a shout out (originally titled "manifesto")

…there has to be a better way to live, a better way to manifest our humanity. what is going on around the world right now is indicative of the worst of human behavior. on the other hand, there are miracles in the chaos. there are many testaments to the human spirit being written…even if they are being written in blood.

it's not going to end any time soon, but it's possible to end it. maybe everything has to fall apart first, be put back together. i don't know the details. i have a few ideas, but that's about all.

however, i'm tired of feeling like—no, knowing—that we are failing all the tests we're being given. history isn't repeating itself in the normal way; we are aiding and abetting it--and not the good history, either.

we're opting to follow the money trail versus going into the light.

something has to give, and soon.

otherwise this society will implode of its own arrogance and stupidity. there are people all over the nation and all over the world saying this, but the ones in the best positions are the people doing absolutely nothing about it.

it will take years for any of this to affect them, so they are willing to take their chances.

the rest of us don't have that kind of time. and, apparently, as long as we're "kept" people, we don't seem to care.

go on and brush your shoulders off….yeah. that's cool for a minute or so, but what are you gonna do in the long run?

when the people come crashing thru those gated communities and loot your palace instead of the one hundreds of miles away?

tattoos & birthmarks

we are still scarred.
wearing tribal marks in
permanent ink and
ancestral kisses

we know them as moles
or patches of odd-colored skin
shaped like birds
crosses
and butterfly wings.

the rites of passage
have been inverted
impaled on
upside down mcdonald's signs and
burned in the glow of televisions...

car stereos deafen the drum beat
and the children lose their way...
this has been said so many times
by so many people
i wonder if it's even worth repeating.

there is nothing new under the sun
so why do we act like 3 year olds
and pretend we don't remember
what we did five minutesdaysyearscenturies ago?

consistently actin brand new
as if each dawn
is an excuse for absentmindedness...

do gasoline fumes
cause collective amnesia?

is it the money?
indoor plumbing?
microwaves?

maybe walmart supercenter theft sensors
steal a bit of our collective subconscious
each time we go to pick up
paper towels and
toilet paper.

but i'm tired of making excuses

it's like they say--
betta act like ya know
ya betta ask somebody
betta recognize

recognize.
realize.

cognizance is an asset,
ignorance a liability.