TEMPLO DE SAN DIEGO DE ALCALAʹ

                                                                    (photo:  wiki)

i.

Worship

rises

from

kneeling hearts

Desire

becomes

faith

faith

ignites

love

Prayers

gather

prayers

and

devotion

returns
to

where

it

arose.

Yours

is

the

Sacred Heart.

ii.

Three grandmothers

kneeling

shoulder-to-shoulder

gray hair

braided

falling

to

mid-back

reach to touch

God’s

plaster hands

velvet hem

of its robe.

Everything

is

imagined

what’s miraculous

is real

what’s real

is miraculous.

Three grandmothers

shoulder-to-shoulder

stand

&

bless themselves

turn

&

shuffle

shawls

pulled tight

leave

faith’s gloom

enter

day light.

RW

GTO, Mex

12.28.2019

ON THE FOURTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

                                                     (J.J. Tissot - Brooklyn Museum)

HEROD

Herod’s brain was

riddled with worms.

When the Magi

were presented

he wept

and trembled

even before they spoke.

They

sotto voce

sang charms 

each in the glimmer

of his own language

and calmed him.

Composure

regained

Herod sat

sharp eyed

listening.

Sly Herod

wished

the Magi would -

“return and tell me

of this new king’s

birthplace.”

They agreed, of course.

Weeks later,

when they hadn't returned

he voiced his command. 

His Chamberlain nodded

orders were given

soldiers dispatched

and the Innocents

were slaughtered

but not before

gold

frankincense

 and

myrrh

financed a family's flight

to safety.

I AM THE VICTIM

All lines excerpted from Adolph Eichmann’s final statements at his trial in Jerusalem, 1961-1962)

***

(crack of two stones rapped together)

I have heard the court’s verdict.

(crack)

I see myself…disappointed.

(crack x 2)

I am the victim.

The witnesses’ statements made my legs go numb.

It was not my wish to slay people.

(crack)

I was held fast in those dark duties.

Obedience was not easy.

I obeyed.

(crack)

I am tormented.

I never carried out killings.

No bloodguilt lies on me.

I would ask forgiveness.

I am not the monster.

(crack)

I am the victim of an error.

I suffer here for others.

I am the victim.

I must bear what fate has imposed upon me.

(crack x 2)

EVERYONE-EVERYWHERE-ALL THE TIME

NASA:  The Big Bang

(for Hugo & Lindsey)

Everyone

of us

a

gift

of

circumstances

I’ve heard them called contingencies

anatta

We

are

precious

All of us

&

the odds of us
being

would

fill any page

book

library

&

etc

with

numbers

Calculate Pi

Everyone

a product

of the

singularity

Everywhere

in

an

expanding

universe

All the Time

RW

Guanajuato, Mex

12.22.2019

VICIOUS BIRDS

                                                   

VICIOUS BIRDS

I find gatherings

of men in suits

absurd & frightening

They dress in finery

because they are up to

no good

Peacocks are

vicious birds

and will even attack

their own image.

As for the leader

of the free world –

a red tie

that reaches

to the crotch

is a wish of
self-fellatio.

***

This has been

a morning of sighs

Feeling emptiness

at my center

Sensing

dishwater

swirling

around

the

drain

yes, that.

I never would have thought

but maybe I’m a patriot

in love with the notion that

freedom is linked with responsibility

and democracy finds its way to kindness

That despite our

many & horrid sins

we have had

and are losing

our chance

at liberty, and justice

For All.

RW

Guanajuato, Mex.

12.13.2019

AWE (Museo de Artes Popular, Mexico City)

                                                                   (Museo de Artes Popular, Mexico City)

AWE

Struck viscerally

&

humbled

by

imagination

broken hearts

wild dreams

pushed

through

bone & blood

summoned

into

hands

lacquered

on to

the

world.

RW

Mexico City

12.06.2019

THE DAYS OF TRUMP #19

THEY COME IN HIS SLEEP

One afternoon, POTUS arose from Executive Time and summoned his Lick-Spittle Carson.

POTUS said,  “Ben, my African-American, tell Puerto Rico they will get all the aid as soon as they do the thing.”  And Carson asked, “What thing”?  “The thing they need to do,” said POTUS.  And Carson said, “Yes, sir,” and backed out of the room. 

POTUS, satisfied with his work, called it good, and returned to his lounger.  In time, he was visited by the Angel of Kyiv. 

When POTUS awoke, he had forgotten all about Puerto Rico.

(This style lounge chair is known as a Bombay Fornicator.)

RW

12.09.2019

GTO, Mex.

SUNDAY, GTO

SUNDAY

12.01.2019

Guanajuato

i.

Climbing

green

tendrils

Pulling

hand

over

hand

into

Mayan Blue

Swaying

as

music

rises

from

Sunday

market.

ii.

GOD

G_D

G_

G

.

RW