The government is not for profit
We pay them enough to protect us
And no more

When they don’t protect us
Who is held accountable?
The system is too large to blame

Somehow we all feel like
We’ve been taken by the banks
By our insurance companies

You mean these for-profit ventures
Dared to push the limit
Of how dry they could suck us?

You mean they didn’t err
On the side of caution
When gamblers breathed down their necks?

It is one thing to take a chance
And turn a profit
It is quite another to keep a gun to the head of a good corporation

And we said, Protect us! Protect us!
The gambler got paid
And we went back to making deals under the table.

Is fear relevant?
Once you have begun
The tedious process of
Removing it from your life
Situation by Situation
Groundhog Day style
Can it ever help you again?

Can you ever listen to
Another conversation
Without disgust for the
Presence of that
Foul-smelling creature,
Feeding off sharp words
And hasty opinions?

Can you ever again
Keep company with
That demon who causes
Men to become flighty,
Skittish, anxious,
Distrustful victims?
Should you?

Go where your heart leads you
Though you may not understand
It always feels right
Not like a weight lifted
Off the chest
But right like a fountain
Pouring its water forth
Not minding where it goes
And bubbling on with glee
As the water bounces
Off the universe’s walls
And returns to the pump
The heart of the fountain

Writing is weird

It takes a certain confidence
To say what’s on your mind
Especially when it’s all been said before
And better

But you never know who
Might need to hear
Your version of events
From your point of view

Not all word sequences
Speak to your heart
In your language
Today

The ultimate dance with life
You can spend your time
Pulling and tugging
Hating and Fearing
Or expanding
Moving in such
Perfect rhythm with life
That she recognizes you
And bestows her joy
Love and majesty
If only for one
Exhilarating
Moment.

Every cell in my body lights up
As you recall your brushes with power
And profundity
Something deep within me
Recognizes your authenticity
And joins you in your memory

The story ends
Our hearts peel apart
And I long to connnect again
I resist sucking you in
With my feminine power
And wait for your heart
To speak my truth again

I have a sensual recognition
Of beauty and power
But poor oral reciprocation
So I nod and smile and sparkle my eyes
Living in your moment
Like it was mine
Because it was
And the boundaries blur.

An ant crawls curiously toward my hemline
He’s not the biting type
He lives near grass so drenched
With pesticides
My skin erupts on contact
And I thought Bakersfield
Was bad.

Even an atheist
Can admit to
Feeling guided
On a benevolent
Path

One does not
Need to speak
Of your God
To feel the
Wave they
Rode in on

Every so often
The stars do align
And we are
Those stars

What keeps you sane?
With these minds
In these bodies
Knowing your
Destiny is to wake up
30 or 40 thousand times
And live with
What you were given
And be forced
To witness
The sometimes beautiful
But often gruesome nature
Of humanity
Over and over

Man’s search for meaning
The need to feel useful
Beyond gene
Propogation
So find a cause
Lose weight
Become more peaceful

But so many
Get caught up
In their own pitiful dramas
Painful side-shows
And choose to numb
Their experience
Thus denying themselves
The only true ache and insanity:
Knowing you exist