in charity
i feel myself unburdening things
that otherwise would have weighed heavy
and would have escaped
any scrupulous gaze
i could give
what a stalwart these hearts are
despite all they endure
and these hands the same
i tender to the mind
and kindle the tinder
of dreams
shaven off hopes and desires
painstakingly, a bit begrudgingly,
i carry on

If neoliberalism urges caution
To our humanitarian approaches
But causes legislative bloat
And fosters lethargy,
Then neo-conservatism presses observance
To the safeguarding of our rights
But causes judicial confusion
And breeds separation.

Between us & I,
Between collective & individual.
So much joy amid the animosity,
So many cliques amid the niches.

Sadly concentrated & widespread-
What once was Orthodox is again
Within the eyes of most of man.

Such twists of countenances,
Such distortions of their own doctrines.

What scripture is not perverted?
What documents are not violated?

What laziness by the righteous
In eye of such cutthroat ruthlessness,
For the extent of the lack of justice
There is not nearly equal ire.

Get out & do something,
Stand up for what you believe in,
Lest you're unable.

Keep calm & carry on,
Be civil & observe decorum!
Keep calm & carry on,
Be dutiful & raise the standard!

There's barbarians on the border,
We're facing invasion
And enemies from within!
False citizens who lifted the gates;
Members of the house & senate,
District & magistrate.

The foreign threats grow,
We're completely surrounded
By enemies along our walls!
Backstabbing friends conspiring against us;
Those honored to be called partners & allies,
Apparatchik & Goldfasanen.

There's a war being waged
By the likes of values, beliefs-
Through our culture!
Capricious celebutantes with secret agendas;
Members of the paparazzi & cinema,
Big shot bankers & developers.

Every discussion is a battle,
For the extremists are everywhere,
By wealthy like terrorists!
Tyrannous minorities with their backdoor deals;
Those revered of the fraternal & esoteric,
Seedy elites & naive henchmen.

So much most repulsive, henious,
By perpetrators most traitorous.

What's the real moral of the story?
Why was Odysseus sent on that journey?
Like the horse which was used,
Like the dog he let die.
He hid his face
And led those he cared for astray.
Like men who ****** in the night,
Shapeless forces cursed them
Yet, light did not betray their sight.

He may have been a leader,
But he was only the bravest coward.

When he returned home
Life had long moved on,
For he was scarcely recognized.
Such are the ways like of the soldier,
Not far from the warrior-
These lifestyles where peace is deprived.

Where one couple's love
Is the scandalous affair,
Where one couple's love
Is firmly consecrated.

Why these are such matters
To go to war & die for,
Why these are such matters
To go to battle & **** over;

They're well & truly not.

Individual rights are young,
But even so
They are ancient.
Older than the Kings & God(s)?

Honor your ancestors, yes?
But some take that to extremes.
Even going so far
As to apply it to themselves,
In the physical sense & mental.
That being the oldest of them,
Instinct & emotion.

For to them the mind is wasted,
For them the body is nothing.
For them the mind is nothing,
For to the body of it is wasted.

In the sense that they are anymore
Man than any other kind of animal,
A concept so tiringly clung to.
So thoroughly discussed is mankind
That its philosophies are disgusting,
Unrecognizably distorted.
Those in actuality & reality,
Cloaked by sick games of telephone.

For to honor pridefulness,
For to shame modesty.
For from pride is derived honor,
For from shame is made modest.

If by death die the lies,
Then execution is the only honesty.
Then dying is the truest mercy.

For therein, what is just?

If in the journey of life
We have neglected to have collected
That of the mind;
If in the path of destiny
We have stalled not to have gathered
That of the soul:
To have connection to nothing,
Free from attachment,
But not to have been liberated.

For three are the siblings.

Yet, thee are siblings;
How shamefully you treat family,
How scornful you are of relatives.
Friends? No!
Acquaintances? Not!
Neighbors? Get lost!
What fields you salt
With crops you allow rot,
Clipping the stems of the spoiled
And smashing in the ripened.

Countless leaves of these branches.

Truly, as stated previously;
I hate nothing & I hate no one.
Dislike delight? Not I.
And what joy it is merely to be alive

That luck would so have it
And countless chain reactions
That I should be a human on this planet-
I can breathe easy staring at the sunset
As much as a sunrise.

Whatever twists, warps, & bends
I may experience;
They are all worth it
Just to exist.

When water condenses to vapors
We can curse the temperature
Or we can be grateful
For having had any liquid
So life giving.

So, life may be giving
And life may be taking-
That I strike out some balance,
It's always teetering.

Yet, I am still.

Love & love not,
Live and not to love;
Death should be better
Were I read the letter
Of forget our stitched knots.

Live & live not,
Love and not to live;
Life could be no worse
Than in longing for that
Which itself draws no breath.

he stared into the forest
looked at shadows no longer there
his mind of brambles
of bluejays and fife fancies
and marking new trailheads
where fruit was to bare

knowing our time here is short
and shorter lived, with how we rob ourselves
why is it we take from others
and give back so little

knowing love is to share
why do we guard it
keeping it close to us
biting at those that might
want to be loved
or, to love

especially upsetting
is acknowledging the few paths of recourse,
mostly hollow options, left to us

I don't stop
Crying, when others
Enter the room.
I just cry quietly
Or laspe into
A silent weeping.

everyone comes and goes
it's no surprise then
i'm really only confortable
on my own
so leave
i didn't need you anyway
wait and see how far i go
emotionally
a pencil thin man
they're in there
highly concentrated
volatile to the touch

feel empty
after pushing everyone away
they gave you plenty
but you turned your back
and headed the other way
it wasn't meant to be
or some other saying
where you can dodge blame
loving was lovely
when i didn't need to use my head
all heart, no brawn & no brain

strung up between the pines
tendons stretched out on a few lines of twine
got these low down, sinew blues

my hands
all they good for
is smoking, and drawing a card

these tired hands
calloused and sore
nothing cures'em, the rot's tanned hard
you might not
but the body keeps score

in your old age
gracefully, you've become slow
through the pines
through the oaks
to arrive after the snow

Concern of income as status
And popularity as a moral metric
Among peers just as vain.
What is it that fools compete for?
Simpler lives, duller & plain?
Over complicated, gaudy & cliché?
Playing with themselves like
Dogs with their ***** splayed.

Next time,
I wait at your car.
Next time,
I keep your chain as a trophy.

the scientists saw it
decades before it was a threat
a meteor, it's trajectory
earth
hurtling toward us
eighty-six years to impact
based on simulations
at the current rate
of technological advancement
they say
we will be unable
to mitigate this disaster
so far off
it seems inconsequential to life
and yet
it loomed over all of us
half of us obsessed over it
the other half accepted it
it made no difference to me
eighty-six years on
will i be alive
to see the sky alight?

It's easy to talk like you know it,
To portray that you have good insight
And possess an informed perspective.
To pretend that you're knowledgeable,
Considerate, introspective.

At least, it sounded smart in your head.
Something was lost in translation
When it was finally written or said.

I assure you I really do care
And I can explain why I don't.

You must have misheard me
Or not have understood me,
I was the one speaking
So I think I'm the authority on the conversation.

Despite you having me dead to rights,
Clearly in quotes,
I demand for denial & the presumption of it
As I maintain my innocence.

That is fake news, misinformation,
And a misrepresentation of the situation.
Totally baseless claims & pure speculation.

Whatever lies at the root,
Regardless truth.

I'm sorry you feel that way but,
Despite any piece of evidence,
That's just your opinion.

These are politically scientific opiums,
These noxious feral serums
Poison the whole of living,
Whether local or national
As collective or individual.

Hostile & aggressive speech
On the behalf of any party/individual,
By any speaker.

It's actually a pretty simple formula.
You inquire about
All the folk & mythology
Of any given area.
Investigate the philosophy
Inherent or lacking of each.
As a whole
And by each parable.
Reduce the content
To a "digestible" format.
Substitute words or phrases
Which do not conform
To the rest of the tapestry.

And the first to sew
Did so to sow¹,
Not to make sows².

A condensed collection of the known world's beliefs!

That is,
They wanted things to grow.
To fruit rather than in snout style.

Silk, amber, jade, spice, salt,
Tea, tin, & royal.

Those routes we did the walk
And therein had good talks!

It's been completely butchered beyond recognition!

They call them crocodile tears
When animals muddy the waters
By disturbing silt or dirt
And thereby obscuring/obstructing
What is otherwise a clear view.
As like pouring wine into a cup of water.

One never really knows the need of friends till they're alone
When there's no one to ring and not a text on the phone
No joy to be shared, no dialing noise
just a tone
Pinocchio, you're fine on your own

no fuss
no time to talk
in this lameduck generation;
a friend till the end would be nice
and if that can't arise, I suffice
a friend, generally and genuinely
is more than I can ask for

i'm detaching from it all
i don't know
does that necessarily mean death?
of one thing or another, i guess
this recent disillusion
blind confusion
over what love was real
who i am and what i stand for
and i feel
i can't believe anything
so what's the point, of believing
what's the point of anything

Very quickly, have my
Compatriots rushed to take sides
In wars & conflicts that are not ours
That have no real bearing on
The American Way Of Life.
And what is that, these days?
Because I know, from
Pouring over history
That we are a very aggressive peoples
Steeped in the rigors of tradition.
But, similarly, believe in equality & peace
And self-actualization & freedom.
We flip between beliefs, diametrically,
With seemingly little reason
More based on superstition.
I know of the hopes they held at the beginning;
The founders of the nation
Who were, in aspects, mistaken;
On women's rights, on enslavement,
And many more. But,
That is the bugle call of progress;
To right what is wrong.
Those things that must be addressed,
For the betterment of all

One day, our generation's gonna rule the population
And that'll bring change?
We wait till our kids are their parents
In thought, in action, and conviction
And expect a difference each go
It's really contradiction
Cause each time the problems only grow

in my chest
hums a grenade
violent turbulent days
himalayan skies
vast mountain peaks
dark valleys
that which wouldn't break;
in molting
still taking shape

are you good enough for me?
am I good enough
for you
is the better question
don't lessen your worth
just because you're hurt

So Kronos is the name, yes?
And Ouroboros the title?
Can you guess what they were responsible for?

Keeping time is more
Than just watching the shadows.
More than just lurking in them,
More than just by lurking among them.

Coming from a time of oral record;
What, or more aptly whom,
Is responsible for it?

the cat isn't out of the bag
they're beating on it
still covered in burlap
butterflies all havin' fun
gone, as spring
draws near its end
and if there are fumbles,
that's saying the least of it,
it's all we seem to be able
to muster these days

ranting and raving
about nothing and everything
it's so tiring
going on from one thing to the next
never any rest
tired of trying

was i sculpted
in the image
of some omnipotence
or drawn from chaos
by forces unparalleled
not yet fully understood

Hare?

Is it stuck up?

Tired of reality?
You just hope
You wake up in a dream.
Do you know you risk a nightmare?
The mind hatches awful plans,
Sets up terribly dreadful schemes.
What's it all mean?
I don't know?
Maybe?
Do you know?

And this is how it ends!
And this is how it begins!

It's all alphabetical,
All numerical.
Can you hear the song,
Read in-between the lyrics?
The structure of its wording?
Have you tried at singing?

Is it all spiraling?

Chelone?

you're not like anyone else
neither am i
so stop comparing me to the people of your past
and i won't compare you to mine

mastodons roaming
birds tweeting
discordant
kings
in a coinbase
fixing the 22nd century
for feudalism
meta minded
immoral
and then there's the real problems

staying up
milking it
but you don't
see me
as a joke
right

i lick my lips
they taste of sky
my head high
in the clouds
but down under
things festered
still bubble
of what
for so long
i had
denied

And so should the strongest
Make love to the link worn delicate?
In that communion,
As one to another companion,
We seal the cracks & breaks
That have started to leak.
We bind what made us weak.
We champion truth
And honor accuracy;
Don your hood,
But don't go robbing.
Love passionately, but love gently.
Do so with forthright honesty,
Do not play at it or fake it
Lest you forsake it.
From what seems as less than
We shall reveal the hidden,
As a marvelous miracle unwinding.
It's all perspective,
For though I think them no greater
They are more than certainly my equals.
I would live for them as I would die for them,
One & all.

emptiness, hard shook
from this soul
you have engulfed
i have fought the fight
this long
but i don't know
if i see a lot of reasons
to go on
it's all a joke

rush in
for an invitation
for the chance
to see new nations
not freelance
rather via indoctrination
rifle in your hand
in your heart contradiction
cause it's not your land
but they are your victims

the man you just shot
two kids and a wife
as you lay in your cot
you think of their lives
as her husband rots
like little tiny knives
you can still see his eyes
as you lie in the night

They speak of absence & inaction -
Yet, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩,
¹ Such things do not exist.
Like imbalance,
These are merely perspectives.

and the light of god
like a flash bang
down dark hallways
men blind
flying
like moths toward a lamp

Kronos to Atys,
Time to Humans;
Never reaching to grasp their true Nature,
Compassion & Patience.

Only when the waters recede
Is ever there patience,
Only when they flood
Is there ever compassion.

For you compromise all balance
And so you comprise limited liberation.

For, as you all 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 to be,
You are unworthy.

self serving, desperate
loathsome
dimples
i must look off
refreshing

"Great!" They said.

"So I'll be you, and you be me?"

"Correct!"

"And you'll be them, and they'll be you?"

"Accurate!"

And so they all swapped their devices,
All took each other's names/profiles,
Saying nothing of what they were actually doing!

"So who will I even be talking to?"

"Don't worry, you'll know it!"

"But how will I understand it as them?"

"Wouldn't you know if you didn't?"

My waters you wade,
Learning to swim before you even walk.
Protected by my sons,
Castor & Pollux.
Similarly, provided for & cared for.

It's a funhouse of smoke and mirrors,
Where the unnatural angles & fumes
Have clearly affected their proprietors.
It's an old-timey, ****** circus;
The performing artists are mismanaged
By ringleaders who may be animals.
It's a rigged boardwalk game;
The hoop's too small or pegs too thick,
Baskets too tight or ***** too corpulent.
You can hit it square on,
Swing the hammer with a force sufficient,
But the bell hasn't been ringing.
Grab a hotdog,
Order a slice,
Get your popcorn & crackerjacks,
Your cotton candy & cream iced.
That sugar is a rush,
Like laffy taffy freebased off of a fish which is Swedish.
Get in your distractions,
Cause I don't forsee you winning.

I forgot to remember,
I remembered to have forgot.

You know the crazy thing about clocks?
Well, eventually,
They all stop ticking.
Like a sun dial,
The gnomon stops
Without light to make shadows.
But the funny thing is,
Time goes on.
Time is a constant.

I remember to forget,
I forget in remembrance.

Is Time despondent?
Is Time ebullient?

Memory. What's it mean to me?
Thoughts. What's it mean to be?

Is Time periodic?
Is Time cyclical?

What I remember
Is all; that I haven't forgetten.

If Time had a name,
They were called Kronos.
If Time has a title,
It is the Ouroboros.

What I forget
Is nothing; that I haven't remembered.

I remember in forgettance.
I forget to have forgot.