Beware of
broken people
with soft exteriors
You only meet
the jagged pieces
when you get inside
And nothing hurts more than
a gentle hug
from a dull blade
Broken People
Reply
Ache
For the most part, I’m ok.
But then
a silence will settle and
an ache
will radiate
from the center of my ribcage
twisting lungs & larynx into suffocating lumps
curdling memories along the sour synaptic connection
between digestive and cerebral systems
detonating dormant tear ducts
and surfacing
like a hundred subtle stab wounds
on my desolate skin.
Sleepless in Chicago
I wish I was a heavy sleeper,
not so easily stirred by
pigeons at my window or
ravens at my heart.
Several Days After Watching “The Pianist”
Images
burned into my retinas
rage and sorrow
still splintering within my rib cage
a dizziness whizzing between grey matter
diving the depths of
human
depravity
and
resilience
limbs heavy with the burden to break
the cycle of centuries
a dry mouth and fingers
weary of words
ears ringing an echo of
Moonlight Sonata
haunted.
Declaring War
“The Constitution grants Congress the sole power to declare war…. Congress approved its last formal declaration of war during World War II. Since that time it has agreed to resolutions authorizing the use of military force and continues to shape U.S. military policy through appropriations and oversight.”1
Since 1942
our government has decided that
“war”
no longer need be declared.
War is bad.
We are not at war.
We merely “authorize the use of military force.”
And, oh, what force we have authorized!
We, the strongest military on earth,
with nearly 800 bases in over 70 countries2
who spend more on our military than the next 9 nations combined.3
How many millions of
bombs have been dropped
lands leveled
lives tortured, trammeled, taken
in our non-wars?
We are at war.
We have always been at war,
even if we don’t declare it as war
or if we declare it as war on an abstraction.
We are at war.
Not against terrorism
because war is terrorism
and our empire was built on terrorism
and terrorism begets terrorism.
We are at war
with nations,
with humans,
with life itself.
This is not a new war.
It is an escalation of an old war.
And I do not rest assured
by Congress’
oversight.
When you live
in the most powerful country on the planet
whose government designs death with impunity,
it is your duty to speak up for those who
do not live.
It is our duty
to call it what it is
and
declare war.
References
- https://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/history/h_multi_sections_and_teasers/WarDeclarationsbyCongress.htm
- http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21704817-presence-american-troops-foreign-soil-growing-more-controversial-go-home
- https://www.sipri.org/research/armament-and-disarmament/arms-transfers-and-military-spending/military-expenditure
Always & Forever
At some points I trust you completely,
naively.
At others, not at all—
jaded.
Who are you,
beautiful stranger?
And who am I?
And what is love?
And is it enough that we ask the same questions,
or must we wait for answers?
My heart and lungs run ahead
while my mind lags behind
and gets lost trying to find
reason in an unreasonable feeling.
A feeling I’ve felt before—
sort of
maybe
not quite.
No, never quite the same.
Is there
a First and a Last Love?
Is the quest for
One True Love
a fool’s errand illusion?
I want to imagine you have
no past
only a future
with me.
Because if we acknowledge our
past loves
that must mean that the
present love
is woefully un-unique
and could dissolve at any moment.
How can we trust anything in this ephemeral existence?
Sure, the cloud’s condensation cycles
down – in – up – around – through
the Earth and the Atmosphere
always
& forever.
It’s never gone.
But it’s never the same.
At some points I trust you completely,
naively.
At others, not at all—
jaded
evaporated
uncertain
and ever-changing.
get
White boys get
bullet-proof vests & Burger King
on their way to the station to
sanitize 20 minutes of action in
second-chance mugshots.
