If life was perfect
In every way
We'd be bored right out of our gourds
With nothing to complain

No watches to tick away
That you're running late
Or friends who have the need to ask
If everything's okay

No difference to the day
With every day the same
If every day the new day makes
Is perfect in every way

Soon enough though we would find
That not one soul would die
Leaving no alibi
For escaping of this life

With no more sickness
No scraping of the knee
As God is my witness
I think back to boring

Although we could eat all that we want
And not gain unwanted pounds
Running Broccoli and Brussel sprouts
Straight out of every town

There would be no more greed
Or advice given free
No more sympathy
Would find itself in need

What would we find to do
In a world perfectly tuned
If we had nothing to gain
And even less to lose

it’s been 24 years
since we’ve been here
september 11th
all holding hands and
thick with a purpose
thank God, he loves us
yet, now we’re divided
hard to deny it
unbridled hate that we have
both right and left
accusing each other
sisters and brothers
each of us presuming
what others are doing
with righteous fingers
we point thoughts that linger
on the wrong side
pushed there by pride
it’d be so much better
if we’d stayed together
all with one purpose
it’d be so worth it
living in peace
and harmony
remember when
we all held hands
back 24 years
through our sorrows and tears

Little is known
Of a man called Roam
Or what he thought
In his thoughts alone
Where he’d go
Or if he’d flown
Here on his own
This man called Roam

He’d venture about
From town to town
North then south
Round and around
Up and down
In and out
Trotting the globe
This man called Roam

Wherever he stopped
He left a prop
A bookmark of sorts
Of his thoughts
A proof that he lived
For stories they’d weave
This man called Roam
Who roamed indeed

By Mfena Ortswen & Mike Hauser

Is this what it boils down to
Where what we do is stand and shoot
To try and win an argument
A sense of ruthlessness beyond hell bent

When you take another life
The  tragedy flows far and wide
Affecting those you’ll never know
God have mercy on our souls

Help us to get past this wickedness
That never seems to make much sense
It’s so hard to understand
The willingness of sinful man

To ride upon the devil‘s knee
Thinking that will set you free
Today we watched a young man die
A senseless crime, no reason why

All because he disagreed
With those who hope to silence liberty
And the freedom that it brings…

When two poets put their heads together
And pull out their pens to write
There’s no way to know the direction they’ll go
When it comes to the rhythm and rhyme

They could write about a simple theme
Or a deep one that makes you think
Their words might make you beam
Or take you to sorrow’s brink

Whatever they decide to confide
In this melding of the minds
It’s sure to indeed make you think
Or at least bring you closer to the light

When their words roll into sentences
You’ll be carried along on a magical tide
And surely when the end arrives
You’ll be glad you came along for the ride

By Mike Hauser and Mfena Ortswen

I think still of Emmett Till
Such a needless tragedy
The simple fact that he was Black
To this day still bothers me

How hate played a part in the heart
Of the men who murdered him
And the woman who he spoke to
That  didn’t care for the color of his skin

With no idea about the Deep South
On that hot Mississippi day
Or the fact those would be the last
Words this young man would ever say

They took him and beat him beyond recognition
Ignorance at its height
No excuse could be given when they shot
and then lynched him
More than just Emmett that day died

Tossed out like trash what little was left
Into the deep end of the river
All out of control with the lie that was told
Of him disrespecting someone’s sister

When they were through doing what evil men do
They gave his body back to his mother
Fourteen years were all the years he spent here
Never given the chance to have another

He made his way to an open casket that day
Being his final cry for help
We can only hope that his toll burns into our souls
And we learn from the death of Emmett Till

Nature at one time beckoned me
In the blowing of its leaves
Yet treated with little respect
Out of neglect will leave you be

Roots that burrow into the earth
Trunks wide like the universe
Branches scale in height and breadth
It spawns an unending curse

A curse that leaves man to his own
Never again to call nature home
Given the chance and man blew it
Would things be different had he known

Now nature’s unmoved by man’s suffering
Man’s woes are his own doing
When on the edge of extinction all’s teetering
Stoic and indifferent, nature will see to man’s ending

By Mfena Ortswen & Mike Hauser