i am dorothy waking up in kansas
i have lost all sense of place
i have seen the ugly and the beautiful
i’ve seen another life in your face

you were there and you were there
you had brawn and brains and grace
you gave me a sense of coming home again
the first time i saw your face

but

we’ve never really been here before
we’re taking the long way home tonight
we’d have to take another dozen detours
to show you where i’ve been in life

they did to me what they did to you
they did it in many different ways
they did it on 37 and fawn ave.
to remind me of my lowly place

they reminded me on main street
the threw rocks on bender road
they pulled a gun at crystal gas
now flash forward to our home

i was beaten down and defeated
though they barely left a mark
you’ve got my heart but i’ve got this fear
they’re waiting in the dark

as i stand in the winds of change
and everything stays the same
i’m estrange from all i ever knew
i guess i grew apart from me
or maybe i just grew
i never knew
anyone could fall so deep
fell asleep about a year ago
i woke up last night
love was nowhere in sight
thought hatred would see me
to my burial sight
as we creep along these city streets
never feeling right
knowing something’s missing
wishing we could let it go
but none of us know
what it is that’s tearing us
so deep
leaving life to seem so bleak
stuck again in the same place
where we’ve been a million times
a million poets
composed a million rhymes
to try to find
meaning to it all
before we fall
victim to mortality’s sting
but death where’s the victory
you swore you’d bring
another day’s come
and you’re still not king
you may reign free
over souls out of control
with lust and greed
your worst nightmare
is a world set free to see
indeed sown seed
in the garden
where golden hearts harden
but are freed and unbound
by the one that pardons
and new fruit grows
always around the margins

~wwb

I came by night to meet him
I came by night to say
surely God is with you
there could be no other way

I came by night to meet him
I came at end of day
he greeted compliments with riddles
before I was on my way

I came by night with questions
by the time I came away
I had only more questions
about all he had to say

how can a man be born again?
can there be no other way?
what kind of kingdom is this
that he speaks of anyway?

He spoke of Moses in the desert
now dare I look away?
don’t know how he’ll be lifted up
but know I’ve poison in my veins

I came by night to meet him
I feel like he came to me
Am I my peoples’ teacher?
Then why is it that I can’t see?

~wwb

the world we live in
is good
it can be
a place of wild
and mesmerizing
beauty
that enchants
the day dreamer
acts as muse
for the painter
or songstress
it can cause the heartbeats of children
to increase pace
at the first signs
of spring
golden yellow
dandelion florets
dance in the wind
and glisten
in the summer sun
the stars give light
by night
as the moon
plays with the ocean
causing its waves
to rise and fall
roses and lilies
bloom
with intoxicating aroma
and inspire the poetry
of lovers
and human beings
at times
act with amazing care
and benevolence
towards each other
and
towards the world we live in

but

the world we live in
can also be a brutal
and desolate place
those same dandelions
that dance in the wind
are an aggressive weed
that take over the farmer’s crop
and increase his toil
the sun that glistens on them
does not let up
but beats down
it contributes to drought
and famine
as rains recede
the stars fall from the sky
the moon is thought to have adverse affects
on the human psyche
while the ocean waves
rise to a colossal crescendo
in the tsunami
and crush
tens of thousands of human lives
human beings
let love die
hurt
ignorance
and hatred
fester
as we use
words
swords
and F-15’s
to terrorize
the lives of others
and time has shown
that no other force in nature
has wreaked as much havoc
upon the rest of creation
as humanity

i wanted to tell you something that you don’t know about me
something not so available when looking at my sleeve
eyes in back of my head and a heart where tattoos should be
this might be okay, maybe even cause for some relief
but like the knives i missed approaching, all targets are on me
eyes are always looking inward and as far as i can see
i maybe missed something in the meaning of my own reprieve
what have i ever known about the stars or shining sea
the dawn of time or the birth of rhyme that isn’t taken on belief?
for all the introspection what do i even know about me?
if you have a merciful injection, i would gladly roll up my sleeve
’cause what i have is broken and bears no image of me

~wwb

i am coming to what i believe
but what i believe is old
i am coming to what i believe
despite what i’ve been told
i don’t know but i’ve been sold
a visible/invisible distinction
& no more than bread to hold
at the moment of intinction
every lie held a grain of truth
& in every truth deception
no uncorrupted sayer-of-sooth
no absence since inception

there are demons in the closet
whose names i no longer want to know
once thought if i could confront them one by one
the past would let me go
but living in a past that exists only in my worst dreams
has had me dying slow
so if its all up to me now
then i’ll hold out my palms to let it all go

but i can’t bear this burden all alone
maybe that’s never what you intended
all i need is you to say my name
all i need is your breath, your flesh, your vision

we are saved together; but apart?
apart i’ll be damned if we’re not damned
and i’ve never been good at the role i was handed
of sacrificial lamb
but mother, god forgive her
my father is still here and i can
but damn if i don’t spit and sputter
and still withhold my hand

and i can’t bear this burden all alone
that was never what was intended
ear pressed, listening for my name
its cold enough to see my breath but still no vision

there are demons in every closet
who lie in wait for last of days
we thought we had their number
’till we were forced to see through their gaze
our hearts are infinitely connected
but temporarily broken in our stay
but when we’ve been there 10,000 years
its here we’ll catch the rays

and i wont bear this burden all alone
but i know that’s not what you intended
when i hear you say my name
i wonder if perhaps it could be enough just to listen

*** maybe in the movie version of my life Clint Eastwood could play me, or at least direct the film

~wwb

now i lay me down to sleep
don’t let the darkness take me
if armageddon comes before i wake
i know they’ll never break me
my salivation, my salvation
take me now or never wake me
southward from heaven’s gate i go
but hell will never take me

all my enemies forsake me
but it’s my friends that make me
fear and fear i do
till death i’m wed anxieties that plague me
you’ve been a friend to me, but friend
it seems clear to me i should fear you
more than the dark angels descending to shake me

apologies for vagary and vague imagery
do mine eyes deceived me?
a doxology of stagnant praise
raise the line for scrimmages to hell’s ceiling
knocking my whole life at heaven’s floor
’cause they won’t see me stand at the door
insist it’s chivalry to deny myself
all i can tell i’m feeling

i can’t roll over and play dead
although it sounds so damn appealing
won’t pretend the vampires are in my head
so i’ve tried concealing
but i can’t stand if i don’t speak
and until the day of the great repealing
i can’t pretend the nightmare is just a dream
and just keep on kneeling

i need a faith healing
if pictures speak a thousand words
then i am not revealing
i hope the images in my head are never heard
but i’ve got this feeling
since i’ve seen your beatific vision blurred
by all your underhanded dealings
maybe the flames of hell are to warm
the hearts so cold and unfeeling

~wwb