I volunteered for an experiment
to assess the effects of merriment
I laughed so very hard
My funny bone was scarred
Much to my humerus’ imperilment
Some say he's a prophet
others swear he's the son of God
Some say he was just a man on a good mission
still others say he never existed at all.
I think he was the original hippie
a supreme giver -who taught takers
how to give without motive
how to love without condition
to ask for forgiveness after sin.
Jesus would have stowed away on slave ships
salving hope and snapping chains.
He'd have blocked the ovens of Auschwitz
volunteered at no-kill animal shelters
and food pantries.
He would've made manna out of bullet casings...
arrested again, again and again
bashed upside the head and bleeding.
Weaving a giant peace sign and rosary
draping them over the Pentagon, Kremlin
and the Forbidden City-
He may have shared a wineskin, a bowl of Mexican gold
then lie down under tie-dyed sky and dream in colors bold.
Or he would have been the only sober one
getting everyone safely back to home.
I see them as funeral houses.
I see the longing and the sorrows.
The passengers left—
and they became the ghosts
that greet me.
They show me the architecture,
the lights and the reflections,
then point at a random stranger,
mocking them in silence—
using my voice
for the mocking.
If the world has a graveyard for the lost,
they must add this place to the map.
But here I am,
still complaining,
still bearing this alone—
as if I volunteered
to haunt these terminals
in exchange for
one more unspoken goodbye.
At least
they could’ve revealed more.
This is different
Eerie
The winds have changed.
The colors fade into
a lifeless, chalky form,
and all life disappears
in a uniform fashion,
as I stand at its edge,
too scared to move.
Even the sun plays
hide and seek.
And I've volunteered to play seeker.
Who would have thought the sun
was so gifted at playing,
after all these years of
willingly showing his face.
And now I face off
between the darkness
and what's left of me.
There's no rest
for the rest of me.
I lay resting in pieces.
Rest In Peace
One piece left -
it stumbles in the dark.
One piece,
one part to play.
It knows it's still
in the game.
It knows -
To live in darkness
among darkness
requires little of us.
But to seek the light,
to create light
among the darkness
demands effort.
So
much
effort
These winds are changing,
and the darkness encloses me
as I watch the flowers,
disposing of each petal,
fade from my view.
The sun wants to play hide and seek
I can tell this one's going to hurt
as I listen to the drum of my
heart beat grow louder.
I call out
Ready or not, here I come!
Whether you're in a prison,
Or a hospital bed confined.
Yours might just be a 9 to 5,
We all are still doing time.
Our conscience is our jury,
Declaring right and wrong.
Our thoughts the Judge who sentences,
To mental prison where we belong.
All of us are guilty,
In this life we're paying for our crime.
A death sentence has hangs over us.
In the prison of our minds.
But don't loose hope, there is good news,
How we all can be paroled.
The devil has to release anyone,
Even though they sold their souls.
God sent us an Attorney,
His name is Jesus Christ.
He said "All prisoners must be released!"
That believes in his sacrifice.
God sent him from heaven "Pro bono!"
For the hopeless, poor and lost.
He's volunteered to take our place,
Saying "Put me not them on that cross!"
"Father!" he said "Please forgive them!"
The know not what they do!
I've come to set the captives free,
Then I'll return to You!"
The Bible newspaper headlines reads,
"Whether you are young and old"
We have the scoop for all mankind,
The Greatest Story Every Told!
Gadani beach
Gadani beach, the last call
she only needs skeletal crew
As I had not been to Pakistan
I volunteered to be skeletal
it was the beach in the name
I thought of seminude girls
How wrong can a man be
Gadani was a cemetery for
for ship, too old and too small
for maritime business
My home, for two years made
into nails and turned into
unspeakable parts
This is life, sailors and ships
have a short life span
Getting down at a strange place in a desolate station,
I looked for an Uber taxi to reach my location.
There was no one around, and no taxi in view.
I knew rain coming, as thunder rumbled and wind blew.
It was getting late and the sun had already set.
With darkness surrounding me, I felt so upset.
Panic stomped into me as I stood desperately alone.
From far I got the enticing smell of a cologne.
Looking around I saw someone hastily coming
It was a lady and seemed of decent grooming.
She sensed my escalating fear and volunteered to escort.
I accompanied her, profusely thanking her for support.
* * * * * *
Opening my eyes, I saw the lady down on the floor- a corpse frosted.
To my great shock, I knew I was in a house haunted.
A wave of dread ran over me and I screamed in terror
Unable to move, my body shook in deadening horror!
He stepped forward
-Invisible
Slowly dissipated in rhythm with word
She looked around
Searching for a plausible cause
An overly pronounced Ahh
punctuating his appearance
A wry smile trundled across his lips
-there is power in words
and I am Float
and you are Epitome
Someone has stolen a word
and we need you to find it
The only problem no one knows what it is….
Why float, a look of question frowning on her face
I created it-he replied it’s actually my first one
He carried on
We have three days
By that time you need to choose
Choose.choose what, she asked
The words you need on your quest
Courage has volunteered
We can’t find fear
and Whimsy is chasing a butterfly in a field
There was a man who was quite weird
With a chunk sticking from his beard
So I helped myself
And pulled out an elf
Which wasn’t as bad as I feared
But when we thought that his strange beard
Was in fact totally cleared
Ten kangaroos
Jumped out too
Which made all the townspeople cheer
That’s when a brave man volunteered
To reach one last time in his beard
When out did leap
A flock of sheep
And at least two of them were sheared
At last nothing else appeared
From his extraordinary beard
But we were, I declare
Sucked into his hair
And the town and I all disappeared
Not an amusement park in sight
So, we headed to the mountains
No bumper cars, roller coasters,
Spinning cups, or dancing fountains
We diligently searched
For something to stimulate our hype
At last we spotted a
Near perpendicular metal irrigation pipe
Without a pod, a seat, or even some grease
The tube had way too much drag
A quick search of our backpacks
Revealed an empty beef jerky bag
I volunteered to go first and
Attempt our unusual ride
The others cheered and stepped back
To get a better look at our very long slide
I scrambled on the drain, carefully sat down …
And shot off like a bullet
It hurt so bad when I landed
For a year, I could barely even sit on a toilet
At Nobody’s funeral no guests appeared
No priest came to serve the last rites
No one sent flowers, no one volunteered
To carry the coffin outside
So what’s about funeral, is it a hoax?
It does seem like hallucination
Or one of those flat unintelligent jokes
Some share to get brief attention
If it’s real, I’d like to attend, count me then
I’ll come, if you have the address
We'll bury that ever-recurring old man
Who caused such a terrible mess
He shall be buried as soon as it takes
Just tell me the date, send a scheme
But this time it shouldn’t be any mistakes
I must be assured if its him
Whose soul was as hollow as trunk of a reed
Who had nothing to say but the lies
Fake and evil was pretty much all that he did
What a joy that he finally dies
A solace of freedom and peace comes again
After war people like to feel free
We cannot be judged for the crimes of armed men
Much too busy with love are we
Nobody is dead, breaking news on the top
Swan Lake’s on the TV all day
Four little cygnets are dancing non stop
Odette in the wings drinks champagne.
Jamaica No she volunteered
Thought Deed Think Need
Silence of the lambs. Bah!
Memorial Day picnic by the lake, listening to the baseball game
Thanksgiving, an indoor feast, screen tuned to the football game
'I guess Thanksgiving is more important than Memorial Day'
volunteered my perspicacious youngest son
"Before being pushed through yet another womb
I volunteered for this mission.
I recall this old odd looking guy
it could have been the image of God
or it might have been a squirrel
kinda fuzzy about the details.
Now I am over the hill and on the way down
or back, depending on your faith.
I hope 'up' is a metaphor for heaven
or someplace better than here,
not too higher a bar to achieve I assume."
The homeless dude who told me this story
took a pull on his cheap vodka bottle
and slumped, sat as he was
in his own pool of piss.
It looked like he was meditating
or in the midst of a constant prayer.
I walked away
thinking just another crazy derelict.
That night I dreamt that a fuzzy-faced angel
had grabbed me firmly by the arm.
It took me to a celestial temple
where humanoid squirrels
shared their past earth-stories.
They were having a pool-party
and swam around in only the finest vodka.
He never liked "Bob" - now a success
So Robert Croslin he is
Raise in Baltimore ("projects")
His mom (Aurelia) is grandma to my kids
His only son, a lawyer in DC
In his own right, now elected
Mayor of Hyattsville! (Praise God)
Once, my "good" eye-doctors place
Where I volunteered for its Literacy Council
Memories of Library, churches, New Year breakfasts!
A liveable community, a bit costly now
But memories continue to layer on
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