Lazarus (Poem )

Rise, Lazarus,
Sleep no longer with the dead,
Let not legless worms
bouquet your youthful head -
come back, come back, come back ...

Your sisters mourn your departure,
Their grief agitates bleak gloom;
Even your friends have come
to mock death with you
near the entrance of your tomb -
come back, come back, come back ...

Rise, Lazarus
Let not death taint your sleep,
snatch life back into your sunken eyes
and colorless cheeks;
you have merely taken ill,
allowing darkness to becloud your day
in a somber haze of gray,
come back, come back, come back ...

Rise, Lazarus,
shed that putrid stench
and say farewell to the grave,
become the first resurrection
resultant of divine love,
come back, come back, come forth.

Independence (Poem )

Where are we headed
As a nation and a people
Have we become cattle
Guinea pigs, sheep,
unwitting victims
in a comatose sleep,
bought and sold
with a governments assistance,
 left in the cold
without whimper or resistance -
please tell me because I want to know
the gist of their plans,
the girth of such goals
and how long will it take
before they demand our souls?

Manifest Destiny, Eminent Domain,
Gentrification an ongoing game
for corporate developers
and the powers that be
to stake their claim,
take our lands and our homes,
consort and conspire
with global gnomes,
please, tell me, I'd like to know,
what else do they plan,
what are their goals,
how long will it take
before they claim our souls?

No-knock laws are in vogue,
the IRS a piratical rogue,
invasive regulations,
intimidation's,
economic and health strangulation,
confiscation of herbal vegetation,
fast food chains under assault,
what is sold and what is bought -
the rule of law seems out the door,
Miranda rights aren't read to the poor,
what's there to believe anymore-
decrees are doctored
edicts reshuffled,
the average citizen conned and hustled,
please tell me it isn't so,
I need straight answers,
I want to know,
what's their agenda
their long-range goals,
how long will it take before they rule our souls.

Gradually rights are become diluted ,
seat belts and helmet laws,
smoking bans, gun restrictions
shredded ballots in dumpster bins
and garbage cans.
Where are we headed as a people
as a nation.
Freedom of speech newly defined,
Democrats, Republicans one of a kind,
two separate bodies sharing one mind,
has Independence become a crime,
please tell me - I need to know,
is evil good and Justice blind.
High courts over-ruling parental rights,
raids taking place in broad daylight,
and under the blackest hue of night,
please tell me - perhaps you know
their long-range plans,
the hidden goals,
the timeline set
for them to rob us of our souls.

Together we stand divided we fall;
if not one for one and all for all
then who can we blame
for tightening controls,
bipartisan legislation full of loopholes,
please tell me because I don't know,
what else they will do
to legislate our souls.

Are you braced for the coming storm
where tongues are tied
and minds lumbered down
and prayer denied;
privacy becomes like Swiss cheese full of holes
the Internet and cell phones
the Emperor's new clothes ...
Where are we headed as a people - as a nation,
Please tell me because I don't know,
the bent of their plans,
their far-reaching goals
or how long it will take
before we surrender our souls.
Have we become cattle, laboratory rats,
Frankenstein experiments
a database of stats,
and some how believing coal dust is snow,
Please tell me, I want to know
who's on the payrolls,
who's footing the bill,
curtailing our freedoms
and trading off our souls.

Where are we headed as a people - as a nation.
Will we wind up on the ash heap of history,
due to power, greed and bastardized liberty -
bought and sold - left in the cold
because of poorly written scripts
and B- movie roles,
that keeps us in dark dungeons
and dumbing down  our souls.

Who Are We (Poem )

Who are we
this universal entity
known as Blacks
scattered throughout all worlds,
scheming conniving dying surviving -
Why are we hated
what have we done
that our history must bleed
We shall overcome

Have we ever made an endeavor
to conquer This world?
was Cesar, Bonaparte, Hitler, Blacks?
Why are we hated
what have we done
that our history should be
one to Overcome.
Blacks, subjugated
by many nations of This world
captives in their backyards,
mass human cargo,
shuttled from lands to lands,
economic assets easily identified
in the nation of thieves,
to be dehumanized emasculated
raped maimed murdered martyred,
unable to call for sanctuary asylum.

Who have we hurt
caused to suffer or killed en mass
other than ourselves
in Rwanda Congo Hutu's Tutsi
bloods and crips.
Who are we
This universal race of Beings
known contemptuously
as niggers apes blackamoors
spooks and little monkeys.

Who have we chained and shackled
sold like animals on auction blocks
forced on reservations concentration
and internment camps.

Where have we sent missionaries
and archaeologist
with guns and bibles
picks and shovels
to rape and plunder women and children
land and treasure.

Why us! why are we hated
what have we done.

Who have we conquered -
napalmed mai-lied.
Did we bombs away Hiroshima Nagasaki
kill six million plus Jews
Have we divided countries
created parallels condominiums.
Whose knee have we wounded
whose gold did we steal
whose diamonds ivory uranium plutonium
heritage culture Spirit.
Are we the authors of imperialism
colonialism militarism fascism racism.

Why are we second-class citizens
in this and that country
we of the darker hue.
What international war have we ignited
what global catastrophes.
Who are we
this struggling entity
known as jigaboos darkies coons and sambos
scattered throughout This world
carbon copies of different masters
earth-logged servants scapegoats
baked and blessed by the sun
why should our history be
one to overcome?

911 Aftermath (Poem )

Nothing will be as before,
We'll look over haunched shoulders
For nonexistent shadows dogging
Our footsteps and see demons
Grasping at our coattails ...

Nothing will be as before
Except the creeping fear of doubt
That terror sows and reaps
In war and peace on quilted soil ...

Nothing will be as before
From Gotham City to Dog patch,
War between McCoys and Hatfields,
Earps and Blandons, Lee and Grant -
One nation, one Spirit, one Flag,
Ol' McDonald and Mother Hubbard reconciled.

Nothing will be as before,
Shape and form, color and sound,
Noted differences in design and fabric,
Wiser with answers and questions:
Where from here, Why, who, what?

Nothing will be as before,
For Mary's little lamb
Whose feet are red, black and blue
From blood, dirt and searing steel.

Nothing will be as before
For Jesse James, Captain Kidd
And the Dutchman's buried treasure
Hidden mid stalagmite and stalactite
In mines and caves in Missouri and Afghanistan.

Nothing will be as before
For GI Joe and Uncle Sam.

Piggy Soul Cafe (Poem )

Whenever I am famished in a hoggish kind a way
I take a quantum leap to the Piggy Soul Cafe,
There's all you can eat for five fifty-five,
sometimes  I've had to ask myself,
Will I leave the Piggy alive.
They have a five star salad bar
Fit for queens and kings
Mushrooms, carrots, cucumbers
And purple onion rings.

I grace the first of my three plates
With beans and pepperoni,
Chunks of ham, candied yams
And a scoop of macaroni.
Positioning a second plate
I add mojo potatoes
Brussels sprouts, asparagus
And miniature tomatoes.

Once seated at a table
Knife and fork in hand,
I'm ready to take charge
Of my gormandizing stand.

After my first encounter,
I'm ready for round two,
Ah, the Piggy Soul Cafe
Is also famous for its stew.
It's mixed with savory spices,
Hunks of beef and celery
Oodles of noodles, chili sauce,
Oxtails and leafy parsley.

 I add extras to the dish,
Garlic and curry powder
As my thoughts race ahead
To Piggy's great clam chowder.

After a momentary break,
I'm ready for more feasting
This nonstop consumption
Is a lesson in beast eating.
I gobble down a rack of lamb,
Ham shanks and black-eyed peas,
Olives, beets and pepper steak
And small curd cottage cheese.

I do a plate with clams and oysters
Scallops and fettuccini,
Rice-A-Ronni, beef-A-Ronni
Raw broccoli and zucchini...

I end my feast with rich deserts,
Pecans dates and cherries,
Cantaloupe, watermelon,
Whipped cream atop strawberries.
Then as quick as one, two, three,
It's some custard, pie and cake,
Then I leave the Piggy Soul Cafe
With a hellacious stomach ache.
Perhaps you think I'm greedy,
Some grotesque, ill-fed geek
But the truth of the matter
And not just the batter,
I eat just once a week.

Well No. 60-817-44169 (Poem )

Due to negligence, greed & incompetence,The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig
in the Gulf of Mexico
erupted, collapsed -
yielded up eleven men
to Davy Jones' Locker.

Neptune convulsed with anger,
his dominions violated
as water retched up plumes
of black gold - Texas tea;
coral reefs & species faced the brink
of extinction; white-sand beaches
were bleached black.
Dolphins and pelicans
became oil slick sculptures,
a creeping, still-life image of a struggle
with suffering & death.

Halitosis oiled Mother Nature's breath.
debris hitched rides
on the backs of dime & quarter size
tar balls.

British Petroleum & Halliburton
Exchanged barbs and blows
in an environmental ring
of a man-made disaster.

Toxic gases and drilling fluid
did a Danse Macabre with
time-consuming ineptitude.
Like rats abandoning a sinking ship,
Transocean engineers scurried back and forth
to suture an out of control well -
panicked emergency buttons,
sounded alarms to no avail.

Uncooperative cement,
unmanageable mud muddled operations-
Robots weren't the answer.
Mistakes and mistakes
Millions coupled million gallons of oil
to gushed from earth's bowels
as she seemed to state: How dry I am,
how dry I am. Nobody knows how dry I am.
Hooow dryyy I aaaaam- not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Locus Politicos (Poem )

Locus politicos
hocus- pocus
discombobulated leaders
dems & publicans
narrowed focused
elected gangsters
perks & favors
for friends & neighbors
special interest
no bid contracts
tax evaders
self-righteous egotists
for votes & power
gifts & flowers
golden showers
in their ivory towers

they hide lulu
kiss boo-boo
scribble-scrabble
helter-skelter
hanky-panky, mumbo-jumbo
yada, yada, yada, yada.

For every season there's a time
a time of birth
a time of death
time to laugh
a time to cry
a time for war
a time for peace
a time to fast
a time to feast.

Ah, miss Muffet on her tuffet
cutie, cutie -
Goldilocks, Cinderella
beauty, beauty
Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher,
Condoleezza,
iron-fisted ladies liberty -
whack-whack, knack-knack
crackerjacks, prozac-
Shadrack, Meshack & Abednego,
three in a furnace
let 'im go
woe, woe, woe.

Karma, kismet
writing on the wall
rapture, nirvana, end times
and all
Armageddon, doomsday
a row of dominoes
watch them fall.


locus classicus
major domo
proportional representation
affirmative action
quotas, quotas
discrimination -abracadabra
open sesame, presto
Beulah in Wonderland.
Aunt Jemima my Sleeping Beauty.

Hemidemisemiquaver.