existence
is a chain
the cost of flesh
is pain
live your hurt
don’t feed it
don’t take a knife
and bleed it
open up
and breathe
don’t grate yourself
like cheese
by Richard W. Bray
Archive for the ‘Poetry’ Category
cost of flesh
June 11, 2017dust of confusion
May 30, 2017
Feelings are the engine
That transport every notion
Thought is merely freight
Carried by emotion
No one is impartial
Ideas don’t live in air
Logic is an afterthought
You think because you care
Thoughts appear rational
But this is an illusion
We aspire after stars
In dust of confusion
by Richard W. Bray
With Nakedness my Shield
May 20, 2017
You can pry
And you can peel
You can flay
You can reveal
Strip me naked
To my soul
Detach my parts
To get my whole
Unlock pieces
That are real
Why I do
And what I feel
But who can ever tell me why
Cannonball Adderley makes me cry?
by Richard W. Bray
American murder bird
May 14, 2017
Our absolutized aversion to dealing with any kind of tragedy imposed from without has truly dark applications. It is precisely this existential-dread level of ass-covering and risk-management that informs the American security state’s adoption of the drone “signature strike,” in which men and perhaps some bystanders near are killed by drone attack even if we have no idea who they are. Their “pattern of life” in Yemen is just deemed too risky for their existence to be endured by the American military. Fire away.
—Michael Brendan Dougherty
He tried to call his cousin
Now everybody’s dead
American murder bird
Flying overhead
Such a lovely wedding
Did you give your mom a hug
Before the murder bird
Squished you like a bug?
The pattern of your life
Gave us cause to worry
Dispatching murder birds
Who needs judge and jury?
Courageous first-responders
Are likely to get zapped
Ignore the murder bird
And feel its double tap
by Richard W. Bray
delicate and true
April 29, 2017
I’m glad you let me love you
I hope you let me see
All the things you wanna do
And what you wanna be
I’ll get down on hands and knees
I’ll dig your heart a moat
I’ll cover all your tender parts
Wear me like a coat
Tell me what you want to be
I’ll show you what I mean
I’ll protect your eager heart
And defend your thirsty dreams
Allow me to acknowledge
Everything I get from you
And trust me with the part of you
That’s delicate and true
by Richard W. Bray
Hungry, Hungry Blog
April 16, 2017
I got a hungry blog
I try to keep it at bay
Feed Me, Feed Me, Feed Me
Feed Me every day
My blog don’t even care
If it’s a beautiful day
Feed Me, Feed Me, Feed Me
Feed Me every day
Like the flower from that movie
My blog just has to say
Feed Me, Feed Me, Feed Me
Feed Me every day
I tell my blog I gotta work
With all these bills to pay
Feed Me, Feed Me, Feed Me
Feed Me every day
I try to find a place to hide
I plead and plot and pray
Feed Me, Feed Me, Feed Me
Feed Me every day
It’s calling from inside my head
I’ll never get away
Feed Me, Feed Me, Feed Me
Feed Me every day
by Richard W. Bray
I’m not here to be your friend
March 26, 2017
kindness knows no shame
—Stevie Wonder
Men are fierce and men are strong
I’m not here to get along
I shout and shove and get my way
People do the things I say
I’m not here to hold your hand
I’m proud to be an honest man
You won’t hear me apologize
Kindness is for gutless guys
I’m in charge; I make the rules
I’m not here to comfort fools
Do your job and don’t complain
I’m not here to ease your pain
I’m not here to be your friend
Love don’t matter in the end
Got no time for feeling sad
Cuz I’m a man just like my dad
by Richard W. Bray
shocks and stings
February 15, 2017
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
Upon the growing gloom.
—Thomas Hardy, The Darkling Thrush
Icy winds blast frigid cold
In this everywhere of snow
Little bird you are so strong
Light up the evening with a song
Is there no place you can go
To warm your fragile feathered soul?
How can you radiate delight
On this coldest winter’s night?
The greatest courage is to sing
In the face of shocks and stings
by Richard W. Bray
Why do they do that?
February 6, 2017
Why do they do that?
Is he ever gonna change?
Did he get it from his family?
They’re all pretty strange.
Why do they do that?
He knows I can’t stand it.
I’ve begged for him to stop.
Will he quit if I demand it?
Why do they do that?
Does he like to make me mad?
Does he think it’s all a game?
He reminds me of my dad.
Why do they do that?
Is it something in his brain?
Why can’t I figure him out?
He’s driving me insane.
Why am I like this?
Wondering things I’ll never know.
Should I stop wasting time?
Should I learn to let go?
by Richard W. Bray
Robust Action
February 4, 2017
Strength is all
They understand
Be undaunted
Be a man
Be resolute
And stay the course
With muscular vigor
And robust force
Stout resolve
And rugged might
Are all you need
When you are right
Be diligent
And brave and strong
Send more guns
And drop more bombs
by Richard W. Bray
Laughter hope sock in the eye's Blog 