Poetry

from The Lie of Inspiration and the upcoming More Lies

Staring down the dog

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The black dog is barking

he tells me

the threat is emerging

from places so deep

so long entrenched.

He says it never leaves

just fades and returns

the threat around corners

the fear of what can't be seen

when the black dog lies dormant

and cannot be heard

the faceless enemy is harder to fight

this menace that creeps

in the dead of the night

is always there.

At least now he knows it

can see it, embrace it

and stare the dog down

and fight for a future

that seemed all but gone.

Backwater

It was such a time

things were different then

accepted it was, it would be

worthwhile in the end

Something somehow started 

on an old boat on a river

we watched, all of us,

for the perfect end delivered.

Backwater was a binding

but it was not a reason

the love that they were finding

had to bend to suit the waterways

Backwater was the weather

of a sunny summer season

that held them together

through the sunny summer days.

We thought Backwater would do it

but it had its limitations

I can now see through it

that the summer had to fall

They and I and others

can quote prolific quotations

but only season lovers

really know what to recall.

In the end it seems

not all dreams come true

a stolen season on the water

can make things overdue

a thousand miles away

in an office raising bail

Backwater was a memory

just an old boat with a tale.

The Further Descent into Stupidity

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As darkness falls

the new decree emerges

the loaf of bread, the armed robbery

the misspoken word, the waiting rape

all crimes and misdemeanors are the same

and people lie

to everyone prepared to not listen

the truth and lie go unexamined

as conservatism finds new life

from its most unlikely ally

as regression masquerades as progress

and develops crude culture

as the cowering lone voice

concedes in explanation

with "please let me explain"

as the subjective word is appropriated

to codify the thinking of the masses

as punishment must not fit the crime

as inquiry, debate, discussion, jest

await their clearance

as books and films are burned

memories erased

and the unperson banished once again

as the narrowness of history is embraced

in their sureness it will benefit the future

as the future straight ahead is a reflection

of an era derided yet pursued

as bigotry becomes the new convention

the dimwittidness of people is astonishing.

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