They move through the maze,
Papers wavering like
thin-skinned truth,
Each signature a quiet uprising
Against the slow- grinding
Manuel Materials
That call themselves order.
Their voices catch on procedural
irritants
Cracked syllables lagged
Across desks,
Needs folded into Manila envelopes
That wander office to office
Like pilgrims pleading for
Charity.
Red tape coils around them-
A serpent made of statues,
A ribbon intertwined from regulations,
A binding charm diffuse by
Hands
That promise representation
But deliver hesitation.
Paper pushers sit behind the
Writing desks,
Shuffling lives like loose
Documents,
Moving stacks instead of
Solutions,
Measuring urgency in forms
And stamps,
Instead of human obligations
Still they push forward,
Bearing the bulk of civic expectations,
That drag of political formality,
The discomfort of being heard
Only after being processed.
And in the end,
Their persistence becomes revelation-
Proof that even disordered
Systems
Cannot silence a people
Who declines to be filed away.
O short-snouted slouth
with your quivering stamp-fangs,
you thud-thump my soul with procedural sludge;
the cosmos groans in beige.
By decree of Sub-Section
Twelve-and-a-Half-Point-Nine,
I must submit my shoelaces in quadruplicate,
signed by three witnesses and a mildly confused turnip.
O mighty Desk of Doom,
why must your flobber-forms that
cling to my sanity like damp bureaucratic algae?
The world is crying.
Families are mourning
in rooms that still smell like yesterday.
ICE is shooting
without question,
without pause,
without having to carry the weight after.
Names turn into headlines.
Headlines turn into noise.
But grief stays heavy
in the body.
Mothers wait for doors
that will never open.
Children learn new kinds of silence.
We keep being told
this is normal.
This is procedure.
This is policy.
But blood does not feel procedural.
Death does not feel legal.
Loss does not care about uniforms.
The world is crying
because it remembers.
Because it sees itself
in every family left behind.
And we are tired
of crying alone.
INTERACTIVITY
a
delicate
balance
intuitively
composed
in
residual
afterimages
eradicated
in
procedural
provocative
opportunity
&
inherently
possibilities
with
immediate
access
once
discredited
upon
a
putative
horizon
nonetheless
attractive
&
tangentially
affiliated
will always cherish
is best priest in our parish
sermons nightmarish
about priest wonder
the spell he has us under
collected plunder
priest a rising star
exceeds all others by far
drives fancy car
in cathedral
error was procedural
took another pill
cherish parish would
while wild priest we withstood
was up to no good
we called our priest jane
in power she does remain
on us down will reign
is a real dandy
to have around is handy
our great priest randy
with priest we abide
he is always on our side
on him we relied
priest will often hiss
to us he had been pure bliss
his point always miss
order
edict, decree
restoring, maintaining, arranging
logical, procedural, mess, pandemonium
threatening, imposing, disintegrating
anarchic, turbulent
chaos
Date created: 05/16/2021
Regalia awakens upon nightfall
Roused within rules proudly signified
Routine of midnight procedural
Robe wearer draped solemn dignified
Voracious moon grey devil face
Oak double doors crosses engraved
Vestibule commands reverence
Flung open so mortals can be saved
Behaviour carefully monitored
Moonshine in aisle to alter pointing
Father's guidance Penultimate
Spotlight slides jacketed anointing
Pulpit a pillar of scripture's page
Builds focus for lamp stuck fly byers
Formality chapters archaic sage
Impales twisted gargoyles on spires
Stitched into sleeves invisibly
Satin lining sheen hot cardinal flame
Shape of garment disciplining
Secure bounds by pockets contained
15th February
Fitting into Religion
My unconscious Left
distrusts shadow Right.
And my reductive subconscious Left
mistrusts Win v Lose
Light v Dark
Ego v Eco shadow sacred Right
And fully conscious Left
polypathically trusts WinWin
Ego/Eco bilateral balance
ego Left with eco Right,
Positive as at least notnot Negative Energy
politically empowering Trust.
When Left plans high priority
policy practice procedural learning events
with Right mistrusting subconscious anxiety,
cognitive Left v Right
as Ego v Eco
as Yang v Yin not caring
daring to notice
each revolutionary bilateral Other,
then it could be therapeutic
to bring WiseElder EarthMother
holonic EcoSpirit
subshadow yin
cooperatively WinWin along
my evolutionary Yang planning highway
of yin's revolution
practicing healthy democratic trust
generating more resilient systems.
Not so much investing hundreds of millions
of taxpayer money
on corrupt undercover
absence of health care giving
and receiving nonsystems
still wearing mission statements like
"Always and only invested
in the child's best interests."
A Poodle and Apple Strudel
To popular belief, it all had been according
And wondered if we really could be affording
To buy what some called the John B. Sloop
Bottom of sails looked like a hula hoop
While walking around we also just found
That when being on John B. you are bound
To become stuck up and also possibly a pris
While you gaze at wild water and reminisce.
Liking to laugh a new habit now has become
And best part of pudding is a pleasant plum
Then through life as things all get tougher
From an illness, you will soon start to suffer
Cathy many have said is short for cathedral
And according to problems that are procedural
Process was becoming kind of quite inviting
I discovered best thing to do is be delighting
So finally forget all I said without fail
Go out on John B and around should sail
Be sure that you bring your pretty poodle
Who always enjoys eating some apple strudel.
I'll Never Be The President...
I have no intentions to be the president...
This world is not my eternal residence!
I Have no intentions to live in a cathedral..
Nor to engage in what's merely "procedural."
I have no intentions of getting too "political..."
I don't want to be too "hypocritical."
I have no intentions of being "famous" or "admired."
This is not my ambition, nor my desire!
My intentions I hope are pretty clear...
To follow Jesus... Whom I love so dear!
My intention is do my very best...
To live for Christ. I am so blessed!
My intention is to focus on this one goal…
To seek after God with all of my soul!
My intentions need to be fixed and directed.
Following God's word, as I'm daily "corrected."
My intention is to focus on Christ with my mind!
And to give him my life and my time!
Christ' intention is to be my Lord and friend.
And to cleanse me from the darkness within!
Christ intends to always be faithful and true!
He's always there for ME and for YOU!
By Jim Pemberton
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