596. The Temple

I’ve begun to love the stillness,

And the silence of containment,

In the temple I have built,

Adorned in golden raiment.

Where, ceaselessly, I pray for peace,

As gleaming rays consolidate,

The walls of primitive hope,

Against those who infiltrate.

For countless forces are at work,

Seeking chaos and subversion.

Scorning the Light of union,

For darkness and perversion.

While I do bear broad concernment,

Nonetheless, I pray hour by hour.

Vigilant, though reassured,

That discernment wields power.

K. Aldaya, 12/1/22

Picture: By Hassan Ouajbir on Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/photos/NfONQWO3qzU

466. I Was Born to Endure Destruction

I was born to endure destruction.

It’s in my nature to survive.

My mind is not immortal,

And it fights to stay alive.

I was born to endure destruction.

When broken…I’d rebuild.

I’ve been demolished many times,

Though I have not been killed.

I was born to endure destruction.

All the pieces left: They are me,…

But you call me a liar,

And reply that, “It can’t be!”.

I was born to endure destruction.

Cracks run throughout my brain.

You may believe it can not be,

Yet those lines kept me sane.

I was born to endure destruction,

It’s in my nature to survive.

My mind is not immortal,

And it fights to stay alive.

K. Aldaya, 1/27/19

341. The War for Survival

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The skies have grown black near the sea this eve.

Even the ocean, muddied, is fit to receive…

The death with follows the tornadoes of war,

Which spread from the shorefront to the steps of each door.

Waves crash and sting the eyes of the weary,

Who stroll through the streets as ghosts: silent and eerie.

Bodies float away and one man with a clipboard,

Counts each one seen with his pen like a sword.

The shelters are gone. There is nowhere to run,

And each man carries his own personal gun;

To fight back the tide of inevitable gloom.

Yet how many bullets will save even one from their doom?

The world is awash with an ocean of change,

Which washes all men and turns them deranged.

They bury the dead in mass graves without markers,

Then walk off with the smiles which living desires.

For who can keep walking on the bones of the fallen,

Without falling too deep into the sickness of men?…

Who have fallen before us begging for mercy;

And died at the gunpoint of their own misery.

The masses walk on with guns in both hands.

There’s no time for thinking. No time to make plans.

Is this war really worth it?…The bodies and the blood,

Of all the life of this planet buried in the mud?

The war continues…there’s no more to be said.

Shoot down your brother so you don’t end up dead.

Yet how will you save your soul from your sins.

For when your body soon rots the real fight begins.

K. Aldaya, 3/15/16

Picture: Originally posted by Gloomy Rules on Tumblr; http://giphy.com/gifs/shark-attack-ocean-storm-thunder-gifs-dOCG720yNqAms