For Gaza

Pro-life for American citizens, 
yet pro-murdered Muslim children,
pro-life if still in the womb, 
but once born it's all on you, 
so pro-pre-birth in the States and
pro-death if carried out by Israelis.

Pro-New Testament, yet pro-Jew who is
anti-black, anti-U.S. anti-all you claim to 
stand for, yet will gladly accept funds 
for the supplying of guns
for ethnic cleansing,
while we fund genocide
with millions freely given daily,
then claim feeding American children
who are guilty only of being hungry
just breeds a country of freeloading,
while you send prayers up that
those those reloading weapons
to bomb women and children
are kept safely in the hands of God,
and see that as a worthy cause
worth financially backing.

Anti-abortion while passing out flyers
promoting the importance of life,
yet so despise a religion you know
little of, proceed to form opinions
based off fear mongering programming
by the media that you are willing
to see a few hundred dead
causalities buried beneath the rubble
in the Gaza Strip as necessary.

You see Islam as breeding terrorists,
but don't see that our dollars are
funding the same exact actions.
And though we all might
be the victims of being swayed by
images we see abroad, you can not
claim to be pro-love, pro-life,
if you choose a side
because your religion proclaims
it's the the 'right' choice and hide
behind the excuse that this blood spill
is according to God's will.  

Claiming to be pro-life should not
exclude those others have proscribed
as having good reason to die
without benefit of judge nor jury.
Nor should you reserve prayers
and monetary programs only
for those you see as living
according to your Biblical standards
or you are simply providing others
with reasons to see Christians
as radical, hypocritical supporters of
American-endorsed terrorism.

Permanence

While writing an article detailing 
tombstone thefts in my hometown, 
a poem memorializing a delusional heart 
refusing to accept its fate of 
of solitude found its way onto my screen. 


Death recognizes its own.


I struggle these days not to cave inwards 
while performing menial tasks like listening to 
female voices singing, watching couples staring 
at each other while eating in poorly chosen cafes 
where waitstaff keeps asking if I'll be dining alone 
and shutting my phone off before I attempt to sleep
so I can convince myself the reason it doesn't ring 
isn't because you aren't reaching out to me, 
but because I'm trying to conserve energy.  


Lies told to self save the spirit from dying.


Leaning against the wall in a dimly lit club, 
glass of ice water held by numb fingertips, 
a woman leaned in close enough that the scent 
of her hair spoke promises before she said to me
 "I've seen you before, but been waiting 
for the right moment to speak." 
I opened my mouth to respond, but my breathing
stopped until the choke of your smile released its grip, 
again parted my lips then and replied 
"I'm sorry you wasted your time" 
and took a sip of water. 


The cold was no match for what was within.


I heard that drinking alcohol makes you forget the 
ache of loss, the pain of imagining the one you love
making love to someone new, so I stopped drinking 
wine so I wouldn't be tempted to pretend this is only
temporary like all the times before.


Permanence comforts me these days as nothing else can.

Trayvon Martin

America...land of the free

from prosecution for those

who wear the self-appointed title

of watchmen/given passes

to carry out execution at will,

with no retribution for those whose blood spills

in the streets where police target our sons,

our neighbors, our friends, our brothers

shot down with guns the state

supplies readily to white vigilantes.

Told my teenage nephew today,

"don't go outside holding candy

as it might be seen

as an open display of hostility

by those who might see your black skin

and youth as a sign of the enemy."

Warned him out of fear

not to raise his hoodie above his ears,

as the only hoods they want raised

are those above their own heads

and fleece above the neckline

is certainly a sure sign

of acting suspiciously

by those who patrol streets,

imagining scenes of confrontation,

as pulses begin to race quickly,

praying another night will be ending

with one more lifeless body to add to their list

of black lives ended too quickly.

Assured they will face no charges

as those who take the lives

of black men are quietly regarded

as heroes, as devastated

mothers who wait at

windows for their slain sons to come home

are encouraged not to weep

for joy comes in the

morn', while each day you wake

is a reminder that white men

can take the lives of children

who committed no crime,

aside from failing to realize

predators are on the prowl

and they are the prey.

So as families plead that

policing agencies will take

action, grieving as they

pray for justice,

killers are sentenced only to protection,

in a nation where freedom

is an abstract theory to those

who see fury over Kony

but no 8 million views will be seen

detailing the gunning down of a

of a Floridian teen.

Where is the uprising

for Trayvon Martin,

which celebrities will be marching

while the FBI says they are

only "monitoring the situation,"

which means little to those

who know that typically leads

to no prosecution, no media

sensation, as there is rarely

a hesitation to close the case

when it involves

"just one less black face on the streets."

So today, as my nephew walked

to a friend's home, I again felt

the fear of sending him out alone

into a world where young men

are regarded as inconsequential

rather than as favored children.

And I found myself standing in the

window for long moments after

he had gone and said a prayer

for his safe journey home and

another prayer for the mother

of Trayvon who no longer can

hope for her own son's return.

(I would pray that no matter what your ethnicity, that you would stand in solidarity against a policed state, wherein young men can be murdered while the police sit idly by hoping the incident will soon be forgotten. Please sign the change.org petition at http://www.change.org/petitions/prosecute-the-killer-of-17-year-old-trayvon-martin and remember to wear all black on Wednesday, March 21st in commemoration of Trayvon and the countless others who came before him. https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/266335826782994/ )

WWJD - Misguided Sheeple

False indoctrination spewed from pulpits on Sundays, forcing those who wrongfully believe to follow misguided instruction is the only way to attain salvation, taught that to be a good Christian you must have blind faith in the sermons that are based off of not what's in the Scripture, but what's been lectured for generations. So comprehension of the text written is of no importance and if you question that which is obviously mistaken, drones have been told that's just Satan trying to lead you from the truth.

Yet should you make mention of how the church picks and chooses certain scriptures to support their agendas, and how one abomination is thought to be infallible, while the others are only laughable, you're met with anger and disdain. And though hate is in direct opposition of the teachings of Christ, it's still far easier to buy into what the masses are selling, than to start telling others that you believe not what is told, but what is written.

But sheep fear that if they go against the flock that they risk being lost, so instead they'd rather be right in the eyes of the church than to do what Jesus taught so as to continue his work in the world. Dedicating their lives toward eradicating that which Christ never spoke against, but feed no hungry, house no homeless, clothe no poor, yet still think they're about their Father's business.

And I'm no Biblical scholar, rather a believer who tries in vain to get those who claim to be sanctified while quoting nonsensical rhetoric like "I don't hate the sinner, I hate the sin," to donate to any cause which doesn't make them look more holy to fellow parishioners. Yet if you ask that they put in work in the community, they're quick to say "I give my tithes on Sunday," and slam the door in your face. Not realizing the lesson to be learned from Sodom being destroyed wasn't because the city was gay but due to the sin of pride, careless ease and not caring for those in need.

Not to mention that the blood of those in need who see suicide as their only option, rather than being taught that Christ is accepting of all who call out to him drips from the palms of those who send out the wrong message about the glory of salvation, all because they find vindication for their hate, quoting verses about one specific abomination, while they forget the other sixty-six condemnations in the form of abominations were mentioned.

But I happened upon that lesson while I was studying what is written instead of ingesting religious ignorance from those who use the Word as a tool to spread hatred while they've neglected to pay heed to their own bracelets which read "What Would Jesus Do." Perhaps those same persons should refer to Luke 16:15 the next time they're searching out abominations: "And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God."

Then again, that would require reading, instead of just feeding off of what a man in a sharp suit and gators is doling out to flock of bleating sheeple.