looking out,
grey branches grasp
at grey skies
and death sings
pleasantly amongst the
underbrush

looking up,
a breeze distracts
and pulls me towards a
newly cleared sky

looking back,
a green explosion
spread instantly across
the landscape,
the world now a painted
mess mere words are
hardly fit to
describe

spring arrived today in a green convertible
with the top down

he smiled, behind his sunglasses,
looking refreshed,
at ease,
and he asked how my
winter was

good, I said,
barely even felt like it
to be honest

“good, good.”
spring said, still smiling

and we stood there.

I, baking under the fresh sun,
he baking too, but somehow  
seeming not to mind,
seeming to like it,
be empowered
by it

spring took a deep breath
and smiled even wider once
he closed his lips

“well, old friend”
he said,
“I’ll be seeing you,
I’m headed to the beach,
or maybe into the woods,
I dunno.”

“but I’ll see you
there”

and he drove off

his green convertible buzzing happily
towards the edge of a new and beautiful
world

I am a master of the universe

I outstretch my fingers and the stars outstretch themselves
I reach for their tender glow,
catching them in my hands,
and I take deep whiffs of their eternal scents,
feeling their magic flow through me,
into me, through my mind
and my body,
down into my muscles,
my heart, stomach,
and then into my
fingers

the feeling of energy,
pulsating, strong, steady,
a heart-beat of the ethereal,
an existence thriving on
the non-existent

I am a master of the universe,
I move the stars and sway the moon,
I eat the darkness and make art out of light,
I sing songs of a thousand implosions,
I dance with the expansion of the void

let me into you
let me into your life

I am happiness, I am joy,
I am the want for better,
I am obtaining it, I am achieving it,
I am doing things right, doing things well,

I am the universe itself

all enveloping, all encompassing,
all loving

do not fear me,
for I do not fear ever

love for love’s sake,
love for the purpose of
love

never hide
never wear a mask

be yourself,
flaunt yourself,
look at yourself,
let others look at
you

and if they frown,
let them frown

assess their complaints and internalize them
take them for what they are,
for what they mean
and use them if you wish,
or if you do not wish

I will tell you this
and tell you this again

we are not apart
we are together
we are one
one thing
and that one thing
is all of us
not just you and I
but he and she
and they

they too are us
we too are them

do not fear that
do not feat that

for you cannot fear what
is true

only what may be
or what is not

oh well oh well oh well

we **** up and that is ok
that is ok,
that is ok

take another try
do not not try again
for that is death
even in life
so many die
and I weep for them
I cry at night
I cry in the day
inside my heart
in my mind

I weep

for the dead living lives of death

I weep

oh yes

I weep

but then I smile at them, take them in my arms,
let them struggle, let them be alerted, let them
try to escape and when they cannot, I let them
rest, I let them accept it, accept me, accept us,
accept you and I, he, she, and I, and when they
do we all feel better, we all feel better don’t we?

don’t fear don’t fear don’t fear don’t fear don’t
love love love love love love love love love love

(is the only way)

know this
and know this
well

we are not apart we are one
we are one

we and the stars
and the earth and the oceans
and the trees and birds
and rats and mooses
and guitars and waves
and pens and desks
and digital viruses
and corpses

we once all were the same
we are still the same
still matter
still energy

connected, if invisibly,
by our common past

once we were all each other
and that is how it is

ok?

ok

the masters of the universe know what I say

they do not fear, they love
and love again, they love,
and love again, even when
love is gone

they do not fear, they love

so those masters of the universe, like me,
like me, they reach their hands out into
the blackness, reaching out for little lights
to brighten their lives, but when they have
them, they do want them (for themselves)
they seek to share them, give them away,
take what they need and remove all the
rest

this, this is the way of the universe

one big exchange, constantly shifting,
moving, changing hands, coming under
new management, forgetting yesterday
in search of tomorrow, this universe
swirls with activity and that is beauty

read fast for time is fast

it slips away between the cracks into the realm of nothing,
like death with life of living death, it disappears in plane
sight

this, alone, is the biggest shame of all

embrace this,
remember this,
forgo this,

do as you think is best,
whether you were taught or you thought for yourself,
do it, for it is the best way,
the best life for you,
that,
that is true

let me list some true things:

I am not me,
I am not myself,
I am not just myself,
I am more
I desire to be more

everything I do is meant to extend beyond myself
into you I say, I throw my love, and though it may
bounce off, falling flat, floppy, on the floor, for my
effort I will be rewarded (you will be rewarded)
once my trials come to conclusion

this master of the universe offers you this as one last offering
a token of my life to keep with you forever

but paper burns,
inks fades,
ice melts,
and planets explode

the sun will die and us maybe
too

so do not take this for its worth
take it for its meaning

I am a master of the universe
finally curling up,
and taking my rest

forgo the happiness
we have history to make

we are all the **** of the earth

we are murderers and thieves
we are behemoths of waste; spoiled with desire
we spit on intelligence
forgo warning
think not
worry not
we consume always
we make gods out of bigots
and worship ourselves
we are the ****
the trash
the throw-outs
the refuge
yes, yes we are

we are what we like least,
what we need least

what will get us (in the end)

when the world finishes
when the curtain clothes
when we are swallowed

the hand behind the blade,
the assailant responsible,
our murderer,
our killer,
our horsemen,

will be us.

what can we do?

what can we
do?

nothing?

no.

not nothing.

maybe something.

maybe something
one day.

that’ll be a good
day.

yes,

that’ll be a good
day.

it smells like smoke,
***** fog,
burning bodies
of wooden souls
scream out:

stop! stop!
no, spare me!
spare me!

as we throw another log
into the mouth of flame
their screams grow louder
then fade to nothing

tiny voices
each screaming,
begging:

stop! stop!
no, spare me!

fading like so many into
the light.
their bodies gone, turned
to ash, their existence
turned to the warmth
upon our
faces

tiny screams,
like so many of our own,
begging, pleading:

no! stop!
spare me!