Circles

 
Circles

We all admire compassion,
Except when it's expressed
For those that we've excluded
From the circles we have drawn. 

So should my care be only
For the persons or the beings
That fall within the circle
Or the sphere I call my own?

That circle that surrounds me
Can shrink or grow in size—
A measure of capacity 
Of body, heart and mind.

******

So many fellow humans
Are struggling to survive.
And yet, among the poorest,
We find the heart that smiles.

We see the one that’s weeping
At another being’s plight.
We note the one that ventures 
To even risk his life.

That faith we’d lost in humans
We find revived again.
The circles, dense with darkness,
Are seen to spread with light.

******

We hail the acts of courage.
We join the helping hands,
Remember those who’ve perished,
Been injured, robbed, bereaved.

The Buddhas and the Jinas
Had seen through maaya’s mist
And sensed that every sentient 
To each and all is kin. 

And each, by simply pausing
And seeing straight through sin,
Can clearly sense that oneness
That clears the circle’s line.

****** 

Whenever hearts are hardened
And dreadful deeds are done,
The circles drawn have shielded
The ones who then are blind.

Dissolve, dissolve that circle
And look beyond that sphere.
Extend that edge so humans
Are always each within.

But do not stop at humans.
There's pleasure and there's pain.
There's happiness and sorrow.
What's left to then explain?

2024 January 23rd, Tue.
Berkeley, California 

We’ll Blast You Straight to Hell!

 
We’ll Blast You Straight to Hell!

This is our god, the only god!
The other gods are false!
And if you would deny this, why,
We’ll rid you of your balls!

This is our prophet, the best and last!
No others are permitted!
And if you would say otherwise,
To hell, you’ll be remitted.
 
This is the truth, the only truth!
And everything else is lies!
It answers whats, it answers hows,
It even answers whys!
 
This is the way, the only way!
The others lead to hell!
We use these exclamation points,
For we still have stuff to sell!

There’s up and down! And we are up
And you are down below!
So toil, you slaves! And don’t complain!
Your kind deserves no more!

******

This is our race, the master race!
The others must bow low!
And those that have corrupted this—
Our purity—must go!

We are the ones who’re chosen. God
Has led us through the ages!
We’ve suffered!  Now, we own the world—
And smile, as havoc rages!

This is our creed, the greatest creed,
And everything else is shit!
And if you would say otherwise,
You must be poor of wit!

But see!  Ha ha! You now are lost!
You’ve all been led astray!
There is no truth, there is no god!
There never was a way—

Except the way that money talks,
And that’s the way we sell!
And if we find you’re in our way,
We’ll blast you straight to hell!

2017 May 28th, Sun.
Brooklyn, New York