Looking Around II

What happens when there is so much dark
you can't even decide which light to turn on?

Looking Around I

When I look at the ocean,
I am alarmed and yet comforted by the fact
that infinity, eternity, and the end
are all staring me in the face.

You Already Wrote A Better Poem

You already wrote I better poem.

I liked your idea much better than the ones I had.

If only I could write what was in your head,

instead of what's not in mine.

Mr. President

Obama is sitting in his office.

However high the ceilings,

he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders.

And while constantly weeding through the madness

and maneuvering through the carefully set traps,

he can see what no one else can see, through the foggy glass

of the White House windows.

One Ride On This Rollercoaster Might Cost Me My Life

Do you know us?

Have you heard our story?
Nothing can stop us,

we are sure of this.

What have we done?
first, we made tools and hunted.

We didn't stop there.

We wiped out populations of our own species.

What have we done?
We've fought each other since the beginning of time.

We didn't stop there.

Later, we stuck people in rooms and watched as poisinous gas sucked their lives away by the millions.

What have we done?

First, we recruited soldiers for an army.

But we didn't stop there.

Later, we kidnapped children and after they were drugged we forced a gun into their trembling hands.

What have we done?

First, we bought and sold people, ferrying them around on ships, in cages.

But we didn't stop there.

Later, we lynched them in front of eager crowds.

What have we done?

Sometimes, when the noises of the guns quiet, you can hear the sweet sound of music far off in the distance.

We created it, along with the guns.

Sometimes, when you look away from the battle, you'll see people who are saving others lives at the expense of their own.

They are part of us.

First, we went to the moon.

We didn't stop there.

Later, we discovered life is made billions up of atoms, and that mankind only a link in the chain that is nature’s endless quest for perfection.

What have we done?
We have loved and we have lost.

We've tore us up and we’ve tried to repair us.

We've killed each other and we've saved each other.

What will come to signal the end of all this?

Get another ticket to board the ride.

What You Don't Know Could Fill An Entire Planet

It’s all about what you don’t know.

Why?

We are always tested on what we do know.

You can hear when people think they know everything.

They hold up the Earth and spin it on their fingers

like a basketball.

It twirls around and around,

and you know it will drop.

Because they couldn’t know everything.

They couldn’t know about the tall grass growing

in the plains,

the rains that lasted for days in the village,

the man who sits by the sunset every night to paint,

or the river running in the desert.

They couldn’t know about the woman with a new baby son,

or the father who is watching his daughter leave for college.

They don’t hear the weeping that echoes in the distance,

Or see the secrets higher than the ceilings we have built.

Why Did I Arrive So Late?

When I arrived at your door,

the fates had already come.

They'd come and they'd gone,

along with the time.

So many others had left

and yet, I thought I should stay

Before I marched in,

your place seemed so big:

I was wide-eyed and hopeful at breakfast.

But as lunch arrived,

I lost my excitement,

things here just kept going wrong!

At dinner, I hung my head low and kept my eyes shut.

I guess what I'm saying to you, world of all worlds

is I am not giving up on you yet.

I haven't seen dusk, though the light is low

there will always be hope for salvation.