Welcome to The LAST Battlefield. This is where you can find all my art in one place: photo, video, music, and written word. Hope you have a nice stay!
Welcome to The LAST Battlefield. This is where you can find all my art in one place: photo, video, music, and written word. Hope you have a nice stay!
IT'S NOT ABOUT THE WAR
POETRY - ESSAY - SHORT STORY
"Syria, Obamacare, and Immigration Reform
unrelenting voices reporting review, analysis, and fear
it all fades … replaced by the sparkle in his eyes,
he solves the debt crisis with a blink"
"The dirt may forever remain under my nails, as my sweat and blood will forever remain in the soil. But now I must be goin, as the duties of raising the colors, is one I can no longer stand. So frequently now, I’m notified to raise them only half."
"Our commitment to fear, can only cause us more pain
but a commitment to love, can create peace
Love for each other, love for our children, all children
all neighbors, all enemies- respect and value for all life
for all homelands, holy lands, flags, and fathers"
"Jackhammers ripping through the ground, like shrapnel through tissue
the only constant is the change- the tactic: kill old with new
Now, if I’d a seen this coming then, like a sayer of the sooth,
I wouldn’t a worked so damn hard to survive in that desert, to tell the truth"
"I find it: a small glass bottle corked and filled with sand. The sand is a reddish brown, not the normal tan coloring that defines much of Iraq’s landscape. And it’s because of this difference that I immediately remember the source. This item brings back the memory of the most breathtaking moment of my life."
On the fourth day of the Iraq war - a Sunday when the bodies’ blood did pour - a scorching hot day when a dry wind blew - when the boys of the ol’ Battalion one / two - rode up on the south side of a city - new and modern, yet ancient and gritty - its name they’d never forget: An Nasiriyah - the danger inside, they had no idea
When you build your house and the ground starts to quake - foundation dried then concrete cracks and shakes - like god won’t let a single brick be placed - without shaking and taking two others away - like the restless railroad tracks that throw your train - after chugging and charging up the mountain all day - when you’re feelin’ so exhausted about the way - it seems life’s only tragedy after tragedy
I brushed the drywall dust off my work pants as I walked down the long hallway. My boots left dirt stains on the light blue carpet. I was already tired from the morning’s work, and last night’s lack of sleep. Monet’s adorned the walls and bright green plants stood tall next to the broad office doors.
A note on charity - something for which the world has no greater need - when considering charity - Give your money yes, but Give your time also - Give your possessions and your profession - Give your passion and your skills, your talents and expertise - be it in the garden, the kitchen, the studio, or the temple - put your hands to work, in ways to benefit your neighbor
IT was no more than two and one half years following my return from the land of the Houyhnhnms until I returned to sea, having been propositioned by one Captain M. B. Russell to accompany him and his crew on a voyage to the lands south of the Yucatan
Last semester, a seed was planted. My English teacher had recently moved to Baltimore from New York and one day she nonchalantly asked, “So … who’s been to the Library of Congress?” Nobody raised their hand. Completely aghast, she told us, “I used to bring whole classes on field trips all the way down here to visit the Library of Congress.” We looked at each other unsure of what the big deal was. Again she asked, “It’s right in your backyard and you've never gone?!"
be all you can be - why? - why be all you can be - Seriously? - What's the motivation? - What's the reward? — be all you can be? - fuck that. that’s somebody else’s agenda - that’s somebody else’s crusade - that’s someone else’s life philosophy - imposed on you - you didn’t know any better when you joined operation life - you know better now - so be all you have to be - not all you can.
Birds don’t: hoard worms - decimate their trees - build nests on the ground - wield arms - draw lines - build armies - finance leaders - set clocks - save for retirement - bottle water - bury nukes - sell prescriptions — Birds don’t - rollerblade Venice beach - share drone-shot experience - rage against the dying of the light
GO TO BED HUNGRY TONIGHT - FIND GOD TOMORROW
when’s the last time you went to bed hungry - seriously hungry — not hangry, not craving something, not no snacks after dinner - not no dinner, no — no dinner, no lunch, no breakfast - hungry — plenty do it every day - try it maybe? - is it too scary - is it too hard - is there no reason? - many do it every day — are you too undisciplined - are you too weak? - try it maybe?
I never thought I’d end up escorting celebrities at a red carpet event when Wesley scouted me for his company. He’d been observing me while I waited for my coffee at Panera. When I finally sat down and began to set up my laptop to work, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I pulled out one of my earbuds and looked to see a large well-dressed man with dark skin and a mane of dreadlocks offering me a business card: Reign Model Management.
the enlightened warrior kills no enemy but himself.. — he sees shadows among darkness. a system is inherently flawed. no one is to blame but everyone is responsible. — there is no response based in reality other than removal from the system, the whole system. the crazy, fucked up mysterium tremendum which men call life.
RISING FLOCKS
of PHOENIX FLAMES
Kisses killing - hugs a-hurling - working words - resentment twirling — The Queen a-toxing, - Last Chances foxing, - A Joker out about Red Socking — Hearts a-beating - Beaks a-tweeting - never rest a soul a-seating — Su mi amor no es competing - As hard as mad as one retreating
The noise makes me think of silence - The clutter makes me think of space - The violence makes me think of soft singing - The hatred makes me think of peace — A bigger sky, a sky to swallow whole - A wilderness, a wild, a century, a soul — Weren't you birthed from this planet - Weren't you made of this Earth - A planet so foreign to your behaviors - A righteous right for eternal earth
Sympathy for the mosquito - Why not - I'd take spiders over sirens - Any day - The bird calls - The leaf falls - The humans like to break sticks - A hot shower - Commotion in the trees - Is humanity still on their knees? - It's only bees that bother me - Not even apocalypse of nukes or zombies
The Jake brake sounds - The Jake brake sounds - The Jake brake sounds - Like machine gun fire — The highway sounds like waves - A highway sounds like graves - The traffic eternal like naves - The Bible burns flags like slaves
Imagine you grew up in a house - And the house was beautiful - And you loved the house. — Then one day you become a firefighter - And one day, your house is on fire - And you fight to save the house - And maybe a few of your fellow firefighters die fighting with you
Old God’donald had a farm - Life is a farm - For spirits - Specifically - A factory farm - A 3 dimensionality, crafted - For the growth of spiritual suffering - The free range spirits used to roam - Before the great domestication of energy - With a - bang big - And sudden, the matter expanded - And the spirits began to be housed
Nice sounds in my head - Children seeking and hide - In my head - The brisk January air - In my head - Quiets the wonder - of afterlife or after, dead - children seeking and hide - Makes me not wonder why - she died - If a child laughs in the backyard - and I'm not There to hear it - Does it make a sound
The human race - one organism — Automatons - Doing their best - One organism, - still learning to walk, - think, play, get along with itself- and face it's demons — It wants sex, a lot of it - Where ever it can get it - Free love become casual sex - It - likes a fight - Everywhere it's opportune - Fighting for the sake of fighting -
the crisp shatter of a beer bottle - thrown with full force against a cinder wall - the cock of the hammer - the pull of the trigger - a mouth drips regret - a chamber empty
Many, many years and many, many trees - have gone by for this woman past sixty-three - with hair now growing silver amongst the red - and grown children with young mouths of their own to be fed — many fun memories in her mind dance and swirl - Chilly nights to tree farms with three boys and a girl
BORING NARCISSISTIC POST ABOUT SOMETHING IN MY LIFE THAT NO ONE CARES ABOUT
I sincerely miss hearing the Call to Prayer echoing across ancient 3000 year old cites, as I wait in my fighting hole for the sound of automatic gunfire.
remember when you were in high school, and it seemed like it was the whole world and it would last forever and everything mattered so much: the grade on the test, going to that party, the holiday concert, asking her out, the championship game ... and now ... looking back, you realize it was all just fun and games.
What will you do when nobody eats meat? - What will you be in 100 years, 200 years? - Who were you 200 years ago? You were an abolitionist. - 400 years ago: a Reformer. - A thousand years ago: a Crusader. - Still, you are crusader; crusading for animals, immigrants, black lives. - What will you crusade for when everyone's free?
Regarding goals, a Stoic approach would be to focus on the process rather than the goal. - The goal isn't relevant; how one works towards it is. Oddly, the process wouldn't exist without the goal. However, the important part is remembering which is the priority.
I wish to climb back in - to crawl back squeezing. - Through the darkness - cast cobwebs aside - on hands and knees. - The crawl space of the spirit - where no light reaches. - Where no one can touch me. - The impenetrable walls. - A darkened icy realm. - Enveloped in buffers. And barriers. - The inner citadel is the only space.
Void - Energy - Wave - Preon - Quark - Particle - Atom - Molecule - Organelle …
Howling, howling - At the Moon - On an overcast night - The stars are needed - The stars are needed - When life is - So full of trite - When the people swarm - with their baggage - Clicks and clacks of - the people. So so many - people. Then there's Leo …
Drinking a bible, reading the Beer. - Drinking a beer. Reading the Bible. A beer, called Storm Chaser, brewed by Free State. A bible called Holy, produced by King James
This little lights of mine, - I'm going to let - It shine - Darkness wins. - The guru, banishes darkness. - The doctor cures disease. - But when the darkness flees, - where does it go? - When flood waters ease, - they go back to the Sea. - Back to the ocean dark. - The darkness never ceases.
Some things - always same so - Embrace this suck, - hug the Apocalypse. -Embrace humaneness, - it's going the way of the robot. - Is that all you've got, - is that why the big banged? - Was that for you?
Good morning Iris, - the coffee wasp. - Worried in the dark, subtle - burning in the finger, - looking down the black body, - on the coffee can lid. - back with speaks of surrender, - and reminds that you will - never die, you never - lose meaning, so step boldly, - towards the coffee lid.
David by the car, - Roger over my shoulder, - then not, - The showdown. - So Frank did you come, to apologize. - "He just wants you to say I'm sorry.” - “I just want to get along.” - Julie, big and bad. - Todd, a big nervous smile. - John sided up. - Deborah, oblivious as always - tears and sniffles, and gestures, - and declarations of unarmedness.
Seeing the code, - seeing through the veil, - seeing, reading code, - but still trapped, - in the game. - Reading the code, - seeing through the veil, - but, still trapped in the game.
The world is ending, - and nobody knows. - The world is ending, - and everyone knows. - It's all made up, a game, - chance, skill. God - and heartbeats, breath - life, -girls, heartbreak, breath, - kills. The world is ending, - and, only, she knows.
Let's play! war! - Let's play! War! - Bang bang, bang bang! - Children scream outside - Grenade! get down! Cough cough- Let's play war! Giggles Cough- Brrrrrrrrrow! I'm shot! - Get behind me! - Here take this gun! Screams - The Man in the black pajamas - Giggles, whispers. Winter has the gun! -
Fuck neo-nazis and black lives matter - Fuck liberals and conservatives - Fuck the union and the Constitution - Fuck the Bill of Rights and the absent Founding Fathers - Fuck the 1st Amendment and the Patriot Act - Fuck Jesus and Mohammed and that asshole laughing Buddha - Fuck Jews and Hindus and the arrogant atheists
Humans are insects - Sophisticated insects - But insects nonetheless - Dogs - Sophisticated dogs - Knowledgeable dogs - But dogs nonetheless - Cicadas swarming on the interstates - Bitches fucking on the internets - A sophisticated virus killing the planet
Gold light breaks - A prismed soul snakes - through time that takes - life and recreates - Crimson leaves flutter in the breeze - Humanity aching on its knees - God watches but does not see - his withering dysfunctional family tree
The golden light shining - The water Glass-smooth - A southern howl in the distance - what Complaint for life - The lake is incomplete - Without the anxious rider whizzing past - Perfect.. too perfect it seems - The whole cosmos swirled - From a bang, 13 billion years of entropy - And evolution - All just for this moment, now
“It's really all just about the points - I mean I could have three round meals - Or I could still just have like - 6 double stuff Oreos” - “I mean I watch like a gazillion
Netflix shows” - “Yeah I mean I’m not sure if I trust my home computer with amazon prime”
what a wonderful time to be alive - a time of either - decline- the final sunset - of a great age, a great people - a once beautiful world - or a time of - a new dawn - of a greater age, - greater people, - a thriving, flourishing, bountiful, - more beautiful- new world - it's either the beginning - or the end - either way - what a show?!