The man walked, shuffled,
Through blisters & sores.
His shopping cart stutters
Past the laden stores.
He's lost his mind
On rocky shores
He had hopes and
Dreams galore
Now he can't find them
Anymore.

In the land o' plenty
The woman lives hard.
Barely feeding her kids
With a food-stamp card.

The soldier lost limbs,
Now he's alone.
He is "housed"
But has no home.

[chorus]

We know the rhyme.
We know the riddle.
But they still get caught
In the middle.

Caught in the cracks
The streets for some.
Cement & sky
Is not a HOME.

Emily sits upon the stoop.
Goes to kitchens to get soup.

Michael lives.
He breathes.
He talks.
But he sleeps
In a cardboard box.

[chorus]

They're called vagrants.
They're called bums.
Labels they can't overcome.

Like wooden ships
Their only sea
Is in a bottle
They can't break free
Where's your HEART, society?
Where's your SOUL?

Your EMPATHY?

BRIDGE:
We must repent.
We must atone.
We ALL are guilty
To the bone.
We must help them

FIND A HOME.


SøułSurvivør
(C) 6/8/2017

Some of us know the anguish of loving
And never being loved in return;
Hope gets consumed in fires of remorse,
But despair and anguish will not burn

Some of us know the journey of the heart
Can be fatal when trust goes astray;
Soon love falters, then withers and dies,
But the memories do not decay

Some of us seem to get so close to love,
It's just within the grasp of our hand;
Into that stream we foolishly plunge,
But it's just a mirage in the sand

Some of us think love is pure happiness,
But it's love that teaches us to cry;
We've been told that love is immortal,
But through tear-filled eyes, we watch it die

Some of us have learned to dwell in darkness --
There's a strength we find within these walls;
With so many of us living here,
We laugh at loneliness when it calls

Some of us sulk, while others dare to hope
For that glorious dream that yet may be;
Some of us say we are done with love,
But you'll never hear those words from me!

Eyes wide
you do not allow
oblivious sleep
shadows branded
on my retina
reveal all contrast
tattooed on my shoulder
a skeletal hand
this illusion  
pins me down

your questions
have no answers
questions remain
asked again and again
I swear
I know nothing

You say everything
is immaterial
subjectively real
ideas existent
in the mind
of the perceiver
I am
(you insist)
a true believer

Parched and shrinking
I ask for mercy
you bring the cup
to my fissured lips
but it is empty
a vessel of air
you murmur
there is only enough
for one
what will you give
in return?

Heavy metal
arpeggios of wind
head bang
petulant faces
inured to rain
a repeating refrain
in falsehood
lies your truth

but even you
cannot halt the dawn
a dark horizon
pulls the strings
powerless
you sink
behind the cloud-
wall of your storm

is it safe now to close my eyes?
three times whisper
be gone
              bright fiend
a weary incantation
spell of protection
the yawning wind
done with howling
hums reassuringly
                            
                       *“a change is gonna come
                                                            ­      imagine
                                                   ­                            peace in our time”

Who knows what stops the heart of a song
I take note

of tiny thud—
robin in the wheel well of my car

the limp head
of a cat’s prey

sigh of wings
defrocked by power lines

baby starling’s fledgling flight
falling short of a pond’s edge

The slate morsel unearthed
by the tines of my rake

…and the world is vacant for a moment

Grief ***** a womb of air
but how it lives— I cannot say
Upended creature of us

Stops the throbs that herald life