Soul Support

Went to the redemption center
to drop off my pile of regrets

The long haired hippie behind the counter
asked me if needed a little help

I insisted I could handle the load myself
being the proudly independent type

He seemed a tad put off by my refusal
with a look of profound disappointment

So he gently asked me again if I needed him

“Jesus Christ!” I said, “Please leave me be!”

With that he bowed his head and proclaimed

“Thou knowth who I be and yet ye reject me?”

Then he faded transparent and vanished
and my dark soul filled with white light

The redemption center is now my cathedral
where I gladly seek the support I once spurned

In our lonely little world of isolation

We need all the crutches we can find

Mirror Prayer

Beneath
the stain glass canopy
the holy types do say
in their pious
sanctimonious way
that Jesus died
for our sins

Twas a real bloody show

He then rose from the dead miraculously

It was in all the papers

but seriously …

Who asked him
to take
the rise and fall
for Daddy’s
flawed creation?

It wasn’t us for sure

and to complicate matters
the prophets constantly say
in their ominous dire way
the sequel
when he returns
at the precipice
of the Apocalypse
to save the day
will be even more
spectacular than
the first act

What the Hell?

We flawed beings
(historically a constantly
disappointing species)
need to take ownership
of our self generated transgressions

Deal with the consequences

We gotta carry that damn cross
our various sins crafted

Do not depend on a bail out
of divine intervention

Stand on our own two feet
and not be so reliant
on a power out there
that for all we know
may no longer care

Crossed Up

From out of the wasteland
the straggly stranger wandered in

Dressed like a homeless person,
he had quite an entourage with him

Preached about spiritual salvation,

Spoke of a kingdom we could not see

At first he seemed quite harmless
til his words threatened our authority

So we did what we always do with rebels
had him arrested and inflicted with much pain

When we demanded he recant his treason
he very calmly refused to play our power game

Leaving us no choice but the death penalty
that scary deterrent thing we do so well

Thank God that whole mess has been laid to rest

Just another little cult threat we had to dispel

Soon to be forgotten by the desperate rabble
forever chasing flavor of the month messiahs

The Age of Click

Pounding the keys again

Peck..Peck..Peck

Letting life’s frustrations
fly off my fingertips
onto the serene screen

Tonight my thoughts
exceed the speed
of my compromised connection

The horror of being frozen out

Locked up by heartless tech

Words now bottle necking
inside my clogged hour glass

Oh to have a paper and pen!

but stolen office supplies
long ago
were all utilized
and never replenished

No need for such relics

Or so I thought
when I purchased
this pricey device

I violently shake rattle and roll
my accursed hardware

Bad idea

Skull and crossbones appear
on my solid blue screen

Fatal error

This is the final
proclamation

The red power eye
grows dim

Signaling the end
of our relationship

All my brain wave residue
I had deposited
on a chip
the size of a gnat
now terminally dead

Gone to that place
in the clouds
where data angels reside

Time to start over again

as I scour my existence
for parchment and quill pen

Tragic Magic

Down we tumbled

through the
false bottom
trap door
we forgot
was there

Thought we were
part of a magic show
til we realized
that these illusions
we relied on
were easily exposed
to those
paying attention

Our hidden wires
we believed to be concealed
were readily revealed
for all to see

Boos rained down derisively

Skeptics from the Peanut Gallery
screamed rude obscenities

Then the mirror shattered
and while we were
picking up the pieces
of our wrecked performance
that damn rabbit ran off
with our hat!!

Dealing From The Bottom

I met the anti Christ
in a dream state
or maybe
twas just a premonition

So hard to tell these days

Anyway…

the devil in my head
inquired if I wanted
to play for his team
since I have quite
the impressive sin resume

(his words, not mine)

I take no pride in my debauchery
but I won’t run from it either

Anyway…

Terms of the infernal contract
were laid out on a cluttered table

My eternal soul
for a case of beer

Back and forth we negotiate
(since that’s what con men do)

I propose a bag of corn chips
as a throw in addition
(cause they go so heavenly with brew)

Louie reminds me of my
low salt diet restrictions
and counters with
a personalized brass mug

You see…

I’ve always struggled
with loose temptation
(being the undisputed master
of absolution rationalization)
but this time my conscience declines
the deal of a lifetime

Going to hold out
for the angels
of my better nature
to make me
a counter offer
and bargain hard for my salvation

Implosion Us

After we finally drove
our ancient enemy
into the sea

After all the pilfering, plundering
and general mayhem

Our victory was complete
as we peed on the ashes
of their leveled cities

Generations of strife
fueled perpetually by hate
spent on a war
we never dreamt would end

Now was the time
to make the peace
but no one knew how

It had been so long

Media cheerleaders pondered
“If we turn off the war machine
what will become of our economy?”

and what will our holstered warriors do
without death jobs and a cause to die for?

So in this vacuum of sanity
our glorious military
took control of all diplomacy

The media was brought into line
ensuring the panic message
kept the coordinated hate fires burning

Conscientious politicians
who objected were summarily shot

Internal dissent
was brutally crushed

War was declared
on all enemies of the people

be they real or imaginary

Those they deemed impure
were made to disappear

Our new culture of fear
had redirected the war inward

Against an enemy
that use to be part of us

 

Currents of Currency

Gray skies
wrapped around
the former majesty
that was Factory City

Weeds breed unrestrained
blasting through
the cracks of forgotten time

Beauty long ago drained
from our forgotten garden

Strategically abandoned
when the money migrated
to more cost efficient climes

Generations of worker bees
classified as collateral damage fall out
were systematically erased

Down trodden victims
of the man made economic drought

Blue collar refugees
from the outsourcing calamity
of the late 20th Century

Today the modern scourge
has begun to scrub away
the white collar class
as the money flows
to the sweat shop
cyber linked jobs
of the third world

The leveling effect
of capitalistic greed
where the one time haves
are rapidly becoming
the have nots
as the bottom rung
of unwashed masses
finally move up to get their shot

The total global
redistribution of income

Not the class revolution
Marx envisioned
but the financial evolution
of capitalist history

One group’s untimely demise
is another’s prosperity

So these nasty weeds
we are currently choking on
on the flip side
are blossoming flowers
in lands formerly barren

 

Uncivil Disunity

The staunch defenders of matrimony
standing arm in arm at the sacred wall

Holding back the tide of history
The forces of gaydom moving in

Queers trying to crash the party
that’s been going on for centuries
and there lies the proverbial rub,
since this institution has survived all stupidities
and really does not need to be saved
from any imaginary assaults
by people of a different persuasion
who only seek the same rights we enjoy

So here we are dealing with prejudice again,

Hatred wearing the face of moral indignation

Another guise that’s gone on for centuries,

Stupidity never seems to go out of style

So long as ignorance exists to fuel it

Greasing The Skids

Deep down we know it’s all gone wrong
but the myth of the American Dream
remains very strong

Way too deeply ingrained
in the national psyche
for any hope of the major changes
we need so desperately

The gulf of economic disparity

Growing exponentially

So go ahead and chant away

Protest the obvious inequities
of institutionalized hypocrisies

Sure there may be more poor
than ever before
but the rich massahs still hold sway
and will scare enough sheep in 2020
with their time tested fear machine
to hold the socialist wave at bay

Please do not shoot this messenger

The pain will be only temporary

History runs on it’s own timetable

Though it does try the patience of Humanity