it travels without trucks
builds quickly
and undoes itself
with ease

its walls are just
    my frames of thought
its bed
    the conscience of a day
    well lived
    with few regrets

its gourmet restaurant
mostly beckons somewhere
from across the street
where people meet
keep company
and eat
and share
and talk

I dreamt a dream of child soldiers and blood
A boy small and stout laying motionless on the grass
His little body covered by plantain leaves
His shoes swallowed by debris
The songs of the ancestors long forgotten as their tune is swallowed by the cry of battle and ******.
Nameless boys and innocent stolen girls
Graves with no tombstones
And commanders with no rules
This is war

times are
when words seem
to have lost
their power
to be spoken

they stubbornly refuse
   to form
on the same lips
from which they flowed
only a heartbeat
ago


difficult words
they have become

I love you

forgive me

I love you

my friends said last night
I should write something light
something shiny and bright
to the readers’ delight

no fights and no terror
no soldiers no war
no suicide bombers
no refugees galore

after all   it’s the season
when altogether we sing
of the love that we bring
to each other
    within reason

so I am doing my best
NOT   to make a clean breast
    of the worries that plague me
cuddle deep in my nest
only welcome the guests
who brings me good news
and carefully wipes
all bad cues from their shoes
ere they enter my house

so  
to rouse our good feelings
we all listen to the chimes
of the church bells a-pealing

and to a poem that rhymes

the real question is not
    whether god exists
but whether you believe in one
no matter which denomination

do you believe
    that there is someone
    who commands your fate
    created everything
    makes earth move and the universe
    protects the good and punishes the bad
    and will reward you after death
        according to the life you led
    with everlasting bliss
         or fiery hell eternal

or do you rather think
    that it is our responsibility alone
    to live in peace  
         not war
    protect all life
        not only our own
    and not pretend
        that hunger  sickness
        lack of water and clean air
       are simply  natural  

if you are a believer
     remember all religions
     respect all forms of life

if you are prone to think it's humans' obligation
     remember those who do believe
     may also strive  to do their best

the common goal of all
should be the recognition
     that whatsoever god
     may have created us
     would not have wished
     for our abolition

our kisses
   are desperate
      and wild

we cling
as if we did not
trust reality

and need a while
before our minds
   follow the warmth
   of our bodies

Oh, what will you give us?
say the sad bells of U.S.

Indeed! You are smitten!
Say the bells of Great Brittan

It is such a pity!
Weep the weak bells of Italy

You did sing, you did dance,
say the smug bells of France

Now, where is your harmony?
Say the cold bells of Germany

It's a terrible plan!
Say the bells of Japan

Oh, don't be a whiner,
Say the red bells of China

Yes, your demise we ushered,
Say the hard bells of Russia

We will use violence
say the black bells of ISIS.

There can be no more borders
Said the New World Order

I will steal your last breath
Said the grey bells of death

We will treat you well
lied the hot bells of hell...


And, what will you give us?
Say the sad bells of U.S.


SoulSurvivor
(C) 12/31/2015
All rights protected

Step away from the window
Or you may get hit and die
From the lead bullets
Of a car passing by

Don't drink city water
It's full of poisonious lead
Don't trust the governor
when he says it won't mess with your head

So he was bullied
One day after school
Drug  into the alley
His funeral was cool

Stopped because your
Left turn signal was out
Beaten and shot
Because there was some doubt

There is no North side
South side , East or west
It's all no man's land
Don't be foolish and second guess

the self-styled trumpeteers of ethnic hate
wish to build fences
    close the gates
to keep out those who flee
from self-styled trumpeteers of religious hate
who, as it is,
claim to feel called to hold up
ancient teachings that are out of date
in modern democratic times
when neither chimes of church bells
nor the cries of muezzins
or any other servants of religion
rank higher than the people’s democratic vote

as we are told by the elected
trumpeteers of democratic nations

god and the state each get their share
in separate spheres
but do not mix

for me
those who dare violate this rule
just come across as desperate to solve
new problems with old words
look backward and believe
that when they sell regression
     garnished with some bows
it will be seen as progress
make people overlook that
     while they now may live by simple truths
they can no longer disagree
     without the fear of ****** harm

just let us speak out loud and clear
     against the self-styled trumpeteers' song

to **** in the name of whatever god
is always wrong

when no mornings
follow nights
cities lie without their lights
little beasts root happily
children can live all their fears
   forests break
   mountains shake
then it’s time again

rockets roar with deadly freight
sharp explosions rock the night
   soldiers shoot
   graveyards bloom
it is war

when scrawny skeletons
creep through the streets
parents weep
dead bodies radiate
   new death
and crumpled shapes
   spread more disease
then it’s time again

the general orders strategic attacks
and watches how the metropolis cracks
   rivers stink
   battleships sink
it is war

when the bakers bake no more bread
when the butchers chop off their hands
when the doctors’ only prescription is death
   corpses float in the village pond
   and supermarkets stay closed
         24 hours a day
then it’s time again

maybe the ultimate time
for the warriors to storm from their heights
to the valleys to lance and destroy
   they also **** women
   all children are dead
   the moon is all red
   the stars are so wan

   we are counting the corpses
   as long as we can

it is war