Apr 2014
The oceans are seas of fire
The land is a charred dough
That crackles and breaks
Into tiny flakes
That mingle with burning rain
As waves crash and rise
In fiery tides
And singe the shore
As they have never done before
I stand on the hilltop
In a cloak of embers
Wearing boots of coal
And watch in wonder
As the world burns slow
Wearing clothing caked
With ashy snow
And the northern bombs fall
And troops march in
Civil unrest
Age-old fight to be king
An aged old bomber
With no heart to put in
To this hell of war
To this clash of man
To this devil plan
To this horror
When we awake in our beds
And we open our eyes
And read countless
And countless
Uncountable lines
About burning
And crying
In far off lands
That we pronounce with hesitance
And we act out our penitence
With button clicks and haughty words
And ideals upon ideals
That crumble like cookies
When we miss our own meals
And we watch the world burn
From our fluorescent screens
We smell the decay
But cover it with a spray
Concocted with lies
And “Its-All-Okay”
We are separated by glass
From the poisonous gas
That at others eats away
We trust what we hear
When the suits calm us down
With promises empty
And soothing sound
Their masks have become
A heritage
That we accept
As our parents did
And we let them go on
Spinning their webs of Teflon
Until we are in comfort
And no longer strong
As our brothers and sisters
Of different skin
Burn in the ovens
We stay linked in
And choke on the *****
That we are given
And believe that our kin
Has anything at all
To do with skin
Or what books we read
And lives that we lead
When we eat our dinners
Or go to sleep
Or fast for our gods
That we have created
Our outlets for our convictions
(They satisfy our hunger
To make meaning)
And if they meant anything at all
When they made our world
It wasn’t this.
They did not mean for us to bleed
For their names, as if they need
Our suffering to feel pleasure
-A fatally human measure
They did not mean for us to hate
But to love, and with love make
A world that is a place of light
Not one burning through the night
Like gasoline
This was not the dream
Now is the time to make a fuss
The oceans are burning
Because of us.
The land is a charred dough
That crackles and breaks
Into tiny flakes
That mingle with burning rain
As waves crash and rise
In fiery tides
And singe the shore
As they have never done before
I stand on the hilltop
In a cloak of embers
Wearing boots of coal
And watch in wonder
As the world burns slow
Wearing clothing caked
With ashy snow
And the northern bombs fall
And troops march in
Civil unrest
Age-old fight to be king
An aged old bomber
With no heart to put in
To this hell of war
To this clash of man
To this devil plan
To this horror
When we awake in our beds
And we open our eyes
And read countless
And countless
Uncountable lines
About burning
And crying
In far off lands
That we pronounce with hesitance
And we act out our penitence
With button clicks and haughty words
And ideals upon ideals
That crumble like cookies
When we miss our own meals
And we watch the world burn
From our fluorescent screens
We smell the decay
But cover it with a spray
Concocted with lies
And “Its-All-Okay”
We are separated by glass
From the poisonous gas
That at others eats away
We trust what we hear
When the suits calm us down
With promises empty
And soothing sound
Their masks have become
A heritage
That we accept
As our parents did
And we let them go on
Spinning their webs of Teflon
Until we are in comfort
And no longer strong
As our brothers and sisters
Of different skin
Burn in the ovens
We stay linked in
And choke on the *****
That we are given
And believe that our kin
Has anything at all
To do with skin
Or what books we read
And lives that we lead
When we eat our dinners
Or go to sleep
Or fast for our gods
That we have created
Our outlets for our convictions
(They satisfy our hunger
To make meaning)
And if they meant anything at all
When they made our world
It wasn’t this.
They did not mean for us to bleed
For their names, as if they need
Our suffering to feel pleasure
-A fatally human measure
They did not mean for us to hate
But to love, and with love make
A world that is a place of light
Not one burning through the night
Like gasoline
This was not the dream
Now is the time to make a fuss
The oceans are burning
Because of us.
