The Hostages

Chained to a cement floor I could smell the funk of burning flesh. We’d been captured by foreign terrorist. My thirst for a glass of water while feeling the sweat drip off of my dirty face I recalled my last moments in my cozy home. Scraping my fingernails against the floor, I begged for a meal, but the guard paid me no attention. In deep regret for not listening to my parents who wanted me to stay home instead of taking a foreign trip, I was now doomed. I began to scream for help. I had been in the same spot for days and all I could think of was how so many people don’t know how good they have it, even if they don’t have much. I yearned for a hot meal, I yearned to fall asleep in front of the television while my children were safe in my arms. In the distance I could hear my wife Lillian screaming for help as they tortured and raped her. Tormented already, I knew I was next. Trembling in fear I closed my eyes as they dragged my daughter into the room and tortured her right in front of me while they forced me to watch. Crumbled up in my little cell corner, they torched me with hot steam, and I couldn’t help but beg for God’s mercy as I felt flesh peeling off of my back. In numbing pain, I had no clue what they were saying. The only words that I could comprehend was America is coming. Hearing my only little girl screaming for help, the only hope I could hold on to out of all nations was America. Feeling my hand snap out of place for some odd reason I began to quote scripture, “Yea, as I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I shall fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me…” and here I sat, chained to a wall and cement floor on foreign lands watching them drag what was left of my daughter out of the room, I begged them to stop. Shaking uncontrollably, I had to keep asking God to help me. I had to trust in something. I had to believe that the land that I swore allegiance to would come to the rescue. My life was now in God’s hands, the words that played over and over again in my mind were, In God we Trust. Nearly lifeless, I will repeat myself, I had to trust in something, because in reality, I would never be the same.

The Hostages 

The Cleansing

At first I heard thunder.

It was like fire falling from the sky and people were screaming.

Wait, it was a little foggy in the dream, but I think they were migrating to one spot.

The screams were kind of silent, but they all looked tired and restless.

From a bird’s eye distance it looked like the land was burning.

In this reckoning, I felt like I personally had been held aside as collateral for what was yet to come.

It was as though something was telling me to watch and take records.

It was justifiable to them that I watch for they saw things through my eyes.

It was as though a force had been unleashed to cleanse souls or the earth.

After the fire stopped falling from the sky it became quiet.

Everyone, for some reason kept coming to my camp for comfort and food. 

The last thing I remember from the dream was a line of innocent people that had been spared.

Whatever or whoever was assigned to cleanse the land, the work was done—Finished, they or it showed no mercy.

I then heard the voice say, “The world is better now, smile and be happy.

Keep it clean or we will be back”.

The Cleansing

We’re still here

The flowers are still blooming, and the trees are still growing.

We’re still here.

The political climate is still hot and the Earth is still spinning.

We’re still here.

I just got into the same fight over the same bill with the same bill collector.

We’re still here.

Sissy just blew her brains out and I slipped and fell in her blood trying to save her.

We’re still here, well, at least I am, I don’t know where she is now but at least some parts of her body are still in tack.

I’m still here.

They just dropped a bomb on my best friend’s country, he’s helpless and he can’t go back.

We’re still here.

I guess the point of it all is that no matter how crazy things get, no matter how hungry you are, and no matter how bottomless the pit may seem, help is on the way.

We’re still here; just hope and pray that the help is on time because if it’s not, you may have to get yourself out of the mess that you’re in all on your own.

At least we’re still here.

The End.

The Eclipse

What is this thing that I’ve made?

Stars that shine, humans that wonder, and minds that imagine.

So what does matter?

Who sits in the center of the universe?

Everything is nothing and nothing is everything.

The truth is that there are no nations. 

There are no wins or loses, you made it all up.

There is no history.

There are no countries.

All of your wars in the end are for nothing.

As you watch an alignment between a star and a moon you are just a spec of dust in an equation that makes no sense.

Physical laws of an untamed universe.

A massive machine too big for your small mind to comprehend.

If one nation sits on one spot never to engage in war is it undefeated after its land still sits while other nations fight?

I say again, you made it all up. 

To a baby, one day is a year, and to a mother and father, pain can be pleasure after the pleasure is over. So is it the baby’s fault?

I wrap my solutions inside of a lonely man’s mind eager for an outcome. Who am I? 

At first he can appear like a fool until he gets his answer twenty years later. What was he searching for?

Be careful what you wish for.

Foolish children getting high in a room full of magical clouds.

The word whore is mentioned in the Bible just as much as the stars and the eclipse, yes, each is a marvel to comprehend to a mind eager to be good.

33rd to 360 degrees of knowledge shattered into a glowing mirror of yourself bowing to one universal law of loops and circles.

Is a common occurrence involved in a neutral phenomenon unusually attracting?

Even freaks die, ask the mortician. 

The end is the beginning for some and when you die is that too not a beginning?

Filthy minds getting high spinning in circles trying to levitate.

Unhappy people searching over and over again for complex solutions.

Soldiers falling and being trampled on taking a look at what stands between them and the sun.

Care not about what they think for they only see themselves, they’ll step on you so be careful.

And there it is, the sun, the planets, and the moon.

A solid black circle. ⚫️ 

A shadow floating across the land, and a dark, dark, silent universe where nothing exists but neon lights.

The optical illusion is gravity because in the end you all float or sink.

It’s a cycle that we all must enter.

You did not fall to the earth silly, you were born, the eclipse is just the eye in the center of your forehead that you cannot see, and if you look closely you’ll see an image of yourself falling through a dark circle into a massive ball of light.

The Eclipse 

Lisa & the Frozen Apple

Superheroes come in many different forms. This is the story about one woman’s quest to save her family’s retail chain.

“We’re going to have to file for bankruptcy and I may have to cut some jobs,” Lisa told her staff.

“But we invented the frozen apple. We’ve served the world. What happened?” Lori asked, gaining the group’s attention.

This brought tears to Lisa’s eyes as she roamed the empty store with few customers. She had flashbacks of her entire bloodline and how they gave everything to keep their stores open to serve the world.

“I have to fight,” she said taking her father’s frozen apple out of the main vault. She kindly placed it in front of the store and gave up her pay to save what was now a global brand. She told every executive of the company that they would have to surrender their pay to save the company and they did. 

Many of them took positions inside of what stores were left and some even lived inside of them to save money, they went back to old school marketing plans. The brand literally took everything they had and invested in the communities that they served. Once word got out, Lisa couldn’t believe how quickly her stores had rebounded and as many other store chains went under in struggling economic times, the Frozen Apple stood strong by not only saving their brand but also saving their communities. Lisa’s company sacrificed for the people they served and the people they served sacrificed for them. The retail chain made an amazing comeback and avoided bankruptcy. The frozen apple became more than just a store it was now a story.

The End.

Lisa & the Frozen Apple.

You’ll get used to it

I’ve been called a thousand names in the course of my lifetime.

I’m used to it.

I’ve had so many doors shut in my face.

I’m used to it.

I can’t remember when was the last time I’ve been touched romantically by a woman.

I’m used to it.

I don’t discuss politics, but I’ve heard everyone’s point of view except my own.

I’m used to it.

I’m on a fixed income and have a bus load of debt, but I think I’ve got it figured out.

I’m used to it.

I don’t talk religion and would rather prefer to think for myself at times but just this one simple subject exempts me from my own beliefs. I guess I’m not supposed to have my own beliefs.

I’m used to it.

I don’t own a gun and have never committed any harsh crimes so why am I often stereotyped.

I’m used to it.

I’ve never smoked, drank beer, or even done any drugs, that could explain why I’m always alone.

I’m used to it.

I have a college degree in Business Administration, Computer Engineering, and I’ve had the honor of working on the world’s most advanced missile system. That could be why when I hold a conversation it goes in one ear and out the other. I don’t think too many people understand what I’m saying. 

I’m used to it.

The institute where I studied shut down so I’ll never be able to get a doctorate unless I start over. 

That’s a lot of work to redo.

I’m used to it.

So if you learn anything from this piece, from a person who has had to get up every morning with the same shovel and the same load of Bull S**t.

I’m used to it.

At first it may hit you pretty hard, but after a while, you’ll get used to it.

Hunger

I know why the rich man works.

I know why the poor man begs.

I know why a loving father would steal to feed his children.

I know why people sell their souls.

Being a victim of hunger, I know I must never forget what it feels like.

Friend, this piece is food for thought, but hunger is a slow death that makes the body weak and leaves the brain with no fuel.

I have to remind you that once you forget what that feels like than you may take a break, you may waste all of your money on drugs or gambling, and you may even take comfort in fenced off communities protecting yourself from the starving poor.

After 41 years on this planet I haven’t forgotten the look on my mother’s face when we were out of food, I haven’t forgotten waiting for a check in the mail, and I haven’t forgotten being poor and out on the streets.

Brethren, I encourage you to stay hungry, only then can you feel innocent pain.

Only then will you learn where righteous strength comes from, and for those who deceive, the black crow eats flesh from road kill. He too must eat.