Today

Drawn to my window by notes slightly off-key
sweet purple dancer you’ve awakened me
thoughts of tomorrow have your forlorn
delicate darling fret not frosty morn
inspire with song and unrivaled display
sing from your heart if only today

Government for the People?

Perhaps the skepticism and nagging concern many folks have voiced about a reversal in regards to the most recent decision regarding same sex marriage in California has a valid basis. The fact remains that the people of California voted for a referendum banning same-sex marriage. My angst does not lie with this decision in particular, but the troubling trend of Supreme Court rulings that run contrary to the will of the people as a whole and routinely run afoul of precedence. Especially in the ninth circuit court where they have an inordinate number of cases reversed every year by the United States Supreme Court.

This is nothing new. Our country has been held hostage by special interest groups for years and I see no radical change on the horizon. It’s just that today, as I fill up at $3.97 a gallon, that I’ve had my fill and am looking to mount my soapbox.

Let’s take Al Gore for example. That’s ‘Nobel Peace Prize winner, Al Gore. Give me a break! The only ‘green’ he’s concerned about is the lining of his pockets. Are we to believe that his heart is simply in the right place when we learn that this campaign has increased his net worth by nearly a hundred million? How quickly would gas drop closer to $2.00 a gallon if this nation showed serious intentions of tapping into our own resources, primarily A.N.W.R. Does it not seem hypocritical, to anyone except for myself, that President Bush is asking the Saudi’s to increase their oil output while we allow special interest to impede any progress we could make in our own nation? Yes, you can curse ‘big oil companies’ for profiting from these ridiculous gas prices, but the two largest pieces of the pie are the oil producers and our friendly local and federal government, who take a tidy sum of taxes from each of those gallons we pump and have no expenses involved whatsoever.

How about imminent domain? I’m not a betting man, but I’d like to see the government put that to a vote by the people. How many takers will vote for the government to be allowed to offer a ‘fair market value’ for your property in order to run it over with a bulldozer?

Lest I run on forever I’ll not get started on the fallacious argument of gun control relating to a reduction in crime. For now I’ll step from the box and smile brightly about the prospect of paying a higher percentage of my paycheck to bolster current and fund new failed government run programs.

The Chuch God Intended

The church I attend is currently transitioning from a building that was erected in the late 1800’s. Understandably some of the older members hate to see us leave this facility, but in time have come to understand we must.

Today marked the final farewell service and I had been asked by our pastor to write a poem for the occasion.

Ornate and sparkling from the outside
like the golden cup our Master did warn.
A church should reflect the contents inside;
a tapestry weaved, not easily torn.

Souls come unraveled revealing frayed cords
results of this world now and forever.
Yet through the grace of our savior and lord
he is the tie that binds us together

Structures erode like the fleeting of time
but not so the promise of salvation.
The church we desire and of God’s design
shall transcend a specific location.

Closing a chapter, writing another
guided by virtue of God’s holy hand.
Unions between our sisters and brothers,
the only church that God ever planned.

Hide and Seek

Smoothing
contouring
sculpting the surface layer
internal demons we superficially repair
living flesh disguised
as plastic and silicone
until given bodies
are longer our own

perhaps if insides became out
reversed from the start
no longer disguised
those lacking a heart
a grotesque display
not easily denied
venomous emotions
black and festered inside
repressed feelings
having wrought their decay
surely all would shudder
at the enlightenment of such a day

we must master and tame
the beast within
removing the cover
for healing to begin
no longer conforming
to standards prescribed by mankind
perhaps inspired
by the beauty we find

some insist society is responsible
for the great hiding game
but let us choose wisely
when delivering such blame
we individually share in the debt
that inevitably will be paid
for only the weak of mind and of character
are so easily swayed

I am....

a bird with clipped wings
a robin without voice
a harp with no strings
a decision without choice

a salmon seeking a stream
a diamond without reflection
a player cut from the team
a compass without direction

this life that I’ve led
from the day conceived
ensures that I’m dead
without having breathed