All this talent
And no one wants to run for office
The best and the brightest
Are chasing paper
Deceiving the masses
They once called neighbors
Our physical walls get taller and thicker
You can’t hear me in your car
You can’t talk to me with headphones
Who gives a shit what they do
You’re not like me
Greed spreads like a virus
And we all fall down

Slumping at your schooldesk
A gunman appears
The universe rips right next to you
You play dead until he leaves
Classmates you could have known
Are frozen in your memory
You walk around
With a 5-person-sized hole by your side
A deep dark void
Alone right on the precipice
You wonder if you might fall in again
Our souls like magnets
Even with strangers

I don’t know any better way to live
Even if it’s all a dream
Even if it kills me
I can’t imagine living without love
Without an open heart
Keeping your defenses up
Is a waste of time and energy
Give until it hurts
Then give a little more
What is to regret
When you gave them all a chance to shine?

Fighting over the last blanket
Who wants peace the most?
The haves toss to the have-nots
Who in their pride refuse the gift
And everyone goes without

A yogi on a sugar high
Amaretto in my purse
Meditating on the bus
Babies, drunks
The volume-disabled
Where did it go wrong?
A heart almost closed
That one closing
Friends don’t let friends
Bring them down

God’s got a fun job
I see the work and just smile
How you are provided for
How I was used
How trust opens doors
That suspicion closes
I’m glad it’s not my job
But it’s fun to watch

I can see the edges
Of our little blue globe
Such a nice spot to wander
Around and around
An engineer of my own life
I tweak and make it flow
Work out the kinks
Redesign and take notes
Curious as a cat
Showing others the way
I’ve been there before
I was sober and patient
I want others to have
The peace that I’ve found
The health that I’ve tapped
The joy that abounds

With a mind made for motion
And a body built for pride
I’m saddled with guilt
When I sit down for a while
I get so wound up
I have to unwind
A cup of green tea
My cat by my side
Standing on the back porch
Gazing across my slum
Breathing the cool damp air
The ancients weren’t dumb
You can’t live your life
On auto-pilot
Someone
Has to check the fuel levels
Polish her up
Do the maintenance
Make her purr again
That someone is you

The great paradox
Of human nature
We know that
Nature favors freedom
Yet freedom doesn’t come naturally

How do we correct what has gone wrong?
Can we stop the ripples from expanding?
Or do we wait until they lose their power?
How do we endure together the foul smell
Of the carnage in the wake?
Or will we do it instinctively,
Knowing that where there is darkness
There will be blood shed.