Inverted (Deception and Truth -- or "Death and Life") - POEM of the MONTH!

Inverted (Deception and Truth -- or "Death and Life")

Artist: Dave Douglas (After effects of the Liberty Fire, Alpine County, CA)

Today is the day of salvation!

But -- you tell me nonetheless that

I am not worthy,

For deep within my heart

You find the darkest secrets.

I think I'm a good person,

Even though ...

Then you tell me that is enough!

What you did for me,

I can't believe

All the little lies;

And look at what I did with

The only life I have,

Yes, this is it --

Yet it's not what I had in mind,

Since the very beginning

Always giving

What may hurt me,

On directing me away from

What truly matters,

This is what you showed me

(Now read it from bottom to top,
and realize who holds the truth.)

#poet #poem #poetry #carpevelo #inversion #repentance #deception #truth #death #life #salvation #2corinthians #alpinecounty #pleasanton #amwriting

(If using a phone to read this poem, turn your phone sideways for the best view of this post.)

The Bullet - POEM of the MONTH!

The Bullet

In short-sighted cities

Along their boulevards

With defenses down

Behind glasses barred

The windows are broken

In neighborhoods ignored

But even among the tower

There are horrors unexplored

On a chosen Wednesday

In what seems random

Far from the northern shores

In an office of printed freedom

I penetrate skin

Rip through flesh

Break bone --

And, end existence

Screaming across the lobby

The scent of powder in the air

Screams from the innocents

The scent of hatred as a prayer

In the City of Lights

As throughout many

There are less shining

And more to be angry

It is not my choice

When I carry all your fears

It seems my only path

Since those beginning years

I penetrate skin

Rip through flesh

Break bone --

And, end existence ...

So, until you end my own

From palaces, to deserts and dives

Like the one who shot Liberty Valance

I am capable of saving lives

~

In this poem "The Bullet", the "I" and "my" are the personification of the bullet; and the "your" represent the people living in cities, towns, states and countries. (This poem is partially inspired by Neil Peart's Distant Early Warning. In Distant Early Warning the "I" is the personification of an ICBM missile flying over the polar ice-caps, and the "you" is the people of the world.)

#poetry #poem #carpevelo #pleasanton #rush

Absent (a free-verse pantoum) - POEM of the MONTH!

Absent (a free-verse pantoum)

A hole tore into my chest;

I am numb to my surroundings.

It took residence as one left mine

And I stare into the empty silence.

I am numb to my surroundings,

You were taken from my residence

And I stare into the empty silence

As you create a sound in my mind.

You were taken from my residence;

A blues song of memories remain

As you create a sound in my mind

And will play forever in my heart.

A blues song of memories remain

My shadow. Who brightened my day

And will play forever in my heart?

The one, I will see until then.

My shadow who brightened my day,

It took residence as you left mine,

The one I will see. Until then –

A hole tore into my chest …

The Machine - POEM of the MONTH!

The Machine

He met his new partner

In the inner-city trenches

Wrapped in neck tattoos

Reflected off the graffiti

Of the perspiring walls

Out of the corner of his eye

He saw the calculations

Triggered by sensory input

Enabling targeted algorithms

Which exceeded intuition

Without moving a joint

His weapon emerged

From the alley of his sleeve

His assailant captured

Before the city lost a pulse

He was back on the beat

While the sound of accolades

Were still mixed in the air

Syncopated to each stride

By his singular dance

By his singular dance

By his singular dance

By his singular dance

He was back on the beat

His weapon emerged

Triggered by sensory input

From the perspiring walls

His partner met his stare

In the inner-circuit trenches

Wrapped in nano-tattoos

Reflected onto the walls

Of his cranial unit

He heard the dreadful order

When his partner ignored his

As he wrestled with his duty

All three laws of robotics

And the Law they upheld

His blood pumped adrenaline

Neurons fired off the decision

As he fired a single shot –

His partner out of service

As he blindly obeyed his …

And then, with realization apparent

It is he; it is he who is the machine!

"Limitless" published in Synchronized Chaos!

This month, Synchronized Chaos
has once again honored me by
publishing the poem "Limitless"!


Thank you so much!

Dancing With the Mirror -- POEM of the MONTH!

Dancing With the Mirror

  

 Dancing with the mirror

Imagining there’s a beat …

Spinning to the silence 

I stumble on my own feet

Posing with the mirror

Snapping pictures of myself

Posting to the hundreds

On the virtual shelf –

Blowing out candles with lucid whispers

Behind the graffiti-walls of crowded subways

Building a public library

Filled with blurry negatives

Wishing the film in reverse

Swimming in pseudo-sedatives

Dancing with the mirror

In an echo of si-silence

Gripping my partner tightly

The life drips from my hands –

Abandoned hallways, corners and facades

Screaming skyward – piercing spotlights

Dancing with the mirror

I see a second reflection

A face without judgment …

… accept this new connection

Limitless [a pantoum] - POEM of the MONTH!

Limitless (a pantoum)

As another chip melts off my shoulder

I see there are no limit signs in Heaven –

I wonder, when I see the petals of a flower

In places which are desolate and graven

I see there are no limit signs in Heaven,

The creative stroke of word and deed

In places which are desolate and graven

Find themselves spreading to each need

The creative stroke of word and deed

Rooted by planting from our knees

Find themselves spreading to each need

And tower beyond the greatest of trees

Rooted by planting from our knees,

Branching from the vine of our salvation

And tower beyond the greatest of trees

By living water, sustaining our perfection

Branching from the vine of our salvation

I wonder when I see the petals of a flower –

By living water sustaining our perfection

As another chip melts off my shoulder


[Also published in the October issue of Synchronized Chaos.]