i smell it heavy
there is rain on the air
but from whence
but from where
i cannot say

But it is there

Like expectant hope

Before the downpour

That would wash away

The drying times

That would cleanse

The fickle filth

That hangs about our lives

Like a wasting disease

there is something warm
that wells up from within
and sets my heart aflame
something powerful
that causes me to glow

let me bottle this
and keep a store set aside
that i might use on occassion
when i fall into the abyss
from time to time

but for now i am alight
with something good
and this is enough

The Earth was too big

And too full of others

To spare the time to embrace him

And he understood

And he lived a best be could

Knowing she had important things to do

Like keep us all alive

After all

In the game scheme of things

His needs were as nothing

To the great world’s tasks

Touch was not as critical

As simply breathing

A simply being

And in the end

After oblivion

It would be a if

He had never had needs at all

He had never been at all

Such was the sense of insignificance

In the face of so many other people

And the priority of there lives…

He was like a shadow

complaining of the sun

Forgetting that he wouldn’t exist

Without it.

Quiet yourself

Stand still in the shadow

In the hidden places

To remain unseen

Until the day ends

When the dark comes

And you can move freely

Invisible

Safe

out the window
the world is framed
and presents wildnerness,
chaos controlled
with the world cropped out
as a lie with a purpose
that we might feel alone
in the best possible way

• One should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason.
  
• The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.
  
• One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.
  
• The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo one’s own.
  
• Beliefs should conform to one’s best scientific understanding of the world. One should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit one’s beliefs.
  
• People are fallible. If one makes a mistake, one should do one’s best to rectify it and resolve any harm that might have been caused.
  
• Every guiding principle is designed to inspire nobility in action and thought. The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice should always prevail over the written or spoken word.

i stood on the shores
of the endless prairie sea
watching waves of gold and green
shimmering beneath a loving sun
to the horizon and beyond
until i was washed away
by the undertow
lost in the vast quiet
drowning in the sounds
of high hunting hawks
and red wing blackbirds
knowing i will be buried here
beneath the rich black earth
forever beneath the surface

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did you know
you will live forever
in my words…
that you are eternal
in these lines?

this is my gift to you
(or perhaps my curse)
that long after we’re gone
someone will read this text
and know something of you;
that you had an impact
and drove a mind wild.

these are my hieroglyphs
painted on tomb walls
for future eyes to discern
that you glowed like sunset
in the heart of the artist
and that you lived
not because of me
but near me and within.

we release our demons
as screams and bold words
only to have them flee
to our surrounding walls;
they are ghosts crying out
in the middle of the night
forlorn for the loss of haven
within our hollow hearts
within our makeshift minds;
we can hear them scratching
like rats at the drywall
seeking exit to our room
that they might return
and embrace us with their
cold flesh and hooked hands,
but we will resist
and hide beneath covers
until the saving sun rises
sending them scuttling to corners
to await the fall of night again
or until we find the strength
to drive them out forever
with an exorcism of self-love
never to return again.