Filicide is a thing most people
Would rather not think about.
And until this past month
Would rarely even talk of.
Now it’s on everyone’s mind.
They say there are “only” 150-200
Such cases a year in America,
But that doesn’t seem like only a few to me!
The fact 71% are committed by the mother
Also stays beneath the mainstream radar.
I guess we just don’t want to know,
But it’s right there in our face
In our myths and legends and personal stories
(I know I was intimidated by my mother
growing up, always aware she held the true
power and control in the home
and even some degree of omniscience,
and I’m no Sleeping Beauty or Snow White).
Just look at the number of children mothers kill
Before they are even born
(more than a million per year!).
Does that qualify as an epidemic?
An epidemic of what?
Confusion and convenience,
Anxiety and despair,
And above all selfishness.
After all motherhood
Is the ultimate act of selflessness
A doorway of no return.
Which reminds me of all those children.
Now that the sanctity of motherhood
Has been disgraced and debased
Are apple pie and baseball next?
(9/4/26)
They want to become one with the breeze
Society's needs are a real burden we see
Maybe it is best to just let them all seethe
And to let them do whatever they please
Note: This poem is about people who hate the spotlight. I understand them.
To truly love ourselves,
The world around us,
And the people in it,
A degree of selfishness,
Becomes us.
For without it,
We cannot reach Our full potential,
And avoid thinking,
The road to happiness,
Is to be pleasing to others at all times,
As this may smother their potential,
To be someone we can admire,
Respect and have unconditional love for.
Without this degree of selfishness,
We will never take the time needed,
To understand the gift we can be,
For the world around us,
And the people in it,
Or feel the admiration of others,
The respect of others,
And their unconditional love for us.
.
Despite it all I think we must admit when chips are down
that we have no real reason to complain.
Though every day we swim against the flow so not to drown,
we always have what it takes to sustain.
We read of Manna falling in the desert long ago
when Moses lead Isreal across the land,
and wonder how these people could complain like that, you know.
How is it that they didn’t understand?
Yet we are worse than them considering all God’s given us,
and the extent of His works in our day.
We’ve lived the lives of kings midst miracles so numerous
and just like Isreal we have found a way
to justify our countless golden idols and our greed.
No, we’ve not changed a bit from then till now.
We didn’t learn of Manna – you don’t take more than you need,
yet we still think we’re pleasing God somehow.
But despite it all, the promised land still lies ahead.
Like Isreal, amongst us there’s a few -
our children who have faith enough to be content with bread.
Yes, children of the promise through and through.
(“Field of Dreams - Flanders 2017”, 2020, original oil)
We live in an age of extreme selfishness
An age where empowerment
Choice and determination
Are the key words
To make us feel good
About making it all about ourself.
But the truth remains
Regardless of how independent
We want to be
There are others who care about us
As much as and sometimes more
Than we care about ourselves.
And at some point
We come to realize
Our lives are actually about them.
(11/11/25)
He talked and talked,
gig talker,
on and on.
Didn’t hear about Julie’s love for Gordon and Jilted John.
Conversed selfishly throughout the Buzzcocks explaining Why it had gone wrong.
Missed Shelley’s quips,
Missed all the song.
Held a debate through The Bunnymen’s Ocean rain.
A heated discussion missing how The Cure were Jumping on someone else’s train.
An absolute pain.
Didn’t take the hint from a backward glance as Kraftwerk rode mountain passes on the tour de France and the Ramones asked if we wanted to dance.
Chattered incessantly whilst the Stranglers hung around and ruined tomorrow’s parties enraging Nico and Velvet underground.
Too loud.
Prattled away as Joy Division played,
killing the Atmosphere.
Morrissey pleaded Please please please but he still didn’t hear.
Bad gig combination Charlie and beer.
To cap it off on his way home,gabbling into his mobile phone, the irony wasn’t lost on us. He never heard it coming, the night bus.
Hit him square,his brand new Primark Nirvana t shirt matted with blood and hair.
(Sing)
“Keep you mind on your driving
Keep you hands on the wheel
Keep your snoopy eyes on the road ahead.“
Should’ve f***ing listened.
Is it selfish
to want to be myself?
Even if that self
doesn’t care as much
as who I pretend to be?
Is it selfish
to want help
even though sometimes
I don’t want to help others?
Is it selfish
to be tired of being leaned on
like a tree holding stones?
Even if my trunk has bent
beyond repair?
Am I selfish?
Whispers draped in silver thread,
Promises soft, but sharp when read,
The tongue, a painter, skilled and sly,
Crafts a world from truthful lies.
A candle glows in shadow’s skin,
Light concealed where dark begins,
Hope is sold in fragile guise,
By merchants dealing truthful lies.
They dress the wound with tender care,
While leaving poison hidden there,
A smile can mask a thousand cries,
And truth dissolves in truthful lies.
Yet somewhere deep, beneath the guise,
A clearer flame, unchained, will rise.
For though deceit may cloud the skies,
The soul remembers that truth will survives
Two diverse paths lay,
The rough path tell the tales
Tales of what lays ahead
The smooth path tells no tales
Both lead to same destination
Our choice stared at us
The heart seeks honour
Rough path they thread
Their desire, they must not faint
The cheers of their leader,
Echoes through the lonely path
The smooth path, leader thread,
In honor, loyalty stand.
“Aye, my enemy smirk”, leader scream,
Strike down my foe, restore my name,
Bang! Bang! They strike,
In loyalty, they raise their blades,
Not at foes, but strangers fate forbade,
Children waits endlessly, stares at the stars,
For the one that promised forever.
“Aye, my enemy mocks me”, leader screams,
Strike down my foe - your honor to have,
Bang! Bang! They strike again,
Leader path lies Fortress veil,
Kin merry heart content
Loyalty forbade question
In loyalty, they loose it all
Selfishness looked out for herself
She was thrilled to do what she wanted
When she wanted
In the way she wanted
Without censorship, suggestions or having to please anyone else
Selfishness did not buy into funerals, graduations or weddings
She spent no time with her family.
She did not care to make a friend.
She never felt lonely or sad.
She loved her alone time.
She felt cherished and entitled.
Loving her ways.
Selfly Guh-Selfishness
I Like Things That Are Nuts.
Oh, That's Different.
Self-Referential Self-Centerdness
Self Guggldy-Guggg-Gugg-Undone...
Get Over Yourself...
Get It? NUTS!?! Ha-ha?
Honestly, Can Anyone Else Talk?
Don't Eat The Shell.
Huh?
-Gray Squirrel
05-16-2025
Oh abundant child without a care or whim,
Am I broken and beaten because of my sin,
Am I lonely and sickly because of mistakes,
Is your refusal to help me because I'm a fake,
If you close your heart to me this is no lie,
I will trust in God and sleep in the sky,
And you Mrs. Perfect what shall you do when you die?
A grasping tight hand,
World shrinks to a single "mine,"
Empty when alone.
©bfa040225
Whene'er I find myself alone and ponder,
My life grown small around me clamps my heart,
And fiercely beats the rain, fiercer the thunder,
I cannot save myself by any art...
And when within this prison of my mind,
I know that nothing good can ever be,
Where no ray of the Sun I ever find
It seems sometimes, I sudden, think of thee,
And then, all rays of Sun that once were lost,
And good things once forgotten, now may be,
Then I leap up and do not count the cost,
And break my bands and all at once, am free
Unbound, my heart ends rain, makes silent, thunder
Makes vapor, shades, and bursts the dark asunder.
Do not wear pride like a necklace
For God detests pride and arrogance
Pride does not go unpunished
Pride leads to disgrace
Humility is rewarded with wisdom
While pride begets destruction
Cause it takes credit for God’s accomplishments
And covets God’s glory
Pride demeans others
It arrogates sense of Almightiness
To a mere mortal
Pride stifles growth of other virtues
Makes one to reject help needed
Prevents one to listen and help others
And deludes one into believing
In one’s self sufficiency
But in reality Pride is admission of weakness
Pride leads to extreme selfishness
Pride does not gratify
Pride does not exulte
Rather it dehumanizes and belittles
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