no poems tonight…please

the first line should always be the best
but today
there is no victory
it’s just a simple celebration
of nothing special
scratching two pennies
face down
a hero in decline
cats in the window
and a white, gutless sun
what’s left for those of us
that seek answers in the ether?

i’ve come to the conclusion that
i was born two decades too late
i should have wandered
technically inadequate streets
with a backpack, a notebook, and a gun
writing poems with a knife sharpened pencil

what happened to the sixties?
retired beatniks, and idealistic hippies?
what happened to road beers and free love?
released in a mindscape of (r)evolution
what happened to the spirit
of the cosmic individual,
connected through divine craftsmanship
to the collective movement of peace?
what happened to good LSD and bad hair?
swinging blues, and dirty guitars
i miss war protests and sticking it to the man

the arcade was replaced by home consoles
and roller rinks are a fading memory
our youthful and innocuous gangs have disbanded
but i still remember leather jackets and cheap cigars
skipping school, and riding bicycles into infinity

technology has invaded our minds
social media is a trap
how is it we are so connected yet so divided?
how do we have all this information at our fingertips
yet remain so ignorant?
why have we let slavery change shape and take hold?
wired networks and wireless consciousness
wish to rule roads
of ancient runes
and immortals hold no sway

do you remember how the gods painted the sky
with the fire of a phoenix sunrise?
do you remember your first kiss
the terror and ecstasy?
silent currents carry us over
galaxies of complex emotion
as lost music drives our devotion
towards divine islands of clouded glass

this is gonna be an unreleased kind of night
the beer just isn’t kicking in
and my streak has ended
it’s time to retire for awhile
time to..be alone,
to gather magic
and deposit energy
in all the right places
the world isn’t headed in the right direction
are you?
i’m not, though sometimes i think i am

imagination is the design
of chaos undiscovered
color defines nothing
until mixed with consequence
to create fantastic cascades
of nervous
and complex emotion
words, when settled in confusion mean little
but, when arranged in a deranged fashion
are given power
and the devil is always in the details
art is ritual
ritual is creation
and creation of is life
soft rhythms, no poetry tonight please
reinvent the spell
and arrange the stars
to suit your destiny

484-no-poems-tonight-please

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