response to ransom note…

if one breaks the law
the law must be enforced
if not there’s no law
we cannot let mobs rule us
for then democracy dies

 

 

mount st helens…

promises
of
freedom
carefully crafted
dreams
to
resemble
reality
a socially embedded
myth
like
an induced
drug
comma
that
has postponed
the nightmare
unfolding
across
the
nation
it
is
a reoccurring
incubus
calling out
for
the promises
of
freedom
to be
fulfilled
not by some
high priest’s
words
offering
more of the same
gruel
that
with patience
it
will be delivered
but
it has never
been
delivered
nor
i fear
ever
will
be
and
i suspect
time is running out
for
promises
and
promisors

 

docked on the river styx…

did we
just
arrive here
or
have we been
on
this course
for
quite sometime now
few places
are
arrived
by accident
most
are
set courses
by
either
ourselves
or
those
before us
had we
not denied
what
clearly
was written
our final fate
would have been
perhaps
different
but
we
chose
to
stay
the course

 

american greatness…

so
this
is what
makes
america
great
the herding
of
immigrant children
into
cages
along its borders
the confining
of
its elders
so
death
will whisk away
its
economic woes
its knee
of
fascism
firmly
on
the neck
of
the free press
its
systemic
oppression
and
murder
of
its poor
and
all
outside
its elite class
of
white
a class
that has
a class
within
a class
male
and
female
its dominators
and
dominated
all the while
its
leader
hides
away in a bunker
like
hitler
as the war
for
freedom
rages outside
oh
such greatness
is hard
to
fully
imagine
but
it would appear
it has been
achieved

 

just a simple question…

how many bodies
must line the street where you live
before you question
what has been or has not been
done to heal a nation’s wounds

 

finding a workable solution to land mines…

fingers
tracing
sharp edges
hoping
to discover
a solution
before
those
finely hone
edges
from abuse
can make
clean
bleeding cuts
into
societal skin
these are
negotiations
with
outcasts
outcasts
deafened by promises
unkept
and
dreams held
at arm’s length
visible
but
unattainable
recall
sun tzu’s
the art of war
few do
so
those
ignored
by a society
that lauds
personal achievement
and
make calls
to those
wrapped
in poverty;s cellophane
to
pull yourself up
by
your bootstraps
knowing
all the while
there are
no boots
and
the straps
were removed
long ago

training camp…

digital decoupage cwmartin 2011

he watched
as the soldiers
destroyed his home
dragging his father
into the street
beating him
ripping the clothes
off his mother
kicking her
repeatedly
he watched
he watched
very
carefully
without
a single
tear

public notice…

the austerity
avoid riots
at any cost
committee
is pleased to announce
that a settlement
has been reached
with all governmental
maintenance groups
a historic document
offering all workers
the same
compensation package
as legislators
as a result
all governmental decisions
and maintenance projects
have been
deferred

majority vote…

 

out on the street
they have decided
to cast their votes
no paper ballots
or hanging chads
this time
rioto complicate
the matter
just a large number
of warm bodies
crowding into a square
where their unified voice
might
be heard
but
the movement
as they call it on the news
doesn’t really have
a single voice
just a unified complaint
and if he goes
then what
freedom
or
a fragmented
group
that
turns upon
itself
to feed