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"soapbox" poems
"So why are you painting a woman in a bottle?" The challenge. Handling all those quirky reflections and layers of transparency. "She has phantom arms and legs, what about that?" Yes, pretty cool. A Vitruvian woman in a bottle. "I'm looking for Meaning: Don't paintings look under the surface?" You mean, what does it mean, really mean? It's just a way to test my skill. "But what are you saying with that?" It's not feminist nor anti, it's just an exercise. Besides, there's a rope. "But aren't you, as an artist, exposing reality, presenting emotions and feelings, seeing the soul?" *I'm not on a soapbox-- I'm testing my skill-- I paint and don't think about it too much. After all, 'Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar' or is it 'just a smoke'? * "I don't like your message." *OK, I'll paint you in a bottle... As a shrunken head.*
0
May 8, 2016
May 8, 2016 at 7:49 AM UTC
Woman in a bottle
- crack another thermometer open on the broken bathroom sink, pour yourself into me like mercury and pan the bed of my stomach for multitudes of gold flecks like however many myriads of sickly pill bottles in your dresser drawer of socks. - see all the shredded speckled petals i ripped up before i'd let the deer get to them; i'm colorblind, and i can't tell the sun's reflection from plastic, or tulips from the broken pottery outside my front door. - and far least from another beer, and another fifth of whatever could be fit under your shirt - and never a chair pulled up to speak, from standing like a soapbox more suited to cleaning than to preaching. - pour yourself into me like mercury, because it's so much easier when my veins weigh me down to distraction, than being able to think of hydrangeas again. -
0
Mar 19, 2013
Mar 19, 2013 at 1:55 PM UTC
quicksilver ℞ for hydrangeas being forgotten
There's a private, invisible flock of comedians chanting soapbox knock-knocks in my parking lot             Noisy, clang, boom thingy aloft and clipping the air around the slimy snow And why does ajax keep butting its nose into everything I’ve got? They’re all just boom-lost facades in a canonical, sly-faced rant. So slanted, frankly, and poised toward a milder pace that the clang clipped the frosty branches beneath a drunken frat-house party. Ah, the dandy-clang : native to the sandy graves and morose olive branches.             But only on the night of the dandy-clang, candy dances for the branches are not partial to missed solid caches             of want and woe             of tongue and toe and seldom shaken beneath the overbearing heat of a white-faced predator for times it was that here and now, because the wind had bitten harder What am I saying? That if the dandy-clang came. And if it produced the branches of the dancing eve fame... with but not together. The clouds up in the ether that lake and earth should wither
0
May 31, 2012
May 31, 2012 at 7:10 PM UTC
Wiggle Room between a Carrot and the Potatoes
Waltzing through the chaos that life’s left for today, Dragging along my battered horn in case she wants to play ‘Scuse me, Ms. Bartender, but I’ve got something to say Ain’t nobody listening to the radio anyway I don’t need a soapbox, no suit or microphone Just a space to spread the truth wherever I may roam I speak straight from the bottom of a bottle left at home The night is not much easier when you take it on alone Hear ye, hear ye, gather round to hear a tale Of dreaming big, working hard, but destined still to fail Shredding that loopy little melody, The craziest cat you ever did see Make you feel so alive, ladies screaming, “Wow boy!” I jump and I jive, cuz I’m a bebop cowboy
0
Aug 21, 2018
Aug 21, 2018 at 10:41 PM UTC
Bebop Cowboy
# From an ornate podium the orator spoke words-- ..extraordinarily elaborate ones.. as if, as if But those who know.. we who have  laid low, down in to the trenches as grunts, both  outside and inside       of the wire.. Those who have  quietly done their legwork.. who have accepted their difficult fate  as that   borne  of and in to,  a training..  an equipping; lay low, lay low .   .   .   .   The throngs at the foot of the podium-- mesmerized by their own  need to be mesmerized,  never even    noticed the children who  in their innocence,  peered out from under the crowd's legs to better see the 'magnificent' podium.. The oldest of which, ran back to trenches trying to describe what they saw. Two of the quiet, unassuming-ones made their way back to the podium,   and in blocking out the orator's voice, (which  to the  knowing, was  as that of a clanging bell..) Now observed up close, the inner-workings of the elaborate podium and sat in  wonder of its expenditures-- wrapped around such  slipshod,   weak and hastily assembled framework.. And in having become interested in the structure's groundedness to what one would hope would be  a solid-built foundation, placed onto solid, earthen ground They instead gasped as they saw its legs floating upon nothing.. *"What the **** is holding this thing up..?"* War-trained and battle-hardened, they remembered their superiors speaking in hushed tones that even ****** with all of his blowhard oratorical ********   at least had a semblance of the podium's fastenings.. Albeit, partially assembled by our own country's stupidity within certain provisions brought forth in the Treaty of Versailles,    but this    but this; This oratorical misleading of the broken-ones this empty illusion of a presentation,  borne not  from a suffering  leading to true regeneration but instead, a distractive short-cut into the Realms;    This counterfeit substance.. as if borne in power,    as if..  as if.     .. But the realms.. they know It is only those down here on earth,  spirit cloaked within the deceptive misgivings of the flesh-- so aching to establish itself apart  from the necessary legwork needed to humbly become a part of Stream's flow: (borne,  solely from the inner Wellspring--  deep within the bowels of Love's True Ache).. It is here.. on earth..  that you will find the reward you seek..  oh wondrous orator, oh magnificent 'smither' of fine words..    **Your podium, a whitewashed soapbox    floating upon nothing..** --And therefore meaning   nothing within the Substance-Based parameters       of the Realms. #
0
Mar 22, 2021
Mar 22, 2021 at 3:48 PM UTC
on love, legwork.. and the humility that leads to getting well..
# From an ornate podium the orator spoke words-- ..extraordinarily elaborate ones.. as if, as if But those who know.. we who have  laid low, down in to the trenches as grunts, both  outside and inside       of the wire.. Those who have  quietly done their legwork.. who have accepted their difficult fate  as that   borne  of and in to,  a training..  an equipping; lay low, lay low .   .   .   .   The throngs at the foot of the podium-- mesmerized by their own  need to be mesmerized,  never even    noticed the children who  in their innocence,  peered out from under the crowd's legs to better see the 'magnificent' podium.. The oldest of which, ran back to trenches trying to describe what they saw. Two of the quiet, unassuming-ones made their way back to the podium,   and in blocking out the orator's voice, (which  to the  knowing, was  as that of a clanging bell..) Now observed up close, the inner-workings of the elaborate podium and sat in  wonder of its expenditures-- wrapped around such  slipshod,   weak and hastily assembled framework.. And in having become interested in the structure's groundedness to what one would hope would be  a solid-built foundation, placed onto solid, earthen ground They instead gasped as they saw its legs floating upon nothing.. *"What the **** is holding this thing up..?"* War-trained and battle-hardened, they remembered their superiors speaking in hushed tones that even ****** with all of his blowhard oratorical ********   at least had a semblance of the podium's fastenings.. Albeit, partially assembled by our own country's stupidity within certain provisions brought forth in the Treaty of Versailles,    but this    but this; This oratorical misleading of the broken-ones this empty illusion of a presentation,  borne not  from a suffering  leading to true regeneration but instead, a distractive short-cut into the Realms;    This counterfeit substance.. as if borne in power,    as if..  as if.     .. But the realms.. they know It is only those down here on earth,  spirit cloaked within the deceptive misgivings of the flesh-- so aching to establish itself apart  from the necessary legwork needed to humbly become a part of Stream's flow: (borne,  solely from the inner Wellspring--  deep within the bowels of Love's True Ache).. It is here.. on earth..  that you will find the reward you seek..  oh wondrous orator, oh magnificent 'smither' of fine words..    **Your podium, a whitewashed soapbox    floating upon nothing..** --And therefore meaning   nothing within the Substance-Based parameters       of the Realms. #
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80
This is one of those serious poems And yet it has nothing new to say But the poet needs to keep himself busy And writing seems to be the easiest way The poet rises up on his soapbox Because he works better from an elevated height He screams about organized religion, politics And stripping away of our basic human rights Like a magician with a classic misdirection The poet wraps his moralizing in purple prose He hits you over the head with one simple point That he’s forgotten more than you’ll ever know Around the time of the nineteenth obscure reference The reader is in awe of his far-reaching knowledge Then the poet overuses polysyllabic words Just to prove he went to a good college And the poet keeps filling up the notebooks Even though he should have stopped long ago But the publisher agreed to pay by the word So unfortunately, there’s four more stanzas to go Quickly, the release date approaches There’s one printing, then two, then three And the poem becomes a hit in coffee shops Recited by grad students in between bites of biscotti His face now graces the cover of every magazine In an explosion of exuberant media admiration Dozens of talk show appearances are scheduled For the newly crowned “voice of our generation” The publisher decorates the dust jacket with blurbs Complimenting the book’s “dangerously original rhymes” But it’s nothing more than passing hyperbole Gathered from a glowing review in The New York Times Now thousands grasp the paperback edition And eagerly await the feature film adaptation Meanwhile, the poet hunches over his typewriter And commits more sententious literary ************
0
Jan 8, 2012
Jan 8, 2012 at 3:18 PM UTC
This Is One Of Those Serious Poems
This is one of those serious poems And yet it has nothing new to say But the poet needs to keep himself busy And writing seems to be the easiest way The poet rises up on his soapbox Because he works better from an elevated height He screams about organized religion, politics And stripping away of our basic human rights Like a magician with a classic misdirection The poet wraps his moralizing in purple prose He hits you over the head with one simple point That he’s forgotten more than you’ll ever know Around the time of the nineteenth obscure reference The reader is in awe of his far-reaching knowledge Then the poet overuses polysyllabic words Just to prove he went to a good college And the poet keeps filling up the notebooks Even though he should have stopped long ago But the publisher agreed to pay by the word So unfortunately, there’s four more stanzas to go Quickly, the release date approaches There’s one printing, then two, then three And the poem becomes a hit in coffee shops Recited by grad students in between bites of biscotti His face now graces the cover of every magazine In an explosion of exuberant media admiration Dozens of talk show appearances are scheduled For the newly crowned “voice of our generation” The publisher decorates the dust jacket with blurbs Complimenting the book’s “dangerously original rhymes” But it’s nothing more than passing hyperbole Gathered from a glowing review in The New York Times Now thousands grasp the paperback edition And eagerly await the feature film adaptation Meanwhile, the poet hunches over his typewriter And commits more sententious literary ************
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36
the destroyers are out to destroy they are the heat of the night napalm-burned bodies trembling in the jungle they are bullets nestled silently into the back of one's head babies dangling from their mother's limp arms as she builds herself a new body made out of the countryside & the trees & dynamite and she will bring the explosion at dawn i could fit the memory of last night in a wine bottle i fell asleep in the dumpster and you kissed me with your wine stained lips in the morning i hoisted the sunrise into a wheelbarrow and headed west. now i don't know who or what i am all i need is a soapbox to stand on or a cliff to climb a little solitude i need to be regurgitated as smoke hanging over three lanes of asphalt i need a valley with soft green carpet and a pretty girl's adolescent thighs i need my face shoved in her ***** i need the enormous bliss of a long afternoon i need to find the intersection of our intimate streets.
0
Jan 18, 2014
Jan 18, 2014 at 2:06 AM UTC
intimate streets
Like mourning bells ringing, I woke to hear trumpets playing taps, Next to a funeral casket. I observed quietly, With some foreign melodies filling the void between my temples. Showing disregard out of mere respect, Really. Not for myself, Certainly. For I was as dead as the corpse I was grieving. Falling into my fog again, screaming the names of ex-lovers Over                                                                              and over                                                                    and over. Needing infatuation On uneven planes of judgment, As if I were seeking insight from an invalid. But there was a time when I lacked even more Than at that loathsomely lonesome moment. And it went slithering on inside of the void Like some ******* disease that was ripping the holy living **** out of my heart. Seeing the casket lower Under a cascade of flowers, My temples went silent, The melodies burned away like thousands of distant cinders, And their voices occupied the void, as if my mind was their soapbox.
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Jan 13, 2012
Jan 13, 2012 at 12:13 AM UTC
Dignity?
You can identify your own flaws by scrutinizing strangers. I watched a woman from across a platform at the subway station: Straight, dishwater-blonde hair glimmering in the subterranean fluorescence; striking posture— a dancer's figure— and a thrifty ensemble that bespoke good taste in spite of budgetary constrictions. She pulled a circular compact from her purse the way people in films exhume a pack of cigarettes. Then, in deliberate fashion, she removed a pill and swallowed it. Birth control is like receiving a governor's pardon in the process of planning a crime. I resent her having that kind of indemnity. I pass judgment on assumptions of character, high on the blissful soapbox of bigotry. As that pill crested the ridges of her teeth and met the soft tissue of her tongue, then esophagus, my mind conjured a phantasmagoria of lewd images on the surrounding subway walls-- more a reflection of my character than hers.
0
Sep 20, 2012
Sep 20, 2012 at 11:49 PM UTC
Mirror, Mirror
Who are you to wave your finger? Ya' must have been out your head. Eye hole deep in muddy waters, You practically raised the dead. Rob the grave, to snow the cradle then burn the evidence down. Soapbox, house of cards and glass, so don't go tossin' your stones all around. You must have been high. You must have been high. You must have been- Foot in mouth, and head up ******* what'cha talkin' 'bout? Difficult to dance 'round this one 'til you pull it out, boy; You must have been so high. You must have been so high. Steal, borrow, refer, save your shady inference. kangaroo done hung the juror with the innocent. Now you're weeping shades of cozened indigo Got lemon juice up in your EYE! When you ****** all over my black kettle You must have been HIGH, HIGH You must have been HIGH, HIGH Who are you to wave your finger, so full of it? Eyeballs deep in muddy waters, fuckin' hypocrite. Liar, lawyer, mirror; show me: What's the difference? kangaroo done hung the guilty with the innocent. Now you'll weep or change the cozened indigo; got lemon juice up in your high-eye, when you ****** all over my black kettle You musta been! So who are you to wave your finger? Who are you to wave your fatty fingers at me? You must, have been, out your, mind! Weepin' shades of indigo shed without a reason weepin' shades of indigo Liar, lawyer, Mirror for ya, what's the difference? kangaroo be ****** he's guilty as the government Now, will you weep or, change the cozened indigo; got lemon juice up in your, EYE! EYE! Now when you ****** all over my black kettle. You musta been HIGH, HIGH, HIGH, HIGH. Eyeballs deep in muddy waters Your ***** deep in muddy waters; ***** p-lease! You must have been out your MIND!
0
Oct 16, 2013
Oct 16, 2013 at 5:03 AM UTC
The *** - Tool
Who are you to wave your finger? Ya' must have been out your head. Eye hole deep in muddy waters, You practically raised the dead. Rob the grave, to snow the cradle then burn the evidence down. Soapbox, house of cards and glass, so don't go tossin' your stones all around. You must have been high. You must have been high. You must have been- Foot in mouth, and head up ******* what'cha talkin' 'bout? Difficult to dance 'round this one 'til you pull it out, boy; You must have been so high. You must have been so high. Steal, borrow, refer, save your shady inference. kangaroo done hung the juror with the innocent. Now you're weeping shades of cozened indigo Got lemon juice up in your EYE! When you ****** all over my black kettle You must have been HIGH, HIGH You must have been HIGH, HIGH Who are you to wave your finger, so full of it? Eyeballs deep in muddy waters, fuckin' hypocrite. Liar, lawyer, mirror; show me: What's the difference? kangaroo done hung the guilty with the innocent. Now you'll weep or change the cozened indigo; got lemon juice up in your high-eye, when you ****** all over my black kettle You musta been! So who are you to wave your finger? Who are you to wave your fatty fingers at me? You must, have been, out your, mind! Weepin' shades of indigo shed without a reason weepin' shades of indigo Liar, lawyer, Mirror for ya, what's the difference? kangaroo be ****** he's guilty as the government Now, will you weep or, change the cozened indigo; got lemon juice up in your, EYE! EYE! Now when you ****** all over my black kettle. You musta been HIGH, HIGH, HIGH, HIGH. Eyeballs deep in muddy waters Your ***** deep in muddy waters; ***** p-lease! You must have been out your MIND!
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55
volcano the rat popped out of the sewer and ran down the road gnawing on a crooked table leg. the pin up girls have been crying in the chapel over strange men with belly problems. it is very early and the sky is still a black mongrel rolled in waves of silence. i was king midas for forty minutes in a dream last night, i held a crazy unspeakable microphone and i slapped myself in the face. buy me a soapbox just like jesus had, hang posters of houdini and exist in silence. i have the mad pulse of a child, a rosy cheeked poet am i. last night i secretly tried to chop down the church steeple, "down with enthusiasm."
0
Jan 11, 2012
Jan 11, 2012 at 7:28 AM UTC
king midas dream
wet. ambition of her silken hair scatter my moral compass but after terse words we set out on the road her tale carries us for miles and leads to many thoughts but I'm easily distracted and distraught by soapbox celebritys and their rabid claims to fame and am left to letting her choose our path she pens regrets to me and mails them to the wrong address so ill never know her love for me has grown cold I befriend the postman putting the letters of my words carefully on his face with a fine line pen but he keeps whispering that I should be so sad because love has been rejected and my heart was returned marked postage due the description sours when the ink hits the page never quite suits the thought as we trundle along the stony path the bone rattling pace lends misgivings find my way home in the song of her heart find my weary way to her door turning the door inward and see the vault of her hearts fortress reduced to rubble ans she has now gone she has fled eastward wagon laden with tales and trinkets her blue dress flowing over the side and fluttering in the breeze wet ambition is no mercy wet ambition is cold
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Jul 22, 2013
Jul 22, 2013 at 2:25 PM UTC
wet ambition
GET IN THE BOX ***** GET IN THE Ditch AND Burn GET OFF THE Soap BOX Preacher IT Time YOU Took Your Turn IT'S Pure Hypocrasy IT'S Heresy IN Your Name IT'S A Faux Show Fantasy YOU Wear THE Devil Shame NO More Lies NO More Lies NO More Lies ALL ARE Fallen Angels **** THE Preacher Burn THE Witches ALL False Idols CAN Burn ALL False Idols CAN Burn ALL False Idols CAN Burn Your Church Will Burn SO ALL This SO ALL This SO ALL This SO ALL This Rests ON A LIE Your Right TO Justify Torture IN THE Name OF GOD THE Devils Ignorant Angels ARE Innocent DON'T YOU Know THE Devils AN Angel Spurned This Devils AN Angel Burned GET IN THE BOX ***** GET IN THE Ditch AND Burn GET OFF Your Soapbox Preacher This Minds Open NOT TO Learn Enduring Reality AS YOU Preach Duality IT'S Pure Hypocrasy YOU Wear THE Devil'S Shame CAN'T YOU SEE YOU'RE Blinded BY THE Light IN Arrogance YOU'VE Lost Sight IT'S Reality NOT Duality This Polarity Seeks TO Resolve IT'S Solution IS TO Dissolve Reality Duality Polarity Seeks TO Resolve IT'S Solution IS TO Dissolve OF AN Angels Scorn A Devil'S Born FOR This Gods OWN Conceit THE Devil Took HIS Seat TO Cast Into Hell AN Angel Scorned AND There YOU'LL Dwell A GOD That'S Horned THE Devil'S Ears Bleed AT THE Choirs Song Justifying OF That Gods Wrong Merciless Cruelty NOT A Word OF Dissent Allowing False Judgement Blind TO Hypocrasy THE Devil'S Begrudgement THE Angels Heresey TO Cast Into Hell AN Angel Spurned AND BY Your Hand THE Tables Turned Revoked Your Throne BY Your Conceit THE Devil Burns ON HIS Rightful Seat DON'T YOU Know IT'S Wrong TO Demonise IT'S This Arrogance I Despise DON'T YOU Know IT'S Wrong TO Touch AN Angels Hair Knowing IT'S OF Evil WE Both Share OF THE Fabric WE NOW Tear AND NOW THE Devil'S IN THE Chair AND NOW THE Devil'S IN THE Chair AND NOW THE Devil'S IN THE Chair AND NOW THE Devil'S IN THE Chair
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Apr 10, 2021
Apr 10, 2021 at 6:45 AM UTC
Mortus Dei
GET IN THE BOX ***** GET IN THE Ditch AND Burn GET OFF THE Soap BOX Preacher IT Time YOU Took Your Turn IT'S Pure Hypocrasy IT'S Heresy IN Your Name IT'S A Faux Show Fantasy YOU Wear THE Devil Shame NO More Lies NO More Lies NO More Lies ALL ARE Fallen Angels **** THE Preacher Burn THE Witches ALL False Idols CAN Burn ALL False Idols CAN Burn ALL False Idols CAN Burn Your Church Will Burn SO ALL This SO ALL This SO ALL This SO ALL This Rests ON A LIE Your Right TO Justify Torture IN THE Name OF GOD THE Devils Ignorant Angels ARE Innocent DON'T YOU Know THE Devils AN Angel Spurned This Devils AN Angel Burned GET IN THE BOX ***** GET IN THE Ditch AND Burn GET OFF Your Soapbox Preacher This Minds Open NOT TO Learn Enduring Reality AS YOU Preach Duality IT'S Pure Hypocrasy YOU Wear THE Devil'S Shame CAN'T YOU SEE YOU'RE Blinded BY THE Light IN Arrogance YOU'VE Lost Sight IT'S Reality NOT Duality This Polarity Seeks TO Resolve IT'S Solution IS TO Dissolve Reality Duality Polarity Seeks TO Resolve IT'S Solution IS TO Dissolve OF AN Angels Scorn A Devil'S Born FOR This Gods OWN Conceit THE Devil Took HIS Seat TO Cast Into Hell AN Angel Scorned AND There YOU'LL Dwell A GOD That'S Horned THE Devil'S Ears Bleed AT THE Choirs Song Justifying OF That Gods Wrong Merciless Cruelty NOT A Word OF Dissent Allowing False Judgement Blind TO Hypocrasy THE Devil'S Begrudgement THE Angels Heresey TO Cast Into Hell AN Angel Spurned AND BY Your Hand THE Tables Turned Revoked Your Throne BY Your Conceit THE Devil Burns ON HIS Rightful Seat DON'T YOU Know IT'S Wrong TO Demonise IT'S This Arrogance I Despise DON'T YOU Know IT'S Wrong TO Touch AN Angels Hair Knowing IT'S OF Evil WE Both Share OF THE Fabric WE NOW Tear AND NOW THE Devil'S IN THE Chair AND NOW THE Devil'S IN THE Chair AND NOW THE Devil'S IN THE Chair AND NOW THE Devil'S IN THE Chair
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79
The reason I don't like you, let me put it into words. You're a prat, a drain and a hypocrite, a ****** characterless **** You talk,  you talk, you ******* talk But you never say a thing. You think that you give speeches Like Dr. Martin Luther King. But you don't because your boring, You bore us all to tears. Ruining every social event, by banging on for years. Bla bla ******* bla bla bla, your monotone drones on. You're in love with the sound of your own voice, while we just want you gone. So pack your **** up in your soapbox, And turn your answer machine on. Then **** off back to snoresville, or wherever the **** you're from.
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Sep 10, 2019
Sep 10, 2019 at 12:15 AM UTC
The Speech Giver
Woke up from the American Dream      Hungover      Hellbent on reality After I saw the worst minds of my generation       Destroy with their madness       Rather than exploit their demons They shot them in the heart with anti-depressants      and let them wake up      dead to ambition They prescribed me like you      Withdrawal made me like me      GOD MODE ON Just reach for the sun we're touched by       Fire in the mind.       Controlled flame I am American Madness      Mommy's little monster gone manic      Mood swinging from the right intentions I am American Madness      Jumping this shark with the high horse I rode in on      Saving my country from soapbox to soapbox I am American Madness      The revolution in our minds manifested      standing up for something un-televised The psychos in sheep clothing      Lycanthropy at the right time      Letting out our own Howl Standing present        Our hands are red white and blue in guilt.        With the ghosts that we're dragging from past lives Tearing the throat out of         the things we can run                 but can't hide Fighting off our demons Transmuting the nightmares Caught in the American dream catcher. We could be the champions of the oppressed       Crossing the first threshold      We all come back around together © kenHeike, 2k13
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Aug 3, 2013
Aug 3, 2013 at 3:53 PM UTC
I Am American Madness: God Mode On (Anti-Hero Origins Pt. 1)
I truly fail to understand Why it’s gotten out of hand. It seems so very odd There are so many God Is supposed to have ordained Some aren’t even trained. There is an absolute dearth Of an actual true rebirth In the revivifying blood of Jesus. It’s almost like allergic sneezes. Pastures full of pastors. Priests and beasts. Defectors and rectors. Pickers and vicars. Bleachers full of preachers. Clerics and hysterics. Papal delegates and celibates. Televangelists and Adventists And hostile Pentecostals. We are becoming overrun With an ecumenical kind of fun In which before we can holler Another puts on a backward collar And starts tell us what to do. When the rebirthing is through They are on their park soapbox And ******** about our Xbox; Telling us what we should watch And the coffee in our coffee klatch Is unGodly because Jesus never drank it. Makes me want to grab and spank it Before it multiplies. Jerks, those guys. Pastures full of pastors. Priests and beasts. Defectors and rectors. Pickers and vicars. Bleachers full of preachers. Clerics and hysterics. Papal delegates and celibates. Televangelists and Adventists And hostile Pentecostals.
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Feb 28, 2016
Feb 28, 2016 at 12:34 AM UTC
DIVINE INNER INVENTION
“A demagogue, in the strict signification of the word, is a 'leader of the rabble'.”                         — James Fenimore Cooper, "On Demagogues" a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires & prejudices rather than by using rational argument; A demagogue or rabble-rouser is a leader in a democracy who gains popularity by exploiting prejudice & ignorance among the common people, whipping up the passions of the crowd & shutting down reasoned deliberations; rabble-rouser, agitator, political agitator, soapbox orator, firebrand, fomenter, provocateur "he was drawn into a circle of campus demagogues" Only in ancient Greece and Rome was it a leader or orator who espoused the cause of the common people; demagogues overturn established customs of political conduct, or promise or threaten to do so; demagogues have appeared in democracies since ancient Athens. They exploit a fundamental weakness in democracy: because ultimate power is held by the people, it is possible for the people to give that power to someone who appeals   to the lowest common denominator of a large segment of the population; demagogues usually advocate immediate, forceful action to address a national crisis while accusing moderate & thoughtful opponents                                        of weakness or disloyalty
0
Sep 1, 2018
Sep 1, 2018 at 7:44 PM UTC
On Demagogues 2018
I hide behind cardboard ceilings walls and feelings searing idols collide find ask me why they trust the words we throw I feel the wood and leaves at my hands and feet and they are real to me got the best and found he who lies and cover in a soapbox mound where the standing shout
0
Sep 6, 2014
Sep 6, 2014 at 12:54 AM UTC
Build
The man stood on a box In the middle of the park, When people walked by The old boy would bark “It’s in the Bible,” he cried. And some people would ask What is in the Bible, sir?” Prepared to take him to task. “Everything’s in there, friend!” He answered with a smile Feeling the people there Would stay and listen a while. “Well, that’s an easy answer!” One of the onlookers said. “You have left nothing out!” The orator nodded his head. “The Bible has answers for you To any question you can say. It will be your salvation, sir No waiting until Judgment Day. It tells you what to eat and then Tells you how to choose a wife. It tells you how to go to heaven When you reach the end of life.” The questioner replied, “Yes, sir, And it tells of women made of salt, And a fellow who walked on water Another brought the sun to a halt. It tells of a boat quite big enough To have two each of every animal. And people floating up to the sky. Don’t you find these things incredible?” “Not all,” the soapbox man said, “God can do any holy thing at all. He has made the planets, the sky, The heavens and the waterfalls. God knows everything and he is Who speaks to you in your heart.” The onlooker shook his head, said “So, when does that stuff start?” “What stuff, sir?” the orator asked. “The part where God speaks to me. I haven’t heard a word from God And I have been listening, you see. That would be a truly wondrous thing For this God person to finally do. But, if God speaks to all of us Why the hell do we need you?
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Sep 20, 2015
Sep 20, 2015 at 12:45 AM UTC
SERMON AND A SOAPBOX
The man stood on a box In the middle of the park, When people walked by The old boy would bark “It’s in the Bible,” he cried. And some people would ask What is in the Bible, sir?” Prepared to take him to task. “Everything’s in there, friend!” He answered with a smile Feeling the people there Would stay and listen a while. “Well, that’s an easy answer!” One of the onlookers said. “You have left nothing out!” The orator nodded his head. “The Bible has answers for you To any question you can say. It will be your salvation, sir No waiting until Judgment Day. It tells you what to eat and then Tells you how to choose a wife. It tells you how to go to heaven When you reach the end of life.” The questioner replied, “Yes, sir, And it tells of women made of salt, And a fellow who walked on water Another brought the sun to a halt. It tells of a boat quite big enough To have two each of every animal. And people floating up to the sky. Don’t you find these things incredible?” “Not all,” the soapbox man said, “God can do any holy thing at all. He has made the planets, the sky, The heavens and the waterfalls. God knows everything and he is Who speaks to you in your heart.” The onlooker shook his head, said “So, when does that stuff start?” “What stuff, sir?” the orator asked. “The part where God speaks to me. I haven’t heard a word from God And I have been listening, you see. That would be a truly wondrous thing For this God person to finally do. But, if God speaks to all of us Why the hell do we need you?
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48
my arm is nothing more than an extension of my soul, stretched parabola forming a straight line towards heaven. I stand on my soapbox with a sermon dangling from my lips, this tired old street corner this tired old man giving the world what it wants. I am enlisted. I am the bubble hidden deep inside the bone. I am the beekeeper creating a brand new colony, stung by his own pride. here, brother, listen: walk with me while I tell you about the accubation of life and all of it's little lovers, those tiny frail things so easily forgotten. my tongue is nothing more than an extension of my mind, soft, flattened, delightful attracted to flavor. a million spiders bred a million more, and still their webs spread empty between the trees. this is the way God works. earthquakes, tsunamis, libraries engulfed in flames, over-dosed artists, a genius child sold into slavery. we all become what we already are: gentle creatures abacinated by society fenced in and cornered by evil dreams. we thrash in our sleep, we wake violently, we burst onto the scene like lions from another planet, hungry, oh so wild and hungry. this is the way We work.
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Mar 28, 2010
Mar 28, 2010 at 9:07 AM UTC
aeolist
If this is all there is If everything I've seen so far in life   Is all there is to live, And you are never ever coming back Then let me be happy with it. Because I so desperately want to be happy. Let me see every new new day like A mother sees her child, eyes open wide Staring at something I had a hand in making That could just as easily go wrong as it could right. Let me hear every seven AM wake up call as The bells of St Peters to the ear of a choir boy Calling me to worship with unquestionable faith. Let me eat every burnt slice of toast like A convicted criminal ensconced in solitary Devours his last meal on death row. Let me feel laughter as something other, Than just the vibration of vocal chords. Let me always speak with the conviction Of a dreamer, a believer, an activist Shouting every syllable From the pinnacle of an overturned soapbox And treating every street corner like a stage. Let me stop trying to predict rain And accept that if there are going to be downpours There are certain seeds I need to sow. Let me stop watching the television screen As though all of life's mysteries Can be answered by documentaries. And that I can finally tune in, by connecting with fictional shows. Let me see wonder Because for a long time now I've been dreaming in colour Its real life that seems trapped in monochrome. If this is all there is If everything I've lived in life has taken all I have to give And you are never ever coming back. Then lets get it over with. Because I so desperately want this to be over. Let me breathe in smoke for the rest of my days Until tar spills from my lungs, to my heart And burns my capillaries with that nicotine flame Let me make heartbreak an art. Because it reminds me of you And I don't deserve any better. Let me walk like I'm walking on eggshells How I always used to do for you.
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Oct 7, 2013
Oct 7, 2013 at 3:11 PM UTC
Perspective (The Soapbox Stage)
If this is all there is If everything I've seen so far in life   Is all there is to live, And you are never ever coming back Then let me be happy with it. Because I so desperately want to be happy. Let me see every new new day like A mother sees her child, eyes open wide Staring at something I had a hand in making That could just as easily go wrong as it could right. Let me hear every seven AM wake up call as The bells of St Peters to the ear of a choir boy Calling me to worship with unquestionable faith. Let me eat every burnt slice of toast like A convicted criminal ensconced in solitary Devours his last meal on death row. Let me feel laughter as something other, Than just the vibration of vocal chords. Let me always speak with the conviction Of a dreamer, a believer, an activist Shouting every syllable From the pinnacle of an overturned soapbox And treating every street corner like a stage. Let me stop trying to predict rain And accept that if there are going to be downpours There are certain seeds I need to sow. Let me stop watching the television screen As though all of life's mysteries Can be answered by documentaries. And that I can finally tune in, by connecting with fictional shows. Let me see wonder Because for a long time now I've been dreaming in colour Its real life that seems trapped in monochrome. If this is all there is If everything I've lived in life has taken all I have to give And you are never ever coming back. Then lets get it over with. Because I so desperately want this to be over. Let me breathe in smoke for the rest of my days Until tar spills from my lungs, to my heart And burns my capillaries with that nicotine flame Let me make heartbreak an art. Because it reminds me of you And I don't deserve any better. Let me walk like I'm walking on eggshells How I always used to do for you.
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46
Of all of the days to sleep in this late Why did I have to choose today The revolution we'd been planing along I'm sure was already underway I grabbed my bag, thank goodness already packed And headed for the door I ran out so fast my dog was aghast My feet barely touching the floor When I arrived at the park I saw none of my friends There were old ladies knitting shawls Old men playing rummy and gin I was already there So I refused to go home The revolution got canceled And I wasn't informed So I stood up on my soapbox And yelled listen to me All the old folks gathered round As I gave the greatest of speech I talked of how long We'd been beat down by the man As I went point by point Of my intricate plan There came weakened shouts From a few in the crowd While the hearing impaired Wondered what all the fuss was about We all moved to the street With luck a Boy Scout happened by To help all the old ladies across But only one at a time We surrounded Dairy Queen first Because they have ice cream soft serve Which goes down so smooth When your wearing dentures Next we did a flash mob In the local Right-Aid There were old women swinging purses And old men waving canes They all slowly shuffled down The adult diaper aisle Where they stripped the shelves clean With raspy giggles and wrinkly smiles Things were running so smoothly According to revolutionary plans We were creating social havoc And sticking it BAD to the man In the middle of the craze My cell phone it rang It was my radical friends Wondering where I have been I'm a tad bit embarrassed That's the least I can say In my mad rush to arrive I went to the wrong park today So I snuck out the back of Rite-Aid As the swat team arrived If I had a conscience I'd feel bad In leaving my new old friends behind
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Mar 16, 2013
Mar 16, 2013 at 7:56 AM UTC
The Revolution (AKA) Sticking It To The Man
Of all of the days to sleep in this late Why did I have to choose today The revolution we'd been planing along I'm sure was already underway I grabbed my bag, thank goodness already packed And headed for the door I ran out so fast my dog was aghast My feet barely touching the floor When I arrived at the park I saw none of my friends There were old ladies knitting shawls Old men playing rummy and gin I was already there So I refused to go home The revolution got canceled And I wasn't informed So I stood up on my soapbox And yelled listen to me All the old folks gathered round As I gave the greatest of speech I talked of how long We'd been beat down by the man As I went point by point Of my intricate plan There came weakened shouts From a few in the crowd While the hearing impaired Wondered what all the fuss was about We all moved to the street With luck a Boy Scout happened by To help all the old ladies across But only one at a time We surrounded Dairy Queen first Because they have ice cream soft serve Which goes down so smooth When your wearing dentures Next we did a flash mob In the local Right-Aid There were old women swinging purses And old men waving canes They all slowly shuffled down The adult diaper aisle Where they stripped the shelves clean With raspy giggles and wrinkly smiles Things were running so smoothly According to revolutionary plans We were creating social havoc And sticking it BAD to the man In the middle of the craze My cell phone it rang It was my radical friends Wondering where I have been I'm a tad bit embarrassed That's the least I can say In my mad rush to arrive I went to the wrong park today So I snuck out the back of Rite-Aid As the swat team arrived If I had a conscience I'd feel bad In leaving my new old friends behind
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60
My 5 o’clock shadow shielded my 4 o’clock guilt The shady gentleman in the corner is a no one The man to his left, a soapbox of stilts Still, a matchbook Strikingly same A celestial speaker A back of green to maim
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Jul 22, 2012
Jul 22, 2012 at 11:27 PM UTC
Dinner Party
The monumental image of this memory depicts half of a man. What makes this image monumental is the unspoken truth behind strong, naked feet dancing and kicking up dust on top of a soap box. Unshakeable emotions warp this memory's crowd of many nameless faces, pinching cheeks into malice for a few, long hours. These malicious expressions may be the result of the dust storm filling in the blanks for lots of people collectively trying to ignore something. Authorities have concluded that time cannot heal a wound if the hourglass has cracked, so, the memory goes on, amassing confusion, chaotically like this television screen showcasing half of a man dancing on top of a soapbox.
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Sep 20, 2013
Sep 20, 2013 at 3:09 PM UTC
Broadcasted
Its paralysis in wonderland Ignoring all the things you can Building a soapbox out of buried hatchets On which you finally hope to take a stand Will you ever be this young again? I don't know, but don't get mad when I ignore your gender, man We split the toll for the long road home We find ourselves questioning things that they never wanted us to know Pioneering sinking ships, - still being told to 'row!' A routine change of quarters, Pushing on every border, Until you finally feel you've found a home Where is your light?                                Where is your soul? I guess we've got a ways to go
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Dec 17, 2013
Dec 17, 2013 at 7:47 AM UTC
Confusing Courage with Wisdom