Regeneration

Turtles sit on floating logs
Occupying stagnant bogs
Shaded by twisted trees

And on the edge
A dancing hedge
Of soft cat-tailed reeds

And in it all a new life grows
Up from the rotting of the old
Once green and vibrant leaves

Momentary Importance

Frankensteining life force into manic machines

Each one taking up more than it needs

To spit off the excess into heat waves

That's what we get for all this time we save

Picking and choosing where my wavelengths travel

I leave the road more paved for the gravel

Depart from the straight lines and the cold hard blocks

To spend some time amongst naturally formed rocks

Seeing their cracks and seeing their edges

Climbing to peaks and peering off ledges

That were made in ways man can't recreate

Our lives aren't long enough to bear the wait

How slowly we realize how fast things go

By the time I get there it's hard to know

The reason for the moments that led me here

But no amount of worrying will make it clear

Each moment I come upon brings a new challenge

But if all that I look at is what just happened

I'll miss whatever is happening now

Miss out on being part of the flow

Of every present moment as they each cascade

Down the old rocks or the blocks we've made

Those ever changing forces of nature

Sculpting the landscape into the future

Reflective Idealism

Mental feed back loop filter

On every thought

Tinted in shades

Of what you've been taught

As your thoughts loop around

Again and again

As they go through your brain

What happens to them

Do you see in new light

Is there clarification

Or does it just pile up

To more complications

Are your thoughts organizing

Towards a goal

Or just wrapping a ribbon

Around a maypole

Blade Runner on TV

What if we're all replicants
With memories not our own
Living our lives
The way we've been shown

Seasonable Starvation

Boney cheeks peek out from under weary eyes

With every week they shrink in size

But each day makes the meal more dear

As the farmers say the harvest is near

Post-Structuralist Balancing Act

Oddly written the message is mistakable

With words that are more than one way take-able

Each reader interprets from a different view

What it means to me is different to you

But then the task turns out to be

For each to help each other see

The message from every other perspective

Strengthening the meaning of the collective

Dichotomy

All things have at least two sides

Like the sandy beaches and roaring tides

Without the other neither would be

Just one big rock, or endless sea

All things have at least two sides

And in the difference definition resides

To notice the growth from seed to tree

Or appreciate the magic between you and me

Jester

The jester laughs to himself

While smiling at the king

Thinking of another intent

For the lyrics that he sings

With his audience attentive

The king sits smiling jolly

And unaware he enjoys

The jester’s playful folly

Modern Regret

Rehashing regrets
What does it get
But moments of pain
Relived again

Healthy reflection
Will guide projection
But wallowing in woes
No benefit shows

The modern life
With it's added strife
Is headed the way
Of yesterday

Friendly Leaves

In my hours of deepest pondering

When thoughts have turned to darkness wandering

  And hope has all but faded

I think of cold but gentle showers

Which feed the roots to bloom the flowers 

  And the leaves by which I'm shaded

So when the sun will burn too bright

The cool and moist of rainy nights

  Found stored in friendly plants

Then though the weather may be wild

Protected I might find it mild

  As under the boughs I'll dance

A Prayer for Civilization

Open the eyes of those who've closed them

Let them see the heavens and the sun

Starry skies full of glistening gems

Whose light might reach us in years to come

Protect all the children that are to be born

Let them experience a world without scorn

Give us all safe and reliable shelter

For when the rains pour or the sun rays swelter

Let our homes be more than just roofs overhead

With big dinner tables and warm cozy beds

Cover our fault lines with earthquake proof buildings 

So nothing will fall on the heads of our children

Smooth out the stairs at the universities

So everyone can access them more easily

Give us wisdom to percieve our surroundings

And courage to change them with voices resounding

And forgive us when we misstep or misspeak

But let us move closer to horizons we seek

At the end of the day let us look up and smile

Aware that our paths will continue a while

And let us never lose our faith

In ourselves and in a power that's greater

Let us experience true unity

Together we're stronger than alone we can be

Allow us to discover new ways to unite

New melodies as in harmony we sing

Let us learn and grow out in the sunlight

And dance in whatever the weather might bring

Grandfather Clock

Will today's children recognize "tick-toc"

Will they even associate it with clocks

Now that everything's electric

I still remember the sound of the chime

Telling all of my grandfather's house the time

And how his clock would tick

But now I go back to visit and find

That old clock sits in need of a wind

But no one takes the time

So silent in the corner it stands

Holding up it's motionless hands
A relic of days gone by

Follow the Leader

I'm in front if I convince you I am

And you just must go where I lead you

You won't be prepared to see through my scam

Living on the scraps that I feed you

I'll water 'em down so they're easy to swallow

I don't want you thinking I'd make you

But soon you're dependant on someone to follow

Just don't question where I'll take you

I assure you you'll see that you and me

Will make such a like-minded couple

And I'll let you know just how you should be

So you won't go and cause any trouble

And while you're following me around

I might ask for your opinion

And then I'll decide which way we're bound

And you'll be such useful minion

Because I'm the leader if you follow me

And you don't try to compromise

And we'll be as happy as I can be

Or at least as I can devise

Handed

Waiting for words from the mouths of the dumb
Waiting for a day that's already come
But yet the crowd still lingers

If you don't try yourself you won't understand
You won't know the power you hold in your hand
If you never flex your fingers

For strength comes from the arm no more
Ever since the pen's mightier than the sword
It's all in how you say it

Be careful how your words are spelt
And with your hand and how it's dealt
So that it's safe to play it

Epiphenomena

What to save and what to spend

Time and time and time again

Capital showing signs of growth 

While you and I wonder what we're worth

Oppression and depression are cause and effect

The same is true with greed and neglect

Indicators of a scope that's out of focus

But when blur's all you've known it's hard to notice

Manipulative monopolies and coercive cartels

Give out free information to promote what they sell

Until posters plaster every surface you see

And you're never quite sure just who you should be

See what face comes up when you flip a coin

Don't think about the disc on which they're joined

Does the subject or the object hold the value

Does illusion or reality guide you

What to save and what to spend

Time and time and time again

Capital showing signs of growth 

While you and I wonder what we're worth

Swiney Todd

Cures kepts secret

For profitable treatments

With every new disease 

Opportunities seize

Doublespeak directions

With constant corrections

Ignoring questions

As bad intentions

But what first intent

Was originally meant

Is it even remembered

Or so dismembered

By constant dissections 

And counter-objections

Making mince-meat pies

Covering the lies

In a palatable crust

Serving them with lust

To a hungry public

And if they get sick

They want treatment

Don't ask where the meat went

Or where the profits go

You don't want to know

Because if you do

It's a hair-cut for you

From an ardent barber

Sharpening his razor 

And readying his chair

For out of place hairs

To clean the appearance

With strict adhearance

To keep all things quiet

That would cause a riot

If made known

But time has shown

That well fed

Empty heads

Prefer regular feedings

To knowing what it is they're eating

Doped

Pharmaceutical prisoners

Once envisioners

Made mind slaves

Of a grave fate

But too late learn

That what was earned

Seaking some status quo

That now it's all they know

Will they see their cell

Or is it too late to tell

The things missed

In doped up bliss

It's not the way

So turn around

Hear the sound of today

As You Like It

"All the world's a stage" 

has a very different meaning 

to those who live on the stage 

than to those living in the world.

Those on stage think: 

"This is the world!" 

while those who live in the world think: 

"This is all staged..."

Fenced Influence

Solemn souls seeking to collect up silver goods

Drunk with power cultivating the dark woods

Creating closed cultures and protecting them in fences

Locking out nature with unnatural defences

But when baby generations grow up looking through

The bars that surround them make it feel like a zoo

Restricted from experiencing realistic influence

Trapped by the fear of what's outside the fence

Choice

Choices come and choices go

Every time opportunity knocks

What could have been we'll never know

If timidly we wait and watch the clocks

But which will be the best decision

To make as the hours steadily roll

Slicing history like a surgeon's incision

And stepping towards a distant goal

Polarity

Magnetic attraction

An uncontrollable interaction

Pulling positioning

With ingrained conditioning

But it's found

When things get spun around

Conditions change

As situations are rearranged

Shepherd of Demons

Oh shepherd of demons, where do you lead

Your devilish flock on your tall black steed

Galloping about with hoofs aflame

Do the demons know your name

And do you know it

This town is filled with ghouls and wraiths

And zombies climbing from their graves

Ghosts that roam the streets at night

Making children hide in fright

Too scared to go out

But in the dead there is great power

For when the great clock tolls the hour

The dead will have no fear of death

As the delicately living gasp for breath

And try to hold it

But legions wandering about in pain

Will feel at once alive again

As those who've lived in light-headed bliss

All realize just what they've missed

Or that they've sold it

So I ask you shepherd, where do you lead

Your flock upon your flame hoofed steed

And what becomes of creatures in the night

When led towards the morning light

Will their eyes bear it

Will they stand to face the rising sun

Knowing a new day has begun

Knowing well that it is time

As the morning bell begins to chime

Their ears will hear it

But those who hide inside in fear

Do you think that they will hear

The ringing bell as rays of light

Melt away all the shadows of night

The dead were wearing

And your horse's hooves will burn more bright

As flames of red are turned to white

And the black cloak worn upon your shoulders

Replaced by radiance as to ash it smolders

In the light of morning

Misinformation

Insurance scam inflation

Over priced education

Community gentrification

Forced continual relocation

Covering any alligations

With mounting frustrations

Creating hopeless situations

On a merry-go-round of brainwashed nations