I recognize
this ground
laced with stones
and poisoned barbs
hike barefoot here
unafraid

a barren desert
feels like home
when there is nothing
to be lost or gained

I have been here
many times before
stripped down naked
in the noonday sun
watching vultures
wheel and dive

as I dangle
twist and spin
ever the enabler
enabling

Come play with me
         over the hills'
verdant delight
        where the sun often shines
and dark is bright
        Come take my hand
as we go under the bridge
           where the fairies glow
on the pine-scented ridge
        Let's run through the river  
and feel its flow
            as we swim naked
and the moon shines low
Run with me
         let the winds lick
                           us dry  
Let's raise our heads
                         in laughter
allow ourselves to cry
I am here for you
       through storms and hail
I won’t give up
on you
when your tempests
rage and wail
We are one in each other
              No way to reverse
even when running free
                             alone
Your script is in
                      my verse
So come, follow me
             into the wilderness              
Let's get lost there,
                   deep inside
Let's caress each other's wounds
dark secrets tell
                 with pride
You can take my tears upon
your tongue
     and I can press your palms
onto my heart
as we feel the pulse
of silent heat
that will scintillate
our
     dark

Lead us, Evolution, lead us
Up the future's endless stair;
Chop us, change us, **** us, **** us.
For stagnation is despair:
Groping, guessing, yet progressing,
Lead us nobody knows where.

Wrong or justice, joy or sorrow,
In the present what are they
while there's always jam-tomorrow,
While we tread the onward way?
Never knowing where we're going,
We can never go astray.

To whatever variation
Our posterity may turn
Hairy, squashy, or crustacean,
Bulbous-eyed or square of stern,
Tusked or toothless, mild or ruthless,
Towards that unknown god we yearn.

Ask not if it's god or devil,
Brethren, lest your words imply
Static norms of good and evil
(As in Plato) throned on high;
Such scholastic, inelastic,
Abstract yardsticks we deny.

Far too long have sages vainly
Glossed great Nature's simple text;
He who runs can read it plainly,
'Goodness = what comes next.'
By evolving, Life is solving
All the questions we perplexed.

Oh then! Value means survival-
Value. If our progeny
Spreads and spawns and licks each rival,
That will prove its deity
(Far from pleasant, by our present,
Standards, though it may well be).

I am not afraid of pain,
it gave me so much, I cannot repay,
it filled the void beneath my eyes -
There once was soul, but was replaced
now its claimed by abyss fall.

I am in no shape to be adored,
I made mistakes, I closed my doors,
but there was light to hold my hand,
show the path and lead the way,
and for all of that I must thank pain.

Never would I ever know,
if I did right, if I did wrong,
only if the sorrow after act would follow
then the answer clear as day, I could regret in my dismay,
If only I could thank my pain.