Who We Were Meant To Be

Voices being carried by the untamable wind:
"Life sucks -- Life really sucks!
They have so many rules for us,"
The young boy calls out to his friend.
"I have known this all my life,"
The friend shouts back.

Who are they whom the young boys vent their frustration?
They are the persons who are self-anointed and brazenly attempt to
Stifle our democracy.
Attempting to tell us what is appropriate and what is not.
Don't do this and don't do that.
You can't say that and you can't say this.
That or this is appropriate for that or this place,
But not appropriate when you are here or there.

They who endeavor to stifle our freedom, how do they dare?
Doing so in the name of so-called traditional values and norms.
Who are they to tell you or who are they to tell me?
Trying to imprison us within their world of the little box.
Are you willing to let them do this to you? For they shall
Never do this to me -- Never shall they steal our liberty.
Being untamable like the wind – this is who we are meant to be.
And until the end, we must fight to be free.

cvd '09

Sign Me, The Tree

Alone she stands,
No other tree but her.
In the wind her whispers drift.
Her voice as gentle and loving as a warm
Southern breeze.
I put my ear to the wind and this is what I heard:

“For years I’ve been crying out. No one is listening.
I have this letter my heart desires to share:

"Time is both brief and drawn-out.
I’ve come to savor and despise them both.
When I was given life, I became someone’s child.
To be nurtured and feeling the presence of love.
As I grew, the children would come and play.
They treated me as if I was their mother.
Then one day their pleasure could be felt no more.
Our years together were as seemingly as radiant and
Short lived as the moon in its fullest form.
To now have reached considerable age and bearing
The affliction of these numerous rings,
They say I’ve become nothing but a problem.
To hear them talk of wanting to terminate my life.
I no longer serve their purpose; therefore,
My life to them has become obsolete.
Living a lengthy life has given me an opportunity
To see both sides of Man:
The good, the bad.
My life then has become one of extensive observation.
And now I stand here alone.
The same playful tree who has just grown
Older in time.
My tears are plenteous.
Now …please … sign me, the tree.”

cvd '09

Lifeless Among The Living

A tree standing lifeless among the living
Cancer of the soul gripping its being
Once holding numerous dreams visible to all
Ready to answer life's challenging call
Becoming confused by the winds of change
Allowing its dreams to be scattered
As if they meant nothing at all
Falling prey to the storms, to fear
From inside the tree comes a sound:
The sound of a tear
Having permitted its newborn vision
To slip away
No longer was anything clear
At one time so full life -- So full of hope
Now standing lifeless among the living

cvd '09

We Different ... We Free

If they as other could only understand or see
but they as other attempt to give Us their rules
and treat Us as if We have no place in Our World
and whisper behind Our backs as if what We
think or do is criminal
they try to suppress and oppress Us at every turn
but We Know The Way--they are wrong, as other
they do not understand or see
not like Us
We are Different because We are Free …

If they as other could only understand or see
but they as other are not free
their ways they wish to impose upon Us enslave,
kill, stifle, discriminate, pollute, imprison, starve,
repress, dilute and cage
shackling all that which is Good and breathing Liberty
not like the Eagle, not like the Mountain, not like the Earth
not like the Unenclosed Mind, not like the Unchained Spirit
as other they attempt to stifle Our Poetry, Our Thought,
Our Expression, Our Demeanor, Our Vision, Our Creativity
as other they are blind and deaf to Whom We are,
they cannot fathom that We are their Emancipators
not like us
We are Different because We are Free …

If they as other could only understand or see
We are Not Criminal, We are Not Iniquity, We are Not Fools
We Feel their lack, We Live their anguish, We Sense their
emmmp – ti – nesss … of self
yet as other they endeavor to prohibit Us from being Us
rather not wanting Us to be Us but other like them
limited, heartbroken, fearful, insecure, hollow as in other
not like Us, but like them
as other they are captives yearning to be Free
as other they are the battered seeking Liberty
as other they are the establishment desiring a justifying identity

Listen … Follow Us We Know The Way, Forever … Today
not like Us, Be Like Us … Come ... Step Out… To Be
We are Different because We are Free...

cvd ‘09