tyranny(saurusrex)

it has been said
a well armed populace
is the best defense
against tyranny;
but in fact,
it is the very assurance
of tyranny.

a well-informed populace
is the best defense
against the
defensiveness
that is
tyranny

I've heard it said to me...

and I heard it said to me
"every man...created equally"
maybe they believe it,
but I just can't see it
cause they trynna prevent us to see
we were made for liberty,
so "know the truth...and it will set you free"

Now let me tell y’all
somethin that mean somethin to me:
we all got our own thoughts
about what to believe,
but some want to say what
everyone else oughta be--
that everyone should become
followers of a creed,
in singularity cuz they say we all need
to share one opinion
based on the sayings of a priest
but the problem is that progress is
impossible to achieve
if we all be deceived
to be too intolerant to coexist
as part of the same family
cuz it just sound to crazy and amazing
to be true in reality,
but humanity just cant be seen
divided like how we try to perceive it
cuz different names convey
the same things
even if we dont see it,
so if we embrace that, heavenly grace
is what we finna receive
as we do away with all the hatin
cuz we finally see
that what’s divine is right inside us
when we set ourselves free

and I heard it said to me
"every man...created equally"
maybe they believe it,
but I just can't see it
cause they trynna prevent us to see
we were made for liberty,
so "know the truth...and it will set you free"


O, how amazing this grace
and how sweet it sound;
Oh so crazy these days
cuz it cant be found,
and I’m so disgraced at this place
as I be lookin around at
All of the ways that the same
problems be cycling round,
but, if this state never changes
we all gon drown in a
spiral downward and
I’ll be like “Oh, hell now what?”
and wow,
where can I go now?
I guess I’ll
just hafta figure it out
but what I wonder about
aint the where but the how--
many other people bound
to be left out,
when we got enough to go around
for now
but we just aint passin it out
cuz we too attached and proud,
so what we need to see is that
freedom’s the high road out,
of that, I haven’t a doubt;
we can’t be livin without the rhythm
freedom’s givin us out--
whether it be freestyle or
if it be written down,
if it come in a soft sound
or we jam it out loud
by ourself or if we stand in a crowd
goin in or comin out,
all Jah people know to be devout
stand up and shout for freedom
cuz freedom music be makin
Jah proud!

and I heard it said to me
"every man...created equally"
maybe they believe it,
but I just can't see it
cause they trynna prevent us to see
we were made for liberty,
so "know the truth...and it will set you free"

the end?

The End

We humans are moving
From enslaving one another
(and ourselves)
Directly,
For now we have enslaved
Time itself,
Which has become our new bondage;
For now we have mastered
Nature (so we think),
Which has in turn mastered us
And still we are
Defeated,
Broken,
Yet hoping on...

The Future

things: objectively objecting objectification

Nothing is nothing,
and that is everything,
But if nothing can be everything,
how can everything be nothing?
And everything is also something
but is nothing also something?
Surely something is not nothing,
but is something nothing's opposite,
Or merely the composite
of everything?
Because anything can be something,
but cannot be everything,
Even though if everything cannot be anything,
then everything is nothing,
Which means that everything
is both nothing and something
At the same time,
Needing neither reason nor rhyme
And this can also be said of anything,
Which is thus never solved by
The asking of why;
Everything gets by just fine
before I ever arrive to draw the line
(It all merely lies confined in my mind!)

throne out

Liberating light of the sun
work never is done;
each daylight instant won
till sit he does
upon a Western throne
(when darkness descends
upon the earth)

The throne rules
only in darkness;
when the light comes it is clear
there's merely a chair,
and a majestic golden crown, shed
reveals merely human hair,
for the royalest head
still blows out the same air:
words, thought, are said
in want of care,
and a king, undead,
cannot rule fair.

times

clocks wind round
in lockstep, controlled
but controlling
only minds

the moon makes rounds
of wax and wane,
and with a distant wave
changes the tides!

in whom shall we confide,
for these are not one,
but two times:
the time of life,
and time confined;

for time, defined
is reified, then deified
until defied
by the timeless life
cycle,
when untied and unlocked
from the lifeless time
cycle
of the clock

who is US?

us

The U.S. is
segregated,
divided.
For its state to be united,
Two letters become one "us"
U.S. wants you;
us has you
And me too

Not out of many, one
Have we become;
What's always been
Can never be done
(only undone)
And in its myriad forms,
The world is always one
"us."

winded?

will you not live longer
if you use your wind
for breath,
not idle chatter?

wind gives life
only if received,
breathed

for her breath
causes our idols to shatter,
yet her depth
reunites the scattered
not bringing freedom from pain,
yet sustaining,
bringing life-giving rain
and retaining
the unparalleled beauty of the earth and the heavens
when everything therein dances
its own unique dance in her presence,
each thing is made itself
yet inseparably together swelling
in response to her indwelling

you ought to hear

If I say what you want to hear,
All of your fears are make believe
If I say what you ought to hear,
All your fears make you believe
That your security comes from banishing
To and from obscurity and vanishing
Banshees made from
Labels you name them
Try to put your mind over
Matters such as these
You cannot be a blind knower
Of what it means to see,
A dead doer of deeds,
Or a lifeless lover of life who learns
That grace is never earned,
Neither where incense is burned
Nor where being incensed is turned
Into repentance--
Merely in exchange for death's sentence
Like Pascal you are wagering,
But only minimally waging
A 'War to End All Wars'
Yet 'Peace' remains 'A Separate...'
Entity, endlessly emptied of enmity,
Content to be without contempt, indemnity
And you do not hear me,
You who fear me,
From the fog you cannot see clearly
Until the reign is gone;
Wherein Pharaoh still rule as God
Be careful what you deny, lest you find

I, too, am African

if I listen to the scientists
then I, too am African
which means that
people with my shade of skin
have actually enslaved our kin
which is akin
to the belief that we're all God's kids
and if
"there is neither male nor female,
Greek nor Jew," then
is it quite right
to see things so black and white?
it is true
that here is me
and there is you
but we have to see each other
in living color

I wish...

I wish atheists would read
the Bible
so they could read about
and then tell us about
which God they do not believe in
which would tell us more about
the one they do believe in,
and so they could tell us about
our Mother,
Nature,
whom we evoke implicitly
whenever we address explicitly
our Father,
God,
so they could tell us about
the spirit of Life,
present and working
in our bodies and creation,
where we only see disembodied "souls"
and a "kingdom" that is not only
not of this world,
but not even in it
at all,

I wish atheists would read
the Bible
so we could both see
the God who created, inhabits, sustains
this world,
and the God who promises
fulfillment
in the redemption
of new creation,
and so that we who believe in
"salvation"
could hear more about the need for
truly "good news"
and about the liberation we need
from the hell that exists,
here and now,
instead of dark and foreboding fears
of a damnation that is to come,
and to remember that eternal life
cannot become manifest in time
without breaking through
as "resurrection"
from pain of suffering and death,
the experience of the excruciating
that is all-too-present
but NOT the LEAST bit
eternal

sound logic don't sound logical

sound logic...is a contradiction in terms;
for its germination/German-(n)ation must start with germs
like a parasitic paradox,
living on decay itself
unable to sustain itself
without a host,
chokes...
what is meant to be breathed,
not exclusively exhaled.

the audacity I hope

have the audacity
to say "I Am."
(without qualifying it with
a parenthetical predicate)
and the audacity
of hope...
in being-itself,
in being myself
and yours,
as a community
whose unity
is bigger than
"consumerist" or "communist"
and in which consumption
and our assumptions
are themselves consumed

so fragile

so fragile:
just walk down the street;
anyone you meet
could tell you a story
that would break your heart,
a shattering experience
like those we all have,
yet we go on
gluing ourselves
back together
and pretending
not to be
so fragile

separate peaces

I read A Separate Peace,
puzzled
at how to put the peaces
back together
"I know the pieces fit"
but in this Schism
I also know
Things Fall Apart
and it aint just Shawshank
that's lookin' for
Redemption

At the question of Truth
Atlas Shrugged,
and like Sisyphus,
he 'dropped the ball'
but there, too, was Noah
lookin' for Gravity's Rainbow
cause when it "All Falls Down"
like the Souls of Black Folk
the people "Get Up, Stand Up,"
"People Get Ready"
for "Movin' On Up"
in "Exodus"
trusting God, not
what "They Say"

i see jesus walks

I see
Jesus walks
when I sleep,
I hear
Jesus talk
when I dream
but just last week
I saw Jesus,
walkin' in the street,
had a sign sayin' he'd
work to eat
and a worn out cup from the VP
shakin' a few dimes and pennies
and it wasn't just that week
or just that meeting;
he still in the streets
while I sleep
while I eat
while I dream
while I have heat, he is
there, cold, bare, hungry,
naked, poor, forsaken, dirty,
crying, weeping, hurting,
sitting, waiting, yearning,
suffering, dying
to remind me he is
rich beyond measure he is
like buried ancient treasure he is
hidden in plain sight
that's you'll I find him, where he is,
where he found me and he is
living, breathing, he is
alive and I see him
I always see him
when I have eyes to see
I always hear him
when I have ears to hear, he is
here, now,
and I always see him when
I am open
because he was,
he is
and always will be
who I see

do the birds go to sleep?

do the birds go to sleep...
when it's 1 AM
and it's dark as death
quiet as a coffin
and even the crickets don't creak,
do the birds go to sleep?

if they go to sleep,
how they always know...
when the sun comes
back to life,
passed the night,
then singing
another new day
into being,
their melodies bringing
everyone else--all of us--
back to life...

...do the birds go to sleep?

discovery, channeled

I, like Columbus, have discovered
That that which I've uncovered...
...has already been found
Yet in spite of my blunder
My legacy is bound
To be recovered,
Not torn asunder,
And once I'm covered up
Six feet underground,
The world shall not forget the sound
Of the truth I speak
For what I seek
To conquer is neither conventional
Nor continental
Riches are written in rhymes,
In minds,
Not sifted from mines
And mine lie
Where not even Time finds
My mind is resource-full but unexploited
Never resorting to such unwise choices
That render human voices voiceless
I've come, I've seen [what is best left] unconquered
The name of no queen nor king have I honored,
For cordially I have explored their rewards
And found that none can afford
The cost of even one human life
What can be bought that hasn't a price?
Not content to be graded for content,
Give no consent to be degraded as 'common'
Man nor sense
Can you understand or sense
That I am not you, and hence,
I am me, and I am free
And all that we can be
Is 'we'...that's what we must handle;
This is the discovery that we must channel

big mama

Big Mother is watching,
and chirpin'
from her perch;
a branch overhanging,
overlooking
a nest in the next
tree,
so she
tweets,
ready to retreat
if I advance or perchance threaten
but sitting, singing
to me
as long as I am
sitting silently listening

chi city '68 (it's a riot!)

TWO WORDS,
TWO SIDES,
TWO LIES:
TOO BLIND
TO SIDE
WITH TRUE LIGHT:

RENNIE DAVIS
LINCOLN PARK
ALAN GINSBURG
POLICE SIEGE
TENSION THICK
HELMETS WITH
GAS MASKS
PANIC/HYSTERIA
TEAR GAS
PLAYING TAG
WITH BILLY CLUBS
INTELLECTUALS MISUNDERSTAND
RESIST ARREST
UNDERMINE AUTHORITY
LOTS CAST
LINES DRAWN
IN SAND
WAR DECLARED
ON ANTIWARRIORS
DEMOCRATIC/UNCONVENTIONAL
UNION STRIKES
ARE UNCONDITIONAL
MEDIA CENSORSHIP
MACCARTHY AND LEFTISTS
EYE ON
THE CHI
DALY AND HUMPHREY
FLY AMONGST
DOVES AND HAWKS
BIRDS OF PRAYER
OR BIRDS OF PREY
FROM DETROIT
CHICAGO, D.C.
OR VIETNAM
YIPPIES HIPPIES
BLACK PANTHERS
AND VIETCONG
HANG IN THE BALANCE
OR THE GALLOWS
OR THE BULLET
OR THE BOMBS
FROM CHICAGO
TO KENT STATE
CAMBODIA/VIETNAM
NO LONGER
LIE DORMANT
HEAT UP
AND ERUPT
ANGER, HATRED
AND VIOLENCE
BIFURCATION OF
PEOPLE, NATION
STUDENTS HUNGRY,
THIRSTY, WEARY
TO LEARN
FROM WHOM?
ALL LIKE
LOST SHEEP
PLAY ACTING
AS SHEPHERDS
DEFENSELESS TO
WILD PIGS,
WOLVES, RATS,
BLUE & WHITE SHEPHERDS
WHOSE CANES
ARE NIGHTSTICKS
AT HOME
AND ABROAD
VIOLENCE IS
THE ANSWER
TO THE
QUESTION OF
PEACE-MAKING;
PEACE MAKERS
(AND KEEPERS)
GO TO JUNGLES
OF LEAF AND CONCRETE
PACKIN' HEAT
SWEEPING STREETS
AND CREEKS,
EAGERLY POISED
FINGERS ON TRIGGERS
BARRELS EYEBALL
"GOOKS" OR "NIGGERS"
ORDER! ORDER!
(WHOSE COURTROOM?)
WHO'S THE JUDGE
WHOSE CASE
PLEADS TRUTH,
WHOSE FACE
BLEEDS TRUTH
WHOSE DEATH
LEADS TO...
EASTER? PEACE?
WHICH IS WORSE:
BEATING/BURNING
AMERICAN FLAGS
OR AMERICAN CITIZENS
LABELLED "FAGS?"
"PROTECT AND SERVE"
OR REPRESS AND MURDER?
THOSE APPEALING
TO CONSTITUTIONALITY
COMMITTED TO SILENCE
FREE SPEECH
WITCH HUNTS
AND LYNCH MOBS,
GESTAPO COPS
IN FASCIST UNIFORMITY
DEMANDING CONFORMITY
BUT THEMSELVES SORELY
MISINFORMED
NATIONAL GUARDIANS
MILITARY PREOCCUPATION
FROM VIETNAM JUNGLE
TO WINDY CITY STREETS
DEMOCRATS, REPUBLICANS
GENERAL PUBLIC AND
MOBS, THUGS, ARTISTS
HIPPIES, YIPPIES,
BLACK PANTHERS,
POETS, BEATS--MARTYRS
AND POLICE, SWAT, MILITARY,
POLITICIANS AND OFFICIALS
ALL WAITING
FOR A MEDIEVAL BARBARIC
ANGLO-SAXON BATTLE
WAIVING STICKS
LIKE CAVE MEN
COMPLETE REGRESS
OF "ELITE" AND CIVILIZED
CIVL RIGHTS
COVERING CONVENTION
ON TELEVISION
MEDIA DECIDES
IF RIOTS
ARE NEWS
OR PROPAGANDA
COLLUDE WHAT TO USE,
CONCLUDE THAT IT'S NEWS
SHOW THE PEOPLE THE TRUTH
EYES GLUED
TO THE TUBE,
CONFUSED
YET LEFT TO CONCLUDE
ON THEIR OWN
WHAT'S THE TRUTH
AND THINK ABOUT
HOW TO VOTE ON ORDER
AT HOME
AND ABROAD...

PEACE OR PACIFICATION?

TWO WORDS,
TWO SIDES,
TWO LIES
TOO BLIND
TO SIDE
WITH TRUE LIGHT:
CHI CITY
'68

mindless

mindless,
I am forever floating
between the conflated
sense of self-importance
that produces the delusion
that what I think
should be written down,
that it could benefit others,
and the humble realization
that this notion
is pretentious
yet still,
I write, and
seldom bite
my tongue
until I'm
mind-numb
mindless