December

There's a wind that bites on the coldest nights
In the frozen lap of December,
And it leaves its marks of depressing truth
Everywhere that it blows. Remember

All the lonesome old, and the suffering youth
And the desperate cries of a mother
As she scrapes what once had graced her womb
From the street in the wake of another

Downpour of fire; every home's a tomb
With its epitaph on the faces
Of the drenched who dried everything they had
In the rain, of all the places.

As a village dines on a morsel, glad
For the fact that their meal was bigger,
Don't forget blood spilled, all of it unwilled
By that tot enticed by a trigger.

But we all rejoice for the time we killed
In our hot pursuit of pleasure,
Just don't be ashamed of the tears you shed
They might be our only treasure.

(Take it down just a notch for the dead.)

There's a wind that bites on the coldest nights
In the frozen lap of December,
And it leaves its marks of depressing truth
Everywhere that it blows. Remember.

Happy New Year!

Mall Blues

I stole this candid shot of my son at the mall.

I don't know why I'm here at the mall,

It's so painful, but I'm biding my time

While my sisters, and my mother of all

Are deliberating some fashion crime.

Dad reminds me I'll get used to the wait,

But I know I need a miracle prayer

That, until I learn to welcome my fate,

Can dissolve all of this time in the air.

Hope

It's what makes a heart to steal away
Deep into the darknesses you find
There beneath the layers where they play,
Demons find a way to trick your mind.

Don't give up on what you feel inside
Beating 'gainst a chest that has no worth
If the sound of every beat has died,
Time to give another beat its birth.

All that matters is what you think of
Him who thinks of you just all the time,
Even when you think you've had enough
Of that thought you ever thought a crime.

Hakim

This poem is to honor our physician and all those in the medical field who strive to do the one thing that really matters - care.

Who hears the patient out,
Who listens very close,
And wisely sacrifices doubt
For what the patient knows;

Who thinks beyond the need
To make you smile, instead
Exerts all knowledge well to heed
The longer mile ahead.

Who knows disease is war
That's waged with no decrease
In helping that which battles for
The maintenance of peace.

Who answers every call
From agitated voices
Believing ER isn't always
From the wisest choices.

Who knows that every soul
Loves dignity in breath,
And reconciles it as one whole
With dignity in death.

We're blessed that while alive
We have among us such
Whose wisdom may help us surive
Death's first and only touch.

It's them we address now:
Thank you very much.

Sugar Trap

Banana Cream Pie (photo courtesy M.H.C.)

I'll pay you a dollar to build me a palace,

And fifty cents more if you build without malice;

Its walls crispy brownie, its window frames cream,
The couches are fondant in layers that gleam
With marshmallow cushions of various shapes;
And don't forget drapes cut from strawberry crepes,

And when I have run out of candy to eat,
Returns it the favor with practiced deceit,
As each of my organs it slowly consumes;
I am now its palace with hundreds of rooms.

A dollar and fifty has bought me disease,
And now I'll pay thousands in hospital fees.

When You're Sad

When you're sad, just remember it's alright,

There's a reason that you're feeling sad this way,

Someone's drawing your attention at this time

And is working now to help you turn away

From each smell, each taste, each touch, each sight and sound

That fills every space and moment of your day;

Shut it out and turn you with your heart around

To where all that ever matters goes to play,

And then look into that face you cannot see,

Listen close now to that voice you cannot hear,

As your heart pumps out a name in every beat,

It is how a sweet remembrance draws you near.

There is nothing else that matters now, my dear.

Thursday Riddle (December 5, 2014)

My seed is desire and poison, my fruit,
And when my desire begins to take root,
It grows like a fire that makes it's way higher
To burn all in sight of the eye of desire.

This will be my last Thursday Riddle, at least for some time. Thank you for playing.