Bedtime Story

The smoke is sweet
the dark is strong
time to sing
a lonely song
a simple verse of solitude
when heart is weak
and night grows long

The candle burns
the flame does dance
catches my eye
become entranced
lose myself to a memory
of what was before
I took this chance.

And still the sand
falls so slow
one lonely grain
for every blow
each memory of better times
erases much
the need I know.

So very well
the warning song
when smoke is sweet
the night is long
when solitude is not your friend
you convince yourself
you were wrong.


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When Good People Break I Get Scared ~ #poetry by @Tashtoo

I totally understand you fear a thief in the night.
The criminal element that teams and steams through your neighborhood
Just waiting for the chance to do you in.
I understand that you need to protect your family from such riff-raff
The bowels of society
ready to fire if you dare cast eyes upon them.
Do you understand what the odds are
of the bad guys engaging you?
Look it up,
Learn some perspective.

I understand how much your rights mean to you.
Totally believe in fighting tooth and nail to hang on to them.
Especially those ones who served your ancestors
better than they serve us.
I feel the panic that sets in
at the thought of one of those rights being stripped from you
Gut reaction
History, tradition. Generations!
You are where you came from...the bloodline is strong...
Just wanted to remind you...we also have the right not to.
Think about it.

And to think, a government would have the nerve
to try to strip you of your rights...
the big ones catch all the attention,
but they are much more sinister in their dealing with
the ones that really matter.
I understand your need to feel as though you can protect yourself
from their onslaught with a rifle
preferably continuous rapid fire
I know when the time comes
to stand and defend
the guns we have armed ourselves with will make all the difference.
Not like The Man
holds bigger weapons.

I do have trouble with understanding
red tape
regulation
fees
...these things will not help us protect ourselves
perhaps, if we are forced to stand in line long enough
the killing urge will pass...
You know what scares me the most in all this?

Mr. Smith
He lives just down the street from me.
Brilliant man really.
Had a recent run of bad luck.
Well-to-do...or used to be.
Cut loose from the job he held for over 30years
overqualified
replaced by an unpayed intern who saw worth in experience.
all in the name of profit.
A caring husband. And well noted for it.
Alas, returned home early for supper
and found the Mrs. enjoying a favorite pastime
he thought she only enjoyed with him.
A young strapping son
who could toss the pigskin with the best of them
cruising thru to full scholarship
until he was busted with a dime bag in the parking lot
of the local 7/11...
I've been watching.
The grass has turned to straw
taking over the picket fence
of his normally perfectly manicured lawn.
The blinds, always drawn now.
The newspapers, overflowing the curb.
I also remember
on one of those awkward visits
when the urge to be neighborly overtakes,
Mr. Smith displaying the beautiful gun collection
passed down and added to over generations.

When good people go bad.
When they are pushed to their breaking point
and payback is the only way
I would prefer...they didn't have guns.
The chance of me
getting caught in the cross-fire
of broken human versus the world
is just too great.

The odds of the world breaking me
are even better
and the last thing I would want to have access to
on my journey to batshit crazy
is anything
with bullets.

Envy ~ #poetry by @Tashtoo

She is beautiful, almost regal
tall, confident
I envy her
not knowing
the perfect makeup
hides the still swelling bruises
from last nights lesson.

He drives a Lexus
Pearl black
moon roof, spoiler
I envy him
not knowing
there's a white notice
taped to the door of his high rise
that will have him driving that Lexus off a cliff
Into a desperate night
well before the coming dawn.

He looks at her
I see the love
I envy them
Not knowing
he will look at another the same way
before he lands home for the supper
she's sprinkled with her heart.

I look in the mirror.
and hate myself
for being so quick to judge.

Come Together ~ #poetry #prose @Tashtoo

Never, has your pain flown to me faster.
Never, have I been able to get close enough to count your tears.
Always, the truth would be filtered
watered-down
Your story
told through somebody else's voice
Today
I get to talk to you.

And "THEY" fear that,
because you get to me first,
they have no chance to convince me you hate me
because of my sex, my color, my nation.
They can't bend me to the point of breaking
for simply taking my news
straight from the horses mouth...
or can they?

I see them trying.
You must see it too.
Or are you really one of them, deep down
Ready to sell your truth
for the good life.
Would you sacrifice my secrets
if it meant you would be housed and sheltered?
I wouldn't blame you...
we all need to eat.

Most of "THEM" started with a sincere and honest attempt
to make the world a better place.
Thought the system wouldn't get to them,
believed they could make a difference,
and walked blindly into the line of fire,
their sense of morals corrupted
their sense of justice flipped to one sided
their own secrets recorded and registered
their own life threatened
based on noncompliance and high ideals

It is the human way.
Every system, in it's design, flawless
on paper serving the common good
in the hands of man
serving only themselves.

I have nothing of any worth that you can covet
I have nothing of any value that might tempt you
I've been clawing my way out of this system
to see
if perhaps
somewhere in the hearts of men
I can find the desire
to truly come together

for the global good.

One World.