EFFECT AND CAUSE
DON'T LET THEM MAKE YOU HURT YOURSELF..........
Painting: Apparition Artist: Leon Brown, Jr.
EFFECT AND CAUSE
I break-dance
in the middle of the freeway.
I lurk too close to danger,
gazing into volcanoes
with my hair on fire.
I laugh and taunt policemen
who only see black skin
and a target to
destroy.
I run with wolves and tigers
and risk it all
wounded and bleeding.
I curse the killers and enslavers
though their knives are long
and my throat is exposed.
I tempt the fates
at every turn
will I strike the match and watch
me burn?
is this some twisted
course of obstacles?
like cigarettes and booze, or decades
lost to junkie tears and voodoo?
or is it just detritus:
a sad and angry consequence
of our legacy of want,
our history
of struggle, rage and wishing
for enough?
while the gluttonous
fat and greedy takers off the top
just want to keep it all.
(Millions? Billions? Hoarded by individuals? Obscenity......!!)
what is it ‘bout this universal madness
where mankind struggles on in pain and sadness
while a tiny fraction steals the wealth and gladness?
what is it ‘bout this universal madness
that drives us to these brinks
of hopeless reckless anger
and nudges us to blithely flirt
with portents of disaster?
perhaps I’d dance
on safer ground
if I could see
deliverance
to that rapacious ruthless
greedy one percent -
these despots and death-
dealers -
their just and true reward!
Feb. 1, 2025
"Searching for All Signs of Intelligent and Compassionate Life on Earth!"
I really like that woman in red ... painting? drawing?
It's so compelling somehow, I just want to stare at it for a long time.
And the poem tugs at my heart...
I believe, Leon, my brother of another mother, that SOON there will begin the beginning
of putting ALLLLLLL this horror show in the ground, where it can get eaten up by worms
and we will RISE and SHINE like Humans have not yet done before, only the glimmers have we been able to see and feel.... This will be more than we dream of.
It's coming, it's coming very soon, my dear friend, very soon
get ready, batten down those hatches... and we will change THIS TUNE OF TYRANNY
to a tune of VICTORY and PEACE and LOVE and NEW BEGINNINGS...
It's COMING We will stop the Nasties
SOON, very SOON-- it is written in the STARS
xo xo xo xo xo
Pray for the Pal's, Pray for the Poor, pray for the Weak, Pray for the Children
we SHALL overcome! we SHALL.
The caveat in your title throws your powerful poem in relief, Leon. And I like the painting, too. The pairing of the two ignites a spirit of reflection. You're very creative!