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I am nothing to you
but a friend
I am a gnarled tree stump
wrinkled skin
wet concrete after rain
I am Hindu
Jew Buddhist Muslim
Christian too
but I am more than this
I am Human
that is the point
I am alive, at one with you
I am a poet
searching for the right word
or phrase or quip
I lay in my bed at night
trembling
waiting for you

And I fear so much
I'll be honest
I must put on a good show
in our world of pretence
and the spectre of death
it haunts me
our primal fear
a reason for religion
ain't no escapin' it
but I am a rainforest too
everything fresh
I'm also a lousy sitcom
a middle aged hippy
one who believes in the peace
of all nations

And I detest a fallen tree
atmospheres full of noxious vapour
I am aghast at Afghanistan
decry any holy war
I thump Hitler each morning
yet see his clones on a morning train
in afternoon drive-bys
in seedy late night city streets
But I still listen to Rachmaninov
and catch a Woody Allen flick
even if we're losing the war
where the rich engender nothing
and only give so they can get
and poverty ticks over
begging for its messiah

And of course I'm honorable
of course honest to a fault
how could you expect this of me?
I am basic
like a 'basic search'
sorting out the cosmos
this way or that
but mostly I am compassion
this is the essence of life
what the masters spoke of
the distinction between good and evil
it is survival
truth
yes, it is truth
I am that

nice poem!

Yes, it is a nice poem. Yet, I feel a kind of darkness. Something just a little bit sinister, but I couldn't say exactly why. Just a feeling. But, yes, I enjoyed it also.

Linda.

Dear Linda,

Thanks for reading my poem and appreciating it.

Although outwardly our world paints many pretty colors, inwardly the walls are rotten with decay. Sick politicians, cheating business and warped religion take precedence over sanity and the countless poor. My poem just touched on these areas but I understand it may pull at people. If you felt something "sinister", so be it. I am angered by our world - the senseless violence, the violation of so many by so few. I'm glad you felt a "darkness". My poem worked in this way for you; you sensed the falsity, the "darkness" of life today.

Thanks Sandra for your warm comment

Hi Boss,

While I enjoyed reading your poem, your words to Linda: "Although
outwardly our world paints many pretty colors, inwardly the walls
are rotten with decay," express a sentiment that doesn't ring true
to me. There are all kinds of things on the inside, and they
aren't all "decay." Take, for instance, the impulse to make a
poem, even if it comes out of anger, there is usually a positive
intention on some level. While your poem references "fallen trees,"
in the right conditions downed trees recycle back to nature and
provide nutrients for its furtherance. Even manure is valuable
to organic gardeners when used appropriately. Sorry for the
poetic license in trying to express this. -- Yes, I too prefer
wilderness to parking lots, generally. The words of another
"Boss," Bruce Springsteen come to mind: "It ain't no sin to
be glad your alive" -- full and rich with promise.

Dear Steven,

Of course I agree that all is not black on the inside wall. Take making love or Wimbledon. It was a generalisation. However, I do believe in "sick politicians, cheating business and warped religion". They are at the very core of so much misery around the world. And they are there for the money - the power - let's face it. Until these institutions and corporations learn to share (and I mean it!) there will always be injustice and intolerance. The time will come one day. The time will come. Then children will eat, then we can have proper environmental controls, then whales will swim in peace and then people will dance and sing to a new song.

Regards Boss

Hi Boss,

Ah, thanks for the reply. There is much we agree on. Institutions
and corporations tend to reflect the kind of people that are involved
with them, sans too often even a reflection of human conscience. Politicians
tend to have civic responsibility, second fiddle, at best, to
self-aggrandizement and power. Businesses can be run contrary to the
golden rule. There are warpers of religion. I look forward to when
"the time will come" - yes. That time, though, in its fullest expression
is a messianic kind of an age, i.e. biblically proportioned. Until then,
the best we can do, it seems to me, is to do as Gandhi said: "Be the
change you want in the world." Take care.

Dear Steven,

M.K.Gandhi also said, "The seeker after truth should be humbler than the dust. The world crushes the dust under its feet, but the seeker after truth should so humble himself that even the dust could crush him" (26th November 1925 - The Ashram Sabarmati). I think if a few more of us tried as determinedly to find truth our fragile world of today could indeed evolve into something like a messianic age. It is not beyond the realms of possibility.

Regards Boss