Standing on the brink of
a new age, I behold
a synthetic fraternity
letting the wings of progress unfold.
And yet, our silicon brothers
teeter on the edge of a day
when Frankensteins will repent the
humanity they pushed away.
Will our artificial children
bring joyous dawn unto light;
or forsake our own good,
plunging us in dystopian night?
Common sense, once common indeed,
Now seems a forgotten human need.
We hurry through life with reckless force,
Placing the cart before the horse.
We seek the harvest before the seed,
Demanding success without the deed.
Racing ahead without thought or care,
Then wondering why progress isn't there.
Education fills the mind with facts,
Yet often neglects life's deeper acts.
Not teaching how to reason and think,
But leaving many on worry's brink.
For wisdom grows when minds reflect,
When consequences earn respect.
Every choice we make today
Shapes the paths we walk someday.
A thoughtful person understands
That truth is not held in one pair of hands.
Each circumstance has another side,
A lesson often pushed aside.
To move ahead, we first must see
What is, what was, and what can be.
For genuine progress, clear and true,
Begins with understanding what we do.
So let wisdom lead and haste take pause,
Let reason guide through life's great cause.
For the surest way to move ahead
Is to think before the path is tread.
Whittled skittled Bazball skint
Belittled lost the glint of Clint
Have a dig make my day big hint
Whatever they say never skinflint
In every stint we will always sprint
Hope dope blueprint trope's mint
The jibber jabber about the Gabba
White knights or ghoulish frights
Stagefright day night under lights
Highlights or more foolish flights
In the ascendancy have that tendency
Heresy or do they deserve clemency
Jealously let them preserve their legacy
Lose again barricaded in the Embassy
Stokes blokes smokes with their high jinx
Ben’s mens sneaky kinks find the chinks
Bazball minx in sync with cheeky winks
Glasses clinks as fans sinks their drinks
Nearly boys ploys bring us back from the brink
What do you think ..will our envoys annoy shrink
Another pity ditty in a sweltering city.. sh**ty stink
Or blink ignore the noise....spurred on by the slurs
Purrs like the Psychedelic Furs..joys of Pretty in Pink?
The man in the elevator pressed every floor,
Then grinned at us all like he'd settled a score.
"I'm practicing patience," he said with a wink,
"And testing if anyone's close to the brink.”
We stopped at floor two
he hummed a tune,
At three, he tap-danced,
at four, howled at the moon.
By seven, he'd fashioned a hat from his tie,
At nine, he was teaching the buttons to fly.
When finally we reached the twenty-third floor,
He bowed like a maestro and waltzed out the door,
Leaving us stunned in that small metal room
Wondering if we were the ones to assume.
I stand on day's brink
beyond lullabies in dusk—
their echoes replaced
with budding flower questions
thriving in uncertainty
I pound the ground hard
fury rages in my chest—
why must I still wait
my voice shatters quiet skies
demanding I get replies
walls are barriers
denying my restless pleas
rules drawn, then erased—
I force doors that creak ajar
then slam shut to cage me in
I hear laughter sting
in cruel misconceptions
warmth turns into burns—
love does not embrace my reach
as my cries go unheeded
I peel off more skin
stepping into searing light—
trembling but aware
that the world out there won't bend
as it cuts and shapes my growth
the seed stirs in me
fierce, urgent, blazing, alive,
pushing through the soil—
each surge sculpts my core and frame
so I become who I am
This is it
The end
I’ve no more friends
And now it all depends.
What will he do now?
There’s nothing else around
For miles and miles not even a sound.
No laughter, no people just air and ground.
We are alone.
I wish I could call,
Never realized how much I would miss it all.
There’s no point.
My soul was sold,
By no choice of my own
This society voted,
Lost in the false promises that were spoken
My heart is torn open.
I can feel it coming,
The air is thicker,
My mind is numbing
The candle lights flicker,
The ground is thrumming.
In anticipation,
For the sudden desolation
As we reach the brink
We are all going extinct.
On the Brink
In shadows deep, where sorrow’s whispers dwell,
A lone soul stood, 'neath night’s somber embrace.
The world, a blur, in twilight’s mournful spell,
Naught mattered then, save will to find his place.
On precipice of losing all held dear,
He found a strength that quelled his deepest fear.
In silence, heard his heart’s quiet plea clear,
To endure, advance, and persevere.
Through tempest wild, he trod with weary gait,
Each step a testament to resolve bright.
He learned to cherish moments, small and great,
To hold dear the things that brought him light.
From brink, he rose with heart and soul anew,
Cherishing each day, with clearer view.
Skater on black ice,
sheds a ghostly light,
under dark charcoal sky
they weep and spin
in magic bold rings
but shriek with laughter
when sonic bells peal
as the nocturne candle
flicker of spectators peer
at bright figure swerves
of glow worm carousel
fly-by-night dream
mutters from lone star
lost in foggy curtain
encircled by pier echos
hypnotic peak hour veil
deep inner self idol
an otherworld eye feast
captured on spooky lens
enigma at its zenith
For all the 'MAGAteers' and rampant conspiracy
Theory idiots running amuck, consider this:
If all is not what it seems ... why do you believe
In those fraudulent extremes?
Is it because Q-Anon says so and it gets repeated
By the church choir?
Or do the answers feed your anxiety,
Like kindling to a bonfire?
Now if you're compelled to some original thought,
Take a moment to maybe look under some rocks.
Listen to the mass of reality, not just those
Crazy like a fox,
Because the bloodhounds of truth are closing fast,
And what is circling above, are hungry hawks.
Teetering I stand poised with bated breath,
Staring at the precipitous of death.
Ground beneath, slippery, shaky slimy.
I fear my state, fate and fear will collide.
A gust of doubt, a whispered wisp of fear,
Blown on ledge, all it takes to topple here.
Each moment hanging on the edge of chance,
Cast into a risky hazardous dance.
But I resolve to not relent just yet.
Though all my strength and poise is almost spent.
Each shake, teeter, totter, slip that's beaten,
Gives me hope that this can be defeated.
Just when I feel safe, sound akin again,
A sound blast shakes me off, all hopes in vain.
I slip, fall, scream, with arms flailing wildly
Tumble down, it seems for eternity.
I startle, awakened by my own scream.
Ah, that was such a vivid lucid dream!
As you watched the abuse carried out,
My soul was broken, no doubt.
A connection can never be made,
As my nurturer and protector, I was betrayed.
Setting the stage for scant regard,
Not knowing how to protect myself by putting up my guard.
No loving childhood remembrances,
No I love you or tender embraces.
I finally had to let go and grieve,
It will never be the relationship I believe.
In order to begin the healing process,
I had to step away and decompress.
Heavy thoughts stirred his sleep
waiting for him in his limbo
His past drifted away like fleeting clouds
returning vaguely, like lurking shadows
Visions drizzling through his future past
stranded in the abyss of failed dreams
If all could slow a little
If time will go on a gentle walk
then tomorrow might be better
If for a single more day, the light is lighted
The day can yet be saved
At dusk, he cast a glance
For a long time, lasting a long night
Ending a new story,questioning the old one
cascading the entanglement of mirages held on to
Barren Land sings to his lonely night
whispering bars from a loathed day
mimicking the cries of an aged rain
He lost his will to fight.
This subject is too fraught for eloquent poetry
So please indulge me in a straightforward thought or three
For the first time in its modern history
Israel is on the brink of internal catastrophe
True, there's been bleeding before, sometimes severe
But to the rescue rode a Menachem Begin or a Golda Meir
Yet never before has the military been disaffected
And without it, the specter of an Israel unprotected ...
Morphing into invasions by Syria, Jordan, Hezbollah and Iran
Israeli captives marched to their doom in Tyre and Amman
Leaving Russia and China free to move in for the kill
Every holy site in Jerusalem ~ oceans of blood spilled
The world thrown into chaotic darkness, its center destroyed
All thanks to cowardly Bibi, who, fearing jail-time, turned paranoid
May his senses return immediately ~
Or may he vanish mysteriously
How many times have we been to the brink
And into the depths of despair that we sink
The Hitlers, the Stalins and the Putins stand tall
To bring us to the cusp to sacrifice all
How many martyrs to the cause
Does it take to give the world pause
To count costs and to start anew
Will there be a time for peace for all not a few.
© Paul Warren Poetry
“Wars and rumors of wars” – the Bible says
That being so, then we should not be surprised
When selfishness and greed are bubbling over
When covetous, malicious, power-hungry leaders
Bring the entire world to the brink of disaster.
We need always be prepared for the next one
For they will come, surely, as the sun rises and sets
Despotic-minded individuals will seek positions
With no regard for their country’s well-being
Ordinary folks being merely dispensable pawns.
Beware deceivers who say what you want to hear
Cloaked in high-sounding platitudes of patriotism
For it’s possible the next time our country may fall
To perversions of principles we have long cherished
Once gone, they cannot be restored in our lifetime.
Written April 5, 2022
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