Child-hood

Child-hood

-//- Now I seeThey’ve cut down My apple tree. And that pine, it was mine:It’s shadow, at night, frightened me.Yet, it glistened with sap-shineAnd blistered perfume in the sun. I press on, remembering. I’m now in sight of the house:Trim is deceptiveAnd siding is fleeting.They ripped up our rhodiesAnd drenched ’em in concrete. Down the streetSome windows are boardedStill others, reopened.The meth-den seemsRespectable now –Smart colors and clean.In the heart of it, once,Lay a woman, asleep,Or, so she seemed to…

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Two Birds

Two Birds

Red and black And blue, two birds: One screeches from A cedar tree Crested, croaks her Chorus forth From here unto Eternity And in a marsh Dark silhouette His blood-red spaulders Armored thus: He wings away Withdraws to think Of what is best To say to us

The Last Bit of Brain Static

The Last Bit of Brain Static

I definitely feel as though we started the year off on the wrong foot. There’s an acrid tang of despair at the back of my throat, and a pit opens up in my gut whenever I think about “What’s next?” I hold the hope of some future projects and a few creative outlets. I’ve put some things to rest that were no longer serving their intended purpose, and allowed some old ideas to die off and be replaced with new…

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Mi Familia de Dios

Mi Familia de Dios

“My family’s amazing…And I’m in my family, so…” – Mirabel Madrigal “Maybe your gift is being in denial.” – Town Kid -//- Love has many counterfeits. One of Love’s many counterfeits is Control. Control often wears a mask, so we call it something like “Loyalty”… or “Duty” … or “Purpose.” The disguise is rarely malicious, or even intentional. Most of us, perhaps especially those in control, have never known Love as love, and so naturally assume that Control (and its…

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Devil Horns & Lion Teeth

Devil Horns & Lion Teeth

-//- Love has many counterfeits. The way to know a false “love” from a true “love” is whether or not person’s humanity is under threat by such “love.” The way I figure it, there are, at least, two ways we can dehumanize someone: we can Lionize them… … or we can Demonize them. Love neither Lionizes nor Demonizes other humans. Love always tenderly and soberly keeps it before our minds that people are people – no more, but no less….

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Justice & Mercy

Justice & Mercy

Abbe Faria: “When I told them I had no idea where Count Spada hid his treasure, I lied.” Edmond Dantes: “You lied?” Abbe Faria: “I’m a priest, not a saint… …Here now is your final lesson – do not commit the crime for which you now serve the sentence. God said, ‘Vengeance is mine.’” Edmond Dantes: “I don’t believe in God.” Abbe Faria: “I doesn’t matter. He believes in you.” -//- Love’s work is wrought through some strange mixture of…

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Futile Devices

Futile Devices

“Words are futile devices.” -Sufjan Stevens -//- I have a bad habit of using lots of words when I write. If you’ve ever read from this blog, it’s probably the first thing you noticed. I offer my apologies: I do not use a lot of words because I love words. It is probably because I have lots of thoughts, and very few places to safely share the words that those thoughts represent. I suppose the unspoken thoughts have a way…

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Rat Baffler

Rat Baffler

Whenever that 3 AM impulseStirs me free of fitful sleepAnd urges me to clear the air,and clear my name,set records straight It does me good to knowTwo truths: Were it merely a matterOf my innocence provedThe King of the UniverseWould never deign die.No number of layersCould peel back revealingClean clothes at my core Or yield perfect surface.There are not enough curtainsTo obscure my sins;No blanket thick enoughTo cover spilt blood…Save One. And – War-makers will beat whateverOld plowshares deemed fitFor…

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Summum Bonum a.k.a “The Whole F***** Point”

Summum Bonum a.k.a “The Whole F***** Point”

I don’t know why I’m drawn to philosophy. I’m honestly not very good at it. I tried to write a syllogism this morning, and my eyes glazed over. It seems to me that most people are only ever drawn to what they’re already kinda good at, or intend to become good at, or even used to be good at. Maybe if I can’t manage to write out one simple syllogism, I should probably take the hint, get over myself, put…

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Bitter-Spoken Seas

Bitter-Spoken Seas

Here are we, adrifting In a wake of rippled words Our self-made maelstrom wav’ring While it drowns aloud our slurs In awe of all remains unknown Enraged at what we willed unseen Despair of that which time has shown In terror of our mirroring It’s here our hearts were hollowed out By one-too-many show of tears Till, to a man, each heartache seemed a merely thin and sick veneer Yet, here are we, adrifting All the salt licked off our…

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