poverty

The poor were found in every age as humans walked the earth
From fertile plain to forest dark to death to life to birth
To desert sands to water's edge to ice fields cold and stark
Wherever we have wondered, poverty too leaves its mark


Some have no choice the part they play in this game we know as life
No silken pillows 'neath their heads, no ease, no rest, just strife
From dawn 'til dusk and back again they plod to make ends meet
No crown victorious on their heads instead thorns of defeat


Others still plot this course through decisions none too wise
From judgments deemed just too poor their problems did arise
"This is a choice they made themselves" we say none too kind
"They shouldn't have done this or that, they were perhaps just blind


"And we are right," we say to ourselves, "we have concerns of our own
We need to keep our lives in order, our things, our stuff, our home
We have to run this race we're in most each and every day
We have to do this always and we must keep the wolves at bay


"Besides, the poor aren't hurting so much (or at least, so we're told)
For in winter the houses they live are seldom all that cold
Their shelters are fine, for even in the harshest summer's heat
They can rest and cool their troubled lives, to there they can retreat"


Of course, we lie to ourselves, for once the facts are known
That poverty's skeletal path is not so far from our own
We're one crisis shy, every one of us, from paths filled with dread
Yet we choose to cast derision upon those there already instead


We claim piety for all to see and yet it's very odd
That while we choose to follow him we clearly ignore our God
And Jesus we also ignore and just as equally;
"Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me"


Remember this, and heed these words; poverty's here for all
And those who sit up oh so high have oh so far to fall
For when on the steep slopes of fate any one of us slip
If no one cares then we too fall into poverty's wicked grip

14

Young enough to still dream big

Old enough to desire

Hopeful and ambitious

Cautious and wise

Wanting to conquer the world

Needing to be home by ten at night

Eyes full of wonder

Heart full of hope

The world is still big

Your limitations are small

Music is sweet

Life is still sweet

You're in the cusp

Not really a child

Certainly not an adult

And the horizon is still a long way off

our digitized selves

We’re digital metaphors in the world we created
It’s a place where nothing is real or concrete
We move about here in our virtual city
With virtual shoes on our virtual feet

We own virtual stuff and knick-knacks galore
That we keep in a place neither real nor surreal
Neatly arranged and put onto shelves
Composed of electrons, which certainly are real


And once we have died what becomes of this stuff
That when we were living made our lives so complete?
It really goes nowhere, your digital estate
They simply push down the key labeled “DELETE”

kindle by candle

Kindle by candle
The world has gone dark
Another storm set in
Leaving its mark

You huddle by laptops
Now shuttered and closed
Serving as desktops
For notes you composed

All of your music
And all of your stuff
Was stored as electrons
In digital fluff

One simple surge
Was all that it took
For servers so distant
To suddenly cook

Your teeth are gnashing
You’re screaming aloud
Wondering why in God’s name
You trusted The Cloud

So it’s

Kindle by candle
You’d forgotten the rules
That fate is unkind
To digital fools

starve the beast

“Starve the beast!’ the masses cried
“Starve the evil doers and may they wither and die!”
Though the beast was in their heads mattered not
The beast was a shadow from a seed
Planted by those who wished to prove
The beast was real

So they poked at the imaginary thing
Made it bleed, so they thought
Bound its feet and its hands
And then pointed and screamed aloud
At its grotesque form
A form they created

“Starve the beast!” the cry goes on
And from the shadow come the chuckles
Of those who planted the seed

Come, Come, Last Chance to See

"Come, come, last chance to see
Crowd the shores and look to the east
Towards distant metal towers that won't be used anymore
And behold the spectacle that is last of its kind!"

The circus cryer calls out to all
In analog and with little ones and zeroes
Beckoning all, and sure enough, they come
Like they've never come before

The people at the stores and shops
Never seen such a crowd
And then wonder where they have been
Hiding, perhaps? Certainly disinterested

A town whose fate was tied to fortunes
Things that were beyond their control
Idly wonders what lies ahead
After the crowds disappear

Those centers of commerce along the highway
All are fading now
With names like Searstown
The Miracle City Mall is all but bones now

In the distance, the towers still stand
With some soon to be silenced forever
Their fate, like that of the town's
Tied to things beyond their control

Still, some bits of screaming, roaring metal
Resplendent cylinders of fuel and fire
Will be flung from towers more distant
Into the cosmic abyss

For now the circus cryer continues his song
The people come and watch
As a proud legacy slips into history
While a nation bickers

"Come, come, last chance to see..."