The Ladder

Where did my conscience come from?

Is it gift, or memory?

Do I possess it?

Or is it bequeath as there is need?

Perhaps it is all of the above 

But doesn’t really matter

I’m tied to something greater than myself 

That lends a ladder

Company We Keep

“Am I alone?”

An answer came

Inside my mind 

As if the same

“What do you think?”

My transom deep

“I’m isolated in this keep!”

A breathless pause

A poised refrain 

Familiar voice 

With nameless name

“If you’re alone, and truth you seek,

“Then who am I with whom you speak?”

Conscience

I know what’s right 

I know what’s wrong

I don’t know why

But know it’s strong

I don’t know how

Or what, or who

And yet I know

Just what to do

I don’t know when

I don’t know where

But when in need 

It’s always there

Through in and out 

Through come and go

This voice inside 

Proves in the know

Logic of Empathy

Cut off my nose to spite my face?

It made no sense to me

Pluck out my eyes, cut out my tongue

Or bite the hand that feeds?

It made no sense to harm my base

To cut off at the knees

Why shoot myself straight in the foot

For it’s a part of me?

The sentiments of self infuse

The care we give to things

The cosmos like the body

Has its parts, but shares its being

The universe is one

In which we share identity

Diversity of members

Does not negate unity

Connection is the essence 

And logic of empathy

The love you show towards others

Thus, extends right back to thee

Transcendent

It doesn’t matter what you have

If you’re not grateful for it

If you live in a mud shack or a palace

Joy you forfeit

It doesn’t matter if you’re rich

Or powerful, or handsome

Your happiness is held at bay

By envy’s thankless ransom

I doesn’t matter if you’re poor

It’s simply arbitrary

If you appreciate your state

And blessing count--you’re merry

For gratitude and happiness

Are the same thing we find

For neither can exist apart

But coexist in mind

The cause and the effect conjoined

And highly independent

From luck, fortune, and circumstance

Our gratitude’s transcendent

Straight Jacket

Been hearin' voices in my head

I say, doctor, when is it ever gonna stop?

I think I'm standing on the verge of a breakthrough

Sorry but your time is up

I want to tell you reoccurring dreams

About my mother and my fantasies

Think you could spare an extra minute, please

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Straight jacket!

I've tried encounter groups, hypnosis, say maybe 

I need a little electro shock

I wish I had a friend, or someone to talk to

Na, I pay you, that's your job

Let's try some classical conditioning

Ask Dr. Maslow to explore my needs 

Mr. Pavlov's I crave a doggie treat

Straight jacket!

Been having problems with my id and libido

And I was wondering what is wrong

Now that you’ve stripped me of my conscience and credo

All of my money is gone

“Vhy don' jou dell me 'bout chour jildood bain

Ow olt vere jou vhen jou vere botty trrrained?

Jou vet da' bet ourrr vere jou alvays inzane?

Straight jacket!

I've got my words and actions down to a science now

You know I never blow my top

I cheat on ink blot tests--that's perfectly normal

Feel like my head is gonna pop

Confessions, guilt, I think I'm loosing my grip

In love with clients, oops, a Freudian slip

Doctor to Doctor keep a zipped upper lip

Svengali!

A human guinea pig!

Let’s cure his disease 

His hemorrhoids prevent a lobotomy

Just grab some forceps, and a thousand ccs 

Of lubrication in an enema squeeze

And pull it out!

Cause and Effect

The water fills the ocean

As it follows gravity

Yet clouds are born of tiny drops

Which rise out of the sea

Do we create our circumstance?

Our does it create us?

The answers yes on both accounts

If we decide it’s thus

Short Sighted

The captain used his telescope

Turned round the other way

Just how his ship got on the rocks

He questions to this day

King Me

When David slew Goliath

The truth he held inside

Was shown to all that doubted him

Size had deceived their eyes

He did not see he was no match

Nor realize he should fear

This whimsy driven shepherd boy

Did not see reason clear

Yet if he let low circumstance

Define his lion heart

He’d never learn he was a king

But play doubts scripted part

Instead he placed between the eyes

This truth that did sink in

A small rock in a hard place can

Slay the gargantuan

We all are more than we believe

If we believe we are

For belief changes everything

And set the bar on par

Undertow

Here in a pool of spit

We christen sunken ships

Anchors away around every neck

Better hit the deck

      Or they’ll take you . . .

Down in the gutter bliss

The larva chrysalis

Into the drain are bound

Such as this

Enter the abyss 

And it takes you down

Forever falling as the darkness veils their eyes

Their never knowing they were made for winged flight

So that they never learn, truth they spurn

As the worm will turn, it’ll take you down

Here in a bowl of fish

We swim in our excrement

Even the big fish drown

Well they know, of the undertow that’ll take you down

All of the little fish aspire to their side

Suckers and parasites feed upon what they like

The current is fast, they flounder at last

Then go belly up, and they take you down

Strong is the undertow of style

Weak is the link of our denial

Swimming in schools

We fool ourselves into a sense of destination

Following every lust that bolsters up our pride

Chasing our tails to find ourselves, but don’t arrive

The gold we would wear as crowns turns to lead 

We refuse to shed and it takes you down

Strong is the undertow of wealth

Bent are the scales that weigh ourselves

Grazing in herds

We’re burdened down the worst with glut and constipation

Here on a world as this

A grain of sand adrift

Life forms a pearl around

Satan’s left takes a pound of flesh

And he take you down

All of the countless stars that filter through the night

Each one a distant sun, give us little light

Their tapestry maps our ground

In a flash they could turn to ash and we all fall down

Strong is the undertow of war

Beating our pruning shears to swords

Hunting in packs

In peace our own attack and bleed each generation

The Estrangement

Inside the glass

A gaping face

Someone he knew

But cannot place

A fracture starts

A running crack

Refractions warp

Distorting facts

The mirror is split

It falls and breaks

In splintered shards

That lacerate

A shattered soul

The fragments fly

An image lost

So long denied

Big Game

How powerful the social flame

Which brings woe to a boil

And concentrates the bane of doubt

To thick tar blackened oil

As demons dip their darts

Into this vat of silent fears

They lure their prey with vanity

And hide down wind from drear

They seek out alpha members

As their eyes are on the goal

For if they sting these leaders

Then the rest they can cajole

Thus with their dark precision

They hurl needles at the heart

Yet do not snatch their quarry

For this live bait fuels their art

Like pride it hits the bloodstream

Ego feeling false elation

Which draws the herd in closer

With envy investigation

Each feed off the excitement

As to what they do not know

A group induced delirium

Cascading dominos

Under this spell their captors

Simply walk them through the gate

Domesticated cattle in the end

Have but one fate

A Lullaby

Solace me now

They're fast asleep

Protect them now

From cares of this world

Maybe someday

They'll shape a new earth

Granted despite

Mistakes that we made

Console me now

She's fast asleep

Shelter her now

Roll over and dream

Dream of the days

We're children at play

Feeding the world

With mud pies we made

Attend me now

And as I sleep

Seal to me now

The air that I breathe

Breathe in your name

Will mold me in ways

I've never dreamed

The length of my days

Restore me now

The dawn is ablaze

Light fills the earth

I stand amazed

Full is the bow

The nectar is sweet

Bathed in this love are my tears

At your feet

With my family gathered ‘round me

I behold, you’re in the midst

When I Grow Up

I’m going to go to college

Then off to medical school

I’ll find a cure for cancer

And invent a rocket fuel

I’ll go to work for NASA

And I’ll journey to the moon

I’ll win the nobel peace prize

And I’ll save world ruin

I’ll be elected president

As a rich entrepreneur

And tour the globe for charity

On my rock band’s worldwide tour

I’ve planned it all so perfectly

I think it’s fair to say

To find the energy I’ll need

I’d better rest today