“It will be a while.
But I will be back….
Just don’t forget to smile,
Then step back.”
THE WORLD FOR A MAN
A bottle of cheap whiskey
A flower, dead several months
Leaves and peddles falling freely
A pack of cigarettes
A small transistor radio
Batteries worn to nonexistence
A dusty nightstand in a far corner
Upon which a World sits
Opening the World…
Lighting the darkened cubicle
Life springs forth
Life never seen but to the Creator
Creator never seen to the world
A world darkened by Man
Man becomes the Demon
The Demon the creator
The world the desolate
Yet life springs from this World…
The flower to life
The radio to song
The whisky to wine
The cigarettes to Cubans
The dust to a Christ
Hope in a world created by darkness
Darkness drowned out by light
Darkness struggles endlessly
A man strives, believes, conquers
FAITH
Questions……
Answers unknown
Problems…
Solutions undefined
Life…
A realm of difficulty
With nowhere to turn
Nowhere to hide
Total darkness
Unyielding to light
Until the Faith of man
Can finally win the fight…
TEMPTATION
I have this cigarette sitting in front of me
Just sitting there
Not really doing much of anything
Just sitting there
Here it goes
No, I can’t
It’s in my hand
No, I mustn’t
It’s in my mouth
No, I shouldn’t
It’s lit
Just smoking
Not really doing much of anything
Just smoking
Temptations given in to
Just smoking?
THE MIRROR OF VALUE
Once in our lives
We must look in the mirror
We won’t see
the loss of hair
We won’t notice the
false food grinders
We won’t pay attention to the
Wrinkles covering our bodies
We won’t even recognize the
Slumping posture we now posses
All we’ll acknowledge is that
our time has finally come
And we will hope that
The time we spent was of value…
RELIGION AS I SAW IT IN 1991
Are we accomplishing what we want to in our lives? Are we truly happy with the results all our efforts have produced? If nothing else in our lives ever goes the way we want it then we should at least have a belief we hold as religious. This belief will guide us through our entire lives, affecting the way we do things, the way we view others and possibly even the way we die.
A religious belief must never be looked at in scorn. If another person does not believe the way we do, does it really matter? Can we do anything about it? They were lead to their decisions by something greater than us. People must be allowed to believe as they wish. If we condemn someone else’s belief, then aren’t we in actuality condemning our own belief? In other words… by condemning another person’s belief we are in essence asking for our own religion to be condemned by others. What is accomplished? Think about it…
4th Segue…
VISIONS OF AN AMERICAN G.I.
BARRACKS BLUES
The barracks….
A place to be hearty
Somewhere to enjoy some beer and music
Basically, a place to party
A knock on my door
A gruff but kind voice asks
“Hey dude, let’s go to room 317.”
“No… no”, I answer. “I’ve got work to the max.”
“Okay, but you’re missing a helluva party.”
With that he leaves me alone
I hear the music and laughter
But I know I must finish this poem
They all say “Let’s go!’
But still I sit with my works in a bundle
For I know there is more to life
Than drinking beer through a funnel
Though I sit here writing
I can’t seem to figure life out, not even a clue
Why this and why that?
I suppose I’ll never know, thus I remain blue
“There is no need to worry.” consoles a friend
“We may never know.”
“But I want to know”, I answer
“Oh to hell with it. Let’s go!’
The barracks…
Faces of old and face of new
A good place to make friends
But not a place to feel blue
G.I. NIGHTLIFE ON GUAM
Sandy You, Tourist, New York
Lest we forgot Texas and Dallas
Naked gentle bodies slithering to and fro
Teasing our manliness
Pleasing our youthfulness
Only one dollar for a special performance
In our drunken state they all are beautiful
Even if they can’t really dance
Drunken Ladies guiding us to pleasure
Though without sufficient funds, never our fill
Beer and spirits always too expensive
But with almost nothing else
This is the life we choose to live
Until we leave this place, it shall remain our realm
Uncaring, we almost pray not to suffer in Hell
Dave says, “The 10-4 should prove satisfying.”
But Brian argues, “Tahiti Ramas is happening.”
“A live band, I suppose?” is the question I ask
Zoli sprouts, “I haven’t all night gibberish to be listening.
Make up your minds, for I haven’t mush gas”.
So after seeing tits and ass
Off we go to enjoy a little dance
Intoxication fills the room
Rest assured we’ll drink our fill before heading home
If one of the bunch is lucky, maybe with some “romance”
RESTLESS NIGHTS
In bed by 9:30 P.M.
Asleep shortly after
Awake at 11:24 P.M.
My roommate, quietly does enter
Fading off again…
Disrupted by the flick of the light
It is now 11:31 P.M.
The question of “Are you eating midnight chow?”
“No… I told Pete that earlier this night.”
“Oh … sorry to have awaken you.”
“No problem”… I can’t sleep now.
Thinking now of poetry
Out of bed at 11:43 P.M.
To write this so as not to forget
An orange I will now eat… 11:58.
Having read an essay by Joe Sachs
And smoking several cigarettes
I must once again try to rest
The time is 1:24 A.M.
Once again I am awake
This time it is 1:58
My roommate rudely does snore
Dreamland I shall never restore….
A beer and a brownie I shall consume
Then sleep I will once again try to resume.
SLEEPING POLITICIAN
As I sleep…
My head rolls to the left
As I awake…
I force it to the right
MAILBOX
Being away from home
Can be terribly lonely
Es
pecially if the mailbox
Is without necessary correspondence
My roommate when asked
When his box is empty
How do you feel?
“Lonely… but yet I’m hopeful.”
My roommate when asked
When his box contains something
How do you feel?
“Happy … but I’m curious.”
My roommate when asked
When the something is actually nothing
How do you feel?
“Neglected… and I’m also disappointed.”
We all feel the same, in one way or another
But we all know we’ll get mail one day
Even when the rest of the year may pass
We feel our families won’t desert our birthdays
As for me
When my box is empty
How do I feel?
Weary … and upset slightly
As for me
When my box contains something
How do I feel?
Joyful… but yet concerned
As for me
When something is actually nothing
How do I feel?
Hurt.. And if a bill… more ways then one!
The mailbox is like a quiet shrine
We worship its existence all the time
If empty, somewhere to let loose tension
If full, someplace for reclination
PEACE
Peace…
We dream it
But do we live it?
We don’t fight
But are we at Peace?
Peace…
We pray for it
But why do we not live it?
We don’t declare war
But are we at Peace?
Peace…
We wish it upon one another
But why do we take it away from them?
We must live it
For we shall perish without it!
THE PRICE OF FREEDOM
What is the price of freedom; how much more?
Saddam Hussein
How Sadly Insane
A man with a demented brain
His kind shall never rule again:
The people of Iraq
The Coalition must regretfully attack
For the sole purpose of pushing Saddam back
The oppressed from their country must flee
The people of the world must be set free
Simply enough, the price of freedom is war
PEACE … THROUGH SLEEP?
Peace is a rather intriguing word. In order to truly have Peace we must first be at Peace with ourselves. Since this seems to be nearly impossible in today’s society, then maybe we should change the way society is. Do we really have to have all these things that make us unhappy? Do we really need the things that our greed tells us we must have? The realization that the world is going to end soon if we do not obtain Peace should be frightening enough to make us all not want the things that destroy Peace… but unfortunately this is not so. We strive endlessly for all sorts of things to satisfy our insatiable desires, when in fact… if we were to think about it… the desire that drives all the rest of these desires is Peace within ourselves. The trouble is that we can’t see the forest through the trees.
My only words to express how I feel about this never ending War within ourselves and thus upon others is that we must awaken but yet retain the thoughts of our sleep. Truly… think about it…
NO WAR ANYMORE
Do not cry for Me
I have been set free
Do not let your eyes grow Red
Just for the sake that I am Dead
This morning they shot me Down
But there is no reason to wear a Frown
They can’t hurt me anymore
For, now I am out of the War…
SENSELESS KILLING REALIZED
The G.I.s in boot camp
No longer shall they drill
The ones in the field
They shall not kill
They have finally seen
The Light
It is senseless
To fight!
G.I. HOLIDAYS
A low lullaby
Sung by a tender tenor
Sweetly the child fades
Dreaming of toys, Santa, sweets and cakes
While in a musky, smoke-filled room
GI’s are occupied in a game of “Spades”
Getting through the no-family gloom
Praising the birth of Christ in their own emotional ways
To a group of GI’s in Germany
It might be downright Drunk ‘N” Disorderly
Thank Lord Jesus it’s annually
Neither weekly, nor even quarterly
Our families back home
They will think of their sons and daughters alone
Hoping and praying for their children a joyous season
Wondering why they’re gone, yet knowing the reason
We celebrate to our utmost in the dormitory
Realizing it is not quite holy
But we accomplish our tasks of spreading cheer fully
At this time we could never deny someone a beer… coldly
Bordering on death during the birth of life
May war never come to be our strife
Peace on our world; love towards man
GI’s all, pray solemnly; amen
DYSENTERY IN DIYARBAKIR
The sweat on my body sticks
From this I get no kicks
The air is deathly still
Nausea in my stomach stirs; I’m ill
Dysentery is no friend of mine
The only good cure is time
MRE’s, the only thing to eat
Don’t taste too bad, but smell of rotten feet!
I would eat at the chow hall…
But that’s where dysentery was given to us all
I need a shave and a shower…
But I have to shit every quarter hour
Sleep all day, but still very tired
I want to blame the workers at the dysentery diner
Drink plenty of liquids, BUT NO BEER!!
This news brings, to my eye, a tiny tear
Maybe I’ll be able to work tomorrow
For without my beer, I’m filled with sorrow
Getting dysentery in “Toon Town” is no treat
But because of my beer, this disease I shall beat!
If you’re like me and care about your beer.
Please don’t get dysentery in Diyarbakir…
5th Segue…
PSYCHOLOGICALLY PHILOSOPHICAL POEMOTIONS
NO PRIDE FOR ME
I don’t wish to make
Anyone proud of me
Not Father, friend, nor instructor
I only wish to do well
For all the world to enjoy
If pride
Gets in the way
Disappointment may arise
And enjoyment will
Never come about…
UNKNOWN
People…
Persons…
Parts of them
Unknown…
Feelings…
Emotions…
Values… and
Convictions…
Unknown to the
Beholder…
RIGHT OR WRONG
Who’s to say what’s
Wrong and what’s Right
When Right could be Wrong
And Wrong could be Right…
PAIN
Protection from ourselves
Sensations strong as Atlas
Emotional or physical
This is pain….
UNBELIEVABLY INCONCEIVABLE
What is unbelievable
Is not always inconceivable
But what is inconceivable
Can be believable…
CAMOUFLAGED
Thin
gs aren’t always
As they seem
And those that are
May not be
As one wants them…
DO OR DON’T CONDEMN?
Do not
Condemn
What is not held in
Appreciation
For you may find
That your condemnation
Was actually
Benediction…
SIMPLICITY
Nothing is more Complex
Than the Simple
For in order to have Complexity
One must have Simplicity
NOTHING
Everything is
Nothing as all, and
Nothing is
Nonexistent
But it dwells
Wherever I go….
THOUGHTS
What should I be doing?
Should I play all day?
Dance the world away?
Should I work all night?
Make the thinkers feel right?
Should I pray to God?
Perhaps… but to which should I pray?
Pray to any but one:
And yearn to be put away?
Should I try to be the best?
If so, at what measure?
I would do it for the rest
Not for my pleasure
For my pleasure is not my own
But is taught to me….
Am I not a mere extension
Of the person who taught me?
Did not Satan succeed in planting
The roots of evil in me from the beginning?
The beginning of what my only hope for purity
Is to abandon the inner self emotional;
Abandon all thoughts rational?
INSIDE
The feelings in a person
Can deceive that person nature
The way people act
Can deceive that person’s true feelings
A person’s nature
May prevent him from doing what he wishes
And a person’s wishes
Might even cause harm upon that person…