Jousting with the Gallows by Klaus J. Gerken 2013 Jousting With The Gallows The humour's in and the humour's out There's a turn-around in the joust-about Just about everything is deemed OK When the bragging stops they go away. kjg 1/2 may 2013 * Falling asleep poem Master says: Don't think twice. Pupil answers: There's a dime for every shadow. Master nods. kjg 1120pm 2 may 2013 * Clever Oh bother not Clever For Clever has sunk To the lowest demeanor Of a sweet smelling skunk. kjg 1144pm 2 may 2013 * Be Prepared At the top of the ladder One can only see if one is not afraid to fall. kjg 1216am 3 may 2013 * Legacy The clear spring breeze is thick with dust The clouds are a shadow on the earth The charred ground has no Phoenix To rise from the ashes of ignorance The past has become the future And the future cannot shed the past Both walk hand in hand In the quest for what could have been And there will be no future archeologists To admire magnificent ruins decipher Daily lives and ancient works of art...they have All been lost in the lies and hatred...nothing will Survive...nothing remembered...no one Crying in the wilderness...no one there to hear. kjg 5:51am 3 May 2013 * Intention I say what I mean And I mean what I say; If you don't like it, Please go away. kjg 734am 3 may 2013 * like it is sometimes in the morning after a big drunk i wake up and wipe the shit off my shoes and walk barefoot through the mud of responsibility. kjg 124am 4 may 2013 * Reality I didn't think it was so easy to start drinking again until tomorrow hit me. kjg 2am 4 may 2013 * Night The aura of a distant sun surrounds me like an orange peel waiting for the morning. kjg 229am 4 may 2013 * Addict's Creed Love this feeling so much I'm prepared to die for it! Makes you wonder how many Others feel that way? kjg 3am 4 may 2013 * Direction Waves do not lie, nor does the horizon; The glow of the dusk and the shine of the morning; A sailor will always smell what the weather Will do in the future - no perfect solution But experience clear - the albatross's shadow Hovers like Icarus when the sun gets too near. Slowly we sail on; the skipper keeps two logs: One for direction, one for the men. Crews Will not follow where the distance is shallow. Whatever incentive was lied at the start, The captain retains an admirals heart. kjg 651pm 4 march 2013 * Warning Sometimes it's better to go with the flow, Before you rev up the pumps and see the ship blow! kjg 721pm 4 may 2013 * Space/Time If one doesn't like the galaxy one's in, I say screw it! What we see out there probably no longer exists anyway. kjg 726pm 4 may 2013 * Planting Seeds yesterday i mowed the lawn today i plant the weeds i never really could understand what constitutes good deeds i'm primal in my instinct i'm set to take control just put a tie around my neck i'll be your perfect tool there's a hunchback in the alley feeding feral cats people used to laugh at her with what they always lacked i will not place a judgement on a gaming table but sometimes one just has to let others drown in mud so where is what you conquer is it in the cold wet ash or is it in the promise of a perfect bridal sache earth may not be heaven and heaven is not earth but are you really all that sure that death is a rebirth kjg 757pm 4 may 2013 * watchtower blues i'm sitting on a perfect fence concrete for a mile the sun beats down upon my head and gophers even smile the cows are flying overhead bloated like a hog i wave but someone shouts at me the sky is clear as fog the steamboat captains answers on a short wave radio he says i cannot hear you but sends an after-glow the sky becomes a painting critics came and went no one thought to straighten what they could not bend the telephone goes crazy it is a time machine one conversation garbled another so pristine i cannot comprehend it a cow floats past my eye i'd like to say it's solid but that would be a lie there's a dime for every show i heard it from the boss who drinks his win demurely and gargles dental floss and sometimes there's a keyhole in the sky to make amends god in his bronze bathtub and his mother has the bends that's from coming up too fast he slides below the foam his cherubs jump right after him tiberius just groans but getting back to normal things the revolution hot peace will only come they shout with the king's head in the pot and we all know what that means judas was a cad he should have left it all alone now see what crap we have crawling through the bushes i look for unknown tracks did you see a rabbit no but santa's back i wander down an alley follow broken railroad tracks when an owl commits a heracy upon the bosses hat i pretend the walls will crumble i pretend the sky is blue something tells me everything will lead you to the screw oh tell me pretty baby where's the nearest door i'm feeling kind of heavy and my knees can't take no more i see so many meanings upon the wall of truth i wonder if they ever thought to install a phone booth now if they made me talk to god i'd have nothing much to say why do you keep teasing us i mean what's in the way purple cows and pink flamingos might be in your church but wouldn't it be better to have fertilizer on the earth but no i better get to work i've nothing much to do i tried to do what i was told and look too much a fool so give me plenty pasture i like to roam the field after all the sky is full of a perfect cowslip yield if there's a moral to this story i don't know what it is the crap shoot's on the table and below there's only bliss so i'll leave you with a saying imparted when i showered don't slip on the fallen soap at midnight in your tower. kjg 906pm 4 may 2013 * Enlightenment After 50 years of meditation, The master has at last come to a conclusion: Become the pupil. kjg 437am 5 may 2015 * Beyond the calories What is sacred is the cow, and not the meat; When you step into the great abyss you won't have to eat. kjg 404am 7 may 2013 * Master says: Bring me a flashlight. Pupil brings him one. Pupil asks: What are you looking for? Master says: You! kjg 408am 7 may 2013 * Still Li Po, drunk, drowned reaching for the moon's reflection in the lake. The night owl hoots. kjg 414am 7 may 2013 * Morning The lights of the city cast no shadow on the dawn. kjg 417am 7 may 2013 * Master says: Bring me bread! Pupil brings bread. Master says: Bring me butter! Pupil brings butter. Master says: Bring me meat! Pupil stutters: But...but...but...you're a veg...veg... vegetable! Master laughs: So you're awake after all! kjg 438am 7 may 2013 * Guidance After a lifetime of following instructions, the pupil managed to build a palace for his master but nothing for himself. kjg 446am 7 may 2013 * The Mighty Beacon You were such a perfect lady Everything about you burned Your devotion to the harbour Made the sailors want to learn What it was discovered What it was returned There were matches on the sidewalk No one knew they had been earned O come to me at midnight Come to me at dawn The stars they shine demurely And give a false alarm The windows are wide open To the summer breeze Oranges from China You can smell with ease There's plenty where there's nothing There's nothing in your arms The ladies of the morning Tease with unknown charms Do proud unto the harbour The ships are coming home Man the mighty beacon And become a mighty stone kjg 217am 8 may 2013 * Untold Story The soldiers are all quiet And the night is getting long There's a murmur from the mountains A murmur of a song A star shines like a beacon And shows us where to go The shaman tells a story From O so long ago Once there was a woman Then there was a man The gods grew awful jealous Before the war began... They listened with attention Every ear was rapped Filled with apprehension Only dogs would nap But then they came like lightning Swooping on the camp Surprised the soldiers panicked And then the game was up The slaughter was successful The victory was won And no one heard the story The shaman had begun. kjg 230am - 608am 8 May 2013 * Oldest words (c. 15,000 BC) "this," "I," "give," "mother," "hand," "black," "ashes," "old," "man," "fire" Oldest Poem I give old man this Black ashes I give mother this hand I give fire I give I kjg 1201 8 may 2013 * Pretend nothing; question everything. Be solid. kjg * Everyone's to blame We see it every day: an old woman stumbles and no one helps thinking someone else will stop to help her up no time to waste getting to work or that domestic dispute next door they'll settle it no need to call the cops or someone screaming rape on the street below no use reporting it don't know where it's coming from and by the time the police get there they'll find nothing and then they'll inconvenience me don't need that. and what of the police not another call from there let's just pass by my shift is almost over every one's to blame if we believe we are a true society kjg 752pm 8 may 2013 * Big Bang There is a point where the universe ends and the universe begins; else there is no universe, just a cosmic wind. kjg 802pm 8 may 2013 * Doormat I am of the opinion I have no opinion And if I have no opinion This poem's kinda useless Don't cha think? kjg 816pm 8 may 2013 * Just the way it is I place a brown paper bag over my head Please guide me stranger Remember though, I am not responsible For what I do while under your guidance. Lead on! kjg 949pm 8 may 2013 * I met a stranger on the road He said I don't know where I'm going I said That's fine my friend I don't know either! kjg 953pm 8 may 2013 * Paint a stone There's poison in the pantry The jars are left unmarked The TV screen's in rehab And the sign says don't eat carbs The owl is on the awning The stars are prayer wheels I don't know what to tell you Don't discard banana peels. kjg 151am 9 may 2013 * The road taken Self imposed with a purpose, The grand scheme unfolds. What matter's not the moment, But what the future holds. kjg 159am 9 may 2013 * Oak If I were a tree I'd be an oak Steady in the chaos Like a steady boat - Tomorrow may be never Tomorrow is today Yesterday's a shadow That never goes away - kjg 210am 9 may 2013 * (with apologies to LC) There is a caveat to everything That's how the law gets in. kjg 242am 9 may 2013 * Mistaken Identity Ring. Hello? Woman crying. Gloria, he left me!!! Silence. Oh, you're not Gloria are you? Ah...no... Sorry. She hangs up. kjg 9 may 2013 * So life goes on. Money's made. No one really cares How tears are made. kjg 1106pm 9 may 2013 * By itself They pray until it stops, then say prayer stopped it; I wait until it stops, Then say waiting stopped it. Same thing. kjg 359am 10 may 2013 * Just as a cell in a body cannot perceive that it is part of a body; we ourselves cannot perceive the higher consequence of what we are. kjg 416am 10 may 2013 * Message to Jesus: Thanks for the sacrifice, but I take full responsibility for my actions. kjg 610am 11 may 2013 * Compassion The ultimate message is in my shirt pocket, Unfortunately the laundromat got to it first. kjg 304am 14 may 2013 * Perseverance Just remember, you do not fail because your message isn't strong, you fail because others aren't with you. It takes time. kjg 308am 14 may 2013 * Gathering There comes a day when you have to shake your children's hands, and admit the adult in them has gathered over you their own fruit and sustenance and must move on to where you once were. It is not a loss but a great achievement: do not look back but acknowledge gratitude for what you have given them, a future for their own resolve. kjg 423am 14 mar 2013 * Cold Sun come soon and warm up this lair... I have icicles in my tongue. kjg 522am 14 may 2013 * When the candle burns at both ends, Don't expect anything in the middle. kjg 718am 14 may 2013 * Pupil asks master: May I ask a question? Master remains silent. Pupil reiterates: May I ask a question? Master walks away mumbling: Idiot! kjg 425pm 14 may 2013 * Pupil asks master: Is there a point to all of this? Master replies: I have no idea! kjg 144am 15 may 2013 * Reality I stand on a hill and see the forest; Does someone in the forest see the hill, Or only dream of it? 156am, 15 may 2013 * Pupil says to master: You have taught me well. Master says to pupil: Then why are you still here? kjg 207am 15 may 2013 * Who compares himself to another doesn't know himself. kjg 214am 15 may 2013 * Proclamation If someone has a definition for the truth, I will guarantee that it's a lie! kjg 230am 15 may 2013 * If you can question the answer then it's not the answer. kjg 257am 15 may 2015 * Master lies on the hard temple floor. Pupil does the same. After half an hour master gets up and says: Ah that sure was good for my aching back! What were you lying there for? kjg 317am 15 may 2013 * The more you ask why, The more they challenge you with a lie! kjg 346am 15 may 2013 * If it cannot be explained in simple brief terms, then we have lost the meaning. * The more you ask why, The more they challenge you with a lie! kjg 346am 15 may 2013 * The rainbow bridge to harmony has many colours. kjg 1222pm 15 may 2013 * Who waketh early in the morning Hath a good sleep; Who waketh in the evening Hath nothing much to reap! ---16th century proverb. kjg 152pm 15 may 2013 * See The moment may not conquer But the shadow is ideal For what they crave in counting The spokes on prayer wheels There's a nova out there somewhere That has our number... pray Because there's always something That isn't yet revealed God is no solution Religion is a scam The universal saviour Hides before the lamb And what you think is plenty Isn't worth a damn! kjg 227am 16 may 2013 * Future We no longer have clocks we must rewind; Laziness does not remind! kjg 232am 16 may 2013 * Telephone call from GOD! (Ring) Hello? THIS IS GOD! This is Klaus. I KNOW! Why are you calling? YOU ARE MALIGNING ME! Am I? YES, AND I DON'T LIKE IT! OK...let me get this right You are calling me because I am saying things about you That you disagree with? YES! AND I WANT YOU TO STOP! And if I don't? (Silence). WELL AT LEAST YOU CAN TONE IT DOWN! Why? BECAUSE I AM GOD AND SAY SO! Then why don't you smite me, and all that stuff? COMPASSION, MY SON! Ah, you have compassion for me But not for the millions of starving children Throughout the world. THEY DON'T WORSHIP ME! And I do? YOU'RE A CHRISTIAN! What gave you that idea? THAT'S WHAT IT SAYS IN MY REGISTER! Satan been playing with your lollipop? THAT BASTARD! (Hangs up). Think I'll change my number. kjg 249am 16 may 2013 * Memory How fast we forget The path we took To find that we are lost! kjg 256am 16 may 2013 * Master does a dance of joy! Pupil thinks he's crazy. Master says to pupil, now Why are you so lazy? kjg 259am 16 may 2013 * Enlighten me, I'm heavy as an oak! kjg 303am 2013 * Freedom I am perfectly sane, says the man in an insane asylum. I am perfectly sane, Says the man with an assault rifle hunting rabbits. Who do you believe? kjg 112pm 16 may 2013 * Sometimes the path is crooked on purpose. kjg 220pm 16 may 2013 * Each cell in our body is an entity unto itself serving a greater purpose. kjg 435pm 17 may 2013 * Reality is nothing like we perceive it to be; The ant we step on, or the fly we swat is our equal. The smallness of our comprehension invalidates Our egotistical meanerings. kjg 422am 20 may 2013 * In Silence sleepy the mind is one lush field of dandelion spores hovering in a genteel almost imperceptible warm breeze the fingers of Aten shine upon the lingering harmony of conception history's ever evolving ova in the great attracter in a woman's womb the floating sprouts ever new beginning evolving merging mutating in the scheme of things following the order of a much more lucid reality than even Horatio can dream of or Puck apologize for Titania's tears fertilizing the earth and the rose that sprouts will be inviolate by no other name kjg 930pm 20 May 2013 Hubris stems from man's desire like a raging wind Lear confronted and only fools would think an omen of better more substantial things to come into the madness of the hour Life is just a gate to one more tower surveying decaying charred battlefields no one wants but honours as the fallen take on mythical proportions But Icarus had wings of wax and Achilles wounded in the heel of grave mortality One does not purport to know it all and the great unity in physics is a ruse to keep us sane enough to function as a species in the confides of society...Ants know it drunkards know it even more and children always ask the inevitable Why? the ultimate question no one can answer will ever answer for to answer it will be the annihilation of the grand illusion binding everything together kjg 10pm 20 may 2013 Tragedy does not always shake one awake it binds one in a vice of incomprehension shock rips like shrapnel through the mind it twists the soul in a tangled mass where people no longer think but act and do where survival trumps an "act of god" and rises to the level gods cannot attain no longer individuals but a society each with a single purpose--to survive-- to survive as a species not a selfish cause that so often permeates the human psyche what rather shakes one awake is the sheer beauty of togetherness support and grief that raises us above the tragedy of life kjg 1119pm 20 May 2013 I am lost I am lost there is no compass on a rubbled street one digs with bloodied hands and pain cannot yet be felt and tears are yet to come one digs with bloodied hands and does not question why until exhaustion is a failure of the body not the mind one digs with no thought whatsoever one digs not for oneself but digs for others for the lost the survivors I am lost I am lost digging for the lost one bloody hand after another digs in unison no one digs alone kjg 1139pm 20 may 2013 voice stimme do we need to speak to have communication do we need to speak at all my cats communicate without a word 90% of our communication is silent body language words like psychiatrists just complicate the matter when disaster strikes we are either silent of full of words the words are praised but mean nothing the actions are what counts the word god is the word or is the word god incarnate in our imagination we believe ourselves so unsure that we require a greater entity for belief in our abilities great grief shed great loss of life children are the potential we have lost we mourn but the loss is not reality the reality is death and what was not done to prevent it hindsigt is perfect vision so they say but mostly it's derision of the facts way too long ignored the voice calling in the wilderness the wilderness of parliament the wilderness of a city of the media of a million unknown ears deaf listening to music on a wired toy is ignorance joy if it is i have lost the moment where i care it is rare i admit to submit a purposeful solution evolution of course had a purpose may the strongest win today it's finance make the loudest noise the purpose is not if we care the purpose is not what is fair the purpose is the pocket book bottom line i am rich and you are not come i'll show you my yacht previously owned or my picasso on the wall like Fra Pandolf's durchess we love our trinkets yet grief is far awy my money is negotiable for charity no tax break they don't get a cent don't desrve it otherwise do nothing anyway at least i can profit from their poverty and when distaser strikes i didn't build the school it's an act of god my preacher says it's not for me to reason why god after all works in mysterious ways the kids are all in heaven now god took them because they were special console yourself in that my hard earned inherited dollars wouldn't amount to much building them shelters if god wants then he'll take them no matter what i give to my church it's tax deductible that should be enough the world's an incredible place for me corrupt men call themselves holy and everyone wants photo ops no one cares about the truth but everyone professes it on a mountain top as long as the media is there ever since ali proclaimed i am the greatest everyone else proclaimed it without the talent or the proof proclaiming it is proof enought if the right press is on your side the public doesn't care they just take it in a few seconds on a tv screen manipulated is the shovel of manure that impresses until it hits you in the face laugh at them just never laugh at me the blind flower girl at the entrance of the grand hotel goes home each night crying at the generosity of the rich a few pennies for supper all that's needed anyway garment workers know too well of that reality who would want o save children from a tornado or hurricane when they won't even sign an agreement to change safety standards for slaves I am so appalled at what has happened here can we get the crews in soon each moment we delay is costing me money kjg 1248pm 21 may 2013 we search for fingers of the innocent among the rubble we search for hope among the innocent but there are no innocent here nature takes no hostages and nature is no terrorist lost in the scheme of things we succumb to what we cannot comprehend or prevent we search for fingers of the children lost among the rubble kjg 119pm 21 may 2013 throughout history our history has been a violent arousal of emotions crafting better weapons to kill each other nature crafts no revolution no war no peace nature crafts itself as the universal manifestation of Promethean fate we can plan for the fates but never prepare for them we have lost our energy once we had a purpose now we are a statistic a statistic cannot be human and somehow we have lost that edge human no longer we succumb to greed human no longer the gods have abandoned us our Achilles heel has been wounded we are omnipotent no more we drown in our own morass kjg 130pm 21 may 2013 cleaning up the mess is the only solution to a tragedy revenge just kills more people "there shall be no order" the twilight zone continues on the outer limits "There are powers in this universe beyond anything you know. There is much you have to learn. Go to your homes. Go and give thought to the mysteries of the universe. I will leave you now, in peace." "End of transmission" kjg 153pm 21 may 2013 * A child was born in the middle of the tornado as it was tearing the hospital apart. Mother, child, doctors and nurses survived. kjg 1114pm 21 may 2014 * miracles i'm sure and ant would consider it a miracle not being stepped on kjg 1216am 22 may 2013 * rubble i lost my cell phone i didn't get to watch my favourite show i lost tickets to a concert i lost my favourite comb i left my pets behind but they survived i retrieved a photograph i lost everything i lost my home i lost a relative i lost a child kjg 1222am 22 may 2013 * God is everyone blind? Ops...sorry, asking the wrong entity. I would knock on the door of fate but fate is a banana peel we can't avoid Sometimes a good drunk is all there is to calm the emotions and stop from saying something stupid out of shock We blame no one Perhaps we should We just clean up And rebuild Next time we'll be better prepared for the umpteenth time memories are short money is no object unless we ask for it then it become a scarcity I should have asked a proper entity but my cat's asleep... kjg 244am 22 may 2013 * * * Silence There a knocking on my door of course there's no one there i check the hall...and silence the vent blows clear fresh air i go inside and ponder who it might have been but the silence is a mountain crumbling in the rift the shadow does not tell me the lamp has yellow eyes i formulate my future with a hollow distinct lie sometime there is only what we can percieve other times a knock will cap a mystery so when you next remember to pay a visit here stay a bit and ponder what I did not hear. kjg 425am 22 may 2013 * Master said: Sunrise! Pupil said: Blinding light! Master said: Don't look! kjg 724am 25 may 2013 * Loss Words are procrastination; Acts are decisions. There are too many words today, And too few decisions. kjg 759am 25 may 2013 * The more words you use the less you say. kjg 822am 25 may 2013 * To someone You may be famous, But are you relevant? kjg 824am 25 may 2013 * Pupil: Master, do you know what the future holds? Master: What the past held. kjg 957am 26 may 2013 * Pupil: When is silence not silence? Master: When you ask a question. kjg 256pm 28 may 2013 * Master is wrapped in a blanket, shivering. Pupil brings him hot soup. Master says: Thank you. kjg 313pm 28 may 2013 * For someone who wanted an empty mind, The Buddha sure spoke a lot! kjg 443pm 29 may 2013 * Master says: Lesson's over for today. Pupil says: But we've been sitting here for 10 hours and you haven't said a word! Master says: Haven't been listening, have you? kjg 348pm 31 May 2013 * All poems copyright (c) 2013 Klaus J. Gerken Published by Ygdrasil Press 2013