48 Years

48 years in silence 
No one to hear my words 
I feel like a victim of violence 
Why can't my voice be heard? 

48 years have imprisoned my soul 
48 years have exacted a toll 
As I lay by my woman's side 
These 48 years she has cried 

48 years I have toiled 
I've nothing but calloused hands 
My fingernails broken and soiled 
Attending our ruler's commands 

48 years have imprisoned my soul 
48 years have exacted a toll 
As I lay by my woman's side 
These 48 years she has cried 

48 years I've been dying 
Tear by tear, breath by breath 
I've long since given up trying 
No escaping this silent death 

48 years have imprisoned my soul 
48 years have exacted a toll 
As I lay by my woman's side 
These 48 years she has cried 

These 48 years she has cried

Angels

Angels walk the streets at night
the streets are caked with snow
cold and broken beggar men
watch them as they go

Yes angels rule the night
but demons rule the day
and no one dares to go alone
where soldiers guard the way

We'll never share the Earth
if the Gods won't share the heavens
our fate is sealed from birth
our souls are unforgiven

Words conceal what the heart reveals
but sermons never cease
there's bread alone for every meal
and no real hope for peace...
... there's no real hope for peace

The tower strikes the witching hour
when dreams will cast a spell
wake the spirits of the shrines
that mark where martyrs fell

Yes dreams infuse the night
but nightmares rule the day
and no one dares to go alone
where soldiers guard the way

Cancer

(This poem is a collaboration with Sandra Lopez Lambert.)

the day that I was diagnosed
I feared for those I loved the most
how would they live on?
how long could I be strong?

what will happen to my boy?
who will buy for him a toy?
after I am gone
who'll play with him upon the lawn?

it's so unfair, it's so unfair
it's not me without my hair
and then some days I just don't care
and helplessness surrounds me

I'm at the end, I'm at the end
I need to know that we'll transcend
hate and greed and war
and my children will live forever more

I used to be a big sensation
filled with righteous indignation
now I'm a guy who's going to die
and I'm all about forgiveness

I go back and forth 'tween pain and hope
and the foggy mind that comes from dope
but I know I have more life to live
more laughs to laugh, more love to give

In the time I have I want to be
like a sailor who, once lost at sea,
found his way home to friendly faces
and gained his welcome in many places

and although it must come down to this
the birthdays and the weddings that I'll miss
don't cry for me when I am gone
love and laugh and carry on

Progressive Christianity

the bible says
it’s okay to own slaves (1)
and gives instructions
on how they’re to behave -
submit to your masters
even if they are cruel
and beat you with rods
and feed you with gruel (2)

most Christians believe that slavery is wrong
they know that the bible has flaws
but they still find a warm loving family
inside of the old church walls

the bible goes on to say
when a woman is subjected to rape
she must marry her attacker and never divorce
she’s his property and cannot escape (3)

most Christians believe that rape is a crime
they know that the bible’s not right
but they still go to church where they care for the poor
having faith that everything’s alright

we learn in church to love our neighbor
we gather together to pray
for the hurting the sick and the shut-ins
and we visit them taking a flower bouquet

we collect lots of money for charity
we learn not to gossip and how to be fair
we learn that God is love and we have
a relationship with him through prayer

we find plenty of good in the bible
and ignore the parts that are wrong
and we’re blessed by the Lord with faith
that somehow we’ll get along

the bible says the age of the earth
is 6,000 years more or less (4)
dinosaur bones are older than that
but that doesn’t make me distressed
for mistakes are a natural part of life
and I find that I don’t need perfection
in order to meet in the church with my neighbors
where together we’ll find our direction


1) Leviticus 25:44-46, Exodus 21:2-6
2) I Peter 2:18-20, Exodus 21:20-21
3) Deuteronomy 22:28-29
4) http://www.gotquestions.org/earth-age.html

The Great Puppeteer

The CEO wore a six hundred dollar wool-silk blended suit
and he stroked his tie as he counted his loot
10 million for me
10 million for my stockholders if you please
and that leaves
7 dollars for my employees

leaning back in his leather chair
he muses
thinking of the people he uses
we’ve got to stop raising minimum wage
if we’re to go on living in this golden age

the great puppeteer
he knows he’s got a good thing going here

so with a little hocus pocus
he gets his employees to focus
on poor people who live in despair
he gets them complaining about people on welfare

it’s called divide and conquer said he
you see
the poor are so naive
they’ll never see the card I have up my sleeve
I’ll get them fighting over the scraps I leave
and they won’t even notice
I’m having a feast no one would believe!

Common Sense

interrupting
with 5,000 hostile words or more
believing that conversation is a contest to be won
I have listened to them describe
that which they call common sense.
as a result, I realize why common sense
isn’t very common

but who am I to say
at the end of a weary day
what is or isn’t sensible?

well…

I listen sincerely and do not merely
plan what I want to say
while it’s still their turn to hold sway

when I am wrong I don’t clang like a gong
and if soon I am singing a different song
I remember it’s change that makes me strong

I don’t secretly wish for their demise
and I don’t try to cut them down to size
for I need their help if I’m to be wise

and when they are done I repeat what they said
so they know that their words went into my head
rather than just immediately cutting them to shreds
I think about it, I discuss it
I think about what they said

in short, 
by being a good listener
by having an open mind
I learn to distinguish the sensible
from that which is reprehensible!