title too long two

     (we liked your earlier stories about walking around getting drunk)

 

you see

when you walk the streets

you see what is real

 

homeless

holding all their valuables

in the confines of a shopping cart

 

you see how it is all just lip service

people cry compassion

while sending the electric company a check

 

but on the dark streets no one has left the light on

to welcome you home

 

words mean nothing

if you truly want to be saved

give all that you have to the poor

and follow

 

but you won’t

you’d rather sit there with your laptop

your internet connection

 

and feel uncomfortable with the real words of God

that require action

you do not respond to subtraction

 

you keep comfort and deny others

by changing the meaning of the words

and telling God to get off his throne

 

you want to sit on it for now

 

you say my point of view

on these dark streets of decay

are not in alignment with God

 

but neither is yours

(at least not evidenced by your actions)

 

that is why i have no respect for your opinion

give no credence to your words

and believe that ALL you say is a lie

(if a prophet is wrong once….)

 

because i am where the real tears are cried

i have bought a hungry woman a meal

out here in the darkness

 

where is the work that shows your faith is real?

 

i wouldn’t care

but you hate me with your definitions of love

while wall street bulldozes

and pays overtime for the concrete glove

that swings batons

on those who want to share what is

with who is

 

and i know i am invisible

under this street lamp

obscured by cigarette smoke

where no invisible being is watching

 

i’m just sick of you not seeing this suffering

that surrounds

because it doesn’t fit your vision of what makes you

feel the things you like to feel

 

and that is all i keep saying

in a world where no one is listening

you are not embracing the truth

 

just what you want the truth to be

in your perception there is liberty

as long as you don’t take the time

 

to ask why when you pass by

what is happening around you

in such a hurry that the events

do not factor into your thinking

 

but when others agree with me

you feel the need to discredit

and say i am wrong

because i do not agree with you

 

when the foundations you stand on

you did not build with your brain

you can only sing in refrain

 

what you have accepted as true

because it works for you

 

words in books

have taught

what we believe

as we perceive

 

but what you say isn’t true

just what you want to be true

to justify your meaningless existence

 

because what you do would be pointless

if you weren’t right

it would all just be meaningless suffering

 

and maybe you would have to help others

to maybe, possibly

give your existence some purpose

 

or you could just stray

onto dark streets of decay

and not live up to any ideas

 

just look for what you need

right now

not why just how

 

***