To the nameless you inside me,
Are you doing well?
My cells spoke to me:
“For fifty years, I have protected you
And cared for you, so why—”
Why do you only now send your greetings to me?
“Do you want to die?”
“Yes.”
My cells spoke to me:
Your expression is far too violent.
If you die,
Are you telling me to die too?
Huh? You wicked man!
Do you have any idea
How I raised you?
“I’m sorry.”
Right, but there is one thing
I want to ask of you.
Please, even if it’s just one meal a day,
Eat something with some nutrition.
It is so hard for me.
Please, stop being full only in your dreams,
And take care of the other you
In reality.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can keep that promise.”
“It’s okay, because at least you’ve awakened a little,
My heart feels a bit lighter now.
Good night! O, the other me of mine!”
What if the dreams come true
In an argumentative way
You never thought they would do
But later, maybe the same day
Or it could be next year, you see
Dreams fall into right mould
Though quite unexpectedly
The opposite meaning unfolds
As if the other side speaks
Things you were afraid to hear
The fulfilment that seemed to be missed
Was never meant to appear
The hopes you considered naïve
Weren’t naïve at all
They gave you a hint when to leave
There’s always a suitable hole
It’s the same feeling, the hopes say
The same dream in its final phase
Grows your garden with roses of May
She is waiting with smile on her face.
I am alive because of you
I live because of you
I suffer because of you
I love because of you
I am dysfunctional partly because of you
I am loved and needed because I care, because you cared
The only thing which is not predetermined
Is how I choose to live this life
Will I spread love and acceptance to myself and others
Or will I repeat the same mistakes in myself or my children?
We are not robots, but we are 'wired' together
We are not artificial intelligence, but intelligent, living, breathing fallible beings.
We live so many years on this ground, but are not defined by what we do.
We are defined by what we are.
I am alive and I'm grateful for that.
DIALOGUE WITH NATURE -:-
isolation
evokes
autonomy
symbolic
creativity
in EXPRESSIONS OF HUMANITY
appropriate
eccentricity
inducing
emptiness
undisturbed
in DEFINITIONS OF SELF
exclusive
explicit
austere
monastic
Don’t speak to me if you’re not going to listen,
Insist on an answer to yesterday’s question,
Angry because I do not remember the words
Lost in the well of destruction you bought wholesale
On the steep steps of the bargain basement of sin~
God damn the complications from your feral heart,
Understand I am not your experimental
Engram waiting to be programmed by your demands!
This woman a Stradivarius
exquisitely crafted,
awaiting gentle caress
when full willing,
the music building
phrase by phrase,
minute by minute
in ever-patient hands,
listening carefully
in sweet dialogue,
swaying to the rhythm
as leisurely crescendo
until full-throated
she bursts forth
in rapturous release,
melody flooding
conjoined hearts.
Echoes savouring,
treasured beauty.
A President’s way
Sits in the White House
A name I call “DIALOGUE”
Executive Orders here and there
A nation that doesn’t care
We the People who don’t want to represent
Can’t be quite it like a mouse
Wants to control everybody’s house
It’s hatred that he brings
Causes the nation to have a sting
Dialogue is the country’s frustration
For how long?
The economy that is not great
No terms of appreciate
Survival has become a task
No one knows how living will last
Expectation becomes damnation
Dialogue having no surprise
The nation thinks otherwise
Dialogue DC
Sarcasm is meant to sting
it’s no way to have a discussion
~ speaking from the heart’s best
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Your monologue put on pause
don’t interrupt to feed me more platitudes
~ listen or say something nice
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
to not feed me platitudes
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
When white lies plot the course
Oscillating between trust and deception
Kindling radical dialogue with smoking tongues
Escalating unilateral world supremacy
Health and human services of Ventura county
Labor dispute
Has refused key access to governor newsom
In orders legislated
Denied rights of homekey assignment
And resigned account
The total loss of life is significant
Occupation of excess in Union
Against better
Refuse bettered man
Consort of treason
Record in account held as quieted palms
Sacrifice
Order to report otherwise
Internal review
Of publicly provided access
interpretations end
As corrected
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"Grievance upon you,
My mere mortal kin.
You didn’t try hard enough,
Now sit with your sin"
I’ve sat here before,
And I know your game.
You feed on my sorrow
And wear it as shame.
"You can hide if you wish
Even run if you'd like,
But all’s not forgiven,
You're holding the knife"
This knife is my burden,
I know it too well,
But it cuts you as deeply
I’ll send you to hell.
"Blame becomes victimless
When cast on oneself.
Now get in here, boy,
You’ll keep on the shelf"
I’ve walked in your shadow,
I’ve stood in your cold,
Yet I still awaken
To these stories of old.
"Well, endure the dark
Let’s see if you’re bold!
For these are the truths
That you had foretold"
I know I foretold it,
I can break it as well.
These truths are your prison,
To me this is hell.
"We'll hold your heart close,
You can be free and forget"
It's not really a choice then,
I'll sit in regret.
Metaphor and simile have been with the human race for thousands of years. This is my English translation of an excerpt from an ancient Egyptian poem estimated to be around 4,000 years old:
Excerpt from "Dialogue of a Misanthrope with his Soul"
(ancient Egyptian poem circa 2000 BC)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Death lies before me:
like a sick man’s recovery,
like entering a garden after an interminable illness.
Death lies before me:
like the fragrance of myrrh,
like sitting beneath a billowing sail with a favorable wind.
Death lies before me:
like swimming in the course of a stream,
like a man’s return from the slave-galley to freedom.
Death lies before me:
like the sky when it clears,
like a man's longing to see his home after countless years of captivity.
Keywords/Tags: Egyptian, translation, dialogue, dialog, misanthrope, soul, death, illness, sick, sickness, recovery from, myrrh, sail, wind, freedom, sky, captivity, slave, slavery, soulmate
And the Lord will say to them on Judgment Day,
“I was hungry, and you defunded my food aid programs.
I was thirsty, and you rolled back drinking water protections.
I was a stranger, and you snatched me and deported me.
I was naked, and you gave tax breaks to billionaires.
I was sick, and you cut Medicaid and Medicare.
I was in prison, and you gave me no due process.”
And the self-righteous will ask him,
“Lord, when did we do those things to you?”
The Lord will answer them,
“Whatever you did
to one of the least of these,
brothers and sisters of mine,
you did to me.”
(Paraphrased excerpt from Matthew 25:31-46.)
(First published in Substack, 21 May 2025. See also my poems “Bringing Heaven to Earth” and “Quantum Acts of Kindness.”)
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