Lets raise a black flag for the dark times we've had
And let the white one burn because it is our turn and we'll never surrender again
And then we'll dance in tears of rain
And wash the fears away
For our troubled minds have found refuge in words
Our screams were never heard
So we turned into birds
For we just long to belong
So we migrated
To a home we created inside our heads
They will never care that we had to tear
Through flesh and bone
To take control of our minds that owned
us
This home doesn't exist
Its a figment of our imagination
But creation
Is the only thing keeping us **alive

Quarks, photons, gluons: sub-atomic particles:
Quantum fluctuations
That wink in and out of existence.
Where do they come from?
Where do they go?

There must be somewhere else.
Somewhere beyond our space and time.
Outside our multiverse,
Our Realm.
A parallel dimension next to ours.

Heaven?
Who knows?

We ourselves are made of particles:
Many a water molecule,
blinking in and out.
So in effect we are dead
As often as alive.

But am I God?
Are We God (assuming You are Real)?
Yet we have little power.
We can’t be God.

Maybe We are The One Mind,
Dreaming all together.
Dream Creations in our very own Dreams.
Within our virtual, mortal shells.

We are caught in an infinite,
Vibrating energy stream,
Perceiving an illusory Virtual World,
Living the Dream together indeed:
The One Mind.

Paul Butters

A brief notion today,
it brought me away.
It took my consciousness from me.
Glazed eyed and amazed,
head-first into the daze;
to a life and a love laced in fantasy.

With a rush like cold air,
through freshly washed hair,
I was swept back through worlds - to the present.
I glanced round in a rush,
and embarrassed - I  blushed.
Awakened, to a view much less pleasant.

Ambar ki aftaabi mein muskurata hai tu
Samundar ki gehrayeon se gunjtah hai tu
al-Ala As-Salām, al-ʻAziz As-Salām

Darkht ke  har patton mein lehrata hai tu
Baarish ki har boond se barasta hai tu
al-Ala As-Salām, al-ʻAziz As-Salām

Har takhayyul mein nazar aaye tera hi kalam
Innayat rahe hum pe sada tera bas karam
al-Ala As-Salām, al-ʻAziz As-Salām

Har tassavur mein hai  teri hi tasveer
Muqqamal karde ab meri bhi taqdeer
al-Ala As-Salām, al-ʻAziz As-Salām

Har nabz ke tarranum mein gun gunata hai tu
Har labz ko mere haathon se likhata hai tu
al-Ala As-Salām, al-ʻAziz As-Salām

Kabool kare meri ibadat mera ye junoon
samet le kadmo mein, mil jaye sukoon
al-Ala As-Salām, al-ʻAziz As-Salām

Translation
Your smile is in the radiance of the skies
Your sounds echo  from the depths of the ocean
the most High, source of peace, the most glorious , source of peace

You sway in every leaf of a tree
you are in every drop of the rains
the most High, source of peace, the most glorious , source of peace

behind every thought is your pen
continue to grace us always with kindness
the most High, source of peace, the most glorious , source of peace

In every portrait, I see your image
help me complete my destiny
the most High, source of peace, the most glorious , source of peace

you are the hum in the melody of every pulse
My hands are mere instruments of your every word
the most High, source of peace, the most glorious , source of peace

Accept my worship, and my fervour
absorb me into your feet, and grant me peace
the most High, source of peace, the most glorious , source of peace

Oh gone are the days of white sheets draped on propped up cushions;
Of safety in delicate, wavering structures only strengthened by imagination.

This fort is of unseen iron, steel and girders - bound and secured by all of my insecurity.