saying it anyway

I fear

J.D.F — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:32:58 +0000

I fear the world becoming one religion
I fear
rendition
silent oppression
the lack of sedition
the melting of submission
I fear the the tyrannical
in the name of one political
I fear
apathy
feudal-ity
serf making machines
people becoming
frogs in water
slow heating
I fear
Unity at the expense of Diversity
of tyranny at the hands of
fear mongering ‘mercy’
I fear…

Canvas

J.D.F — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:28:58 +0000

Naked to the point of disastrous longing
for ink to shade in letters of understanding
brushes to stroke in hues
bold and courageous
so my skin
won’t be see through
- for all this transparency
is deceptively solid;
canvas

((off the cuff – ::speak peace and write on:: ))

Listen to the wind

J.D.F — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:26:35 +0000

Listen to the wind,
It has secrets to tell
lessons to teach
and wisdom to spell
calling from the mountains
echo in the vale
listen to the wind, childe,
it has secrets to tell
It’s seen every age
lead every storm
holding up the sparrow
eagle, crane and crow to soar
Listen to the wind childe
it has secrets to tell
hiding in the whistle will
languishing on seas
carrying to voice kin
‘cross veils to wee
so listen to the wind, childe
it has secrets to tell.

My Name is Pariah

J.D.F — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:24:03 +0000

My name is
Pariah
my hands delve deep
into the pockets of my soul
but
no one knows it
no one
sees
the force applied
to keep the costume from
slipping
slipping off
into the cracks of the pavement
into the realities of tar and
concrete relegating
unnatural
into divisions of
conquest and
meaningless
notions of
who
I
….

My name is
Pariah
my feet launch forward
with back peddling
accuracy
but
no one knows it
no one
sees
the dance steps
memorized to keep from
falling
falling off
into the water running
into the drains
of these streets
where
tread and rubber
slip easily and forget
the splashing
of
who
I
…

My name is
Pariah

Beautiful

J.D.F — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:18:06 +0000

Have I told you today
how beautiful you are?
that the world would be grey-er
darker, less breathable
without you
in it.
Have I not told you today?
and
Have I told you today
how smart you are?
that the world would be less
magical, less knowable, less
obtainable
without you
in it.
Have I not told you today?
and
Have I told you today
how important you are?
that the world would be harder
coarser, less peaceful
without you
in it.
Have I not told you today?
and
Have I not told you today
how kind you are?
that the world would be scarier
less safe and dirtier
without you
in it.
Have I not told you today?
Than let me remedy this
as quickly as possible
so that not a moment in your day
goes by with out knowing from
a complete stranger
your worth
you are beautiful
you are smart
you are important
and you are kind
without you
where we would be
is not somewhere I would want
to breath.
believe.

Off the Cuff: Father are you listening

J.D.F — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:33:41 +0000

Father are you listening
your image casts a shadow on my heart
I see your shape
I smell your cologne
I hear your jolly laughter
wafting down the halls of my soul
and yet, the color of you fades
I
desperately need to keep you
I
desperately need to hear you
I
need your words
your sound advise
resonating over the wire
if only heaven had a phone
if only
my silent tears
from the smile I present
could dial up
the man who
is my
Father
are you listening
do you see me
do you still sense your daughter near
to you hear me calling
through the halls of the Divine
and do you know
chaos has taken refuge
has moved in down the street
has made a mockery of me
in my struggle to
remember all your words in the tones
and punctuations of
…
::sighs::
Father
are you listening
are your speaking
because the echo of your life
is just an echo of who I want to be
and I can’t find fill the shape
with any part of me
I miss your kind words
the power
of your catching my back when
I want to slump down at the
moments of not good enough
you always
had …
me….
Father…
are you
…
listening.

When your older… you’ll change

J.D.F — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:29:57 +0000

I am tired of people saying my ideas will change with age. It is RUDE! I am a humanistic liberal. I am also an adult. I choose these beliefs out of experience, education, and concluded my own path out of these things. When you say things like – “well you will see when you get older your ideas will change”. That means you have no respect for my views now, you are in a sense dismissing my intelligence and my current capacity to reason out the world around me – simply on the grounds your ideas are different.

Stop it. It’s disrespectful.

Just because I am not your political persuasion, age or any other mutable characteristic - does not mean that someday I will see the ‘light’ and follow your ideas. Maybe it is you who will change – or maybe neither will. But at least have the respect for me as an ADULT to understand I have come to these conclusions not out of some naivete of the inexperienced, but the opposite.

Respect – my own definition.

J.D.F — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:27:54 +0000

Respect: To hold in esteem – for reason of power, skill, or endeavor. We as children are taught to respect our elders, those in authority, those in power…. we are are never taught respect goes both ways and should be mutual.

Respect is not just for a title, it is not just because you have age, it is not just because you wear a badge or because you have gotten the top position… you cannot demand it for these reasons. Respect is a gift. It is given and it is received. If you take the gift and throw it in someone’s face but still expect them to respect you, there is a problem. If you likewise, continue to give respect to someone who is consistently trampling on it, there is a problem.

Respect is mutual – it is a treasure. You can’t pay it lip-service and expect it to remain in your favor. You can’t speak about it but then ask for it, not give it. And just because make more than, have a fancy title, and wear fancy clothes doesn’t mean you have the right to demand respect and give none. Likewise, if you don’t respect yourself enough to know when this is happening and say no, you are giving that person power they don’t deserve.

You are beautiful. You are smart. You are intelligent.

If they don’t get it – then they shouldn’t have you. Think about it.

She got it

J.D.F — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 04:56:10 +0000

Talk about the physical
as if the physical was the path
way to a place
of memory
honestly
the only memories worth keeping
are the ones kept:
delved into the spiritual
lyrically possessing my
soul in intrinsically
sophisticated ways
wrapping me up
genuinely innocent of
all desire
but desiring to return.
Nights spent
by waterfalls waiting for the sun to rise
the
camping trip
that literally tripped
and the rescue from the cold
the
up till 4 am
or was it since then?
I can only remember the discussion
from nations to relations to
God and Goddesses abounding
in the realm of the living
and the dead
The walk on the beach
after the stars went to bed.
Sure, there are a few
moments of oblivion
the redecoration of a room
unnoticed until
after a storm
but what got me was not
the physical
not the taunting of it
the promise of it
the movement of it
nor the hint of it
the writing of it
but the time spent meaningfully
without it.
She got it…
and then got me.

They can take…

J.D.F — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 04:54:34 +0000

They can take my pen, I will sign on wind
They can take my paper, I will write on sky
They can take my shoes, I will walk on water
They can take all I own and all I have – I will still have my voice
should they attempt to take that
and steal from me my life – I will be immortal
in the words that I write
:K.A.P.O.W.:

#activistpoetsatlarge