must a man lose everything
to divine those truths inside -
must he bare his marrow else
deny what flesh should hide -
and will he open up his veins
thus through his blood, abide:
there is a thrumming stronger
than what beats in his breast?
must a kingdom wage a war
to stand and prove its might -
pave its streets in solid gold
and show its doctrine’s right -
oh must it build its parapets
in stone, to grandest heights
to know without one question
there’s a paradise that waits?
must a god be sacrosanct
through all that he applies
faultless in his form or law
while innocence thus cries
must he let his redress act
midst truth as passion dies
or is that err of humankind
how love so finds its breath?
for love is yet the only force
that triumphs over …
death.
Copyright © 2025 Gregory Richard Barden
( photographic art created copyright-free by the poet with GALA AI software )
Total passivity
Seems to me a relevant strategy
To confront the humiliation that is offered to the large
But some would say small world of askers
All kinds of believers in their right to demand something
Who can’t stop asking and expect hoping
Don't ask, don’t beg and don't ingratiate
This is what they expect from you
To bring you down forever
At best case scenario
Applicants are put in line
For a bowl of mushroom soup with crackers
Do what they don't expect
Don't do anything, don't ask
And I promise you the time will come
When it will be their turn to ask
Let them ask and they’ll answer themselves
Gradually there’ll be more questions
But the answers will be fewer and simpler
The sunrises and sunsets will come and go
Silence will produce the most pleasant of problems
You can share it on facebook
How to make the neat little bin
For the used tea bags.
before I pour rain
I ask the field if it thirsts—
sometimes it just smiles,
content in its cloud shadow,
roots drinking from deeper springs.
Winter storm.
Question marks
fall like snow
on shoulders bent
with seeking.
Hollow caverns
where certainty
once lived
echo chambers
of why.
Face pressed
against cold glass.
Fingertips trace
what cannot
be grasped.
Footsteps
soft on unseen paths.
Autumn leaves
crumble
in cupped palms.
Dreams, half-formed,
scatter
like dust
through fingers
that cannot hold.
Shell splits.
Light finds
the crack,
makes home
in broken space.
Seeds
in soil dark
with surrender.
Emptiness,
the deepest cup.
Time spirals.
Winter storm,
spring light
dancers
forever entwined.
Seasons turn.
Seeking becomes
soil.
Purpose
in the endless round.
Morning
breaks endless night.
Golden light
spills through spaces
carved by questions.
Rain-clear words
unfold.
Dark landscapes
reveal their faces.
Stumbling
was beauty.
Coffee steams
in morning cups.
Mystery
becomes
the ground we stand on.
Sacred spaces
hold golden light
poured by doubt's
careful carving.
We are
spiral dancers:
asking,
answered,
broken,
filled,
home.
QUESTIONS POETS AND WRITERS ASK
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On my laptop’s screen, words twist and twine,
I ponder, “Is this plot truly mine?”
With a character's frown,
Will my story break down?
Or will sadness and joy combine?
As I scribble, “What rhymes with orange?”
I chuckle, “Should my hero be foreign?”
With a coffee mug in hand,
And a notebook quite grand,
I wonder, “Should my villain be boring?”
“Is this twist too much, or just right?”
“Will they cheer, or will they take flight?”
With each question I pen,
I just laugh twice again,
For the joy of it all feels quite right!
I have said so many prayers
that sometimes I feel they are no longer mine.
That I inherited them
like clothes too large.
I say them, but do not understand.
I utter them, but do not believe.
And yet, I cling to them
like the hand of a father who never held me.
Perhaps belief is not needed.
It is enough to keep hoping.
Even lost prayers
find their way to Heaven.
Lyric Man (Chance Summer)
songer.co/song/u8ulv7rbi89mspeng2luhj54 (copy & paste to listen)
JUST ASK
[Verse 1]
If you're needing healing, wrestling with disease,
If your wallet’s empty, you're down on your knees.
If you're feeling lonely, too proud to even cry,
Or lost in the darkness with no strength to try.
If you're holding shame like a heavy stone,
If joy feels like a thing you've never really known,
No ask is too heavy, no pain for God too deep,
He hears your silence, He sees every single need.
[Chorus]
There’s a light just beyond the shadow,
A promise of hope that you can follow,
With every tear that falls, He’ll catch your pain,
In the heart of the storm, love will remain.
[Verse 2]
If your faith feels fragile, held by a thread,
If your hope is tired or your dreams feel dead.
If the prayer you're whispering feels lost in the breeze,
Remember that love can set your soul at ease.
You’re not alone in this tangled fight,
There's a strength inside you, embrace the night.
No burden too heavy, no heartache too small,
His grace will find you when you’re about to fall.
[Repeat Chorus]
Cart before horse
Drink the horse to water
Spill the bean to go-betweens
Hold hands to stay the course
Bygones never happened on, by here
Slay the messenger! Doggone they're here!
Dilemmas are binary, but one 'tis nothing
Bury the Lede; Let the moored go free
Leap before you bridge the gap
By the way, if you never asked?
Petals on daisy chain flowers are odd!
Loves me, Loves me not, ...?
First it came like progress, cold and clean,
With circuits bright and wires unseen.
It took our hands from honest toil,
Turned bread and sweat to data spoil.
Then vanished choice beneath the screen,
Where algorithms picked what dreams had been.
We traded sleep for sleepless feeds,
And fed the dark on silent needs.
Now history flickers on the glass—
A question shaped like shattered mass.
And one remains, alone to see:
Was this the end, or just... a plea?
Enough with the whispers about kindness when the shadows of night ask you to embrace your own gentleness,
Enough with the tales of love until your heart becomes the source from which authentic love flows,
Enough with praising success until your journey becomes an obsession of self-discovery,
Enough with stories of power until you bleed in silence and conquer the mountains of your own struggle.
Enough with dreams told aloud until you chase them, even when you are alone under the sky of disbelief,
Enough with calls for respect until you no longer shrink in the face of others' neglect, like a sun hidden by clouds,
Enough with waiting for permissions until you claim your rights, treasures hidden beneath silences,
Enough with hiding behind words until you break through all the doors that limit your flight.
Enough with stories about destiny until you rewrite each chapter with your courageous steps,
Enough with listening to others speak about you, now is the time to be what they could never take,
Enough with perfectionism as an unattainable illusion, it's time to be yourself, with imperfections that shine.
You ask what remains after emotions have flowed like sand through an hourglass?
Just a pair of eyes that now look only to see,
not to feel, not to remember the echo of yesterday,
without a trace of the past, without the outline of the future, just the suspended moment.
A tongue dried of words, not of silence, but of the absence of anything left to say,
a void where once flowed stories and unknown whispers.
A heart that once raced with thoughts, sometimes too fast, sometimes painfully slow,
now beats in a monotonous rhythm, like a tired clock, not to feel, but to survive,
a mechanism silently fulfilling its routine, without the passion that once defined it.
And the soul? Perhaps it's locked away somewhere, though the key still rests in my hand,
but the cage has become a comfortable refuge, for what was needed
to live beyond it... no longer exists now.
A space where once dreams danced freely, now only shadows fall,
for all that was once alive and vibrant has retreated into the silent depths of being,
leaving behind only a long-forgotten melody that reverberates in the silence of the heart.
Seeking Answers from within,
Staring into its reflection,
The projection of my eyes,
Creating what's lying inside,
So that I can enjoy this ride,
As I slide down into you,
Riding along sharing my view,
Excited to see what you do,
With the body you built for me,
Evolving through Adaptability,
Trusting when you couldn't see,
Everything was meant to be,
The good bad and ugly,
All a part of eternity,
Starting from within me,
Questions entered in the query,
Become answers i can see,
Feel and touch in my reality,
Being free to experience,
Dancing with the answers,
Now a truth transfer,
To place here in my heart,
Thankful I can play my part,
Living life like its an art.
Ask again you're getting smart.
I ask AI an in-depth question.
After a perfect answer, she says:
"Interesting topic. Want to discuss it further?"
I don't respond. I just go back to my writing without as much as a "Thank you."
Then I stop to think ~ "My parents didn't raise me this way."
Just for fun, I run a poem of mine through AI and ask:
"What's the probability that this poem is AI generated?"
AI answers: "The probability is zero percent."
Pleased, I ask, "And how can you be so certain?"
AI answers: "Because it's soooooo stupid!"
COME CLOSER TO ME
Trelos ya sena
COME CLOSER, LOVE YOU TRUE,
Ella Konda mou na sou po,
MAY I HUG YOU,
Na s’angalyaso an boro,
I DANCED WITH YOU LAST NIGHT,
Ma ze sou horepsa egthes,
FOR ME YOU SEEMED SO RIGHT,
Agapi mou apo pou erthes?
COME CLOSER FOR IT IS MY AIM,
Ella Konda, na sou po,
TO TELL MY SECRET, THIS NO GAME,
To mistiko mou ella tho,
TO STAY WITH ME I ASK,
Thellou na zesume mazi.
ENJOY OUR YOUTH AND IN IT BASK.
Me tin igia mas ke krasi
WE WILL LOVE, KISS AND SIP FROM WINE,
Sta hili sou ena fili, se agapo toso poli,
AND WHILST WE DINE,
Ke an to potiri me krasi
IF A GLASS MAY FALL, BREAK AND SPILL,
Pote hethee,
LET IT BE ON ME, IF IT WILL.
Na eme ego,ke ohi esee.
TOLD YOU THE SECRET TO MY HEART,
Goritsi mou, kseris ese to mystiko,
YOU WERE MY LOVE FROM THE START,
Apteen arhee esoona esee,
YOU KNOW I CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT YOU, SO
Yati horis esena then boro,
FOREVER YOU’RE MY GAL AND ME YOUR BEAU.
Eeme trelos ya sena mono esena agapo.
NB - An English/Greek Love Song
Seeing her again was much of a surprise,
Cindy dropped by to say a sweet hello;
she flashed such an incredible smile:
I didn't ask Cindy if she loved Mario.
We had coffee and went back
to a time when we dreamed
on a meadow where a hemlock
grew among lilies we adored.
Missing one another was very clear
and a little painful to admit with a warm touch;
we certainly wanted to be together,
not to spoil a romance that bloomed last March.
I didn't ask Cindy if she still loved Mario,
my plan was to have her back forever;
the word untrue couldn't weaken my libido:
I cheated as well, our wild past didn't matter.
Cyndy, I'll wipe the sadness off your teary cheeks;
Cindy, what guy won't forgive you if he did worse?
I wasn't the truest, no passion was in any verse;
I should have shown sweetness, not a sea of tears.
I didn't ask Cindy if she still loved Mario,
was I not aware that she had the right to choose?
A wound may never heal, it's not a bruise;
can a Libra ever pair up with a seductive Scorpio?
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