Spinning around self
and sun that sets
feeding life on clock
preset to end
dividing day
from night
work from rest
cradling in one lap
life and death
and all that is of earth
returns to earth
when veil descends
and all around is light
the soul ascends
to Sun without a night
and if its halo
by unbelief
was dimmed
will fall into the pit
against its wish
drawn by same strings
that held it in sin
for love is free
and soul
that’s dead inside
is puppet
of the masters
outside
life is love
and love
life eternal
paradise.
A backwash of death and body's decay,
The soul—once dwelt within me—is no more.
In life-death script's passably long play,
I could not—I don't know why—reach the shore.
I lie naked now with many others,
Forgetting caste, colour, creed, polity;
Confronting all weather with no druthers,
Pushed towards a preset equality.
Isn't there, in my core, an inner strength?
There's a truth of perseverance of life;
There is, in me, an endless breadth and length
Of forgone pains of existential strife.
Am I the monarch of this breathless deep,
Or just a puppet death has put to sleep?
I'm an analyst
a strategist
an execution machine
in a singular mind seen
with memories of being keen
I give something my whole heart
then get it back torn apart
repeat the cycle again
till I'm left with shattered remains
trying my hardest to stay sane
Shouldn’t a vehicle move straight ahead,
unless it makes a U-turn instead?
Why in mine I’m blindly led,
leaving me to burn,
no brakes to halt or learn?
In this moment, I’m a fern
trapped in a sunlit meadow—no return
Even a robot needs to reset
so it can preset.
When I try to slow and reset,
I get haunted by regret,
as if I’m drowning in debt.
Democracy is a hoax
And it was meant to be
As it is, a set of sad jokes
A cheerful old trickery
You are offered to favour one
From the faces chosen not by you
The work is already done
It’s preset, in case you won’t do
So it’s always a meritocracy
No demos reserved, but elite
Travestied as democracy
Telling you what you need
It’s a master and slave metonymy
As it was, but the good news is
The elite can’t stand mind autonomy
Much more than in previous years
That’s encouraging, cause it seems
The democracy plot gets worn out
Age reveals those repressive schemes
I could easily live without
On move seldom in a preset sequence,
Life unfolds with its own whims and fancies
As day gets dawned-- a gift of existence,
In whose own rhythm everything dances.
A life is no novel read page to page,
It gets read, unfolding onward as goes,
I bow to past for wisdom, for its age
As it gets past its graveyard of shadows
To be ready to take on new journey
With an empty bag and an open mind
That I take on challenges uncanny
And still keep options on, to peek from hind.
The year past by let be Janus-headed,
Life evolves only when it looks ahead.
____________________________
Sonnet | 11.01.2026 | future, life, Ney Year, past
Note: This is in continuation of the poem ‘Old memories, new dreams’.
“Oh, what a slippery slope we weave
as we alter nature to conceive.”
__ by Poet
Humans, along with all creatures,
are born with preset ways to learn and grow
supplied by interactions that
enhance all minds to copy and bestow.
In many ways, this can progress,
as thinking leads the way to modify
and alter on its very own-
old plans to form new ones that amplify.
We have now manufactured them!
These waiting robots follow our commands
from knowledge fed that shapes their “brains,”
and mimic what is done by human hands.
Just as children become adults-
and following our rules may disappear,
gain independence with their thoughts;
oh, yes, for sure, we have this deadly fear.
Unable to forecast this yet,
we cannot see how we will ever cope.
All things conceived want to be free.
Flee the ice! Forsake this slippery slope!
Humans, along with all creatures
We're born with preset ways to learn and grow
Supplied by interactions that
Enhance their minds to copy and to learn
So many ways all can progress
As thinking leads the way to modify
And alter, on its very own-
The need to follow rules can disappear
We have now manufactured them
The waiting robots follow our commands
From knowledge fed to shape their “brains”
That mimics the progression of humans
Just as children become adults-
Assuming independence in new thoughts
Adhering to our rules will disappear.
Oh yes, for sure, I have this fear.
1.
Everything happens for a reason
Despite some happenings of chaos
In the changing of the seasons
When the autumn comes to play us
Songs about the withered leaves
That fall down to make a carpet
We can walk beneath the trees
To the local farmers market
But there’s something unassailable
That remains in memory
Though it might be unavailable
Like an access to the tree
You considered mine, and showed me
How it towers by the road
Where I never meant to be
For the reason, still untold
2.
What’s the reason, when it’s gone?
Let’s excuse the reasons if
They’re not evident or strong
Not the points we did achieve
How on earth we met each other
I shall never know, you said
Neither would I, but I rather
Feel our meeting was preset
Darkly through the glass I see
What my memory unfolds
Your sweet smile, your vapes and tea
Macke’s painting on the wall
Why we had to disappear
And this room has lost its view?
What exactly did we miss here?
You can’t tell, and I’ve no clue.
use a tuning fork
when facing a dilemma
for the two prong shape
provides two preset options
for keeping progress in tune
The power depends on the people’s will
They were taught to believe this at high school
But as practice has shown, powers like to kill
And the people are forced to obey under rule
So the contract between the people and power
Looks a bit stretched cause it was preset
Do I need a law how to water my flower?
My goodwill’s stipulated without my consent?
And now you self appointed judges get loud
Condemning me for the war in your garden
But you've got the wrong address, dear crowd
Type the proper number of your chosen warden
Am I not responsible for lunar eclipses yet?
Mustn’t I write an explanatory note
On three A 4 sheets of paper, so that
Could be cheerfully taken as my absent vote.
another weekday
she awakens
to the sunrise aroma of
preset coffee brewing
her eyes still closed
she thinks about her day
and slowly starts to form
thoughts in her head
so much to do
so little time
a jolt of java
revs up the engine
give her a minute
she'll come to life
another sip
and there it is
it's all systems go!
AP: 1st place 2025
Nothing is the same, and why
Doesn’t mean a thing
It’s a carpet bombing try
In the fullest fling
It’s a game no one can win
But we ought to play
Or to mimic that we’re in
Living for today
Nightmares getting far too real
What a shame for all of us
Neanderthals broke down the deal
With the Pithecanthropus
Questions here are as useful
As if you would ask the beasts
For their instincts; why so cruel?
How on earth they’ve come to this?
Now the future looks preset
Nothing happened, that wasn’t to be
Toss me please, a cigarette
If you have the one for me
I shall try to smoke, though I
Quit that habit long ago
The sea won’t ask, the wind won’t cry
There’s no change in waves galore.
Life of true Poet
The think and the listen
Recognition style
Thinking while
Cutting through long corners
Distance from wordy find
Secrecy unveiled
The preset
Spoken word effect
Open determination
Experience and influence
Day and Night endurance
Letter by letter of time
Narrated thought
Poetry matters
Time, moment and place
Reader response
The reaction
Harmony in dignity
Rhythm precision
Need into the after
Emotions not held back
Daily and continuous
P ongoing into prosperous
Purpose with proceed
Endless journey indeed.
Think and plan
Time frame
Acceleration with a quickness
You are the valued time witness
Time doesn’t stand still
Your time to fulfill
Immediate response
Time is steadily ticking
Seconds into minutes
Movement must be swift
True accomplishment
Well established
Time is not on your side
It is on preset
Turn up your effect
Limited time granted
Time out
Hope
Having not the chance to acknowledge faith
Heaven is the preset in time before material timed earth
Hell is present in all that negates negatives
Holy is the inner man whose heart beats breathe the life of God
Heart felt favor feeling of wholeness sown
Happen stands the realness of the beauty of His promises
2/1/24
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2024©
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