it's not about winning the war...

perhaps i'm naive and missinformed, but i think the paradigm of black and white thought here is missing the point of the conflicts at hand. military victory or defeat is not the defining element of the wars being waged by our nation currently. whether or not we vanquish our foes the true winners are the heads of what President Eisenhower named the "military/industrial complex." the bottom line profitability of exxon mobil, conocco phillips, kbr, bechtel, blackwater, carlyle group, etc. are at record highs. this is entirely due to the function of war. the heads of our government in many cases were very recently sitting on the executive boards of those same corporations. and when they leave their offices in government they will return to the board rooms or lobby on behalf of those corporations. they win no matter how many of our troops die. they win whether wars are won or lost.

it doesn't matter if the nation we've invaded is obliterated and allows us to openly dominate it as Japan did following WWII, or if it spirals into an uncontrollable chasm of violent chaos in perpetuity like so many African nations. because the fact of the matter is that those captains of capitalism will get what they want in either scenario. they will extract the natural resources, they will create a cheap labor force, they will be given enormous sums of capital drawn from our tax dollars in the name of national security. the only way to bring the paradigm of thought current, and to have successful military campaigns, and simultaneously improve our way of life back home is to effectively implement strategies to reign in control of this military/industrial complex (i prefer the term corporatocracy). how it's to be done, i'm not yet sure. but i do believe it is the only path to salvation in a world of continuing madness. like i said, maybe i'm naive, but i'd invite any of you to show me the folly of my ways.

citizen

i’m lookin around at the waves of sound
that surround my bio chemical compound
and astounded am I at the clouded bound
masses of sheeple who buy when told to,
fear when told to, starve and hold few
well to do wealthy dudes in such high esteem
that they’re willing to die for a dream,
i see American imperial scenes,
i see skid row casualties,
mothers on welfare,
kids fulfilling prophecies
as gang war hells bare
their souls for all the world to see,
meanwhile poverty strikes elsewhere simultaneously,
starving simple farmers of their livelihood with nothing to spare,
wars are waged by the profane in our name, we pay the way,

strangers take the blame and the mame
contained in our cluster bombs,
imam's, priests, rabi's, and monks can't calm
when the worlds burnin in a cabal's palm,
Chinese workers sweat the day for starvation wage,
meanwhile in rainforest's residents caged
& forced to tumble in a concrete jungle,
80% of the world lives in off our scraps crumbled
while you and me are instructed to be good consumers,
pursuers of a dollar and a dream, democratic choosers
of the lesser of 2 evils, we're told we're the dealers
of an electorate deck but i didn't sign the check
that allowed us to chin check a lack of respect
from the rest of the world, heck, i didn't even protest
or raise my voice when our elections were stolen,
we're livin in hard times but each moment is golden
the present is the gift of now, fire a shot off your ships bow

the future

what does the future hold?
What is being shaped as I mold my today in whatever way I may?
Currently on display is the clay I sculpted yesterday,
and I’m lonely, slowly groping for cash and the comforting scolding
that only a good woman can provide
when the relationship’s rooted deep inside us both,
growth today so tomorrow I may fit in the clothes
I hope to sport, I’ve never fallen short
in getting whatever it is I pray to manifest
but what I manifest aint always what’s best to put to rest
the restless, cresting, ambitiousness in my chest,
a wife and children, YES,
property in which to invest, YES,
but each one seems so far away
as life’s sway tugs me away from my pennies
and my dollars just haven’t been stacking aplenty,
but my unrelenting drive to not simply survive
but to thrive pushes me to dive
into educating myself further with a fervor
taking notes as an observer
of information on finance, and world events, fuck chasing ass
that shit don’t last past a few laughs and orgasmic gasps,
I’m chasing facts, life stories supporting my hypothesis
that I can do this, that I can make a blue print and not be foolish
with my time or my mind, ooh it’s almost mine,
the future I’m building toward finds me prepared,
but shit, my stare was squared up on tomorrow
so I never even noticed that what I was building for
just passed me by.
I guess it’s just time to try,
again.

lady

good god you’re gorgeous,
laying there in your red bikini,
sleeping in the sun, flat tummy gently heaving
as your breathing softly,
you got me stuck on stunned status
admiring your package
of goods and hunny
I really wish I could just walk over
and say hello, my names joe,
I’d love to get to know you,
but the truth is all that’s gonna happen is
I’m gonna keep watching you out the corner of my eye,
I spy your sweet tanned thighs,
my eyes climb up your supple curved lines,
from your perfect little toes to the freckles on your nose
you’re just lovely,
just looking at you got my mind running over cunning schemes,
ways and means to set a scene where you and me could be
simply caught up in a conversation,
see if we got chemistry to add to motivation,
I can feel the time wasting away as I’m mentally pacin’,
Complacent, but not apathetic, ah heck,
I’m not gonna talk to you, but I’ll silently thank you for the view,
`If you only knew what you were able to do to me just being you
The things I would do if I could just play with you, make you giggle from a tickle, simple stroking of your hair igniting like a flair,
Ahhh, there, there, there, that’s enough with the stare,
I got enough in memory to take it from there

work

some of you may think of work as a chore, something to keep the lights on, no more than your way to pay bills, but for me work is ill, my skills used to spill my imagination and thrills out for the world to feel, my expressions becoming real, my way to kill the time I’m alive and the way that I thrive, work is just a metaphor for what I have to do, and what I have to do is show you my views, show you what I can do, and be, you see work to me is what every human being has to do in order to live so my works to give my music away in every single way I can throughout the span of times sand that I scan.

fam

my foundation, my rock, the wellspring from which all my lessons have sprung forth, the guiding light in my life, my inspiration and sight, my family,
I can only speak candidly and open handidly on this group of people god handed me, the standing tree from which I blossom forth, the manly me who stands before you and covorts as a poet, I know it in the pit of my being that I would not be the being you’re seeing unless I had my family bleeding, teaching, weening, overseeing what I’ve being doing,
Pursuing a life of my choosing wasn’t a brooding concept, rather it was an accepted and nurtured precept of the collective inject into my formation, hard times were many as we were pacin’ over times sands, hand in hand we’ve made do with many stands against opposition, and never once have I been wishin to change my position in family trees,
I’ve been through many battles and felt much pain, but I’ve always had a team behind me in name, in deed, in speed to help me when I need, and I’m there for them because I can’t comprehend a life where I didn’t have the time to lend a hand to my fam, they’re the reason I can stand before you, they’re the roots I’ve grown from,
I look back on my totem pole and know my role, know my respect, know what I hold is worth more than gold and has shown me time and again that families more powerful than you can comprehend.
Mess with one bean and you get the whole burrito, I’m the one the elders in my family call mijo, retreat tho I may from lifes storms and pain, one thing that I can’t run away from is my name, the path laid before me was only made plain by their work, their learning, their saving, their pain. My time will be spent doing whatever I can growing as a man as one with my fam.