Being Vessels

Meager messages belittle life,

Underestimate the power of truth,

Insult the potential of creativity.

Are we required to follow

The textual translations

Of the words we read in scripture,

In our creations of art?

Of course not.

We have the freedom

To express ourselves

In whatever ways

Our creativity leads us.

The truths we live by

Will influence everything we do,

And as artists,

This will include our works of art.

In addition,

Truth can be discovered

In a multitude of ways.

Scripture is just one

(To some) obvious way.

Nature, conversation,

And life experience are others.

We have to be open,

All the time,

To whatever way

Truth can be discovered.

And we also have to be open

To whatever way

It passes through us

To others.

As artists, and, really,

As human beings,

We are vessels

For truth, justice and love.

May we be effective vessels

To change the world around us

For the better.

Life, Art, and Truth

Is all good art about happiness,

Light and beauty?

Is it about being positive,

Affirming truth,

And selling a message?

Well, yes and no.

It should, in the end,

Reveal some kind of truth,

But, as human beings,

All we have to do

Is live our lives,

And we reveal truth.

It is built into creation.

It is a building block

Of all life.

Creation is just a creative thing.

Life is truth.

So, just create, feel absolutely free

To go wherever your spirit leads you.

You can’t help but create something

That has some redeeming quality.

How entertaining, successful,

Or profitable it turns out to be,

Is another story.

But don’t worry about that.

Just use the gifts God gives you,

No matter how big or small,

And God will use you, somehow,

Even if it is just to teach you something

About yourself, or someone close to you,

Or, perhaps, something important to you,

Like your life, or your art.

Life is a learning process,

And so is creativity.

They are inseparable from each other.

So,  do your thing,

Whatever it is,

And don’t think about the results,

Too much.

Just think about life.

We can all relate to that.

Loud

Busted type courageous fever

Tickle rewind wall cute koala

Merge mouth leaving tackle

Lick weep murder lifting whip

Rift working wear creature create

Seep weave rip raft meal trip

Rear ape shallow mere kick keep

Rack miff will marr angel murky

Lack sip itch wick emerge back

Icky Ill embers mellow rainbow

Pick big elbow it lull Hindu loud

Is It Really What You Believe?

Believe.

What does that mean?

Seems it’s gotten torn, and crushed,

Manipulated in the extreme.

Does it mean discriminate,

If you are the privileged religion?

Does it mean murder,

If you are against

What one person chooses to do

Inside their own body,

At a health care facility?

Does it mean denying

Someone’s legal right

To publicly affirm

Their love and commitment

For someone who

Is very special in their life,

And grasp the privileges

That most of us take for granted?

Why?

Why does belief

Have anything to do

With all this?

What really justifies

These obviously immoral actions?

Why do so many

Delude themselves

Into thinking

It is okay?

Let’s choose love, instead.

Let’s choose freedom,

Equality, tolerance, compassion.

Imagine yourself

On the other side.

Imagine how you would feel,

What you would think,

What you would do,

If people took away your choices,

Just because of their beliefs.

Doesn’t it seem silly,

Crazy, horrific, sad, shocking,

Doesn’t it seem so wrong?

I think if you’re honest with yourself,

You can see these truths,

You can see the light

That you fool yourself

Into thinking that you already see

Just because of what you believe,

What you claim

Comes from a God

Who surrendered his powers

In every way, except to love.

That is what you should believe.

Perhaps, you should think again,

And stop using

What you believe

As an excuse.

Perhaps, it is not really

What you believe, after all.

It is a delusion,

Passed on for many years,

Accepted without question.

It is a lie.

Liberty and Justice for All (Really)

Why should anyone

Bend or bow?

Why do they have to

Compromise?

These crazy hoops

The establishment

Creates for all of us,

The silly rules,

The ridiculous laws,

The absurd regulations.

They only serve

The very few.

Do most people

Really care?

No.

Most people

Do not benefit

Or have any

Interest in these

Stupid excuses

For harassment.

Those who do

Are not the majority.

Let’s get rid

Of all of it.

Let’s stop

Playing God

With people’s

Everyday lives,

People’s precious time,

People’s private spaces.

These should be

Off limits.

If it doesn’t really

Interfere,

Why keep this stuff

On the books?

Privilege is wrong.

Discrimination is wrong.

Harassment is wrong.

That’s what should

Be outlawed.

That’s what should be

Prosecuted,

Convicted,

Sentenced,

And penalized

Severely.

Let’s wake up

And fix

Our terribly

Broken

(In)Justice system.

Let’s turn things around,

And make our country

Into a land

Where dreams come true

For every citizen,

Not just

The privileged few,

The rich,

The powerful,

The white.

This has to change.

If

Walking in a circle.

Ranging to be relevant.

Curious comments leave one

Lacking in insight.

Talking to the wall.

Telling secrets of the talents.

Tangled in a triumph.

Believing lies galore.

Cackling on a mountain.

Bounding part of grieving.

Balanced by the water.

Backed to the beaks.

If the walk is long,

Jack a telling fact-urge.

Bring the reaching jangle.

If.

Rank

Solid shaking smooth triumphs

Rewind angel loop raw beeping

Leveled tangles lovely toward

Look leave sweep beloved loud

Part slick dueling backward tall

Belief talking swore  shallow

Blink separated bringing peek

Swiped smear s’mores rearrange

Mares slinging reach wrong

Rotate leaks lifting lounge leaped

Walking weaved morph sliding

Swallow tall squawk brave mouth

Plucked pound mock lacked part

Wrought milieu smock lad rank

A Quiet World in Motion

Attractive is not talking, for me.

It is keeping silent, without hostility.

Friendly is not talking, for me.

It is listening, with empathy.

Peaceful is not talking, for me.

It is being alone, without loneliness.

Activity is not action, for me.

It is thinking bold thoughts.

So, where does this take me?

Into a world full of dreams.

A world on the brink of something big,

Shaking the foundations

Of what we call normal.

Questioning everything.

Lifting up those

Who have been forgotten.

Loving the unlovable.

Caring about the underprivileged,

Who have a lot to give.

The disabled who may be quite able,

In their own way.

Recognizing the quiet voices,

Who deserve to be heard.

Why not?

Wouldn’t the world

Be a better place for it?

I think so.

Unpoetry

This month, the poetry group that I belong to in Tallahassee, Florida, Big Bend Poets, has several challenges assigned to them to incorporate into their poetry. One of them is experimental poetry, which, if you’ve followed my blog at all, you know I already do, on a regular basis. I call it, “Unpoetry”. I have already posted a guide to it in the menu for this blog, but I thought I’d revisit the topic a little bit, as I’ve had a few more thoughts about it lately, considering this month’s challenge for my group.

First of all, I am fully aware that this type of poetry that I write is very difficult to understand, at least on face value. What I’ve always hoped, though, is that it is something that can be appreciated by a process of “reading between the lines”, so to speak. Although one of my purposes, one that I try to convey constantly, but sometimes am not completely faithful to, is absurdity.

When I write these poems, usually, I pick my words very carefully, so as to not “connect the dots”, so to speak. I purposely do not want any syntax, any pattern of meaning. Although I do believe there is meaning to be found, if one searches and thinks and analyzes hard enough, I do not keep this possibility in mind as I am writing. In fact, I mostly try to avoid it. Sometimes, I may start with syntax, then break out of it, or vice versa. It is difficult to write, and sometimes, I am just lazy, I’ll admit.

Like most writers, I believe in what I write, even if I do not always have much hope in my heart for most readers to understand and appreciate what I’m writing. What I do hope for, is that every now and then, a person will come along and be able to appreciate it. After all, I think that if I can get something out of writing it, why can’t someone occasionally get something out of reading it?

It is a very narrow road that I tread in writing this stuff, usually, and it is a lonely road. I do not have many peers who do anything similar, at least that I have come across, in my 30 or so years of writing. Possibles might include James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Gertrude Stein, and some of the surrealist writers that did automatic writing, although my writing is not really automatic (is anyone’s?). So, I continue to write it, use it, depend on it, trust it. I hope some of you enjoy it. Thanks for reading.

Something Creeps

Something creeps,

It crawls on me,

It plagues my brain,

I am uneasy.

Something near,

Quite too close.

It hurts my heart.

I’m just morose.

Such a thing

Hangs like a noose.

I’m dangling.

What does it prove?

Have I a care?

I wonder why.

It hurts to think.

It blinds my eye.

Such thoughts are hard,

Harder than stone.

They weigh a ton,

They are no fun.

Why must they be,

To follow me

Into the night

Where I can’t see?

I don’t like it,

No, not at all.

It seems like it

Will hurt to fall.

That’s really not

A pleasant thought.

Do you blame me

For trusting naught?

Perhaps, I live

Too carefully,

But I am cautious,

Naturally,

Because I’ve suffered

At the hands

Of reckless persons

In this land.

I will worry,

When I’ve cause.

I will take

The time to pause

At the merest

Hint of threat.

Do you balance

With no net?