They say prophets and Saints
Are cursed because common people
Blame them for common ills.
Buddha has made friends recently
With Gargoyles and Medusas
Because He knows the world's impatience
Does not distract them from their purposes-
For bad, or good.
Ancient Icons have once again
Taken their time into great passing-
Common people once again cursed
With the absence of any single entity
To blame.
-The christian God still pounds His gavel
-Demanding justice for sin and sacrifice
From followers. Occultists that subscribe
To theologies of their own creation,
Skirt the fringes of society, allowing
The rest of us to guess when it is
Their ice caps will crack, or shudder.
-Nothingman appears at your door
Asking simple questions, with
Eternity in his eyes.
-We are beholden to four basic elements
No matter how many others' chemists,
Or engineers invent for each other.
-The true mystery of modern existence,
That hovers on peoples' tongues like
A permanent forethought-
Where does time begin again
After the end of many eras that
Constantly seemed to be recycled?
-Demanding your next paycheck,
Or even equal treatment and respect,
Is pretty much the same thing
These days.
10-
I've always loved Southern California alleyways-
An unnamed street running parallel
With the named, overused, real street.
I've seen things in alleyways-
Lost souls crouching for a smoke,
Away from scrutinizing eyes-
Broken bottles next to dumpsters,
And trail of blood leading away-
Everything and anything can and will
Happen in an alleyway that happens
In any other place in the world.
-If alleyways did not smell like piss,
You would suppose the city you are in
Has enough public restrooms available
For anyone who needs to use them.
-More trash and waste are collected
On a monthly basis from the dumpsters
Lining most alleyways, than the amount
Of valuable items a person will ever own.
-There is almost no sewer drainage
In most alleyways. Which means, by the end
Of summer, you can take samples
Of the exact type of grime the city
Would not want on it's real streets.
-Alleyways are great shortcuts,
To avoid normal traffic delays.
-And also, a great place to hide in shadow
If the flashbeams of cars
Become overly repetitive.
-I have found enough spare change,
Once or twice, in an alleyway,
To buy a soda, and candy bar.
-I wonder if the person working at
The convenience store washes his/her
Hands before eating his/her lunch after
Touching that spent money.
-Last night, I came across a young lady,
Sitting in an alleyway, her back against a wall,
Tears and eyeliner streaked her face.
-She was so quiet, so embarrassed,
That she was almost invisible- Like
A small, plastic grocery bag drifted
In the wind, away from whatever
Home it believed it had belonged to.
I sat with her and shared a cigarette,
And offered solace in the form
Of non-judgement.
She stopped crying, thanked me
For the grit, and told me
Friends were on the way
To help her, and take her home.
-I would have liked to have spoken
With her longer, and given her
Another smoke- But, it was just
Getting dark, and I had not yet had dinner-
-And, I know there are vampires
In that particular alleyway. So, it
Was safer for me to leave the young lady
To her own destiny or fate,
Than to change my plans for the evening.
