Blurbs

The guy who shot him in the head said,
“We will silence you in a way that you
will never speak again.” And he was right,
otherwise Hrant might have continued to say,
“Of course I say it was genocide.”
The Turkish Prime Minister said,
“Bullets have been fired at free thought
and our democratic life.”
He has to say that. What else can he say?
Certainly not something against his own country’s

“Turkishness.”

But thank God the U.S. State Department
stepped in and said, “We certainly are
concerned any time someone who has
been very outspoken in their views is
made to pay a price simply for their
ability to speak their mind.” Thanks, Tom,
we really appreciate that. I’ve never heard
“Keep us out of it, please” put more delicately
and with such tact. We’d ask you to speak
at the eulogy, but I’m sure you’re busy.
And you, my fellow Armenian… what do you say?
Are there words left in you to speak?
Then why don’t you say something?
Don’t worry; I’m just as much a hypocrite
as you are. I didn’t know who he was until
after the gun went off – until he was dead.
You can quote me on that.

My Canticle for Leibowitz

within
from within
from inside
inside my mind
through my arm
through my hand
through this pen
glide over paper
tell from
within
from within
from inside
inside my mind
stand by the edge
of these precipitous thoughts
and put them down
forever
so that they will know you
you were not afraid
you wrote it down
and one day
when all the moisture
evaporates from my body
may my bones remain
as dry as the ink that
has stained this page
with words that will
have outlived my life.

State of Apathy vs. Martin

When have I ever written anything
Bigger than myself
When have I stood for the rights of
Other people
People less fortunate than me
Have I ever told the story
Of someone else
With no gain for myself
Of someone else
Instead of me
Instead of the skipping record
Of my inner anthem
Plastered over parchment
And screaming for attention
Did you see my fists curl
Did you see me carry a gun
And stand on a wall
Did you see me rise to the challenge
Of preventing the oppression
Of good, kind-hearted people anywhere

No, you never have

And the swings will stop swinging
And the merry-go-rounds will stop spinning
And little feet will not dig in the sand to take root
And the sun will not nourish
The photosynthesis of our imaginations
Because the voices
that shouted out
“Nevermore”
From years ago
Have faded into
the greedy whispers of
“Give me more.”

Quantum Physics

Maybe you were looking for a cryptic
Way to ask
But writing it down makes it solid
So stop staring and say it

You can’t strip this down any further
Honesty is in two-tone grayscale
And this cursor keeps blinking
In and out of existence

Foot taps
Sweaty palms
And rolling eyes
All postpone the question

While my dreams are frozen
At zero degrees Kelvin
I’ll simply ask
Here we go

Shall we masturbate like monkeys
Or invent the wheel today?

...?

I’m just amazed by
All the crazy things
That will happen to me
Before I die
Some things will hurt
And others will make me smile
All before I shut my
take a nap for a while

Optimist

Hi
Hi
How are you
I’m fine
Me too
That’s good
Great
Where have you been
Waiting for you
For me
Yeah
Why
I didn’t want to start without you
Start what
The rest of our lives
How do you know
Know what
That I’m the one

SPC(P) Filbeck

blond haired
blue-eyed soldier
you kissed me on stage once
while your boyfriend looked on
now your delicate hands
wrapped awkwardly around an M-16
fall away
pulling sheep out of a bag
you'll make them all smile
always
an inverted shepherd
sending the herd home
to live in the dust
when it’s you whose lost your way
let them pray to the east
your sun sets in the west