Phoenix

I cannot see the ocean wide,
My eyes are not that big,
Am I slave to scenes before me,
And blind, say what streams in?

Into shared mentality,
Into reflection's box,
I stitch together settings,
The hound pursues the fox;

We scavenge for an anchor,
Comfort settles soul,
Constructing visions of convenience,
To suit our timid shoal;

Wretched simple beings,
Repeat solely as they're told,
Rebuilding same sand castles,
Reliving casts of old;

The meek cultivate security,
Drawing weeds of doubt,
Firm-up feelings of identity,
Casting non-conforming out;

Drink nectar of disillusionment,
Ambrosia 'gainst the toll,
Fill mentus with delirium,
Perspective seldom soiled;

Partake in fodder for the masses,
Artificial bliss,
Be mindful of heterogeny,
Savour populism's kiss;

It starts with sips of mimicry,
Nature's generation's foil,
Then yes & no & right & wrong,
We tame our conscious toil;

Next acceptance by the spoonful,
And independence scorned,
We nurture children to our image
And leave nature never mourned;

The cycle wears us to a preference,
It is, what we are told,
Always eyes upon our actions,
Youth propertied by old;

Against this titled backdrop,
Questions stymied less they fit,
Is it wonder that identity,
Fits mold society has script?

The sweetness of rebellion,
To spy another sky, and
Raise prophetic rasp,
To break personal tradition,
With profoundness that will last;

The rub is action to the concept,
Friction 'gainst everything you're told,
Told from infancy to last rites,
Repetition 'til your sold;

So somewhere 'long the journey,
In subtle, silent, fixtured ways,
We piece together cobbled selves,
Become our prison's keeper,
And shutter-in to stay;

Awareness lightens meaning,
And falsely sits atop,
Keyed chambers of perspective,
Growth starves to a stop;

Emaciated senses, serve sadness by their miss,
Quiet controversial, discordance in assist,
But truth, ever present, finds fissures thru to top,
And even the most knowing, feels knowing feels soft;

Sometimes screaming, sometimes silent,
Truth tugs for us to stray,
Self-interest warns not listen,
It's ourselves we must betray.

The uproot of the anchor,
To dislodge intuition's discontent,
To remake shackles into wings of freedom,
And live life without lament;

Is to captain your own mutiny,
Kill prisoners, burn the boat,
Cast bloodied sole survivor,
To drown instead of float;

Confusion overwhelms you,
No tank to help you breathe,
Just panic boiled oblivion,
Waiting to conceive;

Lungs burn with feared uncertainty,
You choke with desperate yearn,
You reach for help, but nothing's left,
You dread your final turn;

Denied required condition,
The struggle falls to null,
Your listless self suspended,
Surely darkness next to fall;

It's now the final moment,
The end you engineered,
Acceptance of the failure,
Then silence....
Nothing....

Then first again you breathe!

Inhale refluent breath,
As lungs retrieve new air,
As body returns faculty,
Death receives repair;

Empty chambers of awareness,
A world less intercede,
Floodgates of authentic sense,
Warm your last recede;

A new born full developed,
Nurture tamed to need,
Express existence in a moment,
You're at once the tree & seed;

See change in all dimensions,
Beyond the human stock,
Know petals on a flower,
Share destiny with rock;

You live this very moment,
And walk in unison,
With carbon & her sisters,
Under cycled moon & sun;

A rebirth freed from slavery,
Emancipation from the writ,
Your sight shows new horizon,
Can actions form to fit?

Alas, desire that drew you forth,
Now drifts you every sway,
Foreign currents of enlightenment,
Threat paradise with decay?

There's difference twix awareness,
The open mind's dream,
And translation thru to action,
An adventurer at sea;

It's addiction to our pathways,
Habits worn & weathered thru,
Lowlands in the mind's landscape,
That flood despite renew;

In patterns well repeated rest,
Of new divorced perspective,
Regression blamed to failed accord,
Twix mind and fleshy mistress;

Only action tames the waters,
Fear pulls you under seas,
Eschew body's pined responses,
Know siren's empty pleas;

Lost is wild response,
Dulled by learned bequest,
Hidden reams of authenticity,
Bound by social jest;

To break another practice,
Entrenched beyond the first,
Takes more than moments of euphoria, and
Occasioned novel burst;

Unyoke from learned reaction,
Brave uncharted sea,
Leave lifetimes of familiar fare,
Break habit out of thee;

Trade pride for pure humility,
And on every notion wish,
To engage a world in conscious dance,
See truth rid the twist;

Shed patterns of behaviour,
Lay bare and live exposed,
Consign pathways to disappear,
Live fearless evermore;

Patience oils the process,
Progress drawn and incremental,
Expect delays in disentangle,
Recall the time distilled to form;

Freedoms on the pathway,
Not wholly destination,
Each moment gleamed along the way,
Savoured breath beyond the fray,

Each step a reinforcement,
As dust settles on the past,
You grow to true comportment,
Discordance drains to last;

And as meaning waters down to truth,
Passed withered vines of expectation,
You refind happiness of youth,
A phoenix rising to the air.

Gigi's Star

The child leaned her head back until it seemed she would fall over backwards, and in this exaggerated position pointed a soft, plump finger toward the dark sky above. "Star", she exclaimed with a joy that still comes when thought becomes word. "Gigi star!", she followed. The previously named North star had until then been the property of no one. The light from downtown spread before us across the narrow inlet and rose into the darkness above, drowning out all but this brightest of distant fireballs. "Gigi, yes that's a star my love, but that's the North star". The girl stood transfixed by the overhead sparkle. "Gigi star!" Her mother found herself on the verge of continuing the argument, but thought better of it and hastily relented. "Ok, Ok, it's Gigi's star". Gigi looked at her mother fully proud of herself and returning her gaze to the star repeated, "Gigi star!"
So goes the path of political discussion as of late. The unrelenting battle to control the narrative and language of debate by claiming ownership of that which belongs to no one. This detail does not stop politicians from demanding insistently the right to these claims and they do so armed with enough vitriol to intimidate the media into acquiescence. So instead of taking spin doctors to task on claims based on false premises, the media relent and go on to discuss the impact of a conspired reality on our continued political drama.

Drip, Drip, Drip

Drip drip drip,
Illusive satiate,
Each beat at brim that overflows,
If not to page where does it go?

Drip drip drip,
Always bothered by the drum,
Curse concious not forgetting,
'Tis delusion or the sun?

Drip drip drip,
What if the flow runs dry?
Without a paper saucer,
Spilled drops of why.

Rage Against The Rest

None, spare him their contempt,
None, spared by his caress,
Entangled house of being,
Rage against the rest;

Bequest of every birthright,
Bewail the setting sun,
Mem'ry can't rendition,
Condition numbered one;

Content irrespective,
Macabre or sincere,
No in, to stay without,
No out, to stay the clear;

A household full of trudging,
Each witness hidden fear,
Each item bears a justice,
Of ticking in its ear;

Can flowers bloom to knowledge?
Can knowledge wilt the tree?
Can morrow on the mindset,
Lay pathway back to free?

We scream, we toss about the pen,
Corrals just beyond the know,
Rivers change their pathways,
Yet source and end a row;

Escape is a delusion,
Delusion false repair,
The weight of false creation,
Thinner than real air;

Demand by vocal outrage,
Righteous rage no cure,
Tears and poor lementing,
Fall deafly and demure;

Can stop be introduced?
A pause for all sincere,
Can stop tread before the ending?
An ending always near;

There's nothing in the knowing,
That sirens sing for naught,
That any expectation,
Will end when end is saught;

Bodice round the belly,
Foundation fills the cracks,
Blush fools that bloods a'plenty,
Pretending there's a stop;

A stop to unrelenting,
A rancour to the end,
The end glossed in heavy lipstick,
Off at any unknown bend;

The poisons in the marrow,
The listless trajedy,
Is purpos'd life to sorrow,
Thru knowing's malady?

Pilloried or quiet acceptance,
Rage or calm inquest,
Braveness in the fleeting moment,
Rage against the rest.

Misappropriation

Be there any words,
Any words beyond despair,
Of laxity and vagrance of meaning,
Lost to wind and air?

Of such a fragile state,
Words work with word's intent,
Penman's temporary webbing,
Woven thoughts with hope to set;

But past dances thru to present,
Side step, forward and glide,
Light shines on day's perspective,
Intention hard to find;

No mortar, glue or pegament,
Holds author's grip to page,
The words let free to propagate,
For strangers to engage;

Were pages left to sob,
To mourn misread intention,
To wet the leaf before your eyes,
With readers lost direction;

Or cry aloud for all to hear,
Abscond or misappropriation!
The theft of pen's delight a sound,
Torn roots of my creation;

But what's another?
And where to turn,
No blade of light shines option,
Without prefer,
We stay interred,
Penning thought with caution.

The Rise Beyond The Fall ( II )

Death be unconsoled,
Your dominion does betray,
A limit to your senseless path,
In unsuspecting ways;

You seize future by your grasp,
Break the thread of life,
You damage with impunity,
Wielding paths of strife;

Yet hidden in the darkness,
A spark, renewed despite,
Remembrance of the fallen,
To burn away your shadow,
And redeem a stolen light;

No grievance in your loss,
Your ruin held at bay,
The sadness in the lives you take,
Cannot go back a day;

So lost to your affliction,
Your hollow victory,
Is that which has been written,
Memory;

Untouched,

Resplendent,

And defiant to your call,
We hold from you contemptuously,
To rise beyond the fall.

The Rise Beyond The Fall ( I )

A light gone out,
The world diminished by her passing,
Tragedy, cannot be undone;
The hearts of those she touched,
Bewail as much,
Her mourning full begun;

Our eyes have lost a lustre,
Our tears cannot console,
We cannot find death's purpose,
It hazards tortured soul;

Expressions of her being,
Play upon our past,
And echo in a feeling well,
Its depth entrusts,
Our love to dwell;

A finely petalled flower,
With strength at her core,
A zest for life and friendship,
Always eager to explore;
Her bloom unmistaken,
Reflecting carefree joy;

Her image will not fade,
The ripple of her light,
Her laughter and blithe energy,
Her smile with warm felicity,
Her nature's burning might;

The depth of mournings' sorrow
The damage by our loss,
Bear sadness to tomorrow,
Grief destined not to last;

Beyond the beautied memories,
To guide a fond recall,
To build upon her legacy,
And rise beyond the fall,
Two tributes to her permanence,
Daughters next in line,
Reflections of their mother
Growing over time;

I cannot see the sun,
Yet know its only hid,
One day the clouds will pass,
Rewarm me as she did.