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The EmpireChapbook of:
"Mau"

"We Are Men"

My friend lost his means of bread today,
A severe blow so cruelly dealt.
I paid a visit, we are men.
We joke to still our watery eyes,
Tears we should have wept.

My friend lost his means of life today,
A severe blow for one with wife.
I paid a visit, we are men.
We laugh to still our deep agony,
Grief we should have felt.

My friend lost his means of pride today,
A severe blow for bones so tried.
I paid a visit, we are men.
We flee, spirits in hand, from our brides,
From our past, from our fears,
To still our bloody wounds.

"Here and Now"
a.k.a. Beth

When the dawn dims and the embers glow
take the bright moments of the day and
store them in your grandmother's cupboard

When the wind howls and the candle flickers
take the warm moments of the day and
rest them near your hearth

When the sky darkens
and the clouds drop rain
stoke the fire with the
sorrows of the day

"Inside Job"

Will I ever know the pain
You've felt or feel?
I pray you heal.
Open cells, looters running rampant
Taking everything worthy.
Starving, balding, robbed nude.
Still you bear a hearty smile
Saying, "All I have is awhile to wear."
Prone by affliction, forced to
Vacate a home so young.
Blue empty anger is not
Entirely your predilection,
Rather my emotional mate,
The lone champion of a
Betrayed, teary-eyed companion wronged.
My fate; supple and healthy,
May not and can not
Come along,
Not even for a mile.

"Aqua Blue Lagoon"

When with your woman
finger comb her long tangled hair.
Feel down her svelte soft skin.
Trace around her dimpled chin.
Close your eyes,
open your senses,
be in the moment.
When in her giving arms
relax-go limp.
Feel her warmth.
Breathe her smell.
Caress her supple form.
No one feels like her.
No one smells like her.
No one else,
whispers like her.
Shut your eyes,
open your senses.
When in her sacred shrine,
gently meet her parted lips.
Press lightly,
kiss softly.
She's not your mother.
She's not your boss.
She's not your whore.
Close your eyes.
Open your senses.
Hold your cries.
Stay in the moment.
Play in the moment.
Love for the moment.

"Religion"

It left swiftly,
as a churning eddy
exists a swirling pool.
It left quickly,
as a farmer's wage
leaves a debt-ridden hand.
It left effortlessly,
as the 'gisms' of life
willfully flow.
It left quietly,
as a father silently
tip-toes from a
slumbering son.
It left unexpectedly,
as a wind-raised
school girl's skirt flaps.
I swear, I did not toss it,
as a cadet tosses a cap.
I swear, I did not shun it,
as a swine shuns a runt.
I swear, I did not chase it,
as a drunk chases a pint.
It left without warning,
as a splinter exists a wound.

"Poets"

In the dingy dim of a dirty day,
In the ebbing eve of a weary day,
In the murky morn of a foggy dawn,
We scrawl.

In the blistering ray of late may,
Under steady drops of spring spray,
We scrawl.

In our wet dank leaky place,
By our naked low lit lamp,
Near a stained divan shared one night,
On fumes from a meal we show no trace,
We scrawl.

Not for fame, name, or gold,
Nor for a jewel ear to hear,
Though if such is our fortune,
We would fancy it all the same.
A soft face is not what poet's fear.

We scrawl to tell of hidden love.
We scrawl to show the comedy of man.
If not that, we scrawl to get from
The dingy dim of another dirty day,
To the ebbing eve of a bygone weary dawn.

"As A Youth"

While green ripe & young,
I danced to the beat
Of a wild kingdom
Bees, birds, & monkeys.
Naive & gleeful
Not tamed by reason.

While green ripe & young,
I drew, ran, & flew
Barefaced through open air.
A floppy tan hat
Hid large taintless eyes
Undaunted by shame.

While green ripe & young,
I read for hours,
Rising only to quench,
A bodily thirst
That subdued my child's
Curiosity.

While young, I dreamt of
Huckleberry Finn,
Tom Sawyer & slingshots.
Possibilities
& butterflies were
Hobbies I discerned.

Abilities &
Actualities
Were not my concerns.

Young & undisguised,
I loved my brother,
Admired my father,
& longed for a mother.
I did not sit to think,
Life would stay this way.

Gray seasoned & old,
I listened to men
& heard their vile thoughts.
Naked & ashamed,
I fled my kingdom,
& tamed my dance.

"Sunday's Hero"

Inhale exhale each footfall a pained wince.
Gone are the days callous hands held our time.
Gone glorious noons your sinews were prime.
Inhale exhale balm anoint an aged prince.
Gladiator of old, warrior long
Vanquished. Retired - Sundays movements rhymed.
Dash right - veer left you carried hope, you shined.
Slave of roar, you while young, nimble & strong,
Reigned. Yes, expired are days boys & men
Vicariously lived reality -
Through a colored screen. Their chiseled deity,
An empire like Troy, fell in the end.
Gone seasons flaw was excusable sin,
Vanished are moments you played just to win.

"Monday's Negro"

Strain to walk, train to talk, a cry for old joy.
Where are they who extolled masculinity?
They, who lustfully lavished praise on a boy.
Where are cheers, heard are jeers & vulgarity?
Now, no one remembers your exploited name.
You feel & know real pain away from the game.
What hurts more, ache through play or life without fame?
Who can blame, you were large any less is shame.
Spending spree, being free, money on a tree.
Pray, try as you may, a come back for a day.
Living hard & fast, clothes, cars, quotes by decree.
Hold the limp, hide grimace, hear not what they say.
Out of uniform our hallowed hero,
Is Monday's or Tuesday's everyday negro.

"I Know"

It's so hard letting go.
Then again, letting go, isn't really letting go,
It's finding another thing to love.

It's so hard leaving home.
Then again, leaving home, isn't really leaving home,
It's finding a better place to rest.

It is so hard letting go, so hard leaving home,
So hard quitting this damn life,
When there is still hay to bale.

Then again, a bale of hay, is a bale of hay.
It's just so hard saying goodbye, when we never
Really said hello.

All writing Š to author listed here.

Since Est. 12-1-96

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