Power Glass

I venture quiet deeply in all the halls of the beasts,

Plotting all my steps and the position of my feet,

The attitude of my eyes and the spirit underneath,

Determining the future behind my gritted teeth

On the surface you can see me floating placid, peaceful, calm,

Intoxicating slowly like the liquor of the palm,

Aware of all surroundings whatever may become,

I look to meet the master, Napoleon on the farm

My mission stretches backwards, catapulting me through time,

To fossilize the remnants of the essence of “You die,”

I meet every slaver, every tyrant and I’m not afraid to pry,

To understand the machinations of the murderous of mind,

I brandish my sharpest weapon, the simple question, “why?”

And I verify the answers as I look into their eyes

Among the living there is a menace,

Glorification of bad ideas,

The raising of the heinous,

Dictatorial policy.

So I go about my ways of capturing evil in a flask,

Of the millions of grains of sand that I turn into a glass,

The mummified remains of tombs and tombs of power,

I tilt them back and forth with the changing of the hours.

You and You (Ode to Shivaji's Maji) - Amma Donyanhi

Poetry commotion

engulfed in devotion

Thought slowing motion

Action the potion

Painting on dival

letters to the law

A yellow hatter calls

intoxication mauls

A plan unveils John Rawls-

the cherries in the drawers

not in fame but down the halls

To worldwide clarion calls

Not seen but heard in thrall

Whisper Jamaican falls

bat rests in shade of Fall

Trinidadian boring gone

"Don't be scary" of me song

when will you bowl your ball?

you've been running oh so long

here to Cal to Kol

Gardens light we built so tall

unorthodox forward fall

between each leg the wall

willow firm yet sweet in stall

Stands fiending silent awe

feeding not the weeds

but giving to the street

returning home with broken feet

the apple dropped beside the cleats

remaining in the ring,

As the ropes are meant to wring

the Freedom as you sing

so hit a four or hit a six

cross the boundary with a skip

so the kingdom that you rule,

as wise man preaches fool,

remains hidden from their view

known only to the two

You and You

Row Your Boat

Whatever I feel,

What’s done to me,

I’m still the one in charge.

Live life large

Or with serenity,

This life is my property.

For all those blows

Beyond my power,

It’s up to me to face the hour-

To stand up or capitulate,

As rising waters undulate,

Stay behind, duck, cower,

Or elevate my state?

I know I have to choose and yet,

No telling what’ll come to be,

What really separates my good intention

From insanity?

I think I’ve made the right choice,

So off I go smug and content,

Only to find catastrophe-

“No that’s not what I meant!”

Let go of what I can’t control,

I’ve heard it many times.

I’ve even heard I’m not my acts,

Nor the thoughts within my mind-

Just an awareness floating free,

Not shackled by free will,

Or tortuous responsibility,

Neither innocent nor guilty.

That sounds nice, that sounds easy,

I think I’ll drift along,

Row, row, row your boat I think’s the song-

Now I’ll sing it consciously.

Lightness

Use the mind as an instrument

Is what the lesson said,

Remember that you’re more than living

And always less than dead.

Lightness also means not heavy

Like the properties of light,

The here and now is where you are

No matter how dark or bright.

Speak more or less or not at all,

Feel the quiet of sun swept mystery,

Embrace the pain and joy of life,

Love away the misery.

Disappear into a word so deep

You understand it to its core,

Then live in wordlessness a while

Or else what is living for?

Continuum

The knots in my muscles

Release themselves

Bit by bit

Like water falling over stones

Descending step by step

Loosening

Not holding me up

In awkward poses

Anymore

I think of where I’d like my bones to be

What seems most natural

Looking for balance

And uncovering

The logic of the body

Taking its position in space

Changing over time

Not imagining any purpose

Other than to be

My body

My awareness

My mind

Now I see it now I don’t

Now I control it now it controls me

Now I wonder

About the I

And the inseparability

Of all these things

Extending now my body my mind my awareness

I become the space around me

The strangers in the room

My mother sitting next to me

And I see the world

As the continuum

That I am

I'm Getting Old

all the things left unfinished

and all those not yet begun

hover around me unceasingly

bothering me for fun

like an evil champion

like a villain on the run

a list of books I'd have to read

to know anything at all

the actions I know I'd have to take

to know that I stood tall

when it feels for all the world

that the world's about to fall

one step at a time they say

one deep breath to clear your mind

as civilization self-destructs

I might as well unwind

disposing of my time

like a sing-song, easy rhyme

that's the way to acquiesce

with what I have helped create

contributing however small

as we all participate

accepting horror deeds as fate

renunciation coming late

or take control

of what I behold

grasping with the will's hold

past the arc of what I'm told

wary of what I do for gold

because a life bought is a life sold

I must choose to play a more worthy role

because I'm getting old, I'm getting old