This page is always kept up to date, with the latest poem at the top; if nothing has been added for a while, it means I haven't been writing lately.
You can also follow me on my Poetry Facebook page where I publish every new poem.
The darkness comes a-rolling
slowly across the bay.
We see it in the distance;
it's very far away.
The darkness rolls a little
closer, but we surmise
that still we needn't worry:
the sun's about to rise.
The darkness is engulfing
a world that's gone amiss,
and helplessly we wonder,
'How has it come to this?'
28-29/10/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to The Paradise of Darkness
To be or not to be yourself, that is the question:
whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
or to take arms against a sea of troubles
and by opposing end them. To think - to speak,
no more; and thus, by speaking out, address
the heartache and the thousand natural shocks
that flesh is heir to: 'tis a bold proposal,
bravely to be pursued. To think, to speak;
to speak, perchance to act - ay, there's the rub:
the malice we attract by speaking out
and taking action to repair our world
must give us pause - there's the respect
that makes calamity of so long life.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
the oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
the pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
the insolence of office and the spurns
that patient merit of the unworthy takes,
if he himself could change the status quo
without a challenge? Who would fardels bear
to grunt and sweat under a weary life?
But that the dread of disapproving peers
and bitter vengeful leaders from whose wrath
no follower recovers, cows the will
and makes us rather bear those ills we have
than recognise, confront and terminate them.
Thus social ties make cowards of us all,
and thus the native hue of resolution
is sicklied o'er with the dark cast of fear,
and enterprises of great pith and moment
with this regard their currents turn awry
and lose the name of action.
Based on William Shakespeare's Hamlet's Monologue.
8-9/10/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to Away and Back
Truth is offensive. She calls out
your superstition, sheer
sense of entitlement, conceit,
hypocrisy and fear.
She tries to introduce the facts
that you ignore or miss:
you see the world as you are told,
she sees it as it is.
She bluntly tells it as it is
and doesn't mince her words;
you tell what you were taught to tell
and won't look past your herds.
She's married to reality,
inviting you each day
to meet her spouse, but you refuse
to even look his way.
So the offence is mutual, as
you now can plainly see:
who is offended by the truth
offends reality.
6-7/09/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to Friday School
When Thor once more is losing patience, weary
of humans rendering his world more dreary,
his storm cloud bird will fiercely roar,
calling the gales and thunder as he quivers
with righteous rage and angrily delivers
his retribution to the shore.
27/08/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to Poetographs
When our ancestral home at last became
a different country with a different name
in which the brash intruders freely roam
while we are hated aliens at home,
we knew we would be decimated and assigned the blame.
Professing God has ordered them to take
our country as their own, they come to stake
their claims across our fields and force us from
our homes which they'll take over with aplomb
or build their own upon the ruins of what we must forsake.
The heartless settlers call us vermin while
they kill our kin and children with a smile
and violate their corpses, and they fuel
their people's hatred against ours; the cruel
invaders treat us like we are invaders they revile.
We're hunted down like animals, and just
like animals we're slaughtered with disgust.
Some spit at us and tell us to go back
to where we came from, others will attack
and cripple us to watch us as we're dying in the dust.
And anyone who with an upward fist
reclaims his home is called a terrorist
and butchered with his folks without ado
by the self-appointed chosen people who
relentlessly pursue a people with no right to exist.
Building their cities on our orchards and
our fields and always ready to expand,
burning our crops and relishing our strife,
the settlers celebrate their way of life
and claim they brought civilisation to a savage land.
12-19/08/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to From the Titans to the Titanic
'A man can be himself only so long as he is alone.' - ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER
The random boxes into which we're thrown
at birth decide who we become, worldwide.
The man who is himself must stand alone.
For some have always scorned the overblown
group egos and successfully defied
the random boxes into which we're thrown.
And we have come to argue as we've grown
that our identities shan't be denied:
the man who is himself must stand alone.
Most humans only care about their own,
people like them, and they defend with pride
the random boxes into which we're thrown.
Yet progress, as world history has shown,
means looking past the box in which we hide:
the man who is himself must stand alone.
This is one fact that should be widely known:
to care or think we have to step outside
the random boxes into which we're thrown.
The man who is himself must stand alone.
(based on my Deindividuation Resister Hypothesis)
9/08/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to Lines from the Spectrum and Away and Back
As he grew up, his individual nature
was, as tradition mandates, without cease
suppressed, and he, not being asked, was forced to
take on his parents' group identities.
Be it religion, culture, social circle
or nationality which were, of course,
the best of all, in every situation
he was reminded this is who he was.
He doesn't care for any group, but other
than thoughtful folk who care instead about
their fellow humans, his own world's revolving
around himself and how to raise his clout.
The social hierarchy demands compliance,
and if he wants the world around to stop
commanding him and thwarting his endeavours,
he knows he has to make it to the top.
Considering all other humans extras
in his majestic drama, he sets out
to lead them all and ruthlessly gets rid of
those who oppose him and who dare to doubt.
As someone craving power who is only
concerned about himself, the man is quite
indifferent to religion and the nation
but cannot show it lest he lose his fight.
As peerless leader who can not acknowledge
any authority above him, he
evades the topic, but he still makes certain
it's a religious nationalist we see.
For still he must appear to be religious
to be accepted by the group and sign
his name to the promotion of religion
to keep the country's populace in line.
He also needs these useful institutions
to give his acolytes the powerful
impression he and they are part of something
that's larger than they are to boost his pull.
Besides, he has to stoke the fear and hatred
of other faiths and nations so his mob
will rally round him to ensure their leader
can break the rules and laws to do his job.
And once he has created his dystopia
and sends the shamed minorities to hell
and rules his people with a fist of iron,
he'll finally control his life as well.
(Based on my model of The Neurological Spectrum - Between Individual and Collective Identity. In some cases religion can be replaced with ideology.)
2-4/07/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to That's the Way It Is
A day is long on Venus,
much longer than a year,
and for the months-long evenings
we keep our passions near.
This planet has been chosen
by those who love mankind
since it, unlike most others,
spins futurewards, you'll find.
The sulphur clouds have gathered;
our hopes and visions drown
as far on the horizon
we watch the Earth go down.
30/07/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to The Paradise of Darkness
Some leaders who are holding
our Western values dear
sign bombs for little children
they'll never see or hear.
Each death is celebrated,
a victory of Good
over barbaric Evil
that'd fight back if it could.
They truly are defending
the Holy Land, no doubt,
against a native people
God wants to see wiped out.
27-28/07/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to From the Titans to the Titanic
Earmarked for martyrdom, I guess,
he ranted on about the dangers
posed by the many non-white strangers
who try to enter the US.
A clip on the ear amidst his grim
tirade soon made his face turn yellow:
a white American and fellow
Republican had shot at him.
In solidarity and deep
compassion with their lord and master,
his followers, with one large plaster,
earmark themselves as loyal sheep.
20-21/07/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to Nail on the Head
'If you want to join our team, you better
know that we care less about your verve,
your past work experience, your letter
of recommendation, learning curve,
competence and job qualifications:
someone's inclination to fulfil
mainstream people's social expectations
is more critical than any skill.'
7/07/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to Lines from the Spectrum
God gave this country to his people and,
in his great wisdom, grace and love, dismissed
all other claims to this the Holy Land,
and so the natives have no right to exist.
We're well aware it's genocide, although
we won't admit to it. We see the light:
in the Judeo-Christian world we know
God ordered it, and therefore it's all right.
4/07/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to Nail on the Head
We're living in a Weimar world, and night
has fallen on a planet rife with fear
as now we witness in the moon's pale light
a future without promise drawing near.
Amidst the hanging trees of days gone by
the strongmen ride and wield their scythes and ring
their false alarm bells; as their ravens fly,
we're scared of what tomorrow's dawn may bring.
2/07/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to From the Titans to the Titanic
Progressives want a better future for
all human beings, here and overseas,
which, lacking poverty, abuse and war
brings equal rights and opportunities.
Conservatives prefer the status quo;
the present soothes when you are afraid
of the unknown. They're scared of change and so
roll back some of the progress that was made.
Fascists are fiercely summoning the past,
claiming their privileges from the days
of darker times when prejudice spread fast
and those who weren't like them still knew their place.
Just ask yourself, before they leave the nest,
which time zone would become your children best?
17-18/06/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to That's the Way It Is
Your child is probably an artist.
You probably are not.
When was the last time you created
an artwork on the spot?
Your child will probably ask questions.
You probably do not.
When was the last time you reflected
on something, and on what?
Remember how your 'education',
provided by the state,
killed your ability to question,
think freely and create?
So if you want your little darling
not to become a tool
of the establishment, don't send them
away to mainstream school.
11-12/06/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to The Supreme Blossom
When Aristarchus the Unheeded had
his lightbulb moment thousands of years ago,
he looked at Egypt's night sky, and he said,
'All stars are stationary, this we know.
'The Sun's position towards them, as we are
aware, remains unchanged, so I, for one,
suggest the Sun is but another star
and that the Earth revolves around the Sun.'
Few listened. Those who did came to rehearse
the arguments they had been taught before,
'We are the centre of the universe,
that's an established fact you can't ignore.'
'No evidence can ever contradict
our scientists and priests, and manifold
your unintelligent ideas conflict
with what the gods revealed in days of old.'
'You have the bold audacity to make
untenable assumptions and, with glee,
by saying Earth is not the centre, shake
the one foundation of society.'
Some checked his claim and found it to be true:
'Your argument is quite convincing, but
we don't want to be ostracised like you;
though we agree, we'll keep our mouths well shut.'
So Aristarchus soon came to the grim
realisation, though he wasn't wrong,
that his hypothesis would die with him,
remaining buried for gods know how long.
*The belief that the world is built around one's own collective identities, from Latin nos (we) and centrum.
4-5/06/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to From the Titans to the Titanic
In their gazebo on the battlefield,
delighted with a busy year, the great
merchants of death embraced their lavish yield
at their reception for the heads of state.
They watched the carnage all around with glee
and bragged about efficiency and tolls:
'Five thousand with one bomb! That ought to be
a record which will help you at the polls.'
One merchant pointed out, 'As we discuss
our trade, isn't it wonderful how these
conditioned masses, as convinced by us,
believe they are each other's enemies?'
Another town was flattened, and thereafter
room and cash register both rang with laughter.
31/05-1/06/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to That's the Way It Is
We float from holiday to holiday,
bemoan or celebrate and thus relive
events from years of yore, some of which may
not e'en have happened, passionate to give
our precious time and money freely when
the season asks for it, each year again.
Be it the births or deaths of gods, a war
we won or lost or when we took a stand
against oppressors, we get ready for
the feast and shop for decorations and
cute presents that'll be useless in some days
when we start saving for our next displays.
Sometimes emotions may run high, and when
the memory of some atrocity
rekindles hatred of our fellowmen
whose ancestors wronged ours, we clearly see
how those gone long before us came to stay
and still dictate our actions of today.
Most human beings, looking towards the past,
can't see the future that lies straight ahead;
we are aware that, as our customs last,
tradition is peer pressure from the dead,
and so the status quo will overtake
the future merely for tradition's sake.
24-26/05/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to That's the Way It Is
While awaiting recognition,
Vincent shaved his ear and found
that he might have to petition
others than the ones around.
Be yourself, and peers will rate you
by their norms and pour their scorn;
people who appreciate you
and your work are future-born.
16+19/05/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to Away and Back
The River of Humanity is running
around the Isle of Progress, moving fast
towards its extensive mouth where it's absorbed by
the Ocean of Oblivion at last.
But while the raging mainstream flows downriver
with all who crave the sameness of before,
the countercurrent brings the ones who chose it
onto the fruitful island's golden shore.
14/05/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to Lines from the Spectrum and Away and Back
Life is a horror film for most
in which just anybody could
be killed for being in the way
or who they are for the common good.
The only ones who know they're safe
are the white Christians since they are
either the killers or the film's
audience watching from afar.
5-6/05/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to Nail on the Head
On Independence Day the storm clouds gathered
and snow piled up in Washington, DC,
and with his pompous and confused demeanour
the head of state approached the balcony.
He rambled incoherently for hours
with his Chief Justice Cannon by his side
and threatened execution to his critics
and foes who soon would have no place to hide.
Some of the older zealots on the South Lawn
remembered how the people got their kicks
when Independence Day was celebrated
in the summertime and not on January 6.
And tens of thousands of white Christians gladly
waved flags to put their fealty on display
and worshipped and saluted the perpetual
Tremendous Leader of the USA.
2/05/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to Nail on the Head
Since common sense has always been a stranger
to planet Earth and hardly ever nips
around, the heads of state in final wisdom
are now preparing the apocalypse.
Remembering the fact that, quite overtly,
most Western leaders, as they play their tricks,
believe in talking snakes and pregnant virgins
helps me to understand world politics.
20/04/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to Nail on the Head
We all die twice. The first time is when we,
mere babes in arms, are forced to sacrifice
our sprightly selves to the society
we were born into since this is the price
for our acceptance and, without much fuss,
become the people others make of us.
17-18/04/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to That's the Way It Is
Now that conservatives write history, we're taught
natives exterminated one another in
the countries to which Christian Europeans brought
'civilisation' as they took them, blacks have been
enslaved to learn some useful skills while kept in thrall,
Hitler did some good things, though many people frown
upon him, Palestine did not exist at all
and billionaires worked for their wealth which trickles down.
The world is sleeping soundly, time runs out to wake:
the future of the past at present is at stake.
14/04/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to That's the Way It Is
He speaks words I dare not mention
while his sombre wings are spread,
and the world should pay attention
when the raven calls the dead.
He has counted, every morning,
all the tears and feathers shed,
and it is a dire warning
when the raven calls the dead.
Yet it seems there's no salvation
for the world we leave ahead;
it's too late for restoration
once the raven calls the dead.
10/04/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to The Paradise of Darkness
It's only natural that we zoom
in on what holds our minds in thrall:
while others try to read the room,
we read the writing on the wall.
7-8/04/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to Lines from the Spectrum
A horse tied to a plastic chair has learned
before that being tied to anything
like walls or posts, no matter how it yearned
to walk away, meant any beckoning
attempt to leave is pointless, so it's not
trying to flee but tarries on its spot.
We all are tied to plastic chairs and stand
upon our spots, but some don't realise
toxic connections can be severed and
stay in their place that they so much despise.
Remember that the ties that seem to bind
are but as strong as they are in your mind.
24/03/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to That's the Way It Is
For a lot he comes too early,
but he always comes too late
for conspirators who send him
to the former to create
profits, demonstrate their power,
clear the natives from their land
or express their disagreement
with a foreign leader's stand.
If he started every working
day by quickly taking care
of the ones whom he, for reasons
we can't fathom, tends to spare
and who proudly keep on showing
off their tolls, as pleased as Punch,
he could minimise his workload
and be home in time for lunch.
15/03/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to Nail on the Head
Welcome to our Antisocial Skills
Training. In this module you will learn
to be more efficient through no-frills
conversations, never to concern
your officious self with others' stuff,
not to be afraid to disagree
with the herd (although it may be tough)
or a person in authority,
to resist the pressure from your peers,
groupthink, group dynamics and the urge
to conform despite the ugly sneers
from the masses and instead diverge
from the norm, to look at facts and not
blindly trust what others claim, to speak
truth when inconvenient, to spot
everything uncommon and unique,
to remain objective and to think
for yourself, to rise and boldly go
where nobody ventured, not to shrink
and to controvert the status quo.
10-12/03/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to Nail on the Head and Lines from the Spectrum
'I have done nothing wrong!' Sebastian screamed,
refusing to receive the Eucharist;
he tried to run and violently broke free
after his father grabbed him by the wrist.
At bedtime he refused to pray. Instead
he freaked and openly began to flout
the custom: 'I have nothing left to say
to God that he requires to know about.'
His parents saw the need to intervene,
so they approached their cleric and professed
their firm suspicion, and the priest agreed
their offspring was demonically possessed.
Sebastian was tied down upon his bed
to have the evil demon exorcised;
the cleric waved a crucifix and roared,
'I thus compel you in the name of Christ!
'Depart the body of this little boy!'
Sebastian, as the daunting cleric spoke,
tried to resist his cold unyielding stare
until eventually his spirit broke.
He realised he'd never be allowed
to be himself, gave up and sighed, 'Amen',
and finally his parents and their church
possessed Sebastian Middleton again.
4-5/03/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to Friday School
After Bibi Butcher staked his claim,
he commenced to rid his land of all
people who had lived there when he came,
and this feat was anything but small.
Shooting them on sight, he'd only find
very few of them and seal their fate;
sometimes he pretended to be kind,
put out food for them and lay in wait.
Some he killed by cutting the supply
of their water from the creek on site
or, in case of valley dwellers, by
dropping rocks upon their tents at night.
Joe, the sheriff, came to check on him
and, when realising what went on,
swung his billy club and with a grim
mien confirmed, 'We all just want them gone!'
So he sent his deputies to speed
up the process they so much desired
and provided his new friend in need
with the guns and bullets he required.
And when Bibi asked for cannons, he
got his cannons right away, and so
all the townsfolk unashamedly
called their cruel sheriff Genocide Joe.
'I'm a Christian, I have never killed
anybody, as you all well know,
and I disapprove when blood is spilled,
so don't dare to call me Genocide Joe!'
1-3/03/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to Nail on the Head
Our voyage soon will end, and we'll return
to Rhodes after we sold our famous wine
in Alexandria, and now we yearn
to see our families and to recline.
The destination of our journey nears;
we watch intently as beneath our prow's
rail the colossus finally appears,
open the last amphorae and carouse.
The skies have cleared, and with a gentle gale
we reach the sailor's most familiar mark:
when Helios' balls hang high above our sail,
we cheer and then prepare to disembark.
Just a few fathoms left, we gladly spread
oblations in the Mediterranean foam,
the sun god's shiny scrotum overhead,
enter Rhodes Harbour and arrive back home.
25-27/02/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to Nail on the Head
Civilisation is a euphemism
for status quo, and it has long been used
to hinder progress, subjugate the masses
and keep the privileged elite amused.
Civilisation means elimination
of cultures and of peoples in plain view;
it helps suppress minorities and even
majorities to serve the chosen few.
Professing to preserve the overrated
'character' of one's own society,
any attempts at change are harshly dealt with
and those who try declared the enemy.
As someone valuing mankind's potential
beneath civilisation, be advised
that I consider it far more important
to be progressive than be civilised.
20/02/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to That's the Way It Is
The fortunate gather in the banquet hall
of privilege in which the wide and tall
window of opportunity grants views
across a country with a million hues,
and many a hopeful youngster oversees
the boundless world of possibilities
while common people are, with gnashing teeth,
stuck in the murky basement underneath.
13/02/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to That's the Way It Is
As Nietzsche stood beside God's deathbed
and watched the tyrant die
while cursing his perceived assassins,
a tear formed in his eye.
God was quite moved, 'Is it that having
to see your master go,
you realise how much you need me?'
but Friedrich answered, 'No.
'I moan the paradise of thinkers
we could be living in,
the lofty intellect of humans
if you had never been.'
1+4/02/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to Friday School
Amidst the Aztecs' golden works of art
the Spanish monarch entertained his guests,
and when the lot of them demanded jests,
his jester rose and ventured to impart,
'If the Chinese had brought their much-revered
gunpowder to America instead
of Europe, all those Aztecs would have had
a field day when the Spanish fleet appeared.
'They would have killed most strangers once alert,
taken the others hostage and then went
on to discover Europe with intent
to plunder, pillage, slaughter and convert.
'They would have grabbed your land by force or stealth,
installed a tyrant we now would exalt,
held you as prisoner in your own vault
and carried off your treasures and your wealth.'
Although the king was unamused at first,
he raised his glass, tried hard to show no trace
of ire and cast a smile upon his face
while in his hand the brimful goblet burst.
25-28/01/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to From the Titans to the Titanic
Adults tell you that you're learning
by repeating what they say,
but much more is learned by people
who, as children, asked away:
What things are and how they function,
where they come from next and hence
why we do the things we've always
done and if they're making sense.
Ask your questions while you have them,
for, as history has shown,
it's incredibly unlikely
you'll ask questions once you've grown.
22-24/01/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to Horses Can Fly
Why can't we all just fade instead of dying
and thus remain, our nature to defend,
true to ourselves instead of simply lying
on deathbeds, waiting for the rapid end?
Not yet departed, I would be there still,
but you'd be seeing less of me each day,
just like an evanescing phantom, till
at last I would completely fade away.
17-19/01/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to The Paradise of Darkness
We expect that future generations
looking back at us will be appalled
at our wars and genocides and servile
worship of dictators we installed,
That a more enlightened people shudder
at atrocities of which we know
on a planet where civilisation
is a buzzword for the status quo.
But I fear that future generations
looking back at us won't raise a brow,
but they'll ask, 'What's the big deal about it?
You should see the world we live in now.'
7-11/01/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to From the Titans to the Titanic
We live in Horror Castle which has all
resources necessary to provide
for everyone inside yet cannot hide
onlookers starving in the banquet hall.
Its torture chambers, kept out of our sight,
house most inhabitants against their will;
we do not have to watch them, but their shrill
screams from the dungeon keep us up at night.
There is an air of meek despair about
the place; the pungent smell of burning flesh
carries across the courtyard where the fresh
child sacrifices raise the master's clout.
But we are safe as long as we don't ring
alarm bells, for we're in the master's wing.
1-2/01/6265 RT (2024 CE), added to The Paradise of Darkness
When Maryam who had nine months ago
been impregnated as the great reward
for being a good girl, and meekly so,
gave birth to Isa, he was much adored.
Their kin assemble in their house that's been
the family home for centuries, and joy
reigns as the relatives are pouring in
with presents for the little baby boy.
But suddenly a mob of settlers breaks
into their home with guns aimed at the lot,
pushes them out with barrels and with stakes
and executes the newborn with one shot.
The settlers set up house as they condemn
the natives to seek shelter from the snow.
So this is Christmas Eve in Bethlehem,
quite different from two thousand years ago.
24/12/6264 RT (2023 CE), added to From the Titans to the Titanic
Twilight fell before the longest
night of winter, and the weather
weakened all except the strongest
of the pack as down below
the hill grey wolves all huddled close together
and warmed each other in the knee-deep snow.
Here, to pass the time, some mothers
told their cubs about the hated
fierce red wolves (who, as some others
claimed, were not real wolves at all)
and warned against the weird emancipated
lone wolf who'd left to follow his own call.
In the meantime at a clearing
said lone wolf, behind a cedar,
saw a group of bears appearing
who held council on that day.
'We have to kill the loathsome wolves,' their leader
declared, 'because they rob us of our prey.
'They could easily defeat us
as one group, but since they madly
hate each other, they will meet us
separately, and we should
attack and kill the greys at dawn and gladly
finish the reds thereafter and for good.'
Carefully the wolf retreated
and removed his pawprints, using
his thick tail, as he repeated
what he'd heard, trying to get
his head around it, quite intent on losing
no time and warning all about the threat.
He approached the greys who loudly
growled at him; the alpha, branding
him a traitor, warned, 'You proudly
walked away from us to live
by your design and not by our longstanding
traditions which the pack does not forgive!'
'I have come to save you, brothers,'
he replied and told the story.
'To survive, we'll need the others;
we must struggle paw in paw
with all red wolves to foil the vile and gory
scheme of the bears and see them flee in awe.'
So the pack, despite the dangers,
sought the fierce red wolves' location
who were snarling at the strangers.
'Hold your fangs!' the unafraid
lone wolf exclaimed, explained the situation,
and they all went to where the big bears stayed.
As the bears woke in the glaring
moonlight midst the snow and berries,
they were faced with one most daring
army of wolves, intent and stern,
howling and growling at their adversaries
who fled the forest, never to return.
Grey and red wolves stayed together,
and they quickly, on reflection,
found that in the freezing weather
larger groups rather than small
packs generate more warmth and more connection
and that they weren't so different after all.
'You have saved the pack,' the grateful
alpha said. 'Thanks to your warning
we expelled the vile and hateful
bears and foiled their grisly plan,
so I invite you on this happy morning
to take your place within the pack again.'
'No, I've stranger roads to travel
than the likes of you will ever
see and secrets to unravel,
so don't put me on the spot.
Besides all this, as pack wolf I would never
have been discovering this evil plot.
'My distinctiveness has freed me
and my sense of self keeps growing,
but I'll be there when you need me.'
With a friendly nod the stray
lone wolf turned back, his playful pupils glowing,
and confidently went upon his way.
13-15/12/6264 RT (2023 CE), added to Horses Can Fly and Lines from the Spectrum
The most genocidal religion
swept through Europe and, causing a stir,
slaughtered millions for not converting
or for being the people they were.
The most genocidal religion
enslaved millions from foreign strands,
emptied continents of their natives
and robbed their resources and lands.
The most genocidal religion
continually claims to be,
with a face that couldn't be straighter,
the source of morality.
10-11/12/6264 RT (2023 CE), added to Friday School