You should know what you’ve brought me—
whether by purpose or accident.
I haven’t felt like this in so long,
forgetting its normalcy,
forgetting how rarely it comes
unless you go searching.
I have little to give back.
Patience was stolen from me,
understanding eroded—
I learned to mistake karma for coincidence,
love for passing conversation.
It’s hard to hold on to something
as simple as kindness
when it’s offered to someone
who isn’t used to it.
But your beauty makes me lighter.
Your attention makes it real.
You don’t ask me to explain it.
You’re in my life now.
You should know
how much it changes me
to be respected,
to be seen.
What I would do
to make you safe,
to make you comfortable—
would shock those
who’ve never been given
what they quietly miss.
Please, don’t leave my life.
And if you must,
not until I’ve learned
how to carry
what you’ve given me.
"The Relevance of Unspoken Poetry"
These are “my people”, are they not?
I spread my wings like a Cormorant
and went deep diving deep deep deep
full speed, into the muck
I came up with pearls in my beak
These are “my people”, are they not?
I reached across the table to them, throwing my runes,
the stones rolled and as they fell, on each face I saw ruins,
and in their minds I read,
the relevance of their unspoken poetry
Candide Diderot. ‘24
People who really know me ask, “Do you still write?”
“Oh yeah,” I say, “I’ve never been more inventive or less relevant.”
Life
armed with the fates
of futility
besieges.
So be it with the rose,
her beauty asway,
pushed around
by breezy happenchance,
powerless to stop
her petals
to wither then to drop
in faithless raw
betrayal,
As her beauty of the moment
dulls to naught
but yet another yesterday
of faded
bloom.
hanging tenuously from tree branch the ripe object of temptation
sunlight peeks through the hill trees signaling arrival of a new day
more a curse than a blessing, less a decision than affirmation
worn leather valise undergoes the rigors of final journey
faded granite marker put in position two hundred years ago
no matter how tight we cling to existence, it shall leave us behind
dark silence of ornate gilded nave constrained angst for generations
always shall be the prospect of something beyond our imagining
hiking along the high trail yields broad vistas of surrounding islands
suffering through the high-pitched howling of a bitter northerly wind
desiring to ensure that the lies which I tell myself are harmless
better a fond memory than just another imperfect being
within life's confines, relevance has ever been a moving target
The Relevance of Last Winter
David J Walker
The acrid odor of a
Butane fueled
space heater
Seemed better
than freezing
In the sub-frigid air
of a February
prairie
winters
day
We set fire
To dried mesquit limbs
Cleared from
an adjacent pasture
last summer
It seemed better
than freezing
In the March wind
Bending its way
Into a town of little interest
By 4 pm
The light was failing
ice was forming
On the tractors casings
Ours
Were the only lives
Exposed
To the
Mercies of the miseries
Of a winter storm
The small farmhouse
Stood alone
The warm refuge
At the end of a field
Of long fallow rows
Awaiting
The next seasons
Best efforts
I gather it the sparks that become the flames;
Arise above those calling me names;
I seek no disclosures, no fortune, no fame;
Money Burns. It's on fire. It's a flame;
I'm God's son, and I'm born;
- first again, like Popeye, I am what I am;
That's that all that I am;
I am a child of a king;
I rule that I am;
I stand unopposed in sharing my heart;
My heart is beating bled; running runs red;
Denominational Creed instantly fed;
I am not a spiritual dead;
I am not ungrateful yet slew;
It's more of God I crave;
It's more God I am well behaved;
In the light of my heart ablaze;
I am on fire. I'm alert burnt my sins;
Burning away;
As I fly away;
The dragon exists slain;
I recruit my blessings I stand;
Fast in Jesus' mighty name;
5/15/22
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2022©
We wasn't born famous.
Our identities are nameless.
No masks but we got hidden faces.
On the map but we in hidden places.
We're won over to lose.
Born to die with the sun on snooze.
We could try to conjure the moon.
Lights out, POOF! Expect the dark soon.
There's strength in our veins.
Wisdom in our brains.
Faith, we try to taste
but it seems our time, we waste.
It's a free land here
but we work in tears.
You ain't rich? Stand there.
With the cheese? HI, DEAR!
Nobody cares to know
how you got some dough.
But you must secure it
or you're not important.
You want a title?
Simple! Go viral.
The Internet is the Bible.
The likes are like idols.
Hard work is hardly a thing.
My people want to be seen.
They kill themselves to live.
They rip themselves to be fixed.
Most of the world supports the rich.
The poor can find a ditch.
The famous is answered quick.
You're obscure? You stay sick.
The lowly without the heart
to keep tearing humanity apart
for their glory... They stay in the dark
until they can stop their hearts.
What is this life?
Where your existence is not enough
until you touch the sky
or kiss the dust.
The Passing Moments of Relevance
David J Walker
It was in the paper
You know
Page 12 Section C
A long time ago
Since then
So many yesterdays
Have come to pass
How can so much life
Have come this fast
And now
I can’t remember
Why it mattered
Buried in that edition of
Yesterday’s paper
Is it all about ennui
keeping boredom at bay
or is it recognition
to make me feel
o.k.
We know not how the movement of each passing moment will shake us _ so take not those who sit in silence as malevolent indifferences_
Forgive us_ at a time of such great lost _ there are those held silently _ as souls suspended in quite innocence_
Yet, Within each silent heart and turbulent mind _ as secret as they may be _ lies the most endearing words of true relevance.
We give unto Thee of our devotion sealed with and by Love’s influence
To take with Thee _ to journey onward _ in everlasting Perseverance
Let not our weeps and wails turn thee back a glance for proud is our stance
As We share in this moment of Honor_ in your return to Excellence.
We yield thy way, for our wants and needs are of no importance_
Our earthly dreams and goals no longer offer thee thy sustenance.
~Thy names been called_ Thy breath’s the wind _~Thy flesh tarries not of mice and men
Thy meandering soul ebb tides of sea_ on rivers edge we now search for thee~
Find relevance
Stay in your prime,
Hold on to development
Gift yourself space for growth
Take your time,
Give prayers time
Cause your time will come
And nations to you will come.
Find relevance
Relative Relevance
Earth dwelling in her Universal realm
Pulsating with energy in her helm.
Continual evolution in action
Elements and all life in reaction.
Relativity, energy causing an action,
Creating an equal, opposite reaction.
An ever recurring cause and affect
Incurring symmetry, ever perfect.
Since all is energy, ever in motion,
Circular in form, atomic devotion.
Eternally in peace and harmony,
Interacting withal, without money
Hither and thither, and thus to and fro,
Eternally alive; on and on they go.
Used by humankind, vastly to deploy
For industry, war, peace; all to destroy
Eventually, only, one day to return
To Zero Point Energy field's sojourn.
Starting anew, or perhaps even not,
Evermore to remain inept; their lot.
There are days when I wonder why it matters
To have existed at all in this time and space.
My presence here is like a sound that clatters
Then fades to silence leaving not a trace.
Was there some point to being cast in this coil?
Was there a measurable difference to make?
What is the significance of the sweat and toil?
Have I existed merely for existence’s sake?
I’m trying to make sense of my mortal bout.
When the blood is still and earth is my cradle
Will I ask—could I think—what was that about?
And why did I drink from that toxic ladle?
Faith endeavors to answer my queries,
Admonishing me to know of One on high.
But there are times when one wearies
Of believing what is real in an unknown sky.
RETROSPECTIVE RELEVANCE
Relentless search for relevance
Reflective selective reassurance
Rationalize elective rehashing
Relentless search for relevance
Regenerating nostalgic recall
Reminiscing connective reclaim
Reconciling corrective record
Relentless search for relevance
Radical projective refusal
Reluctance infective reclusive
Regarding objective regain
Relentless search for relevance
Ramify detective recall
Reason affective release
Recover prospective radar
Relentless search for relevance
Copyright© April2013—Kim van Breda
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