Death by Klaus J. Gerken (2014) "What must I do my soul to free?" "Do nothing, man, it will be done for thee!" -- John Crabbe * What We Know There's a steady accrual In the realm of renewal Where actual amazement Retains it's commitment As shadows are likely To mimic light blindly Mystery's pervasive Godhead grows invasive So smash all the atoms Into a cruel autumn The spring is renewal To force past into future Is to undermine structure Life, all life, is a jewel! kjg 1032pm 6 jun 2014 * The Golden Years I hobble down the crowded downtown streets, My back is aching and my heart returns a beat; The heat's oppressive and the sweat just swamps my brow, And yet I gather the stamina to carry on somehow. The way there is easier than the hard return; I carry my load with a conviction I must earn. No benches to rest on, so I sit on cement; No use bitching, I'm no god and they won't repent. I don't know about you, but getting old is a pain; Apart from wisdom (still waiting), there's nothing to gain. I guess we should be grateful we're here all the same. The long journey over, in Elysium fields we relax; Pan on the pipes...oh let Odysseus hand me the wax! Perhaps it's really no more than just acid reflux! kjg 843pm 7 jun 2014 * Balharrie My mother found a sparrow with a broken wing in the back yard and brought it in, put a splinter on the wing and we kept it over the winter. When the wing healed we used to go into the closed room and teach the bird how to fly again. He eventually did. Then we allowed him to fly around the house until the warm spring weather appeared and we opened the window to let him have his freedom. He wouldn't leave at first, but after a week or so flew around the yard and then ever greater distances returning to the room each night. One day he saw another sparrow and flew after it. He was gone. A year later a sparrow tapped on the window, flew around the room, and said goodbye. kjg 1021am 9 jun 2014 * The Barn The farmer's barn is old and russet The rain has split the wood into a dearth of feathers Doors ajar no longer can be closed Half the roof is damaged with gaping holes It stands alone in a field of grass Cows grazing all around A rusted tractor no longer used Stands a heap of decay in front of it Weathered and beaten it rests upon the horizon Against a blue sky waiting for the final blow Dark skies below that horizon Yet still it stand and continues A monument of rotting wood and excellence Nothing, neither man nor nature will ever tear it down. kjg 501pm 9 jun 2014 * shadows of the harbour ships that are just light reflected on dark waves starlight diffused kjg 739pm 14 jun 2014 * a lot of times the lesson we learn is not the lesson we want kjg 14 jun 2014 * existence it's a credible sort of thing voices of light strings of unknown matter forming sparks of synapse activity like light upon dark waves in a harbour of activity blazing premonition arcs of repetition recursion on recursion till infinity prevails to conquer no-mind in the shelter of it's heart. kjg 113pm 15 jun 2014 * The Wall when one looks in the mirror and sees no image death is just around the corner you don't have to do a thing the wall is behind you kjg 131pm 19 hun 2014 * Bleeding Death does not in any way put us in opposition to life kjg 528am 21 jun 2014/317pm 22 jun 2014 * Dying death does not in anyway put me in opposition to life kjg 528am 22 jun 2014 * To Be Or Not To Be... The art of survival is a strange one No matter how many die there will always be others Is one life worth more than another how can we tell Each life is a spiderweb of intrigue intertwined Sometimes it only takes a gust of wind to tear it asunder But we always build another one it hardly matters Which spider is there to tend the nest a spider like another Scavenging for food and sexual reproduction I take nothing for granted least of all the art of dying Whether public or private the moments accumulate like any other There is no place to hide least of all from one's self In several thousand years they may dig up our bones And comment on the web of streets and buildings we have built They'll say What strange creatures I wonder how they lived kjg 1123pm 28 jun 2014 * To Get What You Wish For When I was a nobody I wanted to be a somebody When I was a somebody I realized that 90% of what I did Went to someone else And the 10% that remained Were only my own doubts. kjg 1145pm 28 jun 2014 * Simplicity I want to write As simple as a child Uses crayons To describe the world. kjg 1150pm 28 jun 2014 * Detail Dear reader, of course not all of my poems work; Just like you, I stumble over my own untied shoelaces! kjg 1158pm 28 jun 2014 * way beyond redemption (a song) i'm way beyond redemption yes you heard that right the darkness of the alley is the daytime of my night you don't preserve the trouble if you haven't got the peace and nothing ever settles where dust is not released i don't know why i try to hide myself in you i don't know why you try to find yourself in me we repair each other daily in the body of the night we merge into the quagmire then rise to holy heights i float upon the water and merge with starry lights the centre of the universe merges with my sight there's something in the merging a higher form than god the beauty of the moment is sometimes all we have i don't know why i try to hide myself in you i don't know why you try to find yourself in me we repair each other daily in the body of the night we merge into the quagmire then rise to holy heights (repeat verse 1 & 2 and chorus) kjg 729pm 29 jun 2014 * conclusion sometimes the truth is out there plain for all to see sometimes it remains hidden a perfect mystery sometimes the cupboard's empty sometimes it is full sometimes fruit grows rotten when we leave it in a bowl sometimes the tide is gentle sometimes a raging storm and the sunshine by the shoreline doesn't keep you warm i know i've had adventures like everyone has had no regrets i gather even for the bad so wish me well i follow the path to its clear end there will always be a morrow i cannot comprehend kjg 258am 30 jun 2014 * 3 AM thought my nights used to be endless filled with wondrous thoughts now my nights are fleeting there is nothing there is nought! kjg 303am 30 jun 2014 * Dying slowly is not recommended Unless you want to write stupid poems about it! kjg 307am 30 jun 2014 * (Intermission) Song in homage to the Beatles: What's In Your Mind What's in your mind What's in your heart Why are you unkind Tearing me apart I treat you with respect You treat me like a rag You step on me for hours And only nag and nag What's in your mind What's in your heart When we met we were a Perfect couple all the way Now we somehow lost the spark And crumble in the hay What's in your mind What's in your heart (repeat the above and fade) kjg 348am 30 jun 2014 * My Religion There is no soul. What you call "soul" is self awareness. Each particle in the universe, each creature, each object is self aware, otherwise it couldn't exist. The universe is a living entity and we are only, and always will be, part of it. kjg 338am 30 jun 2014 * The Kiss I saw the truth envelop me But the truth was quite obtuse Jesus smiled at Buddha And Buddha blew a fuse The passion of the moment Is what saints can't forget It sticks to their bald temples And ends up at in regret A doctor gives them potions To chase away the blues Religion without women They find's an ugly fuse The passion of the moment Cannot control the heat They'll find there is no saviour Except a pound of meat O do not sacrifice me Nails are not my cause The cross is what you offer But do threaten dross Of course there is a heaven It's in everybody's mind Let others suffer fully For the sins you leave behind kjg 1140pm 1 jul 2014 to 441am 2 jul 2014 * My Poems My poems are microcosms of thought condensed into the most basic form of communication If you can't understand that you are way too educated to make sense of the world. kjg 729pm 3 jul 2014 * short song sometimes i've been waiting at the corner sometimes i've been waiting 'neath the stars sometimes life is never easy sometimes life is just too hard there's a wind that blows my memory of the things we've said and done there's a thousand variations 'neath the waltzing midnight sun sometimes you reach me when you want to sometimes you ignore me like a thief sometimes laughter is your savior sometimes laughter is your grief there's a wind that blows my memory of the things we've said and done there's a thousand variations 'neath the waltzing midnight sun kjg 326am 6 jul 2014 * Drats... My tower fan is doing a weird rattle. I hope it's not a death rattle. I can't afford another one, With the brutal summer just begun. kjg 341am 6 jul 2014 * Playing With Dolls God must be a lonely bastard To create Adam and punish Eve. kjg 508am 6 jul 2014 * Roles of Men and Women Men were there to build and protect the nest Scavenge for food And provide the sperm for offspring Women were there to maintain the nest Teach the offspring And preserve the species Then came money and everything fucked up. 1142am 7 jul 2014 * Testing The Waters I walk into the ocean The water isn't deep The mud is soft and squishy And warms my naked feet Deeper I'll not wander The shore's a safety net I'll not confront the abyss At least not yet. kjg 1110am 8 jul 2014 * Where to now? My shadow used to follow me Now it's walking in front of me There used to be light where I was going Now there's only darkness I look back and see the paths I walked A web of branches intertwining But still I see the trunk that holds the branches And know I had a clear direction From birth to death what is the bondage we call freedom...do we really have a choice to take the paths we think we've chosen What get's us from there to here The past is will always be a recollection Not the future we approach with trepidation kjg 1137pm 9 jul 2014 * before the end no no no this can't go on run run run a circus of kaleidoscopic nightmares barrell music screeching through the dark mirror room never ending broken images of one's own fear through years of substitution the runner does not run for sport but desperation never ending in the spittle of the mind no broken harbour here but loss of salient rebuilding a direct deposit on the future dragging into mud before it has begun this is not a perfect reasoning nothing is before the end. kjg 105am 10 jul 2014 * drugged the lorazepam has finally taken hold calmed me down the wine reinforces it the night regains a calmness soft and gentle like a little death rehearsal i see no future only passing shadows in the caverns of incertitude where we all end up crawling like some groveling tibetan monk doing penance for future sins not yet committed in the resurrection nothing more than the coloured dust of a mandala once complete admired then summarily destroyed because nothing is eternal existing only as a river running to vast expansive bottomless ocean. kjg 116am 10 jul 2014 * How To Live Life Spending your whole life climbing the mountain Even if you never approach the summit is a hell of a lot better than taking a helicopter to the top. kjg 121am 10 jul 2014 * A song titled lost im lost in the ozone with you im lost in the ozone with you i dont really know what to do im lost in the ozone with you yesterday it didnt really matter who i was then i met you when you broke a vase outside a flower shop i never knew was there before you caught my gaze im lost in the ozone with you im lost in the ozone with you i dont really know what to do im lost in the ozone with you now im spoiled so rotten that i cant go on each moment im alone youre in my head a drum pounding on my brain as if its lost control how can we be one when we have separate souls im lost in the ozone with you im lost in the ozone with you i dont really know what to do im lost in the ozone with you yesterday you claimed i was your only one today you have another at your side what am i to do when youre my holy one just tell me it was not for a free ride im lost in the ozone with you im lost in the ozone with you i dont really know what to do im lost in the ozone with you kjg 314am 11 july 2014 * I leave the youth to youth I am no longer of this world I am broken and can't be fixed I greet each lost horizon with grief Each vista I have know yet cannot see again. What remains is what I offer in the present. The past is of no consequence. 224am 17 jul 2014 * I was never into being popular; I was into quality, truth and understanding. kjg 131am 25 jul 2014 * Light As Air The darkness merges with the light until a smokey mist of circumstance prevails and there is nothing you can do about it The monkey swings on the vines hardly touching the ground the fruit is in the trees We cannot all be tied to the mast when the sirins wail their plaintive melody If we are confused it's because life provides us no direction other than what we invent ourselves When the darkness comes do not feel heavy feel as light as air and fly away. kjg 755am 25 july 2014 * Rip Rip it up pussycat ain't no time to take a nap leave your pawprints on the map life's too short to sulk a slap So rip it up pussycat show the world's what in your hat do not bow to any sap life's too short to sulk a slap Rip it up pussycat! kjg 251pm 25 july 2014 * Life is nothing but death reconstituted. kjg 727am 26 july 2014 * Ain't Everything Cool? There's a moment in everyone's life when the shadow connects to one's strife with a plastic demeanor of hope we somehow crumble slowly even though we must cope Heaven help them who fear their own god I see nothing but beautiful thoughts there's always a wonder where life disappears hope maybe empty but never a tear The universe marvels at what we endure such a sad ending to such a good cure smile if you're silly frown if a fool see you tomorrow ain't everything cool? kjg 759am 26 july 2014 * Playing Together When I look at the musicians in a symphony orchestra playing together I think, what wonderful sensible people. Then they go home, put on a uniform and kill others. We will never learn. Never in a million years. kjg 813am 26 july 2014 * Fate Killing myself slowly - Ain't that gas? They always said I wouldn't live When I was born: wanted to pass. But something delivered Me to this world. Still don't know what I'm here for, My head it just swirls. You know when you're younger It doesn't occur to you To get so much older Than you thought you would get. You can only hope that The end of the journey is a very soft bed. kjg 651pm 31 July 2014 * Priorities We kill flowers for their beauty; We kill humans as a duty. kjg 912pm 31 July 2014 * stop! there's a tear in my ear there's a pear in my eye all i can mimic is a terrible cry no one is willing to take blame for the loss if killing is holy no one died on the cross god's in his hell and mankind as well don't give me a reason a lie to dispel go worship freely go suffer in hate what death you have wrought will be your own fate. kjg 206am 3 aug 2014 * Song: i let it go i let it go i don't know why but i let it go it's not worth hanging on let it go let it go each day the sun comes shining dark clouds will disappear life is always worth living don't ever shed a tear i let it go i don't know why but i let it go it's not worth hanging on let it go let it go repeat and fade... kjg 532am 6 aug 2014 * Death In Venice I sat on the Dogana's steps For the gondolas cost too much, that year, And there were the monsters ravaging The shoreline; dwarfing the structures And raining a black curtain over history. I looked up and saw a gaggle of people Waving to us miniatures below wondering What could ever possess them to be Remotely interested in the Venice They will never know or understand. They are hollow people from a hollow world. Straw dummies in a field where black crows Terrorize the horizon crying with a caw and an awe This is what it's come to; history is nought. kjg 802pm 8 aug 2014 * Metamorphosis He stood on a steady bridge all his life aging, While the waters passed below him to the sea. kjg 110am 16 aug 2014 * Justification Man being lead to his execution: "What right have you got to do this?" "God gave us the right. Praise God!" "And God gave me no rights?" "We have the guns." kjg 943am 16 aug 2014 * Unicorn Pretty baby ain't no good unless she's stoned Life's a challenge without the latest cool iphone I know it's difficult to understand The wireless neighbourhood is out of hand Tear gas cops in army uniforms Defend the peace without a protocol It's life, it's death I can't go on Justice is a wounded unicorn Sometimes sometimes I don't know when There will be peace so hard to comprehend We claim to know what's going on Instead know nothing waiting for the son To come and shit on everyone So long so long so long kjg 637am 17 jan 2014 * Breakfast Woodstock It was fine when the wine blew my mind yesterday I forgot What was hot She was silly she was cute put some acid in my food ah how perfect woodstock was jimi hendrix was a gas left a lot of garbage there good ol' Yasgur didn't care fry your eggs breakfast's done go to work pray for sun kjg 17 aug 2014 * Sleep I always wondered what it's like to die not much different than living until you fall asleep in that great ocean where everything must merge kjg 458am 23 aug 2014 * Song: Waitin For The News waiting for the news waiting for the news can't stand the abuse waiting for the fuse TO BLOW! Walk down any avenue Vegas or LA monsters in the blazing sun carry you away the mind is heavy without thought the atmosphere can kill revenge upon the innocent the Buddha likes his swill waiting for the news waiting for the news can't stand the abuse waiting for the fuse TO BLOW! dive into the desert sand the quicksand grabs you heels achilles wanders like a clown on water jesus healed there's more to lies than meets the eye the truth is cloaked in it i gather my minutiae and try not to get hit waiting for the news waiting for the news can't stand the abuse waiting for the fuse TO BLOW! (spoken) it's a desperate world out there it doesn't matter who survives the culture of the innocent is all a bunch of lies waiting for the news waiting for the news can't stand the abuse waiting for the fuse TO BLOW! kjg 522am 16 aug 2014 * Hotel Song: Gala Night Beneath the stars On the rooftop We're dancing beneath the stars In my arms You're sleeping in my arms You're going down You're stepping on my toes Oh man you're such a drag Guess I'll put you in a bag And take you home Where's the elevator? Freight? Through the kitchen? No fuss at all Hotels have their reputation Night all Had a wonderful time! Just next time can the daiquiris! kjg 541am 26 aug 2014 * Altamont Dec, 6, 1969 I'm a happy bloke I am Happy happy bloke I am Dancing the in the rain I am No umbrella Sane I am Ain't the rain a gas my man See it fill a garbage can I don't know if I am Stan Or maybe Laurel is my fan Anyway it's over done Little blotter in my hand Lick the colours just for fun Rainbow pants just make the band Ain't no sunday afternoon Smile and bow before the loon Hark the angels coming soon Alice already's on the moon Now it's getting dark at noon Devil's on the podium Slam the sixties shut oh man I'm a happy bloke I am! kjg 551am 26 aug 2014 * * Death At the end of life's journey we pray for rain. kjg 643am 8 june 2014 * All poems copyright (c) 2014 Klaus J. Gerken Published by Ygdrasil Press