My More Current Poetry
Conscience of the King
Do you know me?
I am the universe questioning itself
I strive and struggle mightily
With the tasks of this one day
But I do not surrender myself
Because I am worthy of more.
Do you know me?
I am the one you have
Dismissed, categorized, annotated
Admonished, and forsaken
But I will not go quietly.
Do you know me?
Have you considered
What your actions have done
To me, my psyche, my being
I am a person like any other
I have feelings, I have pride
I have fought hard just to be.
Do you know me?
You speak tolerance, compassion
And yet write such cold
calculating precision
A razor cutting deep into me.
Do you know me?
Do you realize how much I care?
About the children, about you, about myself
I struggle with your words of admonition
Every day I hold in the rage and frustration
The terror and confusion of a million lifetimes
It is my legacy yet you add to the burden.
Do you know me?
I am your student, your peer, your tutor
I am ready to learn from you, to be guided by you
To give you the education books cannot give
And yet you have rejected me, written me off
With your sharp pen, is this what you wanted to be?
Was this the dream that led you where you are?
Do you know me?
Do you want to?
Given the chance, I will become greater
Than the sum of my parts
My flaws transformed into assets
But only
If you truly know me…
J.S.B.
2-6-00
All The World's a Stage
A piece of the universe unfolds
I am an answer to an endless question
I cannot deny the power of my soul
It courses through my veins a fiery inferno
I reach out to touch the fire
I was I am I will be
Surges of insatiable desire
Replaced by numbing pain
I am everything and nothing
A contradiction of confusion
I cry out
Resonating with the endless
Struggle that is existence
I cannot forget
I cannot forgive
I cannot forsake
The power of my essence
Flows within me
Energy crackles
I sizzle with life renew'd
Do not seek to understand my madness
It is the one thing I can say is mine
Worlds collide the universe cries
Unbidden children wander aimlessly
Seeking questions and answers
Skewed from the enlightened path
My helplessness engulfs me I am
A witness to the stampede of lemmings
Too close to the fire to relate
I know too much I am too much I cannot explain
The world asks too much of me
Our madness is the knowledge of the truth
We cannot shut out and ignore
The blissful ignorance of zombies
Is impossible for those who think and feel
Dizziness surrounds me as I reel
Hurt me help me shake me take me
Turn my collection of thoughts into hope
I cannot bear the world upon my shoulders
The price is too high the moment too long
My body trembles the muscles ache
My mind a sword of fire cutting deep
A swirling storm of dreams
A river of tears
A hot sun of triumphs
I am everything and nothing
I am sense and nonsense
Yin and yang
Forever old
Forever young
A beginning and an end
A life and a death
The struggle played out evermore…
J.S.B.
2-7-00
rhapsody
where is the place that lovers reach
the moment in time where they are one
holding, hoping, squirming, moving
the embrace of cool darkness
only the silver light of moon
reflecting off body waters
dancing, glowing to and fro
the time when two become one
going down in the soft warmth
where lovers lips kiss passionate flesh
a kiss is a prayer and a prayer a
holy moment of bliss never again the same
come full circle of life renewed
blissful death awaits…
jsb
3-18-00
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