Author Archives: JRL

Shout It Out Loud: complaint

So much of life is at the edge,
stuck on the stoop or on the ledge;
just talking to hear our voice speak,
we shout to stop appearing weak.

We gather friends around ourselves
from minions, imps, and fellow elves;
and muddle through from week to week.
We shout to stop appearing weak. Continue reading

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The Time is Now: common measure

The only time is now;
your thoughts and prayers and plans
imagining the future won’t
get you out of quicksand.

It’s movement that you need.
Look down – there at your feet,
is where you start out to the street.
You’ll need both strength and speed. Continue reading

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How Long Have I Seen: clogyrnach

When did I start see it first-hand,
the sickness creeping on our land?
I can tell you when:
I was maybe ten;
you begin
to understand. Continue reading

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Small Change: cinquain

Talking
about dissent
is not really revolt
unless it leads to some real life
action.

Rebels
can’t change the world
without changing themselves;
that’s how all revolution starts:
within. Continue reading

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What Else: choka

What else can I say?
The world is what we make it,
or maybe it’s not.
The little splashes we make
barely change the water’s calm.

What else can we do?
From nothing, everything comes
and then it is gone.
How we choose to measure time
makes little difference to it. Continue reading

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What If We Win?: chant royal

The time will surely come, they say,
when rightness splits apart from might,
and we will celebrate that day
with festivals to truth and light,
as all the evils we now face
are dissipated like the dew
when sunshine glows around the place
and pierces all the shadows through. Continue reading

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Indra’s Neti-Neti: chantey (shanty)

We sail the sea that has no shore,
with just a raft beneath us;
we float until we can no more
and our resources fail us.
We find the wind and let it blow
whichever way it takes us,
without a chart or star above
we journey ’til it breaks us. Continue reading

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