by Will Staple

The goddess had a veil
and no one could look upon her face and lie
but     one man had to see her face
and so he lifted her veil
and there he saw that the face of the goddess
was his face . . .

You will never meet a person who believes
      in Godness or Spirit, with faith in a practice,
                  depressed.
‘I’m beloved              why should I be perfect ?’

Disidentify with consciousness and ego
                  so consciousness can be free
to see the whole soul        essential nature
a moment of love            a glimmer of light —

from the moment you don’t expect so much:
                  it works.
When you have love you need nothing:
    without love you need everything your way —
you must fill the nothing with everything
    and don’t know what you’re longing for . . .

Touched by selfless love      particles of light
thru every vein of the body          tears of joy
that take away hardness . . .              When I
open my window      the darkness conquers my eyes
but behind my eyes              eternity burns.

by Bill Berkson

Homage /Obit

I like to have a little secret at the end of my poems,
The way nothing is ever finished

Nor do I abandon a thing because
Of its being just plain bad.

“My painting,” said Juan Gris, “may be bad painting,
But at least it is Great Bad Painting.”

In case of emergency, I write this down,
And when all else fails, try being kind to strangers.

Not so funny, Jack, but don’t get me wrong:
Only deep in the mucous do I see.

Abdomen Ode

Paired wrongly with the obvious, a sitting blank
The walls between names selectively sealed
There must be some mistake,
As just when exotic dancers age, the slipper gives pause,
An old soft shoe opens for the slacker inane.
Her I last saw au balcon on point.
But it was an orbital capture, you dunderhead.
“Ni hao” in Chinese says “Hello.”
Nothing physical, the mystery thinning out
No matter slowly she turns
In plain English, all eyes, mouth and hair.

by Amiri Baraka

The most Dangerous

Religion in the world

Is Christianity !

Check the bodies !

Islam & Judaism

Are not even

            Close !

Bin Laden & Netanyahu

Are just Wannabe’s

by Amiri Baraka

Where you goin to go

If you don’t go

Nowhere ? In a circle, a circle of circles
Surround the nowhere of your scream. If you not going Nowhere

but there

Each time, turning on a dime. Complaining, screaming your pain in
The devil is evil. Say that uno mas another gin ! The devil is evil.

The devil is evil. Now if you want to wake up somebody

That the devil is evil. Good. I’m for that, the devil is evil.

Shout louder. The Devil is Evil. Always been evil. In a circle
Scream that out. If you not going anywhere you can start there.

Or even before. If you

Understand what you screaming. If you understand the meaning. Then

What do you do ? Turning in circles shouting

The Devil is Evil. Yes. Even Louder. Run up and down the streets

Get everyone you know to scream. Listen Listen Listen

The Devil is Evil. Now what ? Now What ? Now What ?