Poetry

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SURVIVAL
A new audio poem with musical
accompaniment by Gary Malkin.

Out of nothing something still arises.
Inside silence waits sound and the unknown.
We cannot hold it back –the call of life is strong. Survive.

What if it ends tonight? A bomb or a downed plane?
What if the crying, and screaming of pain freezes into time?
Will those echoes carry through the vibrations of life itself
So the next time humanity exists we will learn from that pain?
Can pain itself burn through the layers of pain?

I have a disease.
When I was first diagnosed, I read about it
Hoping to see what cures had been found.
I wanted to know how to prepare myself for what was to come.
But the articles frightened me.
Anxiety moved through me in waves - deepening my exhaustion.

I searched to find the right solution to this predicament
That my life could be shorter.
My doctor prescribed medicine to stop its progress
But side-effects took ahold, deepening my fear.

With each passing year, I have grown softer and stronger.
I have health allies.
New ways to think, remedies to take,
Unconditional wonder, and greater love.
My doctors are pleased and trust what I am doing.
When anxiety arises from old nightmares, generational traumas, life,
I find a way to live a good day. No matter what.

The world almost blew up yesterday.
A madman in charge of the most powerful military force in the world
Threatened to destroy an ancient civilization country that does not fear death.
If in the future we survive, will someone read about this event in a history book?
Will their spine shiver and their breathing stop
When they realize that if it had happened, they would not exist?

I believe the deepest heart of the universe lives inside of each of us –
Even when our world almost dies.

FLY

A bird turned right in the blue air sky,
An empty space was left behind,
A sacred place where hearts can cry
For the pain of others dying.

Though the bird was out of sight away,
The air was stirred like from a grave,
Where ancient wounds arise like waves
To guide all those still praying.

Do I pray or do I plead?
What stories are still stored in me?
Within my sadness hide old crimes
From the times my love kept dying.

The bird is gone, I see my feet,
To free me from the dark and deep,
And hands to hold me while I weep,
For the life I know that’s waiting.

The way to peace is through the fire,
Come dear wind and take me higher.
I place my fear upon the pyre.
Look up, turn right, start flying.

AUDIO POEMS

This recording of This Has To Change was performed by Lisa Rafel.

THIS HAS TO CHANGE

He said, Hey, don’t stress, You’re the best!
Don’t cry, you’ll be fine –
You want some wine? Try a distraction,
Or something stronger
Soon it will get better – Just a little longer
‘Fore the changes come to pass
Independence at last
Equal power, equal choice
Equal freedoms, equal voice!
Um Hmmmm
Um Hmmmm

He said, Hey, don’t stress, give it time
Women understand, they got strength and style
Women gather things, they walk the extra mile
They bridge the gap, they cut the crap
They rearrange - They’re not to blame
That some men want their life the same
Treating women as a game
Huh hummm
Huh hmmmm

She said, Something’s not right
Let’s get some light to see it brighter
Raise the band-aid from the wound
Look inside to see the hiders
Those deniers, insiders,
angry criers, complicators,
Baiting haters, agitators
See the depth from where it comes
‘Cause that story has no glory –
A new story has begun

No more pending, stalling, fending
Wishful thinking or pretending
Time to write a different ending
And let me tell you why
This has to change
This has to change
Um hmmm
Um hmmm

I was told by someone older -
it’s not your place – to make the plans
The man’s the driver, the decider,
He’s more experienced and wiser
If you complain, you’re in the fryer
Then they can call you a divider–
Cause when the liars make the rules -
Men who justify their might –
The women know the truth
Um hmmm
Um hmmm

Boys grow up learning how to fight
They think winning is the prize
They’re blinded by their minds
Let’s stop this heinous lie
Um hmmm
Um hmmm

We say, we are in a turning
The wheel of life is burning
Wake up to what is churning
In your hearts there’s different learning
We can’t get lost in dreams and schemes
Of language that’s combatting,
And fearful copycatting
That’s distracting, and lacking
Entrapping and attacking

Because …
Freedom isn’t free
When someone’s standing in your way
When they make laws devoid of feelings
When your life feels stripped of meaning
Freedom isn’t free
We gotta stand against the storm
Freedom gives us vision
It’s a reason to be born
Um hmmm
Um hmmm

This has to change
This has to change

No more waiting in the corner
We’re not waiting any longer
This has to change
Um hmmm

THE RIVER

Caught in the narrows, the churning
Sucking current push-pulled her down and up,
Throwing her like a rag doll carried by an angry child.

Searching for air, she thrust her face above the foam
Toward the deep blue sky, where clouds were flying
Like migrating geese heading home.

Where are they going she wondered?
Soothing her fearful gasps, she bent her legs that had Protected her and tucked them in.

Her body rocked like in a cradle from an old dream.
Tilting her face up to see clouds again, she filled her
Lungs and swam toward an aqua blue just ahead,
To the calmer sea that was waiting.