Uncle, Uncle, I can't take anymore
Uncle, Uncle, I'm already on the floor

I've already said Uncle,  so give me some slack
Universe please,  stop jumping on my back

Stop with your antics,  your constant attacks
You let me progress,  just to be taken aback

Once again you have left me weeping at the door
Once again you have shaken me to the core

Uncle, Uncle, I can't take anymore
Uncle, Uncle, I'm already on the floor

I've already said Uncle,  so please let me up
I don't want to drink anymore from wrath's flowing cup

I'm tired of being the platypus,  your little joke
Tired of the agonizing feelings,  you leave me here to choke

Once again I'm drowning, as you hold my head under
Why is it my life you choose to plunder

Uncle, Uncle, I can't take anymore
Uncle, Uncle, I'm already on the floor

nobody loses all the time

i had an uncle named
Sol who was a born failure and
nearly everybody said he should have gone
into vaudeville perhaps because my Uncle Sol could
sing McCann He Was A Diver on Xmas Eve like Hell Itself which
may or may not account for the fact that my Uncle

Sol indulged in that possibly most inexcusable
of all to use a highfalootin phrase
luxuries that is or to
wit farming and be
it needlessly
added

my Uncle Sol’s farm
failed because the chickens
ate the vegetables so
my Uncle Sol had a
chicken farm till the
skunks ate the chickens when

my Uncle Sol
had a skunk farm but
the skunks caught cold and
died and so
my Uncle Sol imitated the
skunks in a subtle manner

or by drowning himself in the watertank
but somebody who’d given my Uncle Sol a Victor
Victrola and records while he lived presented to
him upon the auspicious occasion of his decease a
scruptious not to mention splendiferous funeral with
tall boys in black gloves and flowers and everything and
i remember we all cried like the Missouri
when my Uncle Sol’s coffin lurched because
somebody pressed a button
(and down went
my Uncle
Sol

and started a worm farm)

Heirlooms

Jun 2017

One day, parkouring through my uncles two story apartment,

I was drawn naturally to his desktop computer

upon which I found his OkCupid Dating profile.

I don't remember his username, Or anything about the site really,

But I remember the head-shot of a beautiful woman

framed above the desk

the sterile grey Rubbermaid totes behind me like caskets, 

How they made even the hardwood floors

look like they were holding in the dead.

For my Grandmothers birthday

my family gathered at Captain Newicks

her favorite seafood restaurant.

My uncle flirted with the waitress.

I don't think I've ever gone to a restaurant with my uncle where he

didn't flirt with the waitress.

Captain Newicks went out of business shortly after that dinner

followed shortly by my grandmothers life.

the relationship between my uncle and that waitress expired well

before both my Grandmother or Captain Newicks.

I remember asking my grandmother about my Uncle.

Tarots Fool would have predicted

my grandmothers eyelids

a silent prayer before her words.

He had two children by his first wife,

keeps a portrait of her above his desk.

She was a blessing on the family

Selfless amd loved by every one.

She took her own life

Spread her wings to break free from the cage He kept her locked in.

He buried his heart in her casket,

motorcycles, empty bottles

had a third child by a second wife

who buried her heart in drugs and strangers.

Amanda was 6 years old when her mother died.

my uncles wife. Her brother josh was 3

when she died my uncle wanted to put them both up for adoption

he didn't.

Their mother died on the 20th of September

a week after her 25th birthday.

their mother once bought a bunch of carnations

with a dead rose in the middle

and said "it looks like I'm dead".

she took a bottle of pills before going to a chinese restaurant

went out as a family

and collapsed at the table.

she was rushed to the hospital

she didn't make it.

their mother wasn't happy

her and my uncle were getting divorced at the time

lived in the same house that I grew up in.

when my uncle told the kids mommy wasn't coming home

my mother was 17 

and there to see all of it.

When my mother was 17 

she had to watch her baby cousins be told their mother had died.

When my grandmother passed.

grief bounced off of my uncles callouses

ricocheted to my cousins, robbed 

twice now of a selfless mother.

The tragedies in my family

have always enthralled me.

like shakespeare sonnets

I breath them into my faithless nights

tap an extra dream-catcher on my bedpost

in space of a prayer.

When The hearth-fire of our family dimmed 

a tealight in my grandmothers eyes.

grayed, Glossed.

she could no longer crochet 

one big dysfunctional quilt, 

together from our families yarn.

without her needle, 

I was determined to watch how our life spun forward.

The next time I saw my uncle,

He offered me a job.

Thick mosquito blinded us as we carried our sweat 

with Rubbermaid totes into a blue two story home 

deep in the evergreen thickets of Maine.

a tall white fan rotated slowly back and fourth 

Cooling the wet patches on our T-shirts while my Uncle 

flirted with the landlord

I still remember when my uncle tossed me the truck keys

the look of terror I gave him

How easy it was for him to trust

I guess when your heart is buried in a casket 

you stop worrying who has your keys.

It makes me remember

when my daughter asked for my keys 

I would sit her in the drivers seat

watch her pretend to drive.

I loved imagining her free

living how she wanted.

I still wouldn't give her my keys.

she would turn my car into a casket.

It makes me remember

when that little girls mother asked me to drive

My words spun portcullises

prison bars forged in anxiety

scaffolding out of latex secrets

Glued with siren smiles, pacifier kisses

denying cigarette smoke on her breath

fueling infernos in my head.

when my uncle handed me his keys without hesitation.

my religion was insulted by his tough skin.

I felt his simple kindness 

like a splash of holy water. 

saw in me, the devil 

caging a woman like property

holding her hostage 

out of fear.

And yes 

when She could drive she left me

And yes 

when she left me she took her daughter.

every morning 

cereal bowl of pills, I **** myself

keep a poster of my mothers face 

covered in bruises 

behind the tiny orange bottles 

to remind me why I do it.

wake up twice, 

first as Phoenix, dying

second as a watcher, writer and admirer.

callouses are not to protect us from the outside at all.

Callouses harden our bodies into caskets.

Hold in all our dead.

It seems a family member on my Wife’s side wants to pay us a visit
Now what a surprise
But what I didn’t realize
This is my Wife’s Great Uncle who is a family pest
He isn’t my Wife’s family best
In fact, the family could care less
Apparently, my Wife’s Uncle Ben likes to take advantage since he is very old
But being old he knows how to be bold
At least that is what I was told
Uncle Ben would often fake a Heart Attack to get his way
Then it becomes later with other family member that let Uncle Ben stay
But after awhile Uncle Ben loses his welcome
The other family members don’t really talk but is very seldom
Uncle Ben that has his way
Now he is coming to our house to stay
So according to my Wife, I have no idea as to what to expect
Accept from what I was told in his personality in effect
But if Uncle Ben fakes a Heart Attack in my house, I will have no choice but to reject
He would be taken to the Doctor for careful observation
This is my 911 for preservation
Now my Wife and I are on vacation
We really wanted to go away
Perhaps while Uncle Ben is here, we will make our getaway
So if Uncle Ben starts a problem, he will be called a cab with suitcase in all
I will not hesitate having no stall
My Wife would probably be mad
But for a peace of mind I would be glad
I am not running a Holiday Inn
My house is not an automatic step in
Well let’s see how Uncle Ben will be
I will have to wait and see
If Uncle Ben cuts up, he will be out of the door like a bird set free
I mean whole hearty being a house flee
But I will never give Uncle Ben our keys
So Uncle Ben I hope you are ready for responsibility in house
This house belongs to us
Following our house rules is a must.

Well Uncle Hector space detector
Interstellar super-sleuth
Found an egg among the needles
Then he knew he’d found the truth
The Tree of Life was his for eating
Alchemists could all go bleating
Scientists got glimpses, fleeting
Of futures and the past

Said Uncle Hector with a grin
“hey Mr Church, come talk of sin…..
come tell me how it was again
before the fall from Grace?”

Come let us PLAY in inner space
Lets ride the reindeer in the sky
Lets hold the Holy Grail up high
And forever wonder why?
It came to this
Betrayed by a Kiss

Try not to miss
A rendezvous with ISIS
Early morning meditation
Searching for the King of Kings
And all of her Disciples
Through time and space our children float
Wearing Technicolor  Dream-coats
Sailing in psychedelic lakes
Of celestial Double Takes

In rowing boats of Entheogens
We head for the shore
And the open door
Inside the DOME
The cranial dome
The pleasure dome
Our only home
Our only hope
The Cosmic Joke
The double Helix

Can you feel it?
Can you hear it?
Can you see it?
Can you taste it?
Does it abide in you?
Can you abide in it?
Can you decipher ****?
Can you swallow it?
And try not to forget
That it is not HE or SHE or IT
Or THIS or THAT
Or THEN or NOW
Or WHY? Or HOW?
Just a sacred cow
Passing grass through the Trinity
Farting gas into infinity
Making connections with eternity
With the knowledge of certainty
That we are all divine entities
Who’ve lost our identity
Robbed of our divinity
Left without dignity
A tragedy
A parody
Of what we used to be!

Can you read the parable?
Can you hear the clarion
Alarm bells ringing?
Angels singing
In hyperspace
Spores ascending to a higher phase
A blue-green planet
With an equatorial archipelago
Shows you how it goes
Right under your nose
Don’t watch the skies
Looking for spies
Electronic lies
World wide web
Out to catch flies
Books on thighs
Held up high
Wonder why?…..
Dogs in mangers
Create dangers
Universal Lone Rangers
On snow-white horses
Giving us our Daily Bread

Uncle Hector space detector
Rides his magic carpet
Through Milky Ways
And Galaxies
Of pleasure and ecstasy
Out past Andromeda
Past infinite possibilities
Of possible infinities

To wondrous worlds
Where dreams unfurl
On one foot he whirls
The universe he twirls
On his index finger
The spheres he holds
To make them SING
To make the very planets RING
Reminds him of the King
Who gave him this freedom
To travel this Queendom
Of  inner space
And vanish without trace
Without the confines of memory
Without learnt behaviour
Without  a saviour
Without a redeemer
Within a dreamer
A dreamer dreams
And seems
To those without
To be or not to be
The essence of us all.

So Unkle Hektor space detector
Interstellar world selector
Drinks ambrosia laced with NECTAR
And sails on seas to  NINEVEH
To foretell them of their future
Avoids capture within the belly
Of the mighty whale
And sets sail
In a force-ten gale
Does Uncle Hector
SPACE DETECTOR

Lands in a meadow unseen
Blossoms on the unclean
Surfaces in the GREEN
Passes through the WHITE
Passes through the RED
Searching VIOLET LIGHT

And Uncle Hector space detector
Steers himself back home
Back through the chilling dome
back through the future zone
back through the past alone
till at last
he’s back
among the STARS
From where it all began

And Uncle Hector space detector
Lays softly down to sleep
And dreams of blue-green planets
Spinning in the deep
Blue-black INFINITY
Has GNOSIS of his DIVINITY
Beams a smile that warms infinity
And giggles in his sleep
Yes Uncle Hector space detector
Pan-dimensional interjector
Stoops down low to choose a connector
In a meadow in his dreams

And Uncle Hector
Space detector
Detects an “X” factor
That can heal his “WHY”
And wherefore……
And therefore Uncle Hector gets a healing
Most revealing
Truth concealing
Holy *****
Falls from heaven
In our Daily Bread!
Then Uncle Hector wakes and rises
Expands his lungs and exercises

Give thanks to all who know his song
And everyone who came along to hear these words
And carry on the raising of the consciousness
Of  everything and everyone
And carry on the raising of the consciousness
Of  everything and everyone

The man, Eubie Blake
Jazz Pianist and Composer filling the slate
Music having its own blend
Gifted talent because my Uncle Eubie can
Eubie Blake being my Great Uncle
Have listened to him play those ivory cords
Oh my Lord
Uncle Eubie played Jazz with direction in mine
The direction was rhythm in Jazz emotion
It didn’t matter if it was waters deep like an ocean
The Charleston blend being a thought in a notion
Step up but step back
My Uncle Eubie could play with the golden fingers
Every note being a creation
The rhythm is the formation
My Great Uncle is in the Smithsonian African Museum and Culture in Washington, DC
He was once a student at New York University
My Great Uncle’s Parent were once slaves and perished over the years
But Uncle Eubie was inspired in his own right to preserver
He was from Baltimore, Maryland
It’s music note after note as my Great Uncle made that music simply float
Uncle Eubie’s dignity met honor
The ivory keys of the piano that I will never forget
In fact, the piano keys and I have met
I was taught professionally on the Piano by two musicians, a Female Opera Singer and a Male Concert Pianist
But before that, I was concentrating on the *****
My Uncle Eubie was the influence and inspiration
It doesn’t matter what music as it is about culture and appreciation
Play that again Uncle Eubie
Legacy being the remembrance all the way

The Blue of the Democrats
The Red of the Republicans
Where is the White of The People?

When did We The People become,
We The Separated?

In times like these.
We cannot look to the government.
We The People, must look to ourselves!

United We Stand!
Divided We Fall!

The government was never
fat politicians.
It was We The People

Where is the Red, White, and Blue?

We are the Government.
We don't have the luxury
to blame ourselves.

We The People.
Of the United States of America
must stand against today's problems.

Not debt.
Not war.
Not education.

But laziness,
disunity,
and hopelessness.

Blaming the government,
is blaming We The People.
Blaming your neighbors.
Blaming your friends.

What happened to Uncle Sam?
He fell and We ignored him.
Our Uncle Sam is still there.
begging for help,
We keep walking.

Now We ask each other.
Where is Uncle Sam?
Where is Patriotism?
Why is our country in disarray?

I say,
look unto yourself
We The People
have become lazy
have become confused
have become weak

The World is turning.
Mother of time is ready
to spit out the old,
and chew,
on the new.

Like Rome.
We seen our final glorious days.
The New World dawns.

But I tell you my friend.
It is not too late.
We have all heard and saw Rome's dismay.
It is not too late.

It is not too late.

We can learn from the Romans.
We can turn from our ways of laziness.
Help Uncle Sam!
Bring a New America.
Out with the Old!
In with the New!

Uncle Sam has a lot on his plate.
The War in Afghanistan,
His debt to China,
and His fading economy.

We can't help him by solving those problems.
But let us,
We The People.
Clean His home.
Sing a song to him.
Our all-american Uncle.
Fix his home.

Let us We The People take the first step,
if you see kids on the streets,
yell at them,
"Did you do your homework?"
"Are you studying for your SATs?"
Encourage!

If We are at work.
Don't play FarmVille.
Work knowing this,
You are fighting for America,
everyday is another dollar off of Uncle Sam's debt.
You are the frontline in this war against time.

If We are at school.
Stop flirting with random girls or boys,
with intent of ***.
Know this, you are next.
We are The People.
Kids build the bullets of Uncle Sam's Gun,
through education.
If Uncle Sam has good bullets, he will win his battle,
If Uncle Sam has bad bullets, he will lose his battle.
When Uncle Sam goes to battle with the other countries,
your bullets will be the difference between America the destroyed,
and America the victorious.

We Are The People.
We Are The Future.
We Are The Government.
Never forget that.

So next time you ask yourself,
how did this happen?
Look at yourself,
remind everybody.
We are The People.

We need to work harder America.
There is no question to that.
That is the Modern Common Sense.