THE TEARS FLOW INSIDE

THROUGH THE WATER LIKE A WHALE- GREAT ORCA THAT I AM-

YET FEELING LIKE A PORPOISE, THOUGH PERHAPS I'M JUST A CLAM,

MY THOUGHTS MERGE WITH THE WATER AS I BEGIN TO GLIDE...

AS THREE SCORE YEARS SLIP AWAY,

THE TEARS FLOW ALL INSIDE...

THE PULPIT OF BULL

When the MAN spews "bull" from the "bully pulpit"-

Is the righteousness real or just a sham:

To create a "window of time"

For hiding many a real culprit?

For TO CALL TO ACCOUNT has an ominous ring!

From THE MAN IN THE PULPIT it sounds a bit strange...

The "mandate of heaven" is a curious thing:

Even "oilmen-diplomats" can end up "riding the range".

And visiting with cronies, of course-

Where they can swap tales with other old cowpokes...

Why...even now, I can remember one of the old cowpoke jokes...

It goes like this:

"What looks like Bulls...smells like Bulls...and tastes like Bulls...?"-

"I'm sure glad I didn't step in it."

THE ART OF YAHOO: DEMOCRACY'S LAST STAND

THE ART OF YAHOO IS A SUBTLE ART
STILL AN ART WORTH STRIVING FOR
FOR A GOOD YAHOOER IS HARD TO FIND
WITH NO TRACES BEHIND- WHERE DOES ONE START
WHY THE COMPUTER OF COURSE- YOU OLD BUFFOON-
BUT MY PASSWORD'S GONE AND THE ADDRESS HAS CHANGED
AND NOW I'M OFF TO MAKE (OR LEAVE) "MY MARK"-
IS IT JUST A GAME- IS IT JUST A LARK...
FOR SOMEWHERE BEYOND WORDS, ARTIFACTS, BUZZWORDS, AND COMPUTERS-
BEYOND LAMBERGHINIS, PORSCHES, BMW-S, AND SCOOTERS-
BEYOND "CACHES" AND NIMBLE SLEIGHTS OF HAND...
IS THERE A WORLD OF FRIENDSHIP IN THIS NEVER-NEVER LAND
OF SECURITY CHECKPOINTS AND FINEPRINT GALORE
OF PETTY TERRITORIALITY AND "PETITS FOURS"
OF NATIONAL SECRECY AND "DEMOCRACY'S LAST STAND"?-
JUST FANCY WORDS FOR...
"WRAP YOUR ASS IN THE FLAG AND GET OUT THE OLD BRASS BAND"

CHANCE ENCOUNTER

A chance encounter- sweet and chaste-
A meeting meant for cyberspace-
No need for "pics" and all that "jive":
Just good to be talking and to be alive...

For when all is said and done-
Imagination is much more fun:
"The perfect other" does not exist;
Better just a "cybertryst"...

It is from the void within
We garner strength to meet each day;
To put some phony confidence on parade
Is to make of living a mere charade...

For I- like you- am of the earth...
I "quake" inside with each day's "birth":
We all are connected- oh so deep-
Even as our mind does sleep...

And as "the dawn comes up like thunder"-
And alights with my heart for "plunder":
Arising to the surface from the unconscious sea
I search about for you or me...

MAH MAH LEA EH

IN TONGA: "MAH MAH LEA EY"

IN FRANCE: "LENTEMENT"

IN MEXICO: "TRANQUILLAMENTE"

IN ITALY: "LENTO"

IN PORTUGAL: "DEVAGAR"

IN GERMANY: "LANGSAM"

IN PAKISTAN: "DHIMA"

IN INDIA: "AHISTA"

IN PHILLIPINES: "ING AHT KAH"

IN CHINA: "MAHN MAHN"

IN USA: "CHILL TIME"


ANYWHERE, ANYWAY, THIS DAY I'LL "TAKE IT SLOW"

COLORLESS AM I

The Moslems from the Middle East
Sitting in U.S. cells- were
Rounded up under new laws passed
And jailed- without charges...

And where are they now,
In this "LAND OF THE FREE"?-
Why they're sitting in jail-
Invisible- "colorless", you see...

And Latinos who tried to pass
Undetected through the "barbed wire"
Gate to promise, hope, and liberty-
Where are they?

Some are "here";
Some sent back- and several score
Each year, neither here nor there-
They are dead-
And now are "colorless" you see...

And a "gay young man"
Eager to befriend-
Finds "pals" to break his monotony-
Goes riding on a country road-
Is beaten up and left for dead...
All splayed out on barbed wire-

Why, yes, he is dead- and now he's "free"
Because he is "colorless" you see...

And many a man- and woman, too-
Sits in "solitary" on a "trumped up" charge-
To put it mildly, "feeling blue"-
No conjugal visits, no letters from home...

How can this happen in "THE LAND OF THE FREE"?
He or She is one of the "nameless"- or,COLORLESS you see...