It’s been a good long while since I posted one of these photography/poetry combination posts, and since it has been so long I will be posting one of my favorite poems that I have written in recent years paired with one of my earliest shots while I was still at the Academy of Art in SF. While I love this poem, it is more of a slam/performance poem than the others I have posted here, so I am unsure how true it will read compared to a live performance…pun slightly intended. Here’s the Truth.
Truth
What is Truth?
It is the thing which hits you late at night,
When you are alone, clinging to nothing but darkness,
Like a war-torn lover holding onto the remnants,
Of the memory of what love was before they killed it.
It hits you like a sledgehammer defenestrated from a 10th story window.
Suddenly and with explosive force it shatters ego,
Breaking the everpresent manufactured techno bubble,
Freeing your consciousness as it freefalls into your skull.
WHAM!
You’re enlightened. Buddha never said it was so easy,
Easy like a drunk prom date in the back of your Chevy.
No condom date-rape baby, you’re both not ready…
For Truth,
The used condom of a generation wasted.
Venerated and penetrated in dark alleys,
In vacant lots and with vacant eyes,
The flagrant signs of a person abused.
Used and confused, we wander empty streets.
Empty selves looking for our next fix, addicts.
Spiritually hollow we’ll cram anything in that hole,
Chicken soup souls for the soulless faux wholeness.
We’re frightened, of ourselves and of our neighbors.
No savior in sight, try as we might, we are alone.
In front of TV screens, computer monitors,
Even sitting next to eachother, we are alone.
Homeless veteran who fought for a lie, dying in the streets,
Frozen in your sleep, please don’t cry…
Because Truth…
Like time heals all wounds and soon it will sledgehammer shatter
The mimeo-obscura movie screen false reality,
Samsara scented visions that cloud our thoughts,
Causing society to rot the apple core of knowledge.
But even a rotten core can still hold seeds,
If cultivated with care we can grow something new.
Reach within your own rotten core,
And seek the seeds inside.
Nurture well with tender care,
A phoenix waits to rise.
Well Suited For Life 