NYC-Big City Lights

i.

Big city lights
busy city nights
car horns sounding as
off beats
to taxi doors slamming
claustrophobic?
sometimes.
Life presses on all sides
humanity surrounding you
fear?
not really.
if anything, kinship.
appreciation.
affirmation.
like grain swaying in the summer breeze
the distances between us
are forever changing
near and far.
near and far.

ii

that warmth you feel inside?
it's not all
just the alcohol
you feel connected
to the world around
reject those notions of barriers
walls surrounding
a few drinks in
and we all wear our hearts on our sleeve
no longer feeling the need
to be anyone other than
who
we
are.

iii

and the lights spread out before you
beyond sight
beyond view
beyond comprehension
expansive

the only apt comparison
for those big city lights
are the stars that
glimmer above every night
decorating the sky
like a paintbrush with parkinsons
they blow us away
we are but one light in the city
and in the sky we are but one star.

Rocky Beach

Maybe someday
this will be just another
pristine, sandy beach
and tourists can play dune tag
and volleyball in the sand
locals will even come out on the nice weekends
with their beach towels and boogie-boards
to enjoy the feeling
of sand leaking up between their toes

but for now
I'll take the smooth gray pebbles
giving way beneath your feet
the seals' heads
bobbing on the rolling waves
of their secluded cove
floating closer
to sate their curiosity

I'll take the breathtaking impact
of waves on rocks
pinnacles, fortresses against time
the waves a culmination of forces we barely even understand
compelling them shore-ward, to land

For now
I can feel, almost oppressively, the force of the ocean
its passion rings in my ears
like the pebbles
cascading down the beach
as the wave retreats
nature's xylophone
treating whoever is present
to a breathtaking chorus

Give it enough time
and that beach might become sand
and you can take it.
I'll have to move on
and find another rocky beach.

Fear is a Weapon

Fear is a weapon of mass destruction
and it's destroying our souls


everywhere you look
it's fear controlling our actions
reactions
splitting our communities
into factions
fractions of what we could be
showing us
what we really lack
is trust

fear drives a wedge between us
a wall dividing our spirits
dividing our love
our generosity
and creativity
small
insulated
lives.

we're told to be scared of everything
beware
terrorists
              governments
                                 religions
I hear
"they" are trying to
destroy us
             brainwash us
                                 manipulate us.
And naturally we rise to our guard
after all
we only hear horror stories
stories of fear
heroes and hope
are left hidden
for they bring in very poor ratings

in a day and age
where the world hangs in the balance
cold wars occurring daily
in a fearful, distraught environment
I contest the greatest WMD
the greatest thing that saddens me
is our own fear

and while fear may not
wield an easily visible weapon
you can still see it
on the faces of strangers as you walk by
for we fail to see our similarities
and commonalities
we see only the unknown
and the unknown "they" can never
be trusted

so while we build our walls of
steel
wood
people
laws
we fail to see
that despite our valiant attempts
to save life as we know it
our way of life
the "American dream"
our own fear
is ripping our collective soul
apart.