Seeker Magazine
Rodney D. Coates
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From Rodney's webpage, comes the following:
My task:
to bring sight to the blind
to heal wounds of affliction
and to set captives free...
this is what i was called
to do...
and poetry is my vehicle.
umoja!
unity, through love, peace,
understanding and respect!
At least, that's how I live it....
We all live on this ship called earth, yet so much baggage gets in the way of us understanding that
we are one .... We allow human inconsistencies and ideological insanity to distort our basic humaneness. Consequently, we ignore, hurt and destroy each other with careless abandonement.
I write of love, primarily as a bridge to us all, in my feeble attempts to reconcile the insanity.
Thanks for being my friends, reading my work, and understanding my own insanity.
Strange Fires
'Hear us father when we.'
charred, hands that used to hold a doll,
bodies, that used to dance in the mall,
fill, lives that used to hold out life,
this, makes no sense to die like this,
place, meant to worship not kill.
'pray, bless us all this . . .'
warped sermons straight from hell,
spoke of demons, resurrections, and sounded swell.
Dirges sang from youthful lips,
Incense, prayers for a joyful journey,
Gasoline, wine for communion.
'Day, forgive us now, for what we. . .'
morbid sacrifices to another's ego,
spent and wasted before that door,
strange fruit from this savage tree,
ancient words of life ignored,
here they lie, 400 or maybe more.
"Do not pass me by, to busy to notice"
There they lay, huddled and scared,
Tormented souls still without release.
Lives cut short before the rain,
Pain was their lot, death their way.
Huddled masses sacrificed to nothing.
'Hear us father when we.'
charred, hands that used to hold a doll,
bodies, that used to dance in the mall,
fill, lives that used to hold out life,
this, makes no sense to die like this,
place, meant to worship not kill.
'pray, bless us all this . . .'
warped sermons straight from hell,
spoke of demons, resurrections, and sounded swell.
Dirges sang from youthful lips,
Incense, prayers for a joyful journey,
Gasoline, wine for communion.
'Day, forgive us now, for what we. . .'
morbid sacrifices to another's ego,
spent and wasted before that door,
strange fruit from this savage tree,
ancient words of life ignored,
here they lie, 400 or maybe more.
"Do not pass me by, to busy to notice"
There they lay, huddled and scared,
Tormented souls still without release.
Lives cut short before the rain,
Pain was their lot, death their way.
Huddled masses sacrificed to nothing.
Mama's Tears
Sitting in grandpas old chair -- just a'rocking .....
humming to the radio ....
The "Ole Time Gospel Hour", praise and song
--a'rocking and a'hummin.
Long past three, her child not home,
rocking and praying safe he'd return.
Lord, where can he be,
bring him back safe to me!
Mama sits in grandpas' ole chair ....
just a' rocking .... just a'rocking ....
Praying her boy makes it through the night o.k.
Bring him home safe, dear Lord!
Runaway child, running scared
-- getting high, driving fast, living large.
Stolen money spent, night dreams chasing,
fast life, sloe gin, and dead men walking.
Mama's tears mingling with her prayers,
worry mingling with her songs.
Such a beautiful boy when he was born,
Lawd why he gotta run the streets so.
Tears run into tears, praying without ceasing,
My boy what's he doing now?
Why he gotta stay gone so long.
Why ain't he here?
Its way past three!
Another hour, another prayer,
another child on another street,
and one more gray hair on a mother's head,
Lord protect my boy,
out there tonight.
The clubs have closed.......
still chasing those midnight dreams,
street johns....
Damn! That girl looks good,
Hey baby wanna ride my big machine?
Sunroof top, diamond in the back....
making the scene with a gansta' lean.
Blue flames flash, gunshots on a moonlight night.
Near miss, another soul saved by mistake.
Homecoming, seeing her sitting there....
Soul guilt, Mama's eyes stained,
tears and grief.
Mama's tears blend into prayers,
son home safe again.
We are One!
We are Family!
Another house, some other town,
another Mama waits and prays.
Sitting there in that beat up ole chair,
long past midnight....
just a'rocking.......
and a'rocking.........
listening and crying.
The Answer
Hale-Bopp streaks across the midnight sky
Babies cry. Families die. Folks question why?
Mothers selling daughters, Fathers pimping sons
Wall Street roller coasters
Blood-stained hands destroy another forest
Contractual verse rapped to metered melancholy
Time stacked games on faded decks salute the dawn
Purple stained rhapsodies chasing sanity
Lost in the pale of irrelevancy
Blue skies, starless nights, faded clouds against a
canvas crowded with promises of what could be
Silent echoes wandering through mindless mazes
capturing glimpses of smiles that should be
Vision-less prophets pouring words into sieves
left unattended by those who should care
Cracked vessels holding souls needing repair
Darkness unfolds into brilliant light.
Quiet storms searching hearts, looking for the answers
that bridge the voids of insanity; sweeping currents
Disturbing things as they used to be
New days, forced into old skins
burst forth with promise
Trumpets herald bright tomorrows
Drums sound a different beat
danced to by a distant people....
....arriving through the Angel's door
Teaching love
as the answer
People
can't you hear?
Sudan's Dying
Silent screams from distant shores
insane banality and inane questions
tearful children
swollen bellies adorn
our placid response to nothingness
Stark gray horseman heralding death
western consumption needing a rest
calorie free sugar and fat resides
carefree opulence and suicide
Starvation buried - page 44
snapshot
two sentences and nothing more
Gaping holes and ignorance
suburban rhapsodies
and extreme bliss
Lambs slaughtered no film at eight
diabolical plots and captive souls
Strange conversations
acceptable sacrifices
too many births and natural selection
Their screams cry out
their deaths recorded
our silence destroys our innocence
this day
withered fruits on the tree of life
...people can't you hear Sudan's dying?
Silent Friends
Time and fate
strange and awesome,
filled moments of
love and peace.
Moments and memories
color spaces left
when your presence
is wanted more.
Happy fragments
conversations past
searching new
places they linger
yet in my heart.
Even tide, waves
of emotions, high upon
the shores of my soul
greet me now.
When we laughed and
sang to the sun.
Wanderers catching
moonbeams in our hands.
We walked sacred
paths of mystery
and love my friend
please stay.
Morning dew
upon your hair,
hello another day.
Stardust adorns our path.
Eyes bright with
hope and being,
flowers touched
with care.
Friends across the
timeless sea
set sail
into destiny.
Smiles within the
celestial moment,
as the new day
lifts out of the mist.
Daybreak finds
you here again,
smiles once again
greet silent friends.
(Copyright 2000 - All Rights Reserved by Rodney D. Coates - No reproduction without express permission from the author)
For more of Rodney's poetry, visit his website at : A Collection of Poetry Writing
Table of Contents
Letter to the Author:
Rodney D. Coates at coatesrd@casmail.muohio.edu