Christmas Past and Present

Christmas Past and Present   12/29/2014

There was no snow

And the sun dried up

All the rain

As we woke up

And rubbed our eyes.

The kids tore open their gifts

And I picked up the pieces

With an throbbing head

And an aching back. 

We took pictures

And ate our feast

Drinking sparkling juice

From fluted glass. 

The sounds pulse in my ears

Long after all is put away

As gather all the debris

From another holiday’s revelry.

We give and we get

But then we roll over

Fall asleep

And forget. 

Every single moment is precious

And every single nuance a treasure

Even as we hurry

To decorate

And entertain.

The perfect gift is here

If only it were welcome

Because it must be felt long enough

To take root in our heart. 

The peace that passes all understanding

Is greatest thing to know

A pure and perfect gift

In a world gone mad. 

Nothing has changed

But I now I understand

The magic and the miracle

Once, perfect, and true. 

Bailey's Branch

Bailey's Branch  12/24/2014

There is only one past 

But there remains two futures

As we live

In a world of bad choices

Long exploited and lost. 

Foolish and suicidal

We run headlong

Off every ledge

Hijacked by evil men 

Hell bent on destruction. 

In a perfect world

There is no pain

And no deception

But that world branched off

The day we knew.   

The past falls away

Ever more distant

And misunderstood

A place filled with longing

Unfinished and dumb.

It’s getting  harder and harder

To remember her voice

As the distance grows greater

Each and every day. 

The soft voice

Breathless and sleepy

Whispered between her teeth

And tickling my ear.

As I lay on my pillow

And drift in my dreams

I think of then

And I think of her.  

Life goes on

No matter what we do

But a part of me remains

Bleeding forever.   

My world is colorless

And my appetite suppressed

As I no longer desire

All that is left. 

We do our best

And we smile on cue

No matter what we think

Or what others do. 

We bury the symptoms

As long as we can

Hoping against hope

That all will heal. 

I am damaged

And I am marked

Never again to be as whimsical

Or as safe. 

I live guarded

And walk carefully

Tip toeing through a minefield

Of risk and revulsion. 

Nothing is safe

And nothing guaranteed

In a world of boundaries

And limits.

I am quiet

And I no longer weep

Because all the tears in the world

Cannot change a thing. 

The sun rises

And the rain pounds

Against my  window

Beating us down

One wrinkle at a time. 

I will always love you

Even if, I do not try

Because that river was crossed

And I cannot go back. 

Even if, this all unravels

I still have that

A quiet and whispered promise

Across a great white space. 

On the other side

All of this,

Will disappear

Leaving only the good

And the true. 

But the best thing 

May not be, what is there

But rather, what is absent.

And disappeared.

 

Worlds of Silence

Worlds of Silence 12/23/2014 

Sixteen days of silence 

With nothing but the wind

Whistling through the trees

But even silence can speak 

Everything you need to know. 

Whisper a name in the dark

Forcing it through shriveled lips

Even if no one will hear

And no one will speak. 

We look outwards

And see what we want

But there is a whole lot more

That no one dares to notice. 

We look one way

And then another

Distracted by a three ring circus

Of hoops, absurdity, and flash.

But it’s the other story

That makes all the difference

Swept under the rug

And scrubbed from the record.

We cannot go back

But we can go forward

If we are truly willing to follow

Where ever the truth may lead. 

But if one cannot accept reality

Then they are lost

Scrambling over themselves

With the same old lies. 

Some men build

But others tear apart

And nothing could be more obvious

Now and evermore.

Awaken wings of the night

And take me higher

As the world shrinks 

To pin points in the dark.

In the silent cold

Where we can listen 

To what may be said

Because tonight, like all nights

Is bewitching and dead. 

See the solitary figures

Walking to their cars

And watch the vanishing memories

Of mothers and fathers.

Cover with your wings

The good and innocent

Lest they be snatched

By the cruel or savage.

All that evil ever needed

Was a toehold

Or a tiny crack 

Slithering through

To infect and destroy. 

But that was long ago

And this is now

As the fever grows

And our throat swells.

The cure will hurt

But the disease will kill

As we lay in bed

Wracked with chills. 

 

Let our wings be swift
And our hearts be like iron
Strong enough 

To burst the vacuum 

Inside out.

 

This is our world

The one that is to come

Where the silent speak

And all is forgiven.

Where I will remember

And hear your voice

Shaking me awake

For eternity without end. 

Scattered

Scattered 12/22/2014

The world is dumb

One dimensional and dead

Flat against itself

Unable to question

Or grow. 

Infested, rotten,

And hollowed out

Consumed by parasites

Eating and breeding.  

The lights turn out one after another

As we grow dark

Fumbling around in our emotions

Without truth

Or conscience. 

Liars lie

For power and money

Amassing both

On the heads of others. 

The is more unseen

Than seen

And silence itself

Is the voice of complicity. 

The good are mutilated

Their names mangled

And forgotten

Purposely maligned

Every single day. 

What does it take

For the good to awaken

And what will it mean

If they sleep forever. 

Time ticks downwards

Another day and hour

As we retreat another inch

And become

Smaller and smaller. 

Anyone can listen

And anyone can be watched

But they are not the only ones

Who know what’s in our hearts.

God knows

Even if we hide

And God remembers

Even if we forget.

What is obscured

Will be revealed

Hauled out into the sunlight

For everyone to see. 

The truth outright

And written in the sky

As the roaches scatter

Too little

And too late.

Ship of Fools

 Ship of Fools 12/19/2014

Life is worth nothing

Without courage
and Convictions

Nothing but a clump of cells

Eating, and dying.

If you run

Your enemies are emboldened

And what good are friends

When you are abandoned,

And undefended. 

It gets worse

But never better

As the snake tightens its coils

Around all our necks. 

For some,

Nothing has changed

But they live on borrowed time

And by the time, they wake up

It’s already too late. 

A whole world has disappeared

But some, don’t even know

Glued to glowing screens

Reflecting lives

That were never true at all. 

The streets are boarded up

And what was once quaint

Is now a war zone

Slowly rotting from neglect  

And decay. 

The signs are alien

And the people guarded

Hurrying down empty sidewalks

Past long neglected Victorians

Crumbling before our eyes.

We are silent

And good to a fault

Following the rules

That kill us

Every single day. 

The children cry out

But we do not hear

Numb to the violence

All the time,

And everywhere.

Lord, we are waiting

As I add up, all their names

Trying hard to remember

Each and every one.

Save us, from this evil

Growing like a tumor

Infecting everything

And everyone.

Come quickly

And rescue what is left

As even now, you hold the good

In the palm of your hand.