Glitter Glitter
Shine and shimmer
Whether pressed in coin
Or rolled and mirrored,
Brick by brick
Watch it
Glimmer Glimmer
Here Dust and Gold will
Always linger
Safe from any grubby fingers

Mined and minted
“Mine!
I meant it!”
The oldest currency
Since
Flesh and bone;
This blood from stone
Makes the world go round, around
Makes the world go round

Sets the bar, makes a mark
In market shares
And achievement charts
A Golden Star, just for you
Gold Standard, Golden Ratio-
(My, how the luster glows…)
And, of course, the
Golden Rule-
More appropriately,
The Gold And Rule
For he who has it
Makes the rules
And always
-Always-
Do to others
BEFORE
They do unto you!

That’s the REAL secret, don’t you know-
How else to maintain the status quo?
“Use your sense!
Save your cents!
The only thing with persistence is-“

I often feel frac/
                           tured

As though I’ve
f
a
   l
     l
      e
        n
Between
           The
Cracks
          Of
Memory-

Like a broken bottle
Left
Forlornly in a wood,
Or
A faded,
Sun-bleached
Photograph;
Decaying
In an empty house-

When you’ve withdrawn
Upon,
within,
around
Yourself, so much
That even the dust stagnates-

How can you expect
Anyone
To intrude
Into that self-imposed solitude?
Especially,
If you,
Yourself,
Have no clue how to break it?

The bell has lost it’s clapper,
A mallet without a gong,
Tongueless  mouth gaping wide-
Emitting only a feeble moan,
Easily dismissed as the wind,
Whipping around the eaves,
and through the trees.

When I was but a child
I was hewn upon the cross
Paying penance in hammered nail
To keep from wandering, lost

For if my feet, they couldn’t stray,
Would commit no more to sin-
Except for that Original,
And the blot that lay within

Blinking, blood-blind eyes
Burned by brightest Son-
Would fail to meet the gaze
Under weight of crimes
I’ve only yet to’ve done

But soon became apparent
Being culled to feed the Wood-
Castigated;
Plumb, yet prostrate,
Would do me none for good

So,
Being not a martyr,
Or slave to other’s whims,
I set about to descend, and
Form and fashion, wood to bridge
Over the ocean of my sins

To free phalange from o’er spike
And leave a shining line-
To tread an unknown passage,
And seek what kismet mine-

Unburdened by the weight
Others sought upon to brand-
Reaching out, toward the Sun
Cupping it, softly
In my red right hand

"Everything we're selling, they're buying it!
Pay-per-view, on demand, ******* they're buying it!
They want more? Hell, we're supplying it!
Ounce by ounce they're spoon-fed ****!
Eating it up, little they know,
It's all a Punch and Judy show!
With the man behind pulling the strings
Making his puppets all dance and sing-

What's that? Almost time?
Let me get my smile aligned!
**** the prompt, **** recording,
We'll do it live!
In 5
4
3
2...

Welcome again to the Daily News!
Boy, do we have some stories for you!
Growing crime rates and substance use,
SJWs, protests, and persecuted youths,
Government scandals and political abuse,
Just stay tuned, WE'VE got the TRUTH!
(We're here to bring the fear to you! )

They're at it again, terror overseas-
Stop! Wait! Don't eat that cheese!
Unless it's government supplied
It's full of diseases!
There's a recall on free range that does as it pleases.
Now, back to the war! And it's growing death toll
In those Middle East countries we've sought to control-
Did I say 'control?' I meant liberate!
We share our Dream and conglomerate,
Then they share their oil, ain't it great!?

And now, Tom with the Weather!"

"Today's forecast is hellfire rain,
Earthquakes, floods, a Cat. V hurricane!
You -could- go out if you don't mind the pain!
It's a good choice to stay in.
Between mudslides, fires, and UV rays,
You'd be better off watching us the rest of the day!"

"Thanks Tom! More things up next!
Upcoming brutality and civil unrest!
Just lean back, stay right in your chair;
Whatever you do, don't move from there!
Never know what you'll miss,
Your life's at stake!
We'll tell you how-
After this quick commercial break."

Our Media Gods with their All-Knowing Eyes
Blinding our sight, pumping out lies
Snow-filled screen set to hypnotize-
Keeping us mesmerized
By the pretty colors all flying by

Feeding us **** in saccharine splendor
With its paper tiger prophets
And consumer agenda
Flaccid talk shows and 'Reality' TV-
They're only showing what they want us to see

Sensationalism sells!
And they gotta push pills!
Trying to 'cure', or ****, or frighten away
Any desire to go out and play-
And why bother? It's safer inside,
They tell us it's true!
Now don't go anywhere, it's time for the News...

The night is strangely quiet,
But not silent-
The air thick,
Heavy,
A looming fog rumbling in.
Only the faraway yelping
Of a wayward dog
And the dull buzz
Of a tired sodium light
Dare break the silence;
The latter casting stark,
Sepia shadows among the leaves,
Hiding more than it reveals.
Strange,
Isn't it?
How the light can obscure

I sit alone
Among star and shadow,
And some things that are
Both,
And some that are
Neither.
Tugging on a bottle of cheap whiskey,
Filling lung with smoke,
Fruitlessly seeking solace in the

Stillness,

To empty my mind
In the brief hush between
Cigarette,
And shot.
Drag,
Swallow.

Time for some self-service surgery!
Another bottle in lobotomy,
Splinting back broken dreams
With time-battered memory
And just enough whiskey

There's supposed to be a difference
In Breathing, and Being Alive;
But for the life of me,
I can't remember why.
I
  Can't
     Remember,
         Why?