ain’t gonna be famous nobody’s gonna remember my name past my funeral but that’s not gonna stop me from being me now i know some will say i’m an old fool for doing things for free when i could charge but i don’t particularly prescribe to all the new american tenets of behavior i still believe in being a good neighbor and friendly towards most folks you were right to pick up on the most folks part see some people are just plain evil i don’t blame the devil bad parents or hard times they’re just plain evil and even they can’t stop me from being me what about you can you be you
an ancient stone its writing in a tongue long forgotten tells how evil was granted one wish that no divine being could alter so evil endowed man with the inherent compulsion to debase others thus providing mankind with the main ingredient for murder
the sounds of the day
faded into footsteps
along a leaf covered path
each step marking
a memory to be forgotten
a love
now gone
a child
disowned
a death
all too soon
a pain
lingering too long
each step
weighing more
than the last
somewhere
along this path
was buried a dream
a childhood fantasy
that love
could
and
would
cure all evil
but that died
long ago
now only
a poem
marks
its grave
dawning of the new day
let the battle drums
proclaim this day
that hope shall not be denied
today in the armor of truth
hope shall stand
before the gates of hell
and deny death
its rewards for deception
standing as a man
who will not bow before
the arrogance of inhumanity
nor bleed tears of despair
hope shall march into
the spiritual realm of evil
and free the tortured souls
lingering with self-doubt
on their crosses of fear
it shall raise its banner of faith
high in the air
regaining all that was lost
to spirits of greed
and hate
letting no man
nor beast
stand in its way
for this day
victory
will not be
a dream
This poem represents my second response to the third challenge series between Jade and I. This challenge is somewhat different in that the prompt is now an audio prompt. Each poet provides the other with five instrumental songs (so that the song’s words do not interefere with the poet’s) from which the poet is to write a poem. Jade has written her first response which can be found here.
now
i have really
had it
man
always
when
of his own free will
does evil
blames me
now just wait
a damn
minute
and i mean that sincerely
i don’t mind
taking credit
for something i do
but even
i
have limits placed on me
by you know
who
look at it this way
when two lawyers present
a case
both parties
can’t be telling the truth
someone
thank goodness
is lying
the jury decides
who to believe
guilty men
go free
there’s the rub
right
are you catching
my point
you don’t go around
blaming the attorney
he’s just doing his job
the jury
made the mistake
they’re to blame
for the wrong choice
so as you can see
you need not blame me
i’m merely
doing my
job
don quixote
a retired country gentleman
a soldier for truth and justice
died this year
while fighting windmill-dreams
he was assigned to a company
of dreamers
believing that mankind could be saved
but somewhere along the line
lost his shield of faith
and so was easily forced into his grave
by insurgent corporate prostitutes
governmental goat herders
and one-way thinking priests
long before the battle had ended
his heart gave way
and could not heal
from the debt of hopes unfulfilled
and scorn of his past lovers
who promised undying love
but merely gave lethal support
quickly reaching for his purse
upon his death
finding only a daydreamer’s lint
in his ragged pockets
and so they cursed his name
as if he were the villain
not them
but that is the course of life
and history
good is met with evil
and evil
notifies the next of kin
half awake i wander through my day
sometimes dreaming
sometimes fearing
the corners of my own thoughts
as if there were some evil there
(it’s just a childish nightmare…)
all i ‘ve sought was love
not always that with passion
but that love which is willing to give
not decreed to be given
by some collared representative of god
(it’s just a childish wish…)
my body seems formless one moment
caught in a repeating nightmare
floating with only the sound of my heart beat
then vibrant like the sound
a morning sunrise should make
alive with all the wonders of life
like a child seeing his first parade
(it’s just a childish vision…)
i’m caught in this cycle
i ‘m the board which holds the anchor of the ship
and although the rest of the ship is gone
i am bound to these shores
crashing upon the rocks at low tide
and floating freely in the waves at high tide
(it’s just a childish sensation…)
soon the sea will rust these chains
and i shall float freely
without being held to these shores
till then
i must hold fast to what can be
and live with what is
and wander with the ebb and flow
that has brought me to these shores
(it is just the fate of men…)
Read Between the Minds 
