THROUGH BOWERY EYES

Tonight I can sleep,
Though unhappy I am,
But I will not weep,
I will not give a damn.

I will lay my head
On this musty pillow.
Let this flophouse bed
Be my weeping willow.

One night off the street,
Let the morning come.
Life is so bittersweet
For this Bowery bum.

At the Sunshine hotel,
In this room of ten men.
Let the world go to hell,
It is where I have been.

Up early in the morning,
Breakfast on East Third.
Street preacher is warning,
With his message unheard.

Today at the Muny,
I renew my meal card.
The portions are puny.
This life is so hard.

Panhandling for booze,
White port will do.
I have nothing to lose,
That much is true.

All I need is a drink
To go sit in the park.
I will drink as I think
From morning ’til dark.

Someday I will awaken
Beside a peaceful stream.
May I not be forsaken
By this beautiful dream.

THE FOREVER

It seems that my search
Goes beyond any church.
I am not quite religious,
But I can still dig Jesus.

I believe in the bliss
That comes from all this.
I don’t need a preacher,
My life is my teacher.

We may say any prayer,
No matter how or where,
For as long as we can find
Some kind of peace of mind.

The fresh air at dawn,
The beauty of a fawn,
The wonder of a tree,
All of these are free.

Every colored leaf
Confirms my belief
About heaven on earth
And what it is worth.

No religious fervor
Can take me further.
No words could ever
Describe the forever.

(Published by Lone Stars Poetry Magazine Summer 2017)

SNAPSHOT

The wind and balmy breeze
Blow softly through the trees.
All the darkness of the night
Disappears in morning light.

The shadows on the ground,
Will never make a sound.
Birds awakened, singing sweet,
Make the forest seem complete.

This world we call the Earth,
Comes into view at birth,
For a brief moment in time,
In this universe sublime.

(Published by The Society of Classical Poets Literary Journal, October 10,2019)

JESUS WAS A COMMUNIST

It seems Jesus was a communist,
In the best sense of the word.
You might say he was a socialist,
According to what I have heard.

One for all and all for everyone,
Give to those who have the least.
When everything is said and done,
All will be welcome at the feast.

In the world which Jesus wanted,
There would be no one in need.
All evil would be confronted,
No more selfishness or greed.

In the world in which he believed,
There would be no need for cops.
All are forgiven, all are received,
All the killing and violence stops.

In his world, there is no poverty,
No more hunger under the sun.
All would live a life of liberty.
All would live and love as one.

In his world, rivers flow clean.
Food will be grown all around.
Starvation will never be seen,
The bread of life will abound.

In his world, we will be free
To live in harmony and peace.
In this world, we would see
The fruitless fighting cease.

In his world, guilt and sin
Will soon be gone away.
The losers will go on to win.
It will be a brand new day.

In his world, our love will grow.
All hatred will no longer be.
Soon love will be all we know.
Love will be all that we see.

In his world, heaven will be now!
Pain and suffering will be stilled.
If mankind can survive somehow,
A union of souls will be fulfilled.

When all the hell does fade away,
The people will finally learn.
Ideas of Jesus will rule someday,
In this way, he will return.

HEAVEN AND HELL

Sometimes we are in heaven.
Sometimes we are in hell.
Mostly we are in between,
We know this story well.

Beyond our comprehension,
No matter how hard we try,
Eternity means here and now,
We need not wait ’til we die.