Why would I want
to be remembered?
Had I ever done
anything that was great?

Don't hold on
to yourself too tightly
try letting go-gently

and enter
into the sanctum
of your inner calm

self defeats itself
in wanting to become
larger than itself--it courts harm

and bears painfully
the greatest burden
with its peace stolen

  so few verily
  know how to be empty
  and lead lives in such agony

West:    Charge ahead!

Zen:     Step back

Poetry is more than a friend
it's the voice of religion

I've no religion
but my own prayer
I reverently invent
consistent
with my conscience

Curb not your freedom
    it's that which gives your life
     the fullest expression

   or you'd but be a voice
   in the desert  most desolate
  not a single word of yours would be heard

I'll not leave here
nor be stopped
I'll have my say
all stirred up is my thought

this cruelty and injustice
I'll fight with full force
it's dehumanising
so much suffering it has caused

man's inhumanity
to his fellowmen
the worst of the human lot
I'll not cease to condemn

I'll not leave here--steadfast I'll stand
though an army they may summon:
it's a cause I deem worth dying for
this is the call of every decent man