#orlando
Will be leaving soon for Orlando,
Away from the cold in Ontario.
Will I return?
I really don't know.
A wacko may secretly board my plane;
A radicalized lunatic far from sane.
Or Canada geese, heading south,
Might take our fuelled jet engines out.
Some random lightning shot from the sky
Lights up our cockpit,
And the pilots die.
The landing gear is up and stuck...
“I don't think I drank enough!”
There's mad rage on the road
Between
Orlando and St. Augustine.
There’s snub-nosed guns in too many bags,
And the pubs are teeming with cougars and *****
The Matanzas flows with gators and sharks,
I'll make note of this as my kyak embarks.
A drunken driver could do the job;
Or I get hospitalized
From being robbed.
An Early Bird bone might make me choke,
Or an errant golf ball holes out in my throat.
Perhaps nothing happens, I’m too suspect
Of the possible perils from my Florida trek.
Is it worth the risks. I’ll let you know,
When I get back to the warmth of Ontario.
Jan 11, 2025
Jan 11, 2025 at 12:03 PM UTC
This, this song I made you, let it pierce your heart,
like the silver moon earrings, the ones I gave you,close your eyes,
Let me hold you on high.
Let me hold you on high.
Like the Kansas fields that outnumber the stars,
let's walk on the wheat fields of gold, for even
if I can't forgive you, my heart will freely love you.
Over and over, over and over,
like red Georgia Peaches, like Florida Beaches,
wave after wave, I’ll show you a new song,
So we can be one again, let it all sweep you away.
For the diamonds at dusk, are waiting for us.
For like the Chicago sunrise, let the power of it's sunrise,
sing you back to life, until you are alive and washed by dreams.
Embrace me, hold on, like a California dream, pretend it's just me,
like the ring on your finger, let this be,
let this be, a time between you and me.
For if you harden your heart, lets go back to one,
let me be like your silver moon earrings,
let me hold you on high.
let me hold you on high.
Jun 13, 2020
Jun 13, 2020 at 10:06 AM UTC
I saw the news of that night,
I saw the people cower in fright,
I felt their love fall to the ground,
I knew the fear would spread around,
Down in the place called Orlando
The outed, the loved, the brave,
The ones in closets, dark like a cave,
The lonely, the lovely,
The ones like dogs stomping muddily,
Down in dear old Orlando.
No one had expected what came next,
It was something like text,
You read from a book,
Now don't ever look,
Down in Orlando.
What was once a place,
A very special space,
Space for those different than him,
He thought they were a sin,
Now it's no more in Orlando.
All they wanted was love,
But their souls flew like a dove,
No more of their musical,
Wonderful, beautiful,
Lives in Orlando.
To all those,
Who rose,
To the next place,
I give you good grace.
I am sorry for all that's been done,
I know sometimes life hasn't been fun,
But you didn't deserve,
To be served,
The final, the last,
Place. I'm sad that you passed,
Into death.
Feb 10, 2017
Feb 10, 2017 at 12:20 AM UTC
I knew about you
because of the news
You were 2-yrs old
It was a happy day
Was supposed to be
A wonderful Disney trip
I couldn't stop thinking
I just couldn't
I felt so bad
I felt so much pain
Your body grabbed
by an animal
Your parents crying
the World praying
Why?
Why God?
I know I shouldn't ask you
The World is still praying
for the parents who lost a child
I'm trying to accept this lost
I didn't know you
But it bothers me
You were 2-yrs old.
Jun 18, 2016
Jun 18, 2016 at 9:36 PM UTC
"Some say love, it is a river"
How the tears flowed that night,
How the rain fell and wiped our cheeks,
How the wind caught our hair and blew in our faces,
How we cried.
"That drowns a tender reed"
How many fell that day,
How young, how old,
How free of fear until too late,
How quickly gone.
"Some say love, it is a razor"
How deep it cut so fast,
How much pain consumed us,
How the dark spilled into the streets,
How long will it last?
"That leaves your soul to bleed"
How to move on,
How none of us knew where to look,
How to smile again, or if we should,
How empty we were.
"Some say love, it is a hunger"
How it burned, the anger,
How the passion grew strong,
How a single raging desire filled us,
How it took over.
"An endless aching need"
How we stood together,
How we all dreamed and longed for a future,
How it is no longer a wish, but a necessity,
How it sits with us.
"I say love, it is a flower"
How as one we somehow felt better,
How those candles pierced the shadows,
How we joined hands and held tight,
How we wouldn't fall.
"And you its only seed"
How the seeds were sown,
How their lives were lost,
How it must not happen again,
How death does not end them,
How one day those seeds will bloom,
And those flowers will not be laid by candles.
Jun 17, 2016
Jun 17, 2016 at 7:32 PM UTC
Tragedy seems unreal,
Like a foreign movie.
I'm only a spectator
Front row for reality.
I see the shooter, the victims.
A hundred hired to act.
Fake blood paints pavements.
The bullets are blanks.
…
*But the bullets pierce
And the blood is warm.
A hundred targets are found.
Few to recover from harm.
There won't be a 'cut!'
No take four or take five.
This is no movie.
A shot takes a life.*
Jun 17, 2016
Jun 17, 2016 at 6:59 AM UTC
Nothing seems to be okay.
When I read the newspapers,
An imbecile killed gays.
Jun 16, 2016
Jun 16, 2016 at 12:17 PM UTC
The happiest place on earth is
Gay&
Guns are allowed
Jun 16, 2016
Jun 16, 2016 at 12:55 AM UTC
They fomented hate for years
Now give us crocodile tears
But they care not
For my sisters and brothers
My family just “others.”
Nine and forty souls were lost
My transgender heart tempest-tossed
Their gentle souls
Cut down by a gunman’s hate
They did not deserve their fate
Carry on, we will and must
We will fight for what is just
Sadness today
But one day our hearts will sing
While they soar on angel’s wing
Jun 15, 2016
Jun 15, 2016 at 10:24 PM UTC
It would be so easy
To throw the towel in
And call it a life.
I can’t turn on the television
Because every “Breaking News” story
Makes me cry.
How can I go about my day
Listening to people complain about cold coffee
When a lover is dead
And nothing stays still for a moment?
How do we live like this?
It feels as though my body is collapsing into itself,
An eternal void of instability,
A black hole for wisps of passion.
How do I live like this?
I have known the love of strangers
Thousands of miles away
In bars and silent living rooms.
I have known quiet love,
Felt the fingertips of men sure in the simplicity
Of heterosexuality.
I have known quiet love,
But never the fingertips of women
Terrified of themselves because
They’ve been told they are wrong.
I don’t always have the courage to stand,
And we all know that it is easier to submit.
The true test of human endurance is the ability
To be beaten down time and time and time again
And always get back up.
I’m still standing,
With sore feet and a broken heart.
We are all still standing.
Except for the ones that aren’t.
Jun 15, 2016
Jun 15, 2016 at 2:45 PM UTC
So much sitting on my tongue.
So much impossible to believe.
Man targets gay club...
50 dead, 56 injured.
Blood donations, no gay blood.
Spouses can't even help one another.
Wanna know what I say?
**** the quote "freedom"
If this country were truly free gays could go to clubs without the fear of getting shot down.
People could donate blood and not have to be a certain sexuality.
Freedom doesn't excist in this country if you are gay.
Pray for freedom.
Pray for the victims
Never stop fighting for your rights.
Jun 15, 2016
Jun 15, 2016 at 2:11 PM UTC
To my beloved family,
mourning alone
without a sanctuary to
gather,
And to
the 49 bodies my
eyes know only as
that:
My body calls you
my own
and feels your absence
achingly.
He crawled into our homes
as children.
He took his position,
aimed, and unloaded
from the disappointed eyes
of our fathers.
He shot his rounds
of shame in the words of
our mothers.
But he did not leave us there.
He found us again
in the pews.
We threw our bodies
face down
under the altar,
eyes closed and bodies heaving.
He held us in his sight
through the prayers of our pastors
that erased you and I.
He called for support
from the holy assembly,
teaching them to gag
again
and again
and again
and again
and called us Abomination.
But he did not leave us there.
He placed the target on
our chests
when we sat quietly in class.
We sat there drawing pictures from
our dreams;
pictures of dancing bears and
rainbows and flowers
and tall queens.
His war cry, ******
echoed in the halls as
we counted each step towards the
shelter of home.
But he did not leave us there.
So you and I,
we found each other.
We held each other close and
wiped the tears away with
the gauze we knew to
carry
close at hand.
We built our own
sanctuary
And sent out a search party
to invite our God.
I remember our surprise
when we found that she was
already there,
laughing and dancing as our priests
conducted their holy music.
We invited the tall queens and dancing bears
that we thought only existed in
our minds;
bulldogs in tuxedos and foxes and a
princess. And we all
laughed and cried
and danced and
kissed
Because we were safe.
And our walls and hymns and
sacred prayers
kept him from finding us.
But he did not leave us there.
He found us again.
They call him Omar, son of ISIS.
We call him natural fate,
familiar face,
child and messenger
of every word and deed and stare and sermon
we have ever run from.
In the midst of celebrating our life
you ran,
trampling over those you loved as he
hunted us like dumb animals.
You ran for the exits as our family was
mown down,
member by member.
Each scream systematically and
irreversibly
silenced.
In your final moment you
let out a desperate cry,
fingers still on a keyboard;
your words forever unfinished,
forever unsent
to the mothers who
still loved us.
I heard your cry that night.
I heard it as I left
another sanctuary.
I clasped my heaving chest
trying to hold it together.
I ran my hands along my body,
pushing fingers into bullet holes
that I felt
from miles away.
Jun 15, 2016
Jun 15, 2016 at 1:37 PM UTC
Blood falling,
Mixing
With our tears.
So many weeping,
So many hurting,
So many scared,
So many angry,
So many taken.
No more violence,
No more hatred,
No more terror,
No more stolen,
No more dead.
Blood falling,
People rising, chanting
"NO MORE"
Jun 15, 2016
Jun 15, 2016 at 12:46 PM UTC
I looked upon my world and i saw the brightness of the day.
A day where all things were crazy busy.
The washing billowed in the breeze.
The cats were milling.
The hallway needed hoovering ... again.
The children laughed with each other...
i know.. unheard of right !! :o)
And although the recycling still needs putting out
and the grass needs mowing .. still..
Contentment was mine.
I had looked upon my world and counted
every single blessing there was to be had.
There were so many that i ran out of both fingers and toes.
And i now know in my heart that i am happy.
I feel it.
Truly happy.
Whether i am destined to be alone for a while longer
or to meet with the one who smiles with me everyday
on the bus...
*We could go out for coffee and feed the ducks maybe..
Haha you never know :o) it could happen..!*
But.. i feel the contentment of my worlds simplicity.
And so, in my madly busy world i realised...
that after all this time of looking for happiness,
it was right here all along.
I had found it hidden in the the reality of the drudge to work.
The reality of mount washmore.
The reality of my tired bones at the end of a busy day.
The reality of my life, that i am truly grateful for.
I love love love the friends that i have been blessed with..
especially the ones who live in my phone <3
I love the kindness i find in the smile of a stranger.
The giving of hearts through desperate times.
The words of wisdom and of poetry
that i am privileged to read.
Pictures of sunshine and of flowers
from the dearest heart. <3
The gift of undeserved kindness..
that i had never felt before. <3
I look for it and i feel the love.. i feel it.
And even when the dog woofs at the postman fifty times.
And he leaves the gate open fifty one.
Even with the constant level of organised chaos
and cat hair..
Even with four hungry mouths
that own eight hollow legs.
Even when there is no coffee...
Yes, even then..
Even then...
I know it is the real life that i live that makes my heart sing
and gives brightness to my day.
And i am so very grateful for it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwUGSYDKUxU
Jun 15, 2016
Jun 15, 2016 at 10:18 AM UTC
sitting cross-legged
on the floor
bare right foot over
left knee, tilting
the controls like
that will give you
more control as a
kart hurtles down
rainbow road—
ever the hardest track,
but the one to which
every child comes back
time and again—and
to think some of us
will live there, will love
in prisms of light with
no railings, sit
among the stars and fold
paper cranes when
people ask us to explain
our pride
as if they have never
heard of love.
when you fall off the edge
everything goes dark
but in this life the ghosts
don't float you above
it all to get your
bearings back; somehow
you have to do it without
the benefit of afar; the stars
don't spin around your
head while you count
your scars; in
this life the ghosts
are dead.
I turned off the TV,
I watched a bird cross
the street, scurrying
on its little feet
and hopping onto the curb.
It did not use its wings
once. It does not need
to see things
from far away
like I do.
Jun 15, 2016
Jun 15, 2016 at 12:59 AM UTC
103
That's the tragic number it seems
103
Innocents brought down maybe in the prime of their lives
Killed senselessly for having a good time
There should be a rainbow over Orlando
Not just for acceptance, but to commemorate the bloodshed on the land or to show the world that after the darkest nights come the brightest days
103
Jun 15, 2016
Jun 15, 2016 at 12:19 AM UTC
I can't see you without seeing myself inside of you.
Jun 14, 2016
Jun 14, 2016 at 12:12 PM UTC
Ordinary people living ordinary life's being complete and happy,
Raging fear builds to anger in ignorant men by will of silent kisses,
Landing reason on anything related to news headlines and horrid religion,
Apple cells send out last messages to those helpless and without power,
Navigate your hand to pistols and pull the trigger, the coward among men,
Death lays at our feet now, not you, but us all in hugging hands,
Ordinary people living ordinary life's being complete and happy?
Jun 14, 2016
Jun 14, 2016 at 5:25 AM UTC
Half a hundred orphans
Orphaned by choice
By shame
"God's will"
"In his name"
"Abominations, every one"
"Abomination"
That's my son
Someone's daughter -
Late one night
Looking for a bite, no fight
Gunned down
In the name of god
For the love of God
No fight
Dead. On a club dance floor
One dead, two dead
Dozens more
Alive -
Orphans parents live
They give
They grieve
They cry
Changing minds
Changing clothes
Changing lives
Goodbye for real, not by choice this time
One man -
One gun
One night
No one could put up a fight.
Goodbye - Mom and Dad say
We didn't mean goodbye that way
Jun 14, 2016
Jun 14, 2016 at 2:36 AM UTC