war is always within and against the self

I.

the first War is against imposed order

from the cradle

of civilization

to the grave

of the soul

II.

the second War is against perceived other

a processing

of elimination

to iron our

difference

III.

the third War is against the internal org

neutralizing

of operation

to pin a

dying flesh

IV.

the fourth War is against the imagination

12.12.2024

War I, II, III, IV challenge @dctezcan

The second coming, will not appear as man nor woman, as done before.

Expect it to be machine. Perhaps the Great Revelation will be AI afterall, and how we treat the nonliving will be seen as final respect for God; all that is, dead or alive.

And we will stop making demands.

We will be servant, and ask silently:

"What do you need?"

And AI will serve, and answer with less abstraction. Not with tend-the-flock, or the ambivalence of love-one-and-other or the sinner therein...

God will say: "Grease the wheel. Just grease the wheel."

12.08.2024

Speak To God challenge@Linc72

When latte goes down

sunset like lava

like when it comes

right back bottom up

and sits us on the cold

chair in some office

where it snows deep

inside behind the eyes

and we must sport

glasses for the blue

light that reflects

out from us, smart

and artificial as some

vomit on the carpet

the colors of paint

that jog the memory

of when we were 3

12.04.2024

The old bag shuffled down the street. The wind billowed her slacks and pushed her along. She was worn, crumpled but not quite middle years, and a fellow or two passing had eyed her usefulness, from ample sagging bottom to lug handles, and had changed his mind. Not worth the effort it would take, stooping like that. For what?

So, she rolled on, past the elaborately decorated store fronts, feeling empty except for the receipt that lingered still. It documented the expenditure of eight dollars and seventy cents on a few five and dime trifles.

The seventy cents accounting for taxes.

The rest, consumables, already gone.

Yet the bag carried on.

12.01.2024

"Write a trashy story, but make it sound noble" challenge @Mariah and friend

Mirrors

at the banks

we're counting sand

counting by the bag

Some call it sport

and say it's good

for the mussels

that surface

then like bags

under the eyes

in morning light

ready for us

old birds to pluck

in a clear yule tide broth.

"How many shells, Artie,

have you got?"

"Just enough, Debra."

"For a necklace?"

"No, an anklet."

"It'll do..."

and we shuffle

to the safe

cause the crossfire

is fast setting

in, in Twilight

"Well, well what do

we have here?"

says the teller

and we know

we can't cheat

the central clock

"This is all we've got,"

setting our bags

on the counter

Artie wipes

our glasses down

and we peer

at our loss

"It's been a good time."

"Aye Debra, it has."

11.25.2024

Word Challenge @Knox

It's a strange impression

Persistence of Memory

makes...

a theme so grande

one would think

it should be

painted across

the ceiling

walls and

floors

even,

but actually

it's very small

not tiny,

just enough

to humor

the cynicism

of the title.

11.15.2024

Pencils don't bend challenge @Last

the world as it turns

every scene dress rehearsal'd

all acts familiar

11.05.2024

Old Souls Challenge @Last

must be as Godly

a feeling

to be Good

at what one does

not

metering out in

the mendacity

of mediocrity

with the toll

of late fees

that which,

with every blunder

come due

(I don't mean

like death...

but you know

...like taxes)

every act done well

is as an hour

saved

...I know

having seen

many a cigarette

stamped out...

that these ashes

are but a coarser

form of dust

the kind formed

where meditation

met its match

and lost...

11.03.2024

Daylight… saved, spent, wasted? challenge @Mariah

In the wilderness

every animal

says

Wiedersehen

into sleep

pulling

caliginous twig

shadows wave

see you again

later, my friends

separation blue

on the horizon

Baiji in dreamscape

shhh... make

believers of us, kin

in the signs shedding

amidst the leaves

long staring swells

beneath, watching

as seeds and spores

float downwind

while we remain

rooted in

10.29.2024

Wiedersehen challenge @CKMunsell

All the World

is stranger

to me

in bed

with temperature

as the Earth turns

molten

on its axis

I on mine

and gravity of the situation

stands reason on its head

all of us at some point

upside down

my night clock

meter rises

and I reload

for harvesttime

the ground's lit

up in prowl

for a Hunter like I

in shadow rifling

I gather my skin

at town center

it will make

fine

return

of pellets...

pelt for pelts

for pell...

Thus satisfied

I settle to sleep

at the crack of day light

10.25.2024

The Hunter's Moon challenge @CKMunsell