untitled (poem)

The streets paved to the way of freedom
becoming the lives it takes in its route
stacked homeless next to deprived families begging
to reinstate forgotten elements - as we open our blind eye

white chalk on the ground tracing the shape of death
red blood stain on the wall with a blue rag wrapped around the head
a neon reflection in black pools of oily iridescent wretch
swarming the shadows in between the filth and garbage

Candy painted rides - brightly colored fish net legs
huge afros' and tight braids - acrylic fingernails
over sized jackets with the fade - bass flooding sidewalks
windows exhaust a haze of tattooed faces - staring blank

Moon shine hinting off gold tipped teeth
Long suits and shiny shoes - children run in the street
slanted porches - gutted lawns - figures still as silhouettes
yellow street light shines on broken 40's and MD 2020 bottles

lives lost at the roll of the dice - place your bets


-

to abandon our own honor is to undo our own purpose

-

we cannot be over burdened with gifts we are allowed to receive

-

untitled

I am no longer sleeping
the wolves woke my heavy head
there was long awaited rapture

when I was entranced by nature

the instinct arose without restraint
I subdued any form of self
to shed the skin of mortality

to blend into the ethereal
become what is unquestionable

I will be
what is
an inner wisdom

Haiku

-

current flows as muscle

bending the rhythm of form

egos crash like waves




-


- Ben

Confrontation

to avoid confrontation.

The idea that neglecting or even pacifying cooperation by avoiding the responsibility of communication. Will somehow better our individual situation by denying connections that could be nourished as healthy interaction.

People claim the will to be virtuous, however lack the strength to tell those near to them what they are not prepared to hear. The responsibility is clear. Be true to the ideas and wisdom developed by your own experience while patiently learning about the perception developed by contrary personalities.

There are lessons to be learned. Through the constant turmoil that every life becomes entangled in. There are solutions being resolved. To problems that might seem difficult to fathom. Every second that we spend in conceptual life. There is an experience that is showing insight to a situation that could be detrimental to our understanding.

Why must we be separated from the ones that need reflection. Give what guidance you know to be true. Be prepared to receive information that can only be decrypted with sympathy and patience. Contrast of opinion can be easily viewed as constructive in its' ability to surface passionate insight.



04/23/08


- Ben

Slumber

As lay there hanging above the most tranquil of slumbers

I let myself fall down slowly
into the dark waters of a dreamless sleep

removing my being from its consistent fluttering

as if I were to shut my eyes
and the universe would turn
as black as the abyss

Awakening

Only to find something so precious cradled in my arms

I pull tighter

the breathe she releases
delivers a sigh of subtle relaxed kindness

somehow removing the woe of my reluctance
and gently lifting the discomforts of conflicting passions

scattering the burden of concern
into a myriad of microscopic details

that hint at the comedy of sadness
and the irony of Compassion


.



- Ben

Embrace

I remember this place
this feeling I cannot shake

our minds are vessels for the soul
giving life to forces not our own
we shared this passage to other worlds
without our love we are lost

in the night just like stars
in the warmth just like flames

I know
I need this

Divine Embrace

healing me in this
rapturous state


in the warmth just like flames
in the night just like stars



(2007)