558. You Can Not Guarantee Tomorrow

You can not guarantee tomorrow,

So why must you steal away our today?

Let us live, and love, and laugh so,…

We don’t waste our lives away,

In fear of the inevitable.

You can not guarantee our safety.

You can not even guarantee your own.

Life and time pass us by swiftly.

So, why spend our time alone,

When today could be our final one?

You can not guarantee life at all.

It only guarantees you’re a liar,

For we all live and someday fall.

Life is hard, and often dire,…

Though a vast journey from start to end.

Do not guarantee us tomorrow,

And do not plan, and scheme, and try to steal,…

From the stories you’ll never know.

Life is like a spinning wheel,

Which moves ever onward steadily.

So, do not guarantee tomorrow.

I am more than content with my today.

Let me live, and love, and laugh so,…

When it’s my time I can say,

“I did not miss tomorrow, because I lived today”.

K. Aldaya, 8/15/21

GIF: From the music video “Summer Wine” by Lana Del Rey; https://weheartit.com/entry/317798351

551. I’m Not Sure Anymore

I remember when I was a child,

They used to go to schools and tell us.

That drugs are bad, and not to do them;

And now they push them upon us,

Like bullies on the playground.

I can remember when we were told,

“Don’t give in to social peer pressure”.

That you shouldn’t do something by force,

Unless you were completely sure,

It was your best choice to make.

I remember when Smokey the Bear,

Told us to prevent fires and care;

Now people on the media scream,

“Burn down the system everywhere!”,

As buildings burn on our screens.

I remember when celebrities,

Said bullies and suicide were bad,

And were meant to be fought out against.

Now locking people up’s the fad;

And silence lets it happen.

I remember when there were standards,

Of how to treat your fellow humans.

Now everyone believes that their fears,

Excuse them from basic demands,

Of their own humanity.

I remember when I was a child,

Even though I was not treated right,

I believed in human potential,…

For us to do what’s good and right…

Yet, now I’m not sure anymore.

Are you?

K. Aldaya, 7/26/21

Picture: By Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/photos/IEVa-W0kojU

546. Am I Human?

Am I human?

I can see I look like one,

Though underneath the surface,

I am everyone,

Without a face.

Am I human?

Though I used to speak like one.

I have never understood,

With all our words so over-done,…

How to be heard.

Am I human?

I no longer speak like one,

And inside drift endlessly,

Far from everyone,…

So quietly.

Am I human?

I can see I look like one,

Though underneath the surface,

I am no one.

I am the lost without a trace.

The unrecognizable face.

The outsider, always out of place.

Am I human?

K. Aldaya, 6/10/21

Picture: From Humans TV Series; Posted on fanpop; https://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/38900000/Humanity-It-s-not-a-state-It-s-a-It-s-a-quality-humans-38984644-300-169.gif

545. Social Division

You look down on those who think differently than you,

And judge and criticize them for being themselves too.

You say to them, “You better love me as I am!”,

And then turn around and say, “You’re wrong, and a sham!”.

Never recognizing the sham as you.

Part of being accepted is being accepting,

Of what you may feel is formidable and upsetting.

You don’t have to agree with everything others do,

But if you truly want freedom, you must grant it too;

For respect’s propagated by respecting.

You may tell me the sob story all humans have to tell.

You may tell me how you feel, and I will feel for you as well,

But don’t condemn me for not dying for you on your cross.

I’m not a God on earth, and have to carry my own cross,…

Along with my personal, all-consuming hell.

All pains are not equal, and life’s a tragedy.

So, why are we infighting? And why can’t we agree?

That life’s far too short, too difficult, and too cold,

To bicker endlessly as our bodies grow old.

You are not a social category.

I am you, and you are me…

The heart of humanity.

K. Aldaya, 6/10/21

Picture: By Yaniv Knobel on Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/photos/UvkIx6DMTMk

544. O’ Lucifer

You pushed and pushed again…

Over and over and over…*Amen*

You pray, “O’ Lucifer, Smite the Damned!”,

Becoming that with which you command.

You laughed and laughed again…

Over and over and over…*Amen*

This is the hell you’ve fashioned on Earth,

For those such as I, cursed from our birth.

You spit and spit again…

Over and over and over…*Amen*

Those who are living in hell will refuse,

To play along, for they’ll only lose.

You tricked and tricked again…

Over and over and over…*Amen*

It’s not safe as a human in hell…

Surrounded…Shh, there’s nothing to tell.

You struck and struck again…

Over and over and over…*Amen*

There is no trust,…No guardians,…No safety.

Hell is here,

And the demons,…of humanity.

K. Aldaya, 5/30/21

Picture: By Jon Tyson on Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/photos/epZp5y3wqcA