady, but get no answer.
Meanwhile the tree's claws
silently go about their grim business.
Woman in the Locker Room
Wearily I make my way
down to the locker room
to put on my habit.
She's there.
She grabs me
and crushes a burning cigarette
into my right shoulder.
"Go ahead and squirm," she says.
"Your squirming will put it out."
Bag Lady
Said the bag lady
gone without a trace,
"Don't put your mouth
in my face."
Ecstasy
Ecstasy comes in easy swells
far from pulpits
and capitalist hells.
Her Casual Smoke
Her casual cigarette smoke
winds me back
through adolescent dens
and sticky-theater films.Her Dress is Butterflies
Her dress is butterflies.
Her lips pound me into unconsciousness.
She burns my sticks.
Her teeth are hard.
Her jungle mat steams.
All flows invisibly heavenward,
and, twisting to enjoy the sun,
the earth gushes melons and holidays.
Lady Friend to an English Diplomat
Her warm color,
cool air,
velvet paws,
and foreign eyes
soften this weary traveler.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Painted_Veil_(2006_film)
Men are Outside
Men are outside
and women are inside.
Women like to go outside,
and men like to go inside.
Queen
She exposes reason,
is master of love world,
cultivates arsenals,
dreams of children and spotless days,
exhausts shopkeepers,
knows the faces of men.
They call her queen
but her name is women.
She
She sends him to the mines
and brings him back at night.
She grows in his wounds,
and there is no end in sight.
Three Young Women
Three young women come down the street,
their hair reveals the mystery of color,
their smiles make all things clean.
Two Ladies Waiting in the Dentist's Office
Two ladies in the dentist's office
tinkle rosaries at the daily blast;
while their laps are still fertile,
their bloomers are plated with time.
Worker's World
African Witch Doctor
African witch doctor,
breath life into my dusty bones.
Make life elemental once again
so I can stand
with the ancestors
and see the way forward.
At the Office
At the office stalks sag.
Sharp-edged calendars
and polished floors
herald the disappearance
of another day.
Bank Manager
Her stiff lips
vibrate throughout the office.
She tidies things up
with her eyes.
Bus Life
China
China, stalk of humankind;
savior of the peace;
home of
bamboo, bicycles,
side-street bazars,
worker squads,
weekday fireworks,
right action,
and the professional merchant.
Chinatown
Chinatown beads in the wind,
herbs in banging drawers,
and slave-eyed frogs in the stocks.
(See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown,_Los_Angeles,_California#Businesses)
Communists
Communists are nightmares to the rich.
Bosses know their value but don't trust them.
Religionists would burn them and their wholesale magic.
Politicians avoid them if they can.
Imperialists target them.
Intellectuals call them simplistic.
The capitalist media homogenizes them.
The middle class say they're unreasonable.
Parents regard them as alien.
Children can't get enough of them.
Culture
It's woven into fabric
and wrapped around a smile.
Some say it's homey,
but no one calls it style.
It's not exactly substance,
and neither is it rind.
It's on the edge of words.
It's the "furniture of the mind."Customers
Customers line up,
are dunked,
wrung out,
dried,
repackaged,
then sent along their way.
Dana Point* Strollers
Birds wait patiently on poles
as Dana Point strollers
move like technicolor ants
ticking
and trapped forever
in pictures on a wall.
*http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:IIwpwWX70e-8WM:http://www.mission-viejo-ca-real-estate.net/images/dana_point_ca_real_estate.jpgDeath of Cities
Cities to inches,
days to ash;
breasts to paper,
children to trash.
Hearts to metal,
minds to flags;
teachers to hoboes,
women to bags.
Dialog with a Slot Machine Player
A: Excuse me.
B: Just put the drinks over there.
A: But, I don't serve drinks.
B: Sorry. I'm not hungry.
A: I don't serve food either.
B: Oh, never mind. I'm going to another
machine anyway--this one's no good.
A: But Ma'am, I trying to tell you that you've dropped your purse.
B: Oh! Thanks.Humans
Humans are still cutting the world into names,
abandoning nature, and living in the land
of poker faces and candy TV.
Kinfolk
Kinfolk weigh streets
with shoulders,
deliver us from monsters,
and serve us at table.
They are forever with us.
Lumpenproletarians
Lumpenproletarians are freeloaders,
former workers,
victims of big business
who recite the "news,"
crowd into pews.
They have a perverse culture
that's foreign to common folks.
They glisten like sharp immovable coral reefs
ready to gouge the sides of unwary ships.
They are fanatics bereft of common sense,
wired to the shiny, growing tumor of fascism.
Wealthy ruling classes, capitalists,
make good use of these deadened souls
first organizing them into paramilitary gangs
to kill, terrorize, and exploit the masses
and then, once fascism is established,
cutting them down if they resist discipline
or recycling them into police-persons or soldiers if they conform.
All this waste ends, however, when
the people replace fascism with socialism
and redeems these "former" workers.
Middle Class and War
They make good use of war wrapping it for sale, then they dump its victims into streets or into jail.Missions for the Homeless
The homeless,
under patron eyes
of prison-door religion,
are culled for the willing
then stuffed into neat boxes.
Mugged
Thunder steps across my eyes.
Heart explodes into ugly wires.
Time stops.
Brain is squeezed to a pin,
and I am cut adrift
in a rain of silent days.
Native Americans
Far from ancestral lands
they stand in painted-moon hallways.
Their streams are silent,
their dreams smolder,
and their dances have frozen into stone.
Ontra Cafeteria
Movie-theater smells,
old folks with baseball caps,
shaky hands,
deadpan stares,
perennial clothes,
Spanish-speaking employees,
some well-defined proletarians,
a few Latino couples,
a young female employee socializing
with one from the deadpan-stare group,
sturdy black shoes swaying past a circus of Jell-O.Parable of the Two Kinds of Farmers
Once there were two kinds of farmers. One kind desired wealth for themselves and their families alone. The other kind grew crops to meet their own families' needs plus the needs of the rest of the community. The farmers who placed wealth first found out which crops were profitable and grew only these and in great quantities enabling them to monopolize the home market and later--at great profit--to sell to foreign countries which encouraged them and provided them with money and gifts for themselves and their children. In return these farmers purchased chemicals, pesticides, and genetically modified seeds from the wealthy countries and supported right-wing politicians interested in setting up their own country as a puppet state for the wealthy foreign countries.
As the wealthy farmers' business expanded, they needed more land. Some they bought and the rest they got by hiring discouraged, victimized workers whom they trained with the assistance of professionals supplied by the wealthy countries. These paramilitary gangs chased the poor farmers and peasants off their lands leaving them helpless and desperate. In the end the poor famers and peasants were forced either to migrate to the wealthy country to find work or to come to the rich farmers who were now able to hire them at the cheapest wages. Furthermore, because the wealthy farmers did not grow all the crops that were needed, the people were forced to import food and other products from foreign countries--the same countries which had helped and encouraged the rich farmers. This provided these foreign countries with new markets where they could dump their own great surpluses. The poor famers saw their farms expropriated, the soil polluted, their economy destroyed, their sovereignty lost.
The small farmers and others concerned about well-being their country decided to break this pattern of exploitation. They formed an army and defeated the hired mercenaries, assassins, traitors, and foreign soldiers. They took control of the state and used land and resources to meet the needs of all the people. The small farmers then grew a great variety of crops along with the staples thus providing the basic foods along with all the other materials needed by the people. This benefited not only the farmers but also the whole community; it provided jobs and stimulated not only the economy but also education and culture. The people now had an abundance of food and other products so they did not have to import them them from the wealthy countries. Furthermore the small farmers found it in their interests to form collectives to share technology, equipment, and resources. They took care to practice sustainable methods so that they and future generations would enjoy health and prosperity. The people were independent and prosperous and the farmers were loved and respected by all.Las Vegas Striker on the Picket Line
They can put me in prison
but I'm gonna walk this mother f....
Mammon
Mammon's a quackery of signs,
decay in a test-tube,
contagion of light,
a parade of cut flowers
and homeless trees.
It pastes eyes to the pavement,
teaches our young to kill,
and congests hallways with ghosts.
Mario and Ryan
Mario slides into class
on the corner of a smile
and leads you through
computer lollipop land
while students chase bright-beetle Ryan
through wires and chips.Mexicans
They bring fire home
and sleep in stone,
weave days into life
and tell earth's stories.
Michael Cincek Releasing a Mouse
"Good-by Mickey Mouse.
See you sometime in eternity."
People's Altar
Black blood-spots
on concrete,
the people's altar
on the street.
Comrade
He brings
bonfire smiles and color pods
to all.
Waiting for a Party Meeting
I read mud-brown leaves
in the amber street light.
Time clots as I wait
at the gate in the night.
With a Comrade on his front Porch
It's a tourist-tale, muddy-time day
on Leroy's front porch.
He pokes me
with whiskey words
and my hands burn in the cold air.
Worker's Statue
How strange to see
the dusty statue of the worker
walking in the hallway
between classes.
Worker's Apartment
They climb sacks to their coop.
Meters tick. They have their soup.
Traps are set for another day
while their children forget to play.
Abilities Abortion Acorn Folks Action African African Witch Doctor Aging American Muggles Ancestors Angels Anonymous Hands Ants Apes Archangel Artists At the Horseraces At the Office Autumn-Leaf Syrup Babe on Mother's Breast Bag Lady Balance Baubles and Beads Beacon in the Forest Beauty Beginnings Big Warm Sun Biographical Birds Blossom in the Backwoods Bus Driver Bus Life Bus Stop 1 Bus Stop 2 Buttercups Capitalism Cars Catching the Bus Cats Iron Flower Cement Change Children Children Go to God Children's Songs Child Tamer <China Chinatown Cleanliness and Order Clockwork Manager Clouds Cold Commercials Communication Communism Communism and Religion Communists Community Complete Proletarian Comrade Comrades Connection Cork Corridor of Eyes Courtship Cowboy The Cat Cowboy Hat Co-Workers and Administrators Creation Creators Customers Dana Point Strollers Darkness Dawn Death Death in the Morning Death of Cities Death's Mystery Democracy Depression Desire Development Devils and Angels Devil Under Arrest Devils for Sale Dialog with a Slot Machine Player Dread Mosquito Sound Dreams Dr. Sharfman Duck Dungeon Cat Earth Says Eating an Apple Ecstasy Edge of Loneliness Edith and Urban Education Elephant Emotions Energy Escaping Mother's Tides Eternal Woman Evil Evolution Experience Eyes Come Back Faith Family at a Bus Stop Father Haran Father Malachy Fear Feelings First People's Republic Flower by the Wayside Flower in the Hay Flowers Fog Fools French Fries on the Bus Fresh-Morning Sea Fundamentals Ghost in the Making Ghosts Gifts God God and the Devil God the Parlor Guest Good and Evil Gorilla Great Stone Child Harmony in the Classroom Hatred Healing Health Helene Hell Her Dress is Butterflies Hills at Night Historical Bed History Hope Horseraces, At the Horseface Land People Humans Image From the Nebula Immortality Indigo Child Inside a Bus Interest Interview with Worf Warm Sun Iron Flower Iron Tears Jack Fischel Jokes Keys Kinfolk King's Daughter Kite, My Lady Friend to an English Diplomat Lady Speaking Spanish on the Bus Lamentations Las Vegas Striker on the Picket Line Laundromat Life Lina Lion-Colored Sun Little Baby Little Boy that Drowned Little Boys and Little Birds Little Flower Little Girl Crushing Cans Looking for the Devil Love Lumpenproletarians Mammon Manager Manager, Clockwork Mario and Ryan Materialism Martinet Mc Coy Meditation Melody in my Mind Men and Women Men are Outside Messiah Mexicans Paper Man Michael Cincek Releasing a Mouse Middle Class Missions for the Homeless Moon on a Shelf Mother Behind the Railing Mother's Tides, Escaping Mother's Prayers, My Mother Was a Bramble Bush Mugged Music My Kite Mother's Prayers Nail Polisher Narrow Pathway Native Americans Nature Nebula, Image From the Need Nightmares Noble Son Oaks and Acorns Observations Off to Work Old-World Snapshot On a Shelf On His Father's Back Onion-Tree Claws Ontra Cafeteria Organization Pain Keeps Vigil Paper Man Parable of the Two Kinds of Farmers Parade Parking Lots Part-Time Teen Peach and Cobbler Peewee People People's Altar Pesty Flea Pigeons Pigeons and Other Birds Planets, She Who Knows the Pleasure Placard Face Poetry Politicians Posture Power Preaching Preposterous Hippopotamus Principle Production Processions, Parades, Etc. Progress Proletarian, Complete Proletarian King Proletarian or God Proletarian Prince Proletarian Queen Pushing a River Quackers Queen, the Woman Racism Reactionaries Relations Religion Respect Responsibility Reverence Revolutionary Theory Righteousness Smooth-Mountain Woman Sacrifice Salvation Scientists Versus Intellectuals Sea Dogs Security Seed in the Wilderness Self Sermons Sex Sharp Eyes She She Who Knows the Planets She Who Suddenly Narrows Siblings, Relatives, Friends Simplicity Sin and Forgiveness Sky Hook Sleep Sleep and the Devil Slice of Culture Socialism So Far, So Good Soft Jungle-Kiss Dresses Soul Spiders Spring Wire Sprinting Spock Squeaky Pontiff Star Trek Statue of Youth Stream upon the Plain Struggle Style Summertime Cream Pillow Sun Sunrise Sunset Teachers and staff Where I Used to Work, Some Teddy Bear Teenager, Part-Time Teresa Ware Thought Three Young Women Time Toy Soldiers, His Trolley Trees Truth TV or Me Twig of Female Two Farmers Two Ladies Waiting in the Dentist's Office Universe Unyet* Full Moon Waiting for a Party Meeting Warm-Moon Statue Water Wave Wealth Wesley Crusher What I'm Made Of Wisdom and Folly With a Comrade on his Front Porch Woman in the Locker Room Woman on her Way to Work Woman on the Bus Worf, Interview with Workers Worker's Apartment Worker's Grit-Etched Hand Worker's Statue Writing Yankee Youth Youth, An Encomium Youth on the Corner Youth, Statue of Index