WHEN DISASTER STRIKES by Klaus J. Gerken 2005 Premonition ~~~~~~~~~~~ I listen to my cat. 7:57 30 Dec 2004 History ~~~~~~~ Moses The burning bush Akrotiri Pompeii Krakitoa Spanish Flu World war I World war II The burning Bush Indonesia Fate consumes us Life is nothing Nature rules Atom emptiness... 8:07 30 Dec 2004 Leader ~~~~~~ Why do I not see Osama Bin Laden Giving aid to those who survived the tsunami and earthquake in Indonesia? You who are his lackeys -- Where does blindness stop? 8:10 30 Dec 2004 Poem ~~~~ How can I ever write another love poem How can we ever be the same again? One asshole managed 9/11 And nature managed 12/26. 8:17 30 Dec 2004 Response Time ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7:30pm - Napping Heard banging on the door Went to check and found some guy black hair white shirt banging on neighbour's door across the hall Where a family with two children live after about ten minutes he left 745pm came back knocked whispered something then got louder "let me in" twisted handle violently cursed and left 8pm came back and again tried handle and tried to break the lock cursed banged on the door several times 817pm I phoned 911 He banged several more times with his fists and kicked the door with his boot then left cursing 820 returned violently kicked the door swore tried to twist the handle off stuck something in the keyhole and rattled door couldn't get it open (I looked out the window to see where the police was) Then left around 825 I waited... no police nothing at 9pm police department called asked if man was still there and if I still wanted the police to come over said kind of useless now man is gone asked for some more information and told me to call again if something else developed gotta love the modern world... 9:18 30 Dec 2004 SCOTTY ~~~~~~ 1970 He walked the Mall Knew every shop keeper every drug addict every hippy no flack jacket no black blue suit tie friendly smile if he carried a gun it was out of sight talked to everyone smoking a joint there are tourists here go behind the building just don't make a mess of things respected was the man no Robocop here he kept the peace by interacting with the community with every individual not by being a storm trooper not by fear but by communication Scotty was "our" friend no one feared him the drug dealers spoke to him knowing he had to report their activities but there was no animosity he had a job to do and as long as they didn't cross his line they were free to live their lives it's the narc's they hated Scotty was a foot patrol Scotty kept the peace and no one I knew got hurt on his beat nor any of his kind today we have no patrol on beat we have no police officers who know the individuals who compose society they are they and we are we the other both sides are the other the police today are adamant that they communicate... with whom? themselves more or less... they sure don't talk to us... the community... today they dictate.. they no longer talk or listen... you see the "experts" have explained everything and since we are no "experts" we have no say... Scotty knew different... or maybe he was just part of a different mind set... a different society... a lost time... sure not that way now... wherever you may be Scotty Thanks for the break... 10:01 30 Dec 2004 Life ~~~~ Individual life no longer matters There is only one living entity Call it God call it Universe Call it anything you want But there is only one subatomic entity Building building building Something greater than we'll ever be There is no heaven no hell no paradise there is only what we perceive as now... no past and no future the single moment now which can never exist because perceiving it takes time and this is out of time time does not exist we do not exist 1:18am 1 Jan 2004 In A Matter of Minutes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In a matter of minutes There could have been someone who might have had a cure for cancer There may have been someone who might have been the diplomat bringing peace to troubled regions There may have been a friend giving hope to someone lost An orphaned child perhaps A desperate mother A cry for help Lost We talk of aid and giving Death destruction But we never talk of loss This is a fragile planet In a fragile solar system In a fragile universe and still we kill each other with religion territorial disputes wiped clean by nature more powerful than 9/11 more powerful than Hiroshima more powerful than anything that man devises to kill man And our "God" does nothing and their "God" does nothing and we "explain" why our "God" does nothing and they "explain" why their "God" does nothing and blame each other while this fragile world goes round the fragile sun in a universe we do not know however much we study it Tonight it's New Year 2005 (--arbitrary numbering I prefer 6246 Mayer Calendar Which takes into account all known historicals) and I am drinking scotch and having fed the cats yesterday and cleared the site of ice I rest intent on knowing I am still alive knowing whatever knowledge I amass will be a greater part of me I cannot understand... such it is with all of us mortal beings looking up at a glittering sky of stars and maybe just maybe realizing we are not "this" planet but the "other" planet we've been seeking in the universe ah, but maybe we're alone... shouldn't bother drunkards much obviously doesn't bother politicians... 2am party go-ers going home beautiful young girls handsome young men so many years ahead of them while my ancient bones ache from mild weather and I have no voice that calls me back to youth I target wisdom hoping beyond hope I may have found a shred of evidence that life is really real... But where's this poem leading me? Beginning with no end? End without a beginning? Knowledge without hope? Hope without...well Hope without knowledge is faith and I think we've had enough of that. I guess all that's left to say is: pray for peace pray for peace pray for peace... 2.06am 1 Jan 2005 In A Hole ~~~~~~~~~ In Heaven I wd want more than life can offer In Hell I wd want more than death And in life I wd want three white horses thundering down a solid road breaching possibilities Yesterday I had to put a cat down Today one looks me in the eye And I have no solution Why anyone should even live let alone decay Makes one wonder who God is What God is What we are to him or her or anything we'll never know The bodhisattva only smiles The cow grazes and is happy Gives milk and bright cowslips talks to rotting apples That is reincarnation Consumed and reassembled Nothing ever dies Because nothing ever lives Not because we are illusion We must exist to create illusion Maybe illusion creates us I don't know I just ask questions No one can or wants to answer But that's ok I'm just someone with a foot caught in a door I cannot open To pry it loose I lose the light To leave it in I hurt And the bodhisattva only smiles bemused at my intransigence 1 - 6 Jan 2005 Tourists ~~~~~~~~ Serve us Why should we be concerned None of us died And we still have weeks left in our vacation Serve us What's it to us if the water washes up bloated bodies It's up to them to remove them I've got some serious sun bathing to do can't let stuff get in our way it's your country anyway serve us your hotel's gone not my problem I flew in a tent and lots of booze maybe you can get some girls real cheap with all this disaster a dollar or two should do they're just animals after all wouldn't be anywhere without us how boring this has become they wouldn't even rent me scuba gear to see if I could find some loot washed out to sea it's not that I would loot bodies on the beach these are things just floating there their owners lost as long as the survivors serve us I'm ok I'm American you see Our government's rebuilding this place and it's coming out of my pocket that's enough for us to stay here that's enough for them to serve us let them clean up their own mess we didn't cause it I've still got a week of vacation left and damn it all I've got a right to enjoy it damn their crying what's gone is gone I'll pay them well that's all they should care about after all money's what they always wanted how are they going to rebuild without my hand-outs such simple people why do we even bother... 6 Jan 2005 Life ~~~~ A foot caught in a door I cannot force it open I refuse to have it shut I want both worlds to nourish me But neither ever does. 8:37pm 6 Jan 2005 Gift ~~~~ I can no longer touch your naked body Having seen the destruction Nature wrought I can no longer believe a Harmony Knowing now the face of God 9 Jan 2005 Hearts ~~~~~~ 2nd level K P M B 40 8 26 30 40 31 26 33 40 31 43 42 40 55 45 42 40 60 52 56 44 75 59 56 64 74 62 58 68 94 66 58 90 94 69 59 90 95 69 84 91 96 93 84 92 96 98 104 W 10 Jan 2005 Canadian Moment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You wore my "powerful moment" like a document beavers can't control Beavers cannot read But then Canada Council cannot feed the arts I have this Hat I wear slaughtered one oh five some years ago some say I'm an ass to wear this hat I say "this beaver did not die in vain" he survived what we did not in dignity I help take care of cats who chased the rats into some buildings I won't mention tourists come and go Rene's always there green eyes full of hope it's ok a great river and a moment frozen and a heart forever open I just help a bit Rene walks with God... 11 Jan 2005 7:53pm Embracing Death ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You know there's a moment between being drunk and being sober One means life and one means death and both mean evolution gather life and death and it is one life note which we never heard before bowing down to unknown entities known as desperation 8:01 - 11 Jan 2005 Embracing Death II ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There's a moment between being drunk and being sobre when both merge into one grand harmony and no one knows which is which. 7:13 - 19 Jan 2005 World View ~~~~~~~~~~ This is what's wrong with society; We no longer rely on Common Sense: We rely on so-called "experts" who tell us how to live and think -- and the government won't accept anything else. 15/19 Jan 2005 Evolution ~~~~~~~~~ If pigeons were TRex And cats were Brontosauri What were dogs? 7:07 am - 15 Jan 2005 Briefcase Slave II ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ for Del Corey One Spring day he appeared At Rideau and Dalhausie Streets Elderly white haired gentleman With fresh haircut and clean shaven Immaculate Blue striped suit and tie Polished black patent leather shoes And a matching briefcase With a gold monogram He got there every day Rain or shine When raining he augmented His raiment in a crisp new dark blue Raincoat, hat and umbrella And off course the briefcase He came to his post exactly at 7 a.m. And alternated between lights Till he left at three in the afternoon No one knew where he went When the light turned green on Rideau Street He turned to where the light was red on Dalhausie When green on Dalhousie he turned to the red On Rideau Street And there he waited All day between 7 and 3 Same routine day after monotonous day No one dared approach him And he approached no one On the 1st day of September he was gone Swallowed up in the mists of time Never to appear again. 7:07 a.m. - 19 January 2005 When Disaster Strikes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When disaster strikes we give copiously and the Government negotiates Isn't it time the Government Gave on our behalf? 2:38pm - 19 Jan 2005 Titan ~~~~~ Waves Tides Moon Ocean Shores Beaches Sand Dunes One Must Question Does Life Exist? 2:59 pm 19 Jan 2005 What Must Matter Most ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ small things broken into pieces one blast we cannot interpret expansion convoluted surface do expiations ever answer questions no one knows this one more model science pretends to come close never does one more measurement no one can confirm we are single we are common all is common and all is extra-ordinary faced with death the personal the universe the breath... 4:27pm 19 Jan 2004 Inauguration ~~~~~~~~~~~~ They have theirs in public We have ours in private Both commit the same indiscretion. 1:15 pm 20 Jan 2004 Smile ~~~~~ Where the most beautiful seem ugly The ugly must seem beautiful Sometimes the mind cannot conceive Mind, body or anything else Sometimes we just exist In a vacuum Sometimes a vacuum exists in us Sometimes time is circular Sometime it is a linear contusion Sometimes beauty to those Who are ugly Is just ugly To those which are beautiful But sometimes the ugly are just beautiful beyond the need for beauty... sometimes the universe does not exist and we within it.... Sometimes a random wink tells all... 4:52pm 20 Jan 2005 Levels of Sobriety ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tell me how drunk I am And I will tell you How sobre you appear to me... Tell me how drunk you are And I will smile. 5:03pm 20 Jan 2005 You murder me completely ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I know they want me to write tonight: Well here it is -- already forgotten. 8:35 pm 28 Jan 2005 The Inevitable ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When Mortality hits you in the face you don't just sing "Amazing Grace" You say "Ouch." 29 Jan 2005 3:24am Continuity ~~~~~~~~~~ Written in a dream The Rat follows the Cat Follows the Mouse Follows the Louse Follows the Flee And continues the Holy Papacy 3 am Ottawa 19 April 2005 SAMP SFP 833pm 5 May 2005 Be THOU GOD a servant And a servant I will be. KJG Copyright (c) 2005 Klaus J. Gerken Published by Ygdrasil Press 2005