defined

at some point

we must decide

has there ever been

justice

there is a definition for it

somewhere

so it must exist in the world

have you seen it

lived it

did you know

somewhere

poems were written about love

poets somewhere

felt love

deep in their bones

we don’t feel that much anymore

we in fact

have a secret love affair with hate

have you read a great love poem

as of late

yeah I know

somewhere

somebody understood freedom

it too eloquently defined

no cage

no tether

no debt

no surveillance

just an open book to write

and open roads to travel

endless paths

open sky

and do we hold anything sacred

i think once upon a time

someone

felt reverence

i feel it

when i gaze out to sea

or look over miles upon miles of mountains

barren trees in winter

a tapestry in the fall

the eternal fog of hazy blue

i feel the mystery of god

awe

do you

and

but of course

hope

my favorite emotion

it has been devoured by despair

over there

over here

everywhere

pain etched into faces of children

who have lived it again and again

year over year

and greed

defined for us daily

here

there

everywhere

a monopoly game

where the few

own all

park avenue

the boardwalk

my life

yours

friends and strangers too

we are no longer infatuated

with democracy

once the noblest

idea on earth

do you remember

the free and the brave

suddenly

it’s not cool

any more

i watch cities

become empty

hollowed out

shattered glass

closed

and

our country

a megaphone of vacant hearts

there are no servants

in this lost country

of cheap stuff

just grifters

no meaning

just rage

guns

and gun ranges

second amendment rights

to everything

except life

that is no longer here

a long goodbye

to peace

so very hard to come by

it seems to bloom

in strange places

books

solitude

cities on hills

open minds

lines of old poetry

quite possibly

within me

right here

maybe

by chance

within you too

i search your face

for trust

i trace

***

photo@unsplash