You Know Who You Are

_____________________________

- For my fellow Josephs


Eleven stars bowing down,
Sun and moon knelt before us.

There’s a sparkle in our crowns,
Our skin, transparent, porous.

Our brothers have betrayed us,
Traded our lives for pennies.

Piled high in rusty cages,
We knew no milk, no honey.

Lose not hope, slaves of Egypt;
Turn toward the sacred Morning.

His hands will unbind, free us.
God Himself will crown us kings.


--020310--

Breathing the Apocalips

_____________________________

We knew the trees would betray us.
We knew the Night would sing his song.

Oh, how Death has snuck up on us!
As quiet as a banging drum.

The land weeps slow and silent tears.
All hearts beating steady and strong.

Every pulse taps the melody,
As quiet as a banging drum.

Our blind eyes saw the cavalries,
Heard their voices shout, loud and long.

How we felt the deep blue tremble,
As gentle as a banging drum.

My, my, how our hearts disown us!
How they lust for youth and young, like

Whores screaming Infidelity!
As quiet as a banging drum.


--020210--

Khalaas!

__________

I draw lines in this white sand.

Mark my words with magic marker.

I'm not a man that I should change.

Not a god that I shouldn't need

to die.

Khalaas!*

I am already dead,

yet alive again.

__________

*Khalaas is an Arabic word meaning "enough, complete, it is finished."

--020210--

I Used to Love it Here

Went walking today.
Saw a ghost of a man
fishing beside the frozen
lake.

This wilderness is
cold, is aged, is
Winter at its finest.

I try to break the
bars, but the steel
won't give, my mind
neither bends.

And you know
what the tragedy is?
I used to love it here.

--020210--