Dignity, Undenied September 25, 2009

What can a man do
To salvage his dignity?
Is his belief in the Holy Trinity
Enough?
No
It is a start
But dignity comes from the heart
And the soul
Respect of self
Of all life
Despisal of strife
These make a man whole
Love of knowledge
Love of health
Love itself
These noble ends
Can stop a man
From descending
Into personal hell
A neighborhood I know well

What good does hatred do?
I could let it consume me
I could become
The antithesis of dignity
Easily
Sit in my chair
Spewing vitriol
Rejecting all
Of everything I know
To be true

I have seen this done
Untold times
Millions of little crimes
Claiming lives
Personal slavery
The illusion of being free
Paying homage to decadence
Seeking satisfaction
In scenes of violence
Fantasizing of triumphs unfulfilled
Wallowing in the communal
Pool of blood spilled
The universal satisfaction
Of the lowest common denominator
The ultimate distraction
Of the seductive annihilator

I look at these pathetic men
And I say never again
I’ve tried
To mask my self contempt
With misplaced pride
I’ve felt
The sense of emptiness
As my besieged soul died
And I survived
I saw the light
And I tore myself down
Until I felt the night recede
I built a spiritual pedestal
And I stand upon it
Determined to succeed
With a dignity
No one will deny
And I shall stay that way
Until the day I die

True Life Productions 2/2/07

Why is it?
Only the beautiful people fall in love
In the movies
Why do they live in a spotless house
And drive new cars?
Why don't they watch ball games
And hang out in seedy bars?

How does the cowboy
Out in the wilderness
Always have a fresh cup of joe?
How does he feed his horses
When he barely has enough for himself?
Why is he built like John Wayne
When his diet would leave him in poor health?
What makes anyone think
That all we admire
Is the beautiful and the bold?
Why do we lay prone and swallow
The graceful lies we're sold?

Where is the film about the Plain Jane
Who falls in love with John Doe?
When will Hollywood
Clue in to the fact
That we poets seem to know?
There is drama in the every day
From the housewife who fantasizes about a way out
To the CEO who practices nihilism for pay
The producers will whine that the audience will balk
But the roles will reveal
The way real people talk
The movie that i would really like to see
Is a celebration of majestic mediocrity

What Would Walt Whitman Want? 3/15/07

I've heard America sing
And I've heard her scream
The anguished howls
Echoing across the decades
Now I hear the cries
Of those devoid of a voice
Suppressed in their expression
While the fortunate few
Pummel them with artificial force
Singing a song of self importance
Whose obscenity is only surpassed
By the size of their campaign fund
Whose chorus is carefully composed
To be mimicked through the red lipped mouth
Of the milky media maven

The disenfranchised masses
Who have mortgaged their voices
For the sake of slippery security
Instead seethe in silence
Until anger permeates
Every aspect of their existence
The distressing results are seen
In their reaction to their television screen
When they can laugh at a man
Being shot through the heart
While his wife and daughter
Cower in the corner
Praying for their lives
Crying for a peaceful resolution
To their ungodly situation

To express opposition
To this tiresome tide of violence
Is to stand
Like a sapling against a tsunami
You are small
And your chances are less
So you step aside
To avoid being washed away
And solemnly pray
For the restoration
Of voices and sensation