in the moment
before dawn
the space
between notes
like slipping through the silence
holding onto that split second
of after this heartbeat ends
and the next begins
(D. James)
Category Archives: poetry
certainty
a state of being
closed off to other
possible outcomes
a place of right
might
fight
where trouble lurks
and there is no soul
a safe place
where one finds
simplistic comfort
only in its opposite
is there any hope
or chance of stumbling
upon the world as it is
and not as we want it to be
(D James)
it cannot be new and improved
rummaging around the ruins
of a failed system
with nothing left to buy
and even less to sell
worrying about the weather
and the dow jones industrial index
as if it matters to our souls
and whether they can still be saved
these fallible indicators
are not merely implausible
but are “out of time”
when false gods
ruled through commerce
and promises of a better life
the buying and selling
of currencies currency
ultimately believing in a technology
that would deliver us from evil
we can only hope
there be nothing left
after the final fall
giving us a clean slate
like a blackboard
with the remnants of the old methods
and now dead ideas
floating
as chalk dust in sunlight
then
finally
we can begin
as sentient beings
neither to be bought or sold
but simply to be
in the world
(D James)
in a days
and it’s thursday
already
some day
there won’t be
another thursday
or friday
or monday either
until then
I’ll make what I do
of the days and days
those I have left
and those I don’t
(D. James)
it is not a straight line
I went
as far as the road
would take me
then continued on
I followed
the wind
as far as it did blow
then went beyond
I walked
to the peak
of the mountain
then reached up and touched the sky
I dropped
to the bottom
of the ocean
then dug down to the center of the earth
seen the sights
rode the rides
had loves
and losses
watched the line between
the beginnings and endings
blur
then bend
into a circle
and I can either
go round with it
or waste time
fighting against the flow
(D James)
cream of the crop or scum
we are now all
self-promoters
trillions of trilling shouts
hoping for a moment of attention
before dying out in the next roar
of the billion millions
no longer restrained
by the gatekeepers
we have run amok
in the greatest free-form
distribution experiment
known to mankind
as the vast melting pot
comes to a boil
we’ll have to wait and see
what rises to the top
(D. James)
to sleep no more
staying up late
to watch the moon
crawl across the sky
the darkness
filled with possibilities
that the sun washes away in the morning
makes me want to hold on to this moment
embracing the night and never letting go
I don’t want
to go to sleep
tonight
but there’s no way
to hold back the sun
or stop the coming day
so for now
I’ll rest a few hours
then wrestle with the demons
in the daylight
until the sun goes down
and another moon comes up
when the possibilities arise
in the shadows of night
(D. James)
getting lost with intent
it has been too long
between here and there
and always
it seems
there is further to go
the stops
along the way
are but brief
and though I grow weary at times
the movement remains constant
if not consistent
each day does not feel new
but merely another in a string
from sunset to sunset
blurring together
until it’s time to sleep again
finally something bursts
like the sun on the horizon
a bright warm day ahead
then nothing seems like it was
and I forget my name
(D. James)
how to write an internet poem
string a series of words together
evoking images
representative of emotions
be sincere or snide
or real
or just plain stupid
be occasionally slightly
offensive
come up
with a clever title
give it a few tags
then send it into the ether
(D James)
a fight is a fight and nothing more
today
everyone has a cause
they want us to
sign their petition
vote for their candidate
pray to their god
click to donate
“buy my book”
“see my movie”
“watch me shout
at someone on TV”
everyone thinks
they fight
for what’s right
but in the end
a fight is just a fight
and nothing more
and we
we are no longer
individuals
but demographics
grouped by
geographic location
browsing preferences
tweets and posts
tracked
analyzed
followed
“liked”
and “shared”
in the midst
of all this noise
and data
the bits
and gigs
the shouting
and being right
it is all too easy
to get lost in the created confusion
so we must remember
to look another in the eye
and say hello
share something genuine
and let go
for a moment
of the crush of
information
and be human
(D James)
for Joe Cap
the rate of interest is at an all time low
always too loud
always too much
often out-of-place
often out of time
never doing
what I’m supposed to
saying the wrong thing
frustrated
living someone else’s life
unsure of the next move
the right move
going back to where
it started
where I started
always too loud
always too much
out of money
out of time
out on a limb
out of my mind
out of patience
out of sight
some day
this will all end
and I’ll surely miss it
(D James)
beyond exceptionalism
what if
we weren’t
our thoughts
what if
we viewed ourselves
as others do
or better yet
as who we are
without judgement
or emphasizing the negative
what if we strived
to be
acceptional
instead of exceptional
what if all the words
meant nothing
and so we stopped using them
to explain our life
and simply lived it
(D James)
getting to nothing
everything is something
even nothing
is something
if only in word
anything that can be labelled
becomes something
in language
as the mind can
imagine
beyond the edge
of the universe
whether there is light
or microwaves
energy or matter
there is something
even if that something
is nothing
(D James)
down deep
it’s been said
time is an illusion
not the hands
on the clock
the other time
that exists in the mind
yesterday’s
and tomorrow’s
time
it’s been written
that all we have
is right now
and it only takes
being here right now
to reveal the wonders of life
too simple an answer
for us to comprehend
too easy for the mind to reject
and yet
if we stop for a moment
let our thoughts be thoughts
no more true forward than backward
there is a chance
to be present
and find who we really are
if only briefly
(D. James)
future unknown
where to begin
from here
or much earlier
how will it end
in some sudden unknown later
perhaps
by the hand of another
or drawn out
over time
by some mutated
cellular replication
the future is
impossible to know
what is known
what is certain
is that someday
it will end
or we will
at least as we appear now
what happens after
the form is gone
only the dead
know for sure
(D James)
right now, right now
all the yesterdays
behind you
leave them there
all those unfulfilled
wants and desires
let them go
the worries about tomorrow
and tomorrow’s tomorrow
forget them
whatever supposedly came before
or might happen later
is not now
right now
is perfect
right now
is present
right now
is all we have
be with me here
right now
in the only moment
we have
bring your true self
the one of love
compassion
peace
into this moment
watch the leaves dance in the breeze
the birds take flight
feel the earth turn
be one with the 7 billion
who share this place with us
experience life as a single entity
can you feel it?
(D James)
searching in the dark
darkness falls
sudden and silent
like the end of days
or the beginning
the evening goes deaf
as the black crawls
across the sky
into and through spaces unseen
dots of light
on a velvet canvas
and the new moon rises
reflecting nothing
on the other side of the world
it is winter
and a new day breaks
standing at the shore
uncertain
unready
unsteady
inviting the unknown
or futilely looking
for a place to hide
we either step
into the ocean of fear
or it will crash over us
will we be washed away
or cleanse our spirit
break our heart
or break us open
to find a deeper sense
of who we are
(D James)
the write time
waiting
for silence
to rise
for words
to pour out
like water from a pitcher
stopping
then typing
wanting
then trying
failing
then beginning
again
the dam breaks
when the thoughts
of can’t
and not good enough
are abandoned
ignored
left to die
of starvation
or simply put aside
while the typing
becomes writing
and hours
go by
unnoticed
(D James)
for fun or profit
tall tales
told by
short men
wearing platform
shoes of gold
shiny little
people
with their shiny
little stories
of amassed wealth
security and freedom
for all
invented to impress
then run away
with someone else’s
money
(D. James)
gravity helps
everything is everything
and the world
will not stop turning
until the stars
fall from the sky
and the universe
collapses in on itself
but they say
that won’t happen
for another 5 billion years
or so
and before that
though the planet may unburden itself of mankind
like a wet dog shaking off water
we have a little time
so
hold on
spread love
and laugh
long and loud and hard and often
because no matter who you are
how much money you have
the color of your skin
your gender
or what you think and feel
in the end
we all become dust
(D. James)
everything everywhere all at once
right now
somewhere
a child is breathing
its first
and someone somewhere
is taking their last
right now
somewhere someone
has fallen
and another has risen
somewhere a storm rages
somewhere a gentle breeze
right now
someone is speaking hate
and somewhere else
someone
is falling in love
in this moment
all over the world
life is happening
and all the things
before
and all that will come
after
from before the big bang
to after the big crunch
is all connected
whether we experience it
or not
we are everything
and everywhere
all at once
(D James)
everything in the moment of nothing
each morning
the task
is to get present
the day cannot really begin
without being present
to this very moment
I’m aware of being present
when a smile
stretches across my face
for no reason at all
though there are plenty of reasons
to smile
there are equally enough invented reasons
to frown
the smile I wait for
is the smile for no reason at all
the smile for this very moment in time
when I am connected to being alive
not the world
and my place in it
but all life
yours
mine
the 6 billion others
the trees
the bees
every blade of grass
as well as
the life we can’t see
underneath this one
the cells
and their nuclei
and who knows
perhaps even life
on another planet
in another vast galaxy
far beyond our imagination
or the reach of current technology
this is what happens
when I get present
life expands beyond comprehension
and my worries, fears, judgements, and opinions
all fall away
and I am left with nothing
a blank canvas
to create anything I want
in this very moment
(D. James)
back and here again
going through
the days
of process
and habit
feeling like
a reflection
of myself
in chrome
buried under a sea
of fear
and fretting
my conscious self
sleeps the sleep
of the walking
talking
dead
until
stopping
on a street corner
I look up
at a brilliant
blue sky
dotted with bright
white
clouds
suddenly
awake
to the possibility
called life
not just mine
but all of it
swirling
buzzing
humming
from here
to every corner
of the earth
and back
again
(D. James)
all there is
no such thing
as too loud
when it comes
to the music
of life
you can never
love too much
have too much fun
or be more alive
then in a succession
of nows
no greater
freedom
no brighter
wisdom
than now
and now
and now
(D. James)
identity
man
son
brother
friend
boyfriend
lover
funny
generous
temperamental
lazy
aloof
afraid
writer
novelist
poet
reader
seeker
blogger
student
bartender
bouncer
technologist
manager
real estate agent
coach
white
tall
thin
bald
agnostic
socialist
biker
smoker
aries
negative
positive
everything
nothing
(D. James)
