my newest poems

*****

Perspectives / Thai Ta, June 2011:   When you look around / And all you see is what you don’t want to see / Look up! / Close your eyes / Look inside. /// Why is it that we are here? / Why is it that millions and millions years / Of evolution or intelligent design / Or God knows what it was that happened / Have led us here? / And so here we breathe, we breed, / We love, we dance, we kiss, / We suffer, we go about our life, / We drink, we eat, / We want, we yearn, we need, / Randomly, absent-mindedly. / We give, we take, / We emote, we fake, / We’re human, so we make mistakes. /// Now and then we look around / And all we see is … / Neglect. Disconnect. / Pain. Dark. Alienation. / Look down! / Open your eyes / Sympathize. /// Oh my friends, I know God is real / Thanks to God, I feel! / Thanks to God, I heal / And God’s love is free / And so are perspectives. ///

*****

If I Die Today / Thai Ta, June 2011:   If I die today, I would be… / Pissed! / Should have gone on that dream European trip / Should have learned Spanish / And fall in love with an anti-globalist / Or at least kiss an anarchist / Come to think of it / Should have pursued my fetish / Involving prisoners and the police / And max out my credit cards / Spend all my money / After I give 10, no, 20 percent to charities. /// Oh dear, if I die today, / Who’ll take care of Mommy? / (If she dies today, I’ll have no family.) / Should have hooked up with someone / Anyone! / So they’ll cry when I’m buried / No wait, better cremate me / And scatter my ashes in the desert / So I could watch the stars at night. /// If I die today / I would miss so much! / There’s no chocolate ice cream in Heaven / No summer blockbusters, no talent shows / Hell might be interesting / Crisp pizzas year round, I suppose / And naughty demons popping about. /// But seriously, if I die today / I would be… / Blessed / For having lived the life I’ve led / And having known the souls I’ve met / And I’ll go on to other realms / Something’s changed / Something’s the same / (A rose, by any other name) / If I die, (died?), today / Thank you all / Goodbye. ///

*****

Déjà-Vu /  Thai Ta, September 2011:   A glance / Briefer than / A flicker of sunlight / Turning into rainbow flashes / Did we dance / All night? / Did we forget, or remember / To say our goodbye? / Or did we stay? / A moment frozen in time / Where nothing matters / Not even our conscience, obligations to others / A madness / Coming ’round / A fever / Target, found / And we burn anew / A déjà-vu / A familiar pain / Oh yes, we had chosen / A sensible, logical end / But now and again / We truly, blindly, foolishly / Fall / Fall! / For a love / Briefer than / A glance. ///

*****

What Would Jesus Do? / Thai Ta, September  2011:   What would Jesus do? / I honestly don’t know / Did he even live / A long, long time ago? / Who would Jesus kill? / A Hindu, a Muslim, a Jew? / Would he erase all humanity / Saved for a precious few? / How would Jesus feel? / Can he be artificially real? / Can he turn men into robots, / Or vice versa, or not? / Can he love the fallen angels? / Can he solve all our troubles? / Can he be a solitary god? / Can he tell his followers to shove off? / Oh Jesus! Oh Christ! Oh Christmas! / Oh sufferings! Oh lies! (But I love Santa Claus!) / What would Jesus say, would he confess / The sins of the father, the son, and the rest? / What would Jesus do? / Between me and you / Maybe it’s too late / What could Jesus do! / Should we start over? / So, what do we know? / Let’s sit down, let’s talk / And start a brand new show!  ///

*****

No More / Thai Ta, October 2011:   You don’t hear me anymore / My words float in the air, disappearing / And you pick and choose certain strands / To weave them into a hateful web / And here we stand / Together. Apart. /// You can’t see me anymore / Partly my fault, I suppose / ‘Cause somewhere back I had changed for you / So much so that I can’t see me anymore / And the love we’ve shared expands, contracts / And flips over to a foreign place / Of coldness and indifference. /// I don’t want you anymore / I won’t miss you any less, of course / We’ve been fused together for so long / And now the painful separation / A surgery that’s half voodoo half logic / Yet, as I look up / Beyond the sky, toward the Infinite / I understand / It’s only natural to let go, let God. /// And I say to you once more / The words you cannot hear / Not now, not yet / I thank you for the colors of my life / But there’s a song I’ve not yet sung / And corners I’ve not yet turned… / You walk away. In silence / I can’t feel you anymore. ///

*****

*****

poem: The Alien Within

The Alien Within  –  Thai Ta, June 2011

Do you know your alien within?  /  Have you met your enlightened twin?  /  Open the door to alternative worlds  /  Welcome to nirvana, step right in.  ///  Adjust your vibration accordingly  /  See with new eyes, but discriminatingly  /  Play with heightened senses, ask:  /  “Is this not reality?”  ///  Or is it a simulation  /  Designed to sensitize the artificial,  /  The mechanical, chemical void of a robot  /  That’s ignorant of the intricate plot?  ///  There must be a time when feelings were first created  /  A place where we all stood equal, or at least equally naked  /  And thoughts (or programs) humming, around, afar…  /  “Do we know who we really are?”

*****

Heartache  /  Thai Ta, June 2011:    Heartache, I know you  /  You look a little older this time, mellower  /  I dig that rocker, biker look  /  How do I look to you, I wonder  /  Since last we saw each other?  /  I’ve done some travelling  /  Seeing amazing things  /  Crossing oceans to many shores  /  Still dreaming, living  /  Wanting more.  ///  Once in a while, like a favorite song  /  You catch by chance while driving  /  Or a familiar wave of emotion  /  A sweet, faint smell, a longing  /  You appear gently by my side  /  And you whisper, “Remember me?”  /  Teasingly, I think  /  “Yes, heartache, I remember you.”  /  “You look good,” I smile  /  “You look way too good”  /  You smile.  ///  We’ve been friends forever  /  Since I was a child  /  I remember being around 8 or 9  /  Meeting you for the first time  /  You were kind to me then  /  And you turned me into your tiny poet  /  Oh God, remember the ancient ink pens  /  That you dip in messy little ink bottles?  /  And the blotting papers too?  /  How I hated the purple stains  /  All over my tiny poet’s fingers  /  No matter how hard I tried  /  The stains  /  Foreshadowing my tiny poet’s life.  ///  In a weird way, I suppose I’ve missed you  /  My happy poems don’t sound quite as good  /  My sunny songs  /  Not entertaining quite as much  /  Sometimes I have to fake them all, happy or sad, sunny or cloudy (gasp!)  /  “Cause inside, I am at peace  /  Calm, content  /  Grateful…  /  Grateful dead?  ///  Not sure, my friend, but hey, good seeing you  /  My always special, forever faithful, the one and only heartache  /  Go on, now, go see your other friends  /  I love you  /  Until we meet again.

*****

*****

for more of my newer poems

*****