all i keep in my wallet these days

is wax paper and a condom.

this year, i am learning

to hide guns and print money.

when i visit my little sister,

my body catches in the branches.

the milkweed on the banks

is thinning like my father's hair,

but i am glad to see it go.

i welcome winter, the semblance

of death it accompanies,

and how it empties the city

and fills the suburbs

with em dashes.

i am taking mass in a wineglass,

baptising my children in petroleum,

calling myself a recovered moralist,

and asking for angels.

(but where do birds go

in the cold days?

they keep flying home

without feathers.)

here i am, beginning

my story again on a rooftop,

while my sister paints

roses in california.

i mock her with politics,

and pretend that someday,

the intensity of my words

will shock the liberals.

Atheism to me means that you do not believe in all the religious garbage, you were force fed as a child by your country, school or family.  It means that you have deliberated and chosen to use your own mind and not followed blindly as a sheep.  After which you have decided that religion is not for you either because it is illogical or simply because you believe we humans control our own lives to an extent, that it is not over seen by some omnipotent being.  Atheism to me does not strictly mean one is intolerant to religious

belief or its followers, it just means you chose to not believe by your own reasoning.

I think it is wrong to expect children to pray or to be ushered into a religion at such a young age and they should be taught about ALL religions and given a choice to enter into one if they choose too afterwards.

When my daughter was young I simply said "If you do not want to pray at school, do not do it, tell them you are too young to know what to believe in and you will learn as you grow up".  She did just that and later chose to believe only in herself as a human with a good heart. Unfortunately she cannot do the same with her own young son as his father (ex partner) has him 2 weeks a month and has decided to take the more antiquated approach and push him into religion.

My grandson (named Jesus) being in a mostly Roman Catholic village in Spain has been ushered into that religion.  To get him to join it, he has in theory been bribed, told if he agrees to a communion "You get to have a party, get given money and gifts" so now he totters off to the weekly religious class (but you can tell he does not want too) and he goes to church on Sunday.  If he did not, he would not be allowed his communion.  So it is all just completely wrong, he has said that afterwards he will not go to church etc  So what a wonderful way to get children to worship God?

Maybe churches should give away goody bags to young children, a Playmobil or Lego Jesus, Joseph and Mary etc  So they can rein-act scenes from the bible at home.

I think for most western religions it is about the numbers, nothing more.

I find western religions to be money orientated and greedy, pushy and intolerant of other religions.  A lot of them were created to rule/command over people, to scare them etc

Or created by men who wanted to out do another religion out of the need for power.

I myself am a Buddhist but it is a faith not a religion, there is no God, yes there was a guy who created the faith of whom people can thank...but it is about being the best YOU can be as a human being.  A very simple premiss which is lost on many these days.

I think ALL people should educate themselves on religion, until they decide; Be an atheist...sit on the fence so to speak.  The world is our church, the grass, the sky, nature, you do not need a building to sit in, you need no God, just make sure you have your own moral compass set on HUMAN (Humane)...use your heart, mind and body to guide you.

Injustice is many things, but above all it's an injustice to let a bad pun escape your lips. You can do better than a bad pun people. And I must admit I'm not only a victim to this injustice, but a perpetrator too. There is not one person in the world who has never let a joke or pun escape their lips. You might be in history class and you say, "My dream is to open a photo processing store in a developing country" (Justbadpuns). You could even say that in a photography class. All I'm trying to say is the injustice of bad puns will never end. We can't stop the natural flow of time, neither can we stop the natural flow of puns. Sure you can subdue it by not saying any of them, but eventually you'll hear one and you won't be able to refuse muttering it again. So let's all continue on being the victim of bad puns, we can't do anything about it anyway.

Justbadpuns. Blog post. Just Bad Puns. Tumblr, n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.

My friends Hold fast

to those who are true,

those who have always

been there for you.

Guard their hearts as

you would your own

As their love for you

they have shown.

Precious are they

when we finally find

Ones of same spirit

and like mind.

D.Boyle

Rain keeps falling

Drizzling, dripping

Pattering upon my pane

Falling, falling

Ever falling

Gray and humid

Comes the rain

Days go past

Precipitation

Thrums and hums

And drums and numbs

I’m lost in aimless

Cogitation

Reason to the rain succumbs

Drops assault the ground

Relentless

Days become a week

Eventless

Soporific

Moist and soggy

Saturated

Dull and doggy

Dank and dreary

Wet and smeary

Cold and clammy

This? Miami?

Where’s the sun?

Christ! It’s December!

Yet the rain

Keeps falling down

Has it been a week already

That this rain’s been falling steady?

Trickling on without improvement

For some wicked God’s amusement

Show’ring on and on and on

Oh cease, I say

Anon, anon

Joints are creaky

And rheumatic

Water penetrates

My attic

Life’s become

So stark and static

Think I’m going to

Build an ark

Lord, I hope the time is nearing

When the sun will be appearing

And the clouds commence to clearing

And the atmosphere stops drearing

But I must confess I’m fearing

That this rain

Will linger on

And on and on

And on and on

It's not ladylike

To shout or yell

So I write my curses

Thoughts from Hell

I swear, spit and cuss

I explore sexual fantasy

Rant, rave, bitch, praise

My work and family

The best part?

I get to be every

Single

Lovable

Awful

Wonderful

Vile

Part

Authentically

Me!!

This is unusual but I am going to put down my own entry here. I really want to get to know people who create the high quality content Prose is known for.

For me writing is one of the ultimate skills capable of constantly improving and even capable of transforming ones life when used properly by brave individuals who are both fearless and determined to change their lives through writing. 

Writing is my favorite thing to do. I love to spend hours at a keyboard typing something witty, something well-researched, and eventually sharing it with the world through the internet. I am happy I live in an age where my age is not capable of preventing me from writing and being taken seriously as a writer. I am happy I live in an age where through the internet my writing is capable of being seen and reacted to, without any barriers. 

I write for a variety of reasons. Depending on my mood I can write to educate people, or I can write to get people to take my arguments seriously (and to come to the same conclusions I have), or solely to entertain. I also possess an unshakable belief that writing is a tremendous skill and one that can change lives and even the world, particularly in this age where even language is no longer an obstacle to those who are truly determined to overcome it. Writing now matters more than ever because the barriers to entry to writing are fading away now more than ever. No longer is age a factor for serious writers, or language, or even the lack of a publisher.  

I write because I want to leave a mark on the world around me. I want to do this through entertainment, through education, and through affecting how people think. I want to challenge how people think. I want to make people reconsider their positions, while also granting them entertainment. I want people to consider new positions and challenges to their beliefs seriously, while giving them something in return: entertainment. For me writing quality literature is entertaining and reading writing of high quality is also entertainment. 

I write because writing enables me to strength my voice. I write because through writing I can change minds and converse seriously with other historians, with other thinkers and people who believe they can use their writing to shape their reality. It's remarkable to me that I can write this freely and I intend to use that as much as I can, and eventually I believe I'll be able to make a living through my own writing. 

I would love to know why you write! 

I'm sitting here, outside in my garden, on a cold and drizzly January evening. Glass of wine in one hand and a cigarette in the other. I've taken a step back.

Looking into the windows of my house, I know there are four lives I have created in there. Four people who rely on me. Three of whom are a product of a failed marriage, of which the father wants no more contact.

I've had a violent relationship where my physical and emotional wellbeing were broken down to nothing, but now I've moved on and I'm happy.

Those four lives are being taken care of by someone who has been diagnosed with a mental health condition. Yeah, I have OCD, did I forget to mention that?!

No one really know what that condition is about, they all think it's a joke. Something that's put on TV to entertain the masses. No. You're wrong. It's ruined my life.

But still, I take care of those four lives. Still I maintain this home I have built, and dinner is served at 5pm, and clothes are washed and pressed. I am immaculately turned out, day in, day out. But that black cloud looms, and those four lives are taken care of.

So where do I go from here, on this cold and drizzly January evening? With my glass of wine and my cigarette. With my heart in tatters and full of regret.

I write.