Cops and robbers, 
C’mon let’s play!
We’ll stand for justice,
Save the day!

The robbers can be black folk,
Underlings,
Who always seem to get away 
With some damn thing,

Not planned by me
Or by my heirs,
Let’s see them try it
If they dares.

We can hit a target
Make it drop
That’s what makes us 
Such great cops.

A target’s a target
Am I right?
No time for dialogue
I’d rather fight.

You want dialogue
Hire a shrink,
Let him figure out
All the shit you think.

You want some love
Hire a Mommy,
Get take-out from
Some short order Tommy.

You think life is easy?
Try upholding the laws, 
I’m a cop,
Not Santa Claus.

Big as the world is,
T’aint big enough for you,
I’ve got the power,
No matter what you do.

The mind of faith
Is no mind at all
It is heart.
It is giving over
Arrogance, greed, stupidity
The mind thinks it needs,
Because that’s what the mind does
It thinks and overthinks
But thinking is not is,
Thinking won’t make it so,
Thinking without heart
Without faith is useless lala,
Only the heart can know.

No difference
But another day,
Yet, if you blew
The dust away,
You’d see the splendor
From the gray,
And kneel before
Its light.

Same cereal
In same old bowl,
And what exactly
Was your goal?
To not turn to
A kitchen troll,
But energize
The fight.

Same sameness
Is the product of,
The safety net
You stand above,
Securely fits you
Like a glove,
And keeps away
The night.

But oh, the Earth
Shines like a jewel,
Somewhere beyond
The things that fool
Us into thinking
The world is cruel,
When will we
Get it right?

Things we built because we could,
Because we thought, why not, it’s good!
Consructed them upon a dare
To bring us joy and show us where
The future lies, though we can’t see
What will happen to you and me,
Our children live and will attest,
How things we built betrayed or blessed.

Take me back to the Covid Days
When we understood our worth,
When heroes did for heroes
And we tiptoed on the earth.

The robins had the answers
That our iPhones couldn’t code,
As Spring burst forth with loud acclaim
Through quiet streets we rode.

Like Plymouth Rock or Jamestown
We measured out provisions,
And did our best to bridge the human
Darkness of division.

We looked into our mirrored souls
And saw more than the markets,
Took aim upon our weaknesses
And prayed upon those targets.

Delighted in the tools we fashioned
From the simplest things,
How clever and resourceful
With what desperation brings.

And wondered as we fathomed
The fate of humankind,
Looking out upon the world
From our venetian blind.

Perspective is the thing we had,
Discovered our delusions,
And joyed in our humanity
Without any exclusions.

For those who slander time and I am one,
The needs you seek are ever out of view,
Your happiness lies fallow in the sun,
While hours hurry down the avenue.

Time doesn’t care the way you wear your hat,
Nor seek to find out who your lover is,
Give it weight and weighty goes to bat,
And everydays just vanish in the fizz.

My crimes advance from my rigid demands,
Rushing present time to be the latter,
Thinking it’s a race of ifs and ands,
While clever clocks go ticking on no matter.

And still my needs seem so above my grasp,
The Fascist clocks demand to have their way,
I could follow them unto the last,
And have sixteen regrets for every day.

The present is a present for your life,
And future happiness is just a plan,
Step along the sharp edge of the knife,
And try your smile out now because you can.

Mama, really look at me, I’m here,
Alive as you, a human touching earth,
If we could just appreciate how near,
We’d fathom our place in the universe.

Take a little piece of death
Everywhere you ride.
It makes the journey much more real,
Can be a point of pride.

Yes, that’s my death, remember
I am mortal so are you.
Delight in this conundrum
In everything you do.

When you ride the roller coaster
And take heart-pumping breaths,
Hold tightly in your pocket
To your little piece of death.

It presses ‘gainst your fingers
Sweaty in your palm,
But somehow knowing it is there
Gives preternatural calm.

My beauty is my age and sickness,
Say, how do I look?
Wear your present gamely,
Be an open book.

Once you have experience,
Unique in all the world
Then show your little piece of death,
And let your flag unfurl.

The leading cause of death you see
Is holding on too tight.
It’s life well-lived with open eyes
That brings you to the light.

Self Help

Does no one see the clouds roll by?
Just took a snapshot on the fly,
Trusting fixed positions lie
When everything is moving.

You depend on what you need,
Feel naked when you lose your speed,
Bless the chains but dream to be freed,
Humans are improving.

     Illustration: Khorshed Dubash

There was an old woman
Who lived in a shoe,
Her social security
Hadn’t come through.
The government told her
It had no more bread,
She whipped them all soundly
And sent them to bed.

The House That We Built

These are the citizens all forlorn,
Who heard politicians tooting their horns,
And judged the celebrity with their scorn,
When out of their greed his service was born;
Who embraced their Google,
That made them oogle,
Ignoring the clarion call of the bugle;
Who loved the market,
That capitalist target,
That wagged the dog,
Unwilling to slog,
Who encouraged the hog,
And the leadership fog,
That lived in the house that we built.

Barry, Barry quite contrary,
Diagnoses grow
With MRIs and IV ties
And little docs all in a row.

Second-guessing God’s design,
Disregarding fact,
It’s a surprise to no one
You’re a hypochondriac.

When will meds behave themselves,
Do just what you tell,
Instead of just make money for the
Pharmaceuticals.

When you search outside yourself
For silver bullet cures,
You miss the Barry wisdom
Of what is really yours.

Your heart, your strength, your good resolve
It’s time to turn the page,
Old age could be a suffering
Or a dawn upon the age.

Facebook, Facebook

Facebook, Facebook
I’ve been thinking
What a great world
It would be,
If your users 
Weren’t abusers
Posted joy authentically.

Facebook, Facebook
Can you manage
The fears of humanity,
Post them in
A box of mirrors
Charge them when
They think it’s free.

Facebook Facebook
You’re a business
Not a friendly backyard chat,
I won’t give you 
All my data
Wonder what 
You’ll make of that.