ONE MUST CHOOSE

Though I do not abhor symbols;
flags, statues, and such.
Costly dedications to pride and loss.

Yet I adore the statutes,

ideals of freedom, peace,

thoughtful ingenuity.

Shout in rage with the apostles

of theatrics babbling on stage
with every coded gaseous release

Stand strong
against the rapid descent

to mental imprisonment?

Patriot or Nationalist?

© M Durfee

9/22/17



In thinking of the past and one of the wisest men I ever knew G-Man, now riding off in Harley heaven Verse Escape has brought back the irrepressible 55. A complete thought stated in whatever form one desires using no more nor less than 55 words.

Care to try? Go ahead? And when you have done so please link your 55 to hers (Joy) so those of us with equal desires of clarity lasting at least as long as it takes to read 55 words can join you for a brief moment.

HOW DOES HOPE GROW

DON'T NEED ANGELS OR VIRGINS

There may be (or not) a heaven I will be sent to

but it won’t be filled with any slot to gamble for

gold(en) virgins or singing cherubs.

No, not for me, that ain’t so kind

of a god damned heaven!

That would destroy my blossomed mind.

That is a place I’d hate, if that be the space,

turn me and my useless ass away at the gate.

If that kind of shit is my eternal fate

then leave me be, let me lie in the dark dirt,

or spread my cold ashes dead forever far

outside of that heaven’s door.

Give me the Elysian,

the place where warriors roam,

long called the honorable home.

I have paid the boatman again and again while I live

so then here and now; fuck it I have no more to give.

If I cannot make it across the Styx by boat

or any other border moat or land

because of my fucked up life
is adjudged built on sand

then leave me be to rot

here in this earth of war and strife.

Let me be for the fertile soil to know

in death I prefer to be a bit of ripening

for the seedling of life where hope may yet grow.

That is a crooked heaven’s gate made straight.

© M Durfee

5/15/16

POEM # 9916 OR SO IT GOES

NO COMPLAINTS

I have come

to land’s end,

never once curious

where the dragons be,

having passed off the map

inadvertently through their lairs

on my life long journey,

I’ve felt their fire

on my feet and skull cap

their wrath of scalding truth

upon my wandering mind.

This place

I have decided

is as good a place

as any to sit, to wait,

to no more query

that nothingness

now before me.

Turning a complete circle

I can see I am exactly in the spot

where all roads traveled

by all man lead to.

The place so many bleed for

and now

I grant myself

the perspective of time,

knowledge gained

in experience,

hated and sublime

as the omnipotent voice

directing me in my own ways.

I have the scars

to prove the pace of my journey,

the deliberate pace,

never too fast,

often too slow

but always arriving on time,

when counted in right.

I be no different

than any other man.

I see and am blind,

am blind and see.

The place I ended

was according to no plan

is as good as the one

I started when becoming a being.

I am tired of the fight,

fists have been broken enough

forgot how to fear react in flight.

I know there is more

I could of done

but that’s true for everyone.
I am not standing

on some longed for shore

or atop some mountain peak

those were all the metaphors

for all the waged wars

I’ve been through to get to

this place

I am trying to describe to you.

I never burned a village

or built one either

never pillaged another

or brought intentional harm

under the dark nights cover

though I think I may

have done some, some good;

I know it’s not for me to judge.

I simply trudged my way

to this place

called lands end,

found somewhere

here in space.

Every journey of man

is a private one,

every battle that matters,

the same. Few can walk

in another’s boots

or in their place

and understand

that for me,

for you,

for him,

for her

it’s not a race.

It’s simply arriving

at lands end,

which is where

one decides life is all

twists and bends

and that when

the time is now,

standing still

is the only place

where the straight

finally abounds

no matter the used up

lived in surround.

© M Durfee

4/9/16