Tao and now
Ghandi got it
and made India new.
We also see traces
within many races
of the ideas
attributed to
Lao-Tzu.
This may seem
ancient mystery
but please allow
a tiny pause to
enjoy the
relevance of
Tao to now
and recent history.
Lesson one:
Yield and overcome.
How we wish it were true.
Lesson two:
Empty and become full
Ask the starving masses
If it's yet the rule.
Lesson three:
Bend and become straight
Resilience is always great.
These rules are
the natural way of fate
and man's laws
only obstacles make.
Western philosophy's retort
is that nature's way
is nasty, brutish and short.
Right now I'm
somewhere in between.
But, wouldn't
it be nice to live
Ghandi's dream?
Helpless
The tugging at
my heart,
Harder than before,
Like someone had
Punched,
Kicked,
Shot and
Stabbed it.
Seeing you with another,
Something that I can't stand
But I keep a smile on my face
Every time you hold her hand
Every time you tell her how beautiful she is.
No matter how strong the pain,
No matter how much I want to cry,
I will smile
I will stay by your side,
Like nothing is wrong.
The world will go on,
Oblivious to my heartbreak
I will watch you and her
You with her
Smiling,
Crying on the inside
Slowly falling apart
But still I will smile for you
You won't ever know
How I feel
I won't be able to take your rejection
You'll just give up on me anyways
I'm not like her
I'm not as pretty
I'm not as lovely
We would never have worked out
But I still cry at night
I still think of you
You and me,
You with me.
I'm losing my mind
I'm breaking
But you will never see it
I'll still wear that smile on my face.
Shine
I am at odds with the universe
The stars are sprawled in front of me yet I am not allowed to touch
I am a comet stuck in your orbit
unable to escape just close enough to see the brightness you exude
You are an entire galaxy on your own, an entire section of the universe that runs by itself
And god if I could compare what I feel for you it would be the light of all the the stars in the sky
while my previous perceptions of love have have been but the glow of a city in the midst of night
And who could compare the twinkling lights of a city to the infinite lights of the cosmos
but I'm afraid that doesn't matter
those stars do not shine for me
Beware of Gods
I. My mother always told me the stories of gods and mortals She warned me of their selfishness and how they would only bring ruin, But she never told me how
II. He was the rising sun over my lands I fell for the brightness of his smile and the nimbleness of his feet and the way my name came tumbling out of those lips
III. The first time I kissed him he was hard and unmoving He couldn’t look at me as I drew back I ached when he left
IV. The first time I lay with him it was as if the planets had finally alligned Every breath was a lungful of stardust and every caress was the creation of galaxies
V. The war had changed him It was easy enough to see His every touch was heavy and weighed down by the hopes of thousands of men I could see the blood of many staining him yet I could only do nothing
VI. Taking his place was my choice His pride was as big as any gods but I would not let it be his downfall
VII. I was soaring over the heads of the enemies Slashing, stabbing into anything near me I watched in horror has Hector’s sword cut through me, my blood spilling out like the many truths I had wished to tell him Truths that he would never hear
VIII. “Gods are dangerous” my mother had warned me But she never warned me of their smile or their laugh or the way their very presence felt like ambrosia It wouldn’t have mattered anyway We were always destined to be