Weakness stretches out as endless rolling plains. One thing do I see among those hills. Like clouds and leaves and birds and insects twisting in chorus around the expanse. Your grace.

Too woke to be silent.
Too comfortable to fight.
Complicit in the violence.
All talk no bite.

As the grind passes by or so they say
my mind wanders out to a far off place
Or is it near? It’s always here
The far off place is always near
Far from reality or is it just that?
Should I be angry when I get snapped back?
In this place I live, in this space I survive
but it is in the other that I feel so alive
So repetitive so mindless when I live to survive
It chokes out the reality in which I thrive
So, what goes on inside my mind?
It’s the place where things are hard to find
The place where dreams are born and come true
It’s also the place that keeps me from You
and you and you – and you and you and you
It’s the place that keeps me from the truth
A retreat from the reality where things feel off
It’s a retreat from the reality of where I’m off to
Endless possibility wherever I am
withdrawn apathy, high when I can
It’s a beautiful oasis where creativity thrives
With white sand, blue water and palms, paradise
But just beneath the surface, pressure is buildin
Tension brewin, nuclear waste accruin, disaster’s a shoein
I need to escape before it can kill me
Lose the baby with the bath water
it’s Jekyll and Hyde
In the place where things are hard to find

The pains of morning
Gluttony, lust, greed, wrath, pride
I’m hungry for death

On Romans 7:15
My soul’s been weepin
An ocean of tears
The waters risin
thrustin me into the deep
Your law bound me to the sea
My flesh plots mutiny
You thunder
Like to my siblings before
‘let down your net for a catch’
A rare moment, im trustin
Weathered hands pullin linen
War torn, salt dried hands
And up to the surface
144 beating hearts
A perfectly pulsing mass
Then I see it, my flesh
Weathered hands hold it
It thrashes free and dives to the deep
I’m lost at sea
My flesh plots mutiny
I look up
Tears rainin down on my cheek
Waters risin again
Thrustin me into the deep

I’m sorry
Forgive me for the way I look at you
the associations I make with you
I used to think of you fondly
I thought I knew you
I’m sorry for the lens I see you through
believed the lies they told about you
They told me you were theirs
that they deserve you
Whispered in my ear, waved you in my face
I let them
Heartbreaking what you’ve watched them do
They made you part of that too
Oh say, can you see
dead patriots in your wake
the genocide, murder and rape
You’ve been front row for the ugly and worse
Your glory faded fast
or maybe it never came through
Like a beating, now they’ve turned you black and blue
and constantly disgrace the idea of you
Then piss and moan when we take a knee
The same snowflakes who invented the name
Their cries are diesel in my veins
You’re one of them now and you had no choice
From torn cloaks they formed you
a god to go before them
Just beneath your colors lives their cross and flame
He hopes we forget from where you came
In your shadow they eat, drink, and play
Say they love Jesus, but that’s a lie too
If they pledged allegiance it could actually clean you
and make America the great that it never was
Under God, imagine what we can do
No more blood on trees blood on streets hue
Bodies cold, dumped in rivers blue
It takes a sinner to see one
They know what they do
And at twilight’s last gleaming
we know who we are, with or without you

Oh patriot
America won
and traitor rebels lost, yet
you still fly their flag

Just beyond, the sun is shining, children are playing, lovers mingle, the old feel young, tiny moments live large, excitement fills the air.
Moving on a long time now.
Been moving on in the snow.
The world is grey.
Step by step, the progress is slow.
The white flakes are an ocean on my shoulder.
Up to my neck, a spec in the vast expanse.
Bobbing, suspended in the current.
Darkness falls, dragged to and fro.
Squinting into the face of the deep.
I’m told my savor’s in that void.
My thoughts prowl in the shadows
an insatiable hunger for my harm.
Even my good deeds are toxic.
I’m afraid to fade.
Close, open.
Back to the snow.
Step by step uncertainty crackles below.
Row upon row of asbestos homes
on into the cold
and nowhere to go.
Dope would fix this, if it could fool me twice.
What is it all for?
Is it really better out there?
And just beyond, the sun is shining, children are playing, lovers mingle, the old feel young, tiny moments live large, excitement fills the air.

When I wandered off, just 5 years old
The path was condemned, didn’t need to be told
Stood in the doorway a handful of years
Stepped into the dark and started new fears
Constantly bending to my knees
A. Ursula’s flesh against my cheek
Her jewel in my hand to ward off tears
Buried that tumor deep inside
Now serpent just waits, mouth open wide
patient for me to find her
I knowingly place my arm inside
praying that fang meets vein
Flying skyhigh, all starry eyed
soaring as light gets lost
Awake now filthy, sick, and tied
gnashing and ripping in vain
Then in his eyes all blazing wide
he shatters my gem to dust
the shackles were never there
How do I cope with the shame inside
that’s been a lifelong refrain
Miracle came after twentyfive
i’m a prodigal son if there ever was one
Light

We grow great by dreams. We little men are not dreamers. We grow bold from the lingering stench of our rotting ancestors and prophecies on the backs of our eyelids. Our dreams must die while others you nourish and protect them; nurse them through bad days till they bring them to the sunshine and light which comes always when we who sincerely blind have passed away.
What Woodrow Wilson meant to say.

Crack of sticks and slush of muck
The air’s too thick, can’t catch my breath
Hippos ride and control the tides
We walk and grind, walk and grind
And spiral toward the other side
Every opinion matters most
I long, eyes closed to see the coast
Hippos sticks spiral tide
Walk and grind, walk and grind
My son’s sweet voice goes disregarded
I breed indifference with every move
Glancing up, no more bombarded
The cat’s in the cradle with a tarnished spoon
One day I’ll do right by him
Will it come before the moon?
Hippos sticks spiral tide
Walk and grind, walk and grind
When the sun and the horizon cross
Mosquitos are drawn to the glowing box
Same time same place night after night
So far so close am I really lost
Take my hand, let’s make a right
Be one heart pumping into the night
Then startled in our bed I toss
Hippos sticks spiral tide
Walk and grind, walk and grind
The Son’s sweet voice goes disregarded
Aergia’s alter is where I feast
Malnourished tossing round in bed
Narcotic visions in my head
I’m sorry how fast you are to heal
Thank you for a rare warm meal
Hippos sticks spiral tide
Walk and grind, walk and grind
Bloody knees before thy shake
They weren’t unsure just a minute ago
Arrogant privileged white man gate
Now a ship tossed to and fro
Wrecked on the rock, when I noshow
Hippos sticks spiral tide
Walk and grind, walk and grind
The air’s too thick, can’t catch my breath
I’m dying can’t you read my mind
The race is won, there’s nothing left
My life is owned, my gain is death
The son calls out, he has me kept
Joy.

Indigenous immigrant and slave
Your heritage is made
Detox your hallucination of an unraked stage
Immigrant terrorists invade a landset up shop and erase the home brand
It’s people, it’s culture, children corrupted
Sneak peek to 2020 the plan’s not interrupted
Owned people lost them, but couldn’t set them free
Jim Crow’s in the ground and the bastard still breathes
White boys in blue create black asphyxiation
Nuclear soil breeds socio-genetic modification
Perennial turned annual amid the tribulation
Now pass with me 100 and some change
Now we have strong voices signaling the same
I hear the chorus growing with deafening bass
A fire beat and lyrics, redefining pace
But earth’s stopped spinning, we float along in space
Always stuck, in this place, just before the dawn
The voices strong and many, backed by abundant action
So why is inequity still the main attraction?
Fair heirs inherit what we’ve “worked so hard” to fashion
High on pride, baked in mind, addicted to blind
No responsibility for action
Against what our families did many years ago
Flick stuck on repeat and we call it a new show
White boys in blue create black asphyxiation
We’ll be sprouting daisies fore we get real traction
Indigenous immigrant and slave
Our histories were made, but our futures we retain.
It’s not enough.
Another day sets on this mighty place
The bright strong man has kept his pace
And what have we done to create change
The good ole boys still own the range
Plenty are working yet things get worse
It feels like we struggle against a curse
200k down and the fire’s not stopping
Our culture, community, souls are toppling
Our city is quick to proclaim itself a hill
But that earth below our feet is a landfill
Still it’s our home, hope and pride all day
Look around you, do something or get out of our way
Another day’s dawning on this mighty place
Wake up, get dressed and join the race

A moment in time
A moment not mine
When reality hits
A wall so fine
I stand and gaze
At a new life twist
Of which I cant
Just get a grip
And at the blankets
Cant tug an tear
But of a dream
Ive become aware
And for that moment
Kicked in the chest
As God himself
Laughs in jest