PETER PAN
NOT A MAN
JUST A BOY
FULL OF JOY
TINKERBELL
WHAT A GAL
FAIRY LIKE
MAGIC SPRITE
NEVERLAND
UNDERSTAND
I INSIST
DOES EXIST
YOUNG AT HEART
PLAY A PART
FAIRY DUST
IS A MUST
FLY AWAY
THERE SOMEDAY
IN YOUR DREAMS
SO IT SEEMS
MAGICAL
MYSTICAL
CASUAL
CLASSICAL
FAIRY TALE
PIERCE THE VEIL
HAVE A PEEK
WHAT YOU SEEK
WILL BE FOUND
ALL AROUND
DOES ANYONE
REALLY KNOW
ANYONE
DO YOU EVEN
KNOW YOURSELF
DO YOU JUST
DO WHAT YOU MUST
TO ADJUST
TO CIRCUMSTANCE
PERCHANCE
DO YOU DARE
TO SHARE
EVERYTHING
OR BITS AND PIECES
HERE AND THERE
TO KEEP THEM GUESSING
Discordant Note
Scratching, floating
Hanging in the air
Pressure ebbs and flows
Headpiece filled with straw
A twisted melody lingers
Confusion and rage entwined
Resentment's bitter sting
Wrestles with sorrow's whine
Innocence stolen, trust shattered
By hands meant to protect
The child within still bleeds
Silently searching, begging for respect
Justice denied, our secrets buried
Master manipulator
A monster cloaked in lies
Crimes still hidden
Despite Death's hand
Too late for tortured cries
Feet of clay now returned to dust
From whence they darkly came
Leaving behind a tangled mess
Of trauma, grief and shame
The urge to desecrate, destroy
Wage war upon their grave
Wrestling with guilt, pity and relief
Yes, he is no more
But I am not yet saved
This victory feels hollow
An unearned, empty gift
When wounds still pulse and throb
No closure, the burdens unshift
I imagine looking for the tombstone,
Fists and soul clenched tight,
Anger, disgust, and rage.
Shadows cast doubt over my morals,
Compass dysfunctional, truth estranged.
Like Basque tongues tangled with Ainu clicks,
A labyrinth of questions ethics inflicts.
No tears of mourning shed
No idea the monster was laid to rest
Three years later, a happy accident
Release a demon locked deep in my chest
How to reconcile the little child
Who needed love and care
With the person now made to carry
This discordant note hanging in the air
In the depths of this discordance
Frustration and confusion still rise
Dare I confront the shadows
Curse their peaceful demise?
Every anguished scream swallowed
Each day, coerced, suffocated in silence
Transmuting years of buried aches
Why not release in rightful fierce violence?
Through serpentine paths of healing
Piece by shattered piece remade,
Scars shimmering with untold stories
Of battles braved and traumas mourned
In owning all that was endured
By innocent hands and shattered trust
Languidly learning to cradle, soothe
My inner child waiting, weeping in the dust
Each breath is an act of bravery
Every step is defiant, resolute
Reclaiming fractured narratives
No longer voiceless or mute
Through my poetry, I find release
May its rhythm grant me peace.
This journey from victim to victor
Is paved with shards of broken self
Reassembled by courageous hands
Into mosaics of pain and health
A symphony of survival
Echoes in the spaces in between
I cannot rewrite my cruel history
I yearn like others to live and dream
Beyond the reach of phantom hands
That sought to break and steal and mar
I rise in revolutionary softness
Tempered by battles, reminded by scars
The discordant note, a stubborn seed,
Resists the soil, its tyranny decreed,
Yet woven slow, within the larger frame,
An ostinato may conquer its shame,
Finds solace in the weave, a timeless plea,
Echoing Eliot, Stravinsky rewrites history.
MIND YOUR Ps AND Qs
WHAT ABOUT RSTUs
DO THEY THINK THAT WE ARE FOOLS
JUST WHAT ARE THOSE CRAZY RULES
I AM EASILY CONFUSED
NEVER MIND OH WHAT'S THE USE
SOME THINGS JUST CAN'T BE DEFINED
SOME ARE BETTER LEFT BEHIND
AT LEAST THAT IS WHAT I FIND
DANCING ROUND INSIDE MY MIND
CONTEMPLATE
CONCENTRATE
DEMONSTRATE
DEVIATE
DESIGNATE
HESITATE
MEDITATE
MEDIATE
PERPETRATE
PENETRATE
RESONATE
REPLICATE
SIMULATE
STIMULATE
SATURATE
SEPARATE
SELECTIVE
PERSPECTIVE
REFLECTIVE
INVENTIVE
ATTENTIVE
COLLECTIVE
CONNECTIVE
DECEPTIVE
DIRECTIVE
PERCEPTIVE
RECEPTIVE
SUGGESTIVE
INTENSIVE
PROSPECTIVE
PREDESTINED
TO BE DESTINED
NOT TO MENTION
THIS DIMENSION
ITS ASCENSION
CAUSES TENSION
INTERVENTION
ITS INTENTION
IS INVENTION
OF PERCEPTION
WHEN YOU'RE INNOCENT AND NAIVE
IT'S SO HARD FOR YOU TO BELIEVE
SO MANY ARE PRONE TO DECEIVE
WHAT A TANGLED WEB THEY WILL WEAVE
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU CAN TRUST
WHEN SO MANY OF THEM WILL JUST
CAUSE YOU TO BELIEVE THAT YOU MUST
QUESTION EVERYTHING IN DISGUST
SO MANY GOOD ARE OUT THERE TOO
JUST GOTTA BELIEVE THAT IS TRUE
WHAT ELSE CAN YOU POSSIBLY DO
THAN BELIEVE THERE ARE SOME LIKE YOU
I'M NOT INTO SCI- FI
NOT CRAZY BOUT A.I.
IT WASTES TOO MUCH ENERGY
THEY NEED NEW TECHNOLOGY
THEY RUSH INTO WAY TOO MUCH
AND I'VE REALLY HAD ENOUGH
OF SO MUCH TOXICITY
THAT SCENE JUST ISN'T FOR ME
WE NEED TO STOP MAD SCIENTISTS
LET'S LOCK THEM UP NOW THERE'S A TWIST
I WOULD TRULY LOVE TO SEE
SO WE ALL COULD LIVE IN PEACE