Before the Cock Crew

I denied Him,
Not once, nay twice, but thrice.
Swords saluted that preordained night ,
Clamorous voices muted quietude,
fleet-footed fright stunted my fortitude.

I denied Him long before the morn
from night was shone,
shielded my cowardly face against accusation,
disavowed charges of alliance
due to mortal trepidation,
deserted a close allegiance.

I denied Him,
slouched slowly away on shy tiptoes
a covenant to forfeit
as He was buffeted by countless foes
and targeted by their spit.

Yes over, over, over prophetically true,
I denied Him thrice before the cock crew.

Lights Out

Homeless People

Homeless people,
faceless, nameless
babies, children,
weary women tired and spent,
hapless men, defeated men
on the highways & rugged byways,
zigzagging, crisscrossing
alleys and corridors
scrounging for food,
seeking handouts,
taking refuge in dangerous shadows,
challenging death, disease,, exclusion.
Homeless people whose denial
mauled-nutrition, alienation.
Unprotected by the law,
unprotected from the law.

Americans wed to desperation,
categorized, ostracized, dehumanized
in this so-called land of plenty.
My country 'tis of thee
is homelessness & gnawing hunger
ingredients of liberty.

Crackheads

Once upon a time
I shared company with crackheads,
Chasing after euphoric addiction,
the instant good-bye high,
the rocked powder mixture
in a glass or metal fixture,
atop the Chore Boy
scorched brillo.

Crackheads, selective buyers,
supply and demand,
emptied Novocain canisters,
sectioned TV or radio antennae,
straight shooters, power hitters -
with bits and pinches or the rectangular
shaped wafer, alabaster cubes,
uneven crumbs, kibbles stuffed
in puckered orifices - then fired,
the anticipated sizzle,
poisonous inhalation
lethal fumes produced by butane
and cheap lighter fluid.
Sore blistered thumbs
flicking, flicking,
an incessant effort to elicit
amid countless clicks
one last flame instead of sparks
to afire the cream-shaded bitch,
burn the snow in order to numb the brain,
Alter consciousness, derail morality,
Anchor intelligence and creative twist...
Habitual dingbats,
Marvelling and admiring caked "rez",
Lining the nonporous innards of "glass dicks"
Sharing company with crackheads,
stuck on stupid' mired in mindlessness,
a small unstructured world
of Bic lighters, zippos, whitetips, matches
and 151 or alcohol for the suicide;
a small petty world,
hiding and whispering behind close doors,
pulled shades, drawn shades
and venetian blinds.
Lowered t.v. and radio
to hear imagined footsteps, helicopters
and other paranoia phantoms.
Washed out entities,
watching out shouting out "One time"
and mouthing unintelligible,
monosyllabic words,
half-audible, off- the- wall gibberish.

Crackheads indulges,
anywhere any place anytime,
fair game fair play,
no exception to the rule
for a quick hit
behind dumpsters
between parked trucks and cars,
alleys, doorways, broad daylight
and portable johns.
An assumptive, pre-emptive world,
all facets of humanity
lumped together -
priest atheist activist fanatic,
legislators, commentators
no common denominator-
one Hungarian goulash,
Louisiana jumbo shared with Mona Lisa
lady Godiva, Medusa
and pulp pornography.
Minds unhinged
by the drug attack
crack-whack attack
accompanied by razor blades
and mirrors, scratched, dented, smeared
a thousand and one times over.
Fetishes in a squeeze,
fetuses under siege.
Sharing company with crackheads,
synapses tangled branches,
briared tumbleweeds
rolling across deserted mind strips.

Strawberries, raspberries,
tricking for a treat -
sex in a vacuum'
performed in crack houses,
abandoned buildings, mildew garages,
cardboard and concrete condos'
and beneath space blanket shelters.

Sharing company with crackheads
in stretched limos, porches and yachts,
sky scrappers, Tudor mansions
and behind closed door caucuses.
Cruising, navigating through strawberry fields
wrangling over short money,
a hooter, peeper, a pebble
sometimes, disguised do low.
Paged deliveries, drop-bys
drop-offs - dropping dead.
Sharing company with crackheads,
teenagers, seniors,
used-to-Be's, wanna-Be's,
scarred, twisted,
tweaking on skid row asphalt,
ambling from side to side,
inspecting cracks in sidewalks
and creased curbs,
looking for a place to stay,
needing a friend to trust , lay
betray. Looking for drawers
to rummage through.
Values and valuables:
microwaves, jewelery,
furs, cars exchanged for 5-o's
eight tracks, dubs, eight balls and kilos.
Sharing company with crackheads,
chasing euphoric addition
spooked in spoons, shot
through syringes into lumped flesh.
Scandalous forays for a pinch.
Preying victims, murder -
drug addictive babies infective
shelved. Fags and spike dikes
chasing after the euphoric, instant
good-bye high --die.

Enigma

A laurel of crows circled his head
Didn't know if he was alive or dead
Nailed to a cross tied to a post
Had no idea when he gave up the ghost,
goosebumps tattooed his swollen tummy
his face drawn taut like an Egyptian mummy
due to my age I found it hard to remember,
Was it before or after December?

Do you understand what I'm trying to say
Could things had been done in a different way?

A bullet with his name on it pierced his head
nailed on a cross where he cried and bled,
The stark event caused me to wonder
had there been a catasrophic blunder?
Was it an omen of good and bad karma
An unforseen twist in a nightmarish drama,
That took placce in Selma, Alabama?

Do you understand what I'm trying to say,
Could things had been done in different way?

A weathe of doves circled his head
He was too much alive after being dead
Though nailed to the cross and tied to a post
He refused to yeild up his ghost
Wounds in his side and hands revealed
That which was opened was smoothly sealed.

The world is in upheaval
Good versus evil
Zealots and maggots
Whichever way you take it
Few are choosen as a sacrifical tool
To promote or demote the Golden Rule.
The world is afoul with underlings
Conspirators and ding-a-lings?

But, oh! I recall it was a joyeous day
To see an humbled Uncle Sam,
As Nina sang her gutsy song,
Mississippi Goddamn!

Poems That Don't make Sense

(1)

They look like us
tattooed in bulk,
Atlas on a shoestring,
holding up a cindered world,
spewing volcanic mucus
from a five and six pointed star,
reliving slavery, the Alamo and the holocaust.

They sing like us,
devil trills and lusty songs
on pirate and Viking ships
as eagles, hummingbirds and butterflies
soar high and low on piano keys.

(2)

Tettering on a tightrope,
I seesaw above vats of molasses
churned by Aunt Jemima
and Betty Crocker.
Undergoing cosmetic surgery
my face is caked with pizza dough.

(3)

Cyclops and the Seeing Eye dog
slipped passed Cerberus
in mode to free Eurydice
after Orpheus failed attempt.
Three eyes mastered the task
as Pluto slept.

two lines a day or more

In the lens of my camera I captured the fluttering of a butterfly. My friend winked at me before he died. When reaching into my full pocket, I knew emptiness. In the beginning God created consciousness and dreams. Two lines a day - confining, Three line a day -refreshing. An apple a day keeps the doctor away, A smile a day keeps anger at bay. Wisdom comes with age, so does foolishness. Big Brother is a monster with two horns and a forked tongue. Politics and religions are void of justice. The Creator is an androgynous entity. Mongo gives and Mongo takes away. Anger poisons the blood and numbs the mind. Each second of sleep equals an hour of death. Gambling is the surest way to win or lose. A sincere smile is an expression of loving wholeness. Achivement is colorblind. Lunacy is the absence of sanity. Most humans have a brain without the means to use it. I'd rather have a hundred days with my animals driving me crazy than one day without them. Friendship is neither cheap nor expensive. The measure of ones worth is measured by ones worthliness. Neither the tongue nor mouth are discriminatory when it comes to cunnilingus and fellatio. I pray fifty times a day for world peace. We all need a little poison in our lives. Your neurosis is my psychosis. Forgive me for trying to help you. Sometimes it's advantageous to brave a cowards mien. Mindful forgetfullness is one path leading to the fountain of youth. Always try having a big heart and a concrete mind. Sometimes generalities are profound. I'm forever dancing on the arch of a rainbow. Cutting a cats claw is inhufeline. At the start of any bout the outcome is known. Imitation is a form of thievery. Trusting can be a form of self-punisment. A programmed mind can not expand. Stages are to pass through not to remain in. No human is born standing on two feet. The devil is commercial-minded. He advertises. Guilt is for those with a conscience.