hymn

hymn is a poem i published in 2018 / I wrote it to finish off my book ‘what i want to say to you 29 poems’ / bring it home in a crescendo / show off my poetic ability / my stream of consciousness jack kerouac alan ginsberg howl type muse infused walt whitmanish voice / leaves of grass growing on my back lot / it was my hymn / we used to sing those in church / lots of them and it didn’t matter if you sang off key so long as you made a joyful noise then came the sermon and that was longer with fewer breaks along the way but not interminable and when the pastor finally finished we were free to mix and mingle among friends and associates / share the gossip of the day but in a good natured way and wander outside and notice the breeze in the trees and to know that you know that the breeze in the trees is not baptist it’s just nature / pure nature / that’s always good to remember timeteaan apocryphal koana zen haikuwords matterthink about how much of our brainis made up for language so we canmake up words and talk about thingslike the whole cerebral cortex almostand how can we sing about the worldwithout the basal gangliait’s basically impossible now the airis everywhereit comes and goesthru our noseit intercepts the flow of timeand divides day and nightit’s clear enough you see thru itbut solid enough you can fly thru itit’s strangeit’s many things at onceoxygen and nitrogen and car exhaust and a bodyi sing the body electricdid he know that we are connected bybillions of nerve cellsor did he just feel the energythe blasphemy the unorthodox juxtapositionof wharf and rivernew jersey and red wheelbarrowsoh that was a different guybut we all have bodieseven wheelbarrows i guessthat’s the pointthere has to be a pointa punch linean end if there is a beginninga story if we are to believein somethinglet it be meand you and all the creatures of the worldrivers and boats and riverboats and everythingwith a bodylet it singlisten i found a moment of timein there i was spaced outin there i found epiphanyi found memory i found lightbouncing off everything i foundfun i found walt whitman sellinghis books for a dime in brooklynwatching people walk by busy or ontheir way to work their job or theirdestination there is no destinationsave here where we arealive he thought for suredid he have a sign ?? did he speakto people ?? did he smile ?? i take up my whole daytrying to say something sometimesas if it were importantto connect to learn to find outi run out of paper and write onreceipts from the book storebananas coco milk chilis cheeseare on the shopping list wherei record my coda my epitaphmy epigraph my joke poemif you’re not laughing yet i missedthe beat but i’ll try againi can’t sing but i can humi can fake it until the cows come homeand we can be herewith the cows breakfast with TVin the corner is one way to do itcalibrate your brain waveswith the dominantparadigm and coffee withmigas motorcycles in thewindow fresh chilis torreadoseverything goes with somethingdon’t talk about it if you don’twant to know to know somethingyou have to follow a flowlet’s have a revolution !!my inner brain says to mebut maybe not everyonefeels the same way you know what ??i see everyone’s energy windowa child could see thatit’s not hard to be aliveit’s a wonder to wonder whybrain freeze catastropheagnostication acquisitiondenial of service attackswhy are we here ?? maybeto kill people you would thinkwatching hollywood movies on TVi learned that from my catsonly kill things if you eat itand we came hereto be here unsure about the big brainphenomenon that may bean aberration or an experimentor a farm system set up bythe aliens to harvest ourcognitive dissonance as jet fuel to visitother galaxies who knows whatkind of propulsion things they might inventin the future probly nobody knew aboutnuclear fusion a thousand years agoexcept all the plant people who ate it and gotbigger and got ate by the animal people whogot bigger and got ate by the people peoplepeople who didn’t even know about the nuclear fusionradiation traveling at the speed of lightfrom a nearby orbiting star there are many stars in the galaxyyou can’t play golf on the moonlet me know when you’re ready no i haven’t taken my medsno i don’t need any medsi’m a writeri need the maniaophelia areola like an oak leaf cherry sodaand whoosh i’m off like a nikeat break neck speeda jail breakto find out what i’m talking aboutinsert a quarter in the poetrymachine and select replay this dayfor the first time unlock unloaddecipher respond rejoinder relaxeveryone is having their own conversationi said to my braineverything is everythingit’s game day game boythe little people said to meor something i wonder what they’re sayingreally in their minuscule voices what theyare thinking down there inthe dark gut of my solar plexus othersat the table nearby talk about something i can’t hearmaybe they’re planning a partylet’s be spontaneous let’s be joyouswhat else could it be ??it could be the totalityis the same as the microalitythat’s in MIByou should also see blade runner andoah kanah the trilogy that hasn’t beenbeen written yet because i need tofinish it first the story of our birth and enslavementand redemption and a superior alien racewith eyes made of glass who learned how to behuman just for fun made fun of us smallercreatures no longer the dominantparadigm and then we became themtraded places going for spatial outguess and microscanningthey liked farmingon little bits of land in the ohio river valley smaller bits made of stringmade of smaller bits of string made ofsmaller bits of string is what our ultimatereality is made of it has been saidthere is an ocean in the drop be the dropor the ocean either one would be goodbebe quietbe silentbequeathbeneathbe real behave but whynot believe in nothing and knownot believe in anythinglike the guy on the ladder believesit will hold his weight we believethe planet is round but we don’tknow until we go into outer spaceand see it really is rounddamn how did it get so round ??could have been straight or jaggedor lumpy no it’s round as a circle can’t evensee the jagged little pills on thesurface of our round little planet the power of silencethe health of not eating unless you’re hungrythe ny times front page headline news‘why are we afraid of god?’with commentsthe synergistic symbolic symbiotic capabilities of human beingsthrow a pebble in the poolbuddha sat under the bo treeand realized truth everything is connectedthere is no separation why wouldyou hurt another person‘attack’ said sun tzu ‘when you knowyour enemy’s weakest point’an acorn falling on the groundreveals a truthi am here and things falltwo truths and roll three truthsbicycles and soda cansairplanes and automobilesall rollairplanes are round if you cut themthru the midsectioni tell you there must be a circlein our brain somewhere anintuitive logic circuit afractal bathtub full of water designed by gnomes on acida double entendre with syringean acronym a taco and a pistolmet for lunch the pistol said to thetaco ‘where’s your guacamole ??’and the taco said to the pistol‘OMG is that a loaded question ??’antennas point to heavengod lives in a churchchristmas lights reveal thedivinity of the earthcompliance let’s say calmand deliberate cooperation arerequired here half the game is gonehalf a watermelon reveals the seedsand it’s roundwisdom starts with a seedwhen we are tiny weknow stuff evolutionof the human race stoppedin 1937 we’ve been goingbackwards since thenbackwards and forwards in and outcircling around the sun starting with a seedgrowing tomatoes and yellow flowers we all pray for the same thingbut we pray in different languagesall the flowers in the garden are differentbut they grow from the same groundheads held high in their towers of indifferenceall comes back to sunshine on the brownskin of our mother earthall worlds end in amenand awomenall shadows cast lightor how could we see them ?!all those who hope also despair all who carry the lightin this cafe of lifealso carry a knifeto cut the crap allegiance is futile find the friendbeloved each breathis a flower unfoldingin the center of your chest arrest the desireto deny this pleasure require this destination a signature podcast music from :: Afro Noir in Lagosthank you You can support my work by becoming a free or paid subscriber or by leaving a tip. 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