I want to be rich
I want to have power
I want my every thought
To blossom and flower
Into a new religion
Like a room full of roses.
I want to become
A brand new Moses.

I would write such tales
Of exciting breadth and scope
That any non-believer would
Have to be a brainless dope.
I would invent angels, too
That appear to save us all
And appear and offer words
That back up the worship call.

I will find someplace
Where I could build a church;
Leave all the naysayers
In a theological lurch.
I want to write new rules
Maybe on tablets of gold
And peddle my concept
Until thousands are sold.

Then we can get stronger
And create our own thing
Where hand chosen leaders
Can carry on like kings.
Once they are chosen
Their persons will be sacred.
They will have God’s mandate,
So no human can take it.

Of course we’ll do good things
Like a religion really should.
We’ll do charity and preaching
And do a great amount of good.
But what is most important
And will really make us great
Is to teach our people clearly
Just who they have to hate.

If we don’t approve of them
Heaven will simply be denied;
Just like the Court of Gentiles.
They’ll have to stay outside.
Because I want a religion
Where what I say will be fact
And all of the true believers
Will know exactly how to act.

Do you only touch in anger?
Do you have the habit of hugging your kid?
Or do you prefer not to
Just like the parents of criminals did?
Do you think hugging
Will make your child turn out to be soft?
With nobody home to turn to
Would your child then be better off?

Does your son or daughter
Go without being touched in love for years?
Is the only emotion allowed
Obedience and silence, never any tears?
Does your perfect child idea
Amount to something like a stuffed toy?
Does your list not involve
Things that are normal for a girl or boy?

Is everything else important,
But not the issue of your child’s happiness?
When your child asks questions
Do you treat it as just smart-mouthedness?
If your child questions bad ideas
Do you take that as a personal attack?
Do you find yourself thinking,
And saying, you want your freedom back?

If any of the above is true
You are not being a loving kind of parent.
If your child’s image of you
Is of an angry person given to swearing
And calling them names
That should be reserved for enemy,
Then wake up and realize
That’s not the right behavior to use on family.

My life was not always fun
When I was a young kid
So, I often felt better if
I took a book and hid.
As long as Mom didn’t catch me
Find her work for me to do:
I had chores and nobody else
Not even Mom, it seemed.
She lay on the couch
She watched TV and dreamed
Of winning Queen For A Day
And waking up skinny.
Yes, I had some good days
But, really, not all that many.

So, when I could, I read
Every book I could easily find.
I even read romance books
Because Mom only liked that kind.
I read religious books too
Like King James’s Bible translation.
And, I read those Awake pamphlets
That got strewn around the nation.
We weren’t allowed to read
At the table during our meals, so
We read boxes the cereal came in.
Today that seems kind of nuts-o.
But I read what I could find around
And enjoyed Dad’s western books
Because reading their novels
Never got me a nasty look.

But I kept on, far into my adulthood
Reading and learning even more.
After all, increasing knowledge
Is what books are really for.
So, I learned about people and
About some exotic foreign lands
And became amazed at what some
Could accomplish with pen in hand.
And reading help me miss out
On some ugly stuff in my history
Because forewarned is forearmed
And reading removes some mystery
If it’s right there in the paperwork
And if we take the time to look.
We can keep ourselves from error
If we read the proper kind of book.

I read a lot about religious quacks
And I compared them to reality.
And then when I met people in life
I wasn’t easily tricked by duplicity.
When people made wild promises
About products and spiritual claims
I pointed to their documentation
And often questioned their aims.
It sometimes made enemies for me
Because our society is fond of lies
If they are only pretty enough
To fool the greediest gals and guys.
But I tired of schoolyard games
Early on in my literary youth.
I reserved my applause and approval
For moral decency and truth.
I had all the ammunition, I would ever need
Because early on in my life
I learned to love to read.

I was raised on ridicule
Scorn and blaming.
Belittling laughter
Jokes and shaming.
Though nobody who knew
Seems to doubt it
They sure as hell wish I
Would shut up about it.

That’s just the way it is today.
Abused children, it seems
Upset people; therefore they
Are best not heard, just seen.

Four Eyes, Toothpick and Brat
These are a few of the names.
You might as well call them freaks
And creeps. It amounts to the same.
Screwup, ******, fumblefingers,
Bones, Spazz and Stumblebum.
Pantywaist, wussy, ditz and then
Plenty more where those came from.

From birth to death it seems
Sometimes, throughout all of life
Some people just don’t care
That scorn can cut like a knife.

It makes people question
Every move they might make
When somebody keeps on
Calling them things like flake.
The condemnation and rebuke
Aren’t covered up by the laughter.
People should question deeply
The effect they think they are after.

So cut the kids a break
It won’t turn out wrong
And the ridicule of a child
Can last their whole life long.

What the hell is a katydid?
Is it near where the carotid is hid?
And, is there a reason we need
To know whatever Katy did?

Why does macaroni have an elbow?
This sounds to me a lot like a phony.
And how far back and forward does it go?
Really? Anthropomorphized macaroni?

What kind of person puts a bra on a car?
I mean, the entire idea is a bit bizarre,
One of the silliest I have heard of so far.
Does anyone know what automoboobies are?

Can people play poker with potato chips?
Maybe they’ll up the ante with avocado dip?
Then Vegas would not be such a wise trip.
Gives a new meaning to being ‘in the chips’.

Who gets to legally use a homophone?
And can anyone properly use it alone?
Since we no longer dial, why dial tone?
Some of this stuff if from the Twilight Zone.

Political parties don’t seem to be fun,
Not even for the lucky ones that won.
It must mean something that people run
But they look like something to run from.

Why would anybody put money into a kitty.
What is the matter that they have no pity?
After all, most kitties are way itty bitty.
So, stop putting money into a poor kitty!

And this putting on the dog stuff annoys.
It sounds like the game of bratty boys;
They finally get old enough to ignore toys
And play word games on a dog. Oh joy!

And what does it mean to horse around?
Is it the pantomime horse worn by clowns?
It can’t be the kind of horse one rides around?
That kind might trample a fool into the ground.

There are words you say
And they are like magic.
And words that hurt,
The outcome is tragic.
There are words that soothe
And words that calm
And words that hurt worse
Than the slap of a palm.

You wouldn’t think that
Words make you feel better.
After all, they’re just sounds
Just a bunch of letters
Strung together in a way
That convey a simple thought.
Not a woven net in which
Something can get caught.

Yet they can do that, too.
They can be used to lie
And get caught in doing so
In an ugly by and by
Or they can accomplish things
And build up a rapport.
It all depends so much on
What words are used for.

The thing to be aware of
Is verbal sleight-of-hand
Where artists in deception
Make you think you understand
When they really are lying
And making you agree
That what they are doing
Is not the purest larceny.

So, look at words as envoys
Of what other people say;
Watch to see if they mean it
The next day as today.
Gather to you good people
On whose words you can depend
And the dangers of wordplay
Will soon come to a fitting end.

I fear if I start crying
I will not be able to stop.
I know this is the bottom
(But,) I don’t remember the top.
I’m just feeling sorry
For the self I am now.
I want to change for the better
But I don’t really know how.

I looked into my crystal ball
And didn’t see a thing.
No future, only the past
And it was not a good thing
It wasn’t supposed to be like this
When I started on this highway.
It hurts my feeling to know that
It’s because I did things my way.

I’m just feeling sorry
For the self I am now.
I want to change for the better
But I don’t really know how.

I have no one else to blame but me
For the decisions I have made.
If I had to score success so far
I’d give myself a failing grade.
If I could just convince myself
To do something I’d be fine.
But so far all I have managed to do
Is sit around the place and whine.

I fear if I start crying
I will not be able to stop.
I know this is the bottom
(But,) I don’t remember the top.
I’m just feeling sorry
For the self I am now.
I want to change for the better
But I don’t really know how.

This time it’s me, leaving.
Not begging you to stay.
Not sitting alone, grieving.
This time, I’m the one
Who is going away.

I’m not fooling myself
That you even care.
We lost who we were
Along the way somewhere.
It used to be about love
Now it’s just paying rent.
I had a lot of love, but,
I don’t know where it went.

It’s an old love story
I never wanted it to end
But now it’s too hard
To continue to pretend.
I see in your eyes that
You don’t care anymore.
So what is this last bit
Of playacting even for?

This time it’s me, leaving.
Not begging you to stay.
Not sitting alone, grieving.
This time, I’m the one
Who is going away.
This time, I’m the one
Who is going away.

(I’m) talking about
Freedom!
Peace and liberty
A land of
Freedom!
Love and equality
Freedom!
Is what we need to see!

Maya Angelou said it
So, it has to be
The caged bird sings
But it is not free.
Pretending for money
Won’t make it be.
There is no substitute
For being free.

Freedom for you
Freedom for me
Freedom!
For every ethnicity!
Freedom!
For both gay and straight
Freedom!
For all, we can’t wait.

Always there are thieves
Who would steal your rights.
They exist on the left
And they exist on the right.
They get paid to rob you
And never let you be
If you aren’t vigilant
You’re never really free.

Freedom!
Before someone kills it.
Freedom!
Because the country wills it!
Freedom!
Saw The Liberty Bell crack.
Freedom!
It’s yours if you take it back.

Democracy is a concept
And we have to protect it.
Money-making crooks
Will try to make you reject it.
They tell you everything
Will end up just fine
Because freedom cuts in
To their bottom profit line.

(I’m) talking about
Freedom!
Peace and liberty
A land of
Freedom!
Love and equality
Freedom!
Is what we need to see!

Pantywaist,
This shows no taste.
Light in the loafers,
Maybe for gofers.
Squats to ***,
Who? Not me!
Limp-wristed,
It it’s twisted, maybe.

***** and sissified,
Maybe somebody lied.
*** and ******,
You’re a bigot.
Bigass Fruit,
Zoot and all root.
Tuttifruity,
Call to gay duty.

Half a man,
Sometimes better than.
Tinkerbell,
Go to hell.
Airy-fairy,
You’re just scary.
******* bandit,
I can’t stand it.
*******,
Bigass *******.

Silly queen,
Quit being mean.
Flutter-by,
Can’t pronounce butterfly?
*****,
Don’t get handsy, mate!
Nancy boy.
Political ploy.

Just some of the words
We gays have all heard
With each imprecation
The implication
Is that we are sick,
Definitely twisted,
And the end result
Is that each insult
Pushes the speaker
Further away, and weakens
The hold on a reality
That homosexuality
Is just another normality.
In short, reality.