Grateful

Learning to be yourself is a process,

Not everyone can throw a ball 75 yards and not everyone can lead an army to victory.

Not everyone can preach a sermon and not too many people can cure a fatal disease.

If you were once told that your life would end or that you would be a complete failure, but you beat the odds, be grateful.

Not everyone can write a book over a thousand pages and not too many people can swim in the ocean.

My friend, we’re all made unique.

Some of us are kind and some of us want to rule the world.

Some of us are obedient and some of us are special.

Train your mind not to disrupt or see kindness as a weakness.

Friends, be grateful for kind people, try not to over analyze good deeds so much, and just be grateful. Not everyone is the same. 

Why beat up on those who share their time? Why beat up on those who show compassion for others? It’s not a weakness. 

Indeed my friend, it is a gift.

The best thing we can do is be grateful.

In memory of kind friends and family who answer the phone in times of hardship.

Grateful.

Be good Children

 Children be obedient;

At the end of the day most adults are lost and lonely.

Children, enjoy your youth, don’t grow up too fast;

At the end of the day adults see a part of you in them.

Children, take the time to listen;

At the end of the day adults mean well.

Children, be children;

Time flies, one day you’ll be an adult.

Children, respect adults;

When their time is up on this planet you’ll miss them and the world will be yours because it’s your inheritance.

Be good children, I made this poem for you.

Why are you disrespecting mummies?

If I dug up your grandma’s grave, how would you feel?

If I tried to figure out your most treasured secrets, how would you feel?

If I took every custom that you owned and claimed it as my very own, how would you feel?

Sir, what are you looking for?

Sir, what are you trying to prove?

But most of all, Sir, what are you trying to hide?

Sir, whose history is it actually and if it was so bad, what are you searching for?

What I try to do as a Businessman

I try to get better everyday.

I try to listen.

I try to be kind.

I try to make myself available to everyone.

I try to teach.

I try to accept criticism even at times when I may know more.

I try not to let my ego get in the way.

I try to care.

I try to manage my finances with minimal risk.

I try to conserve.

I try to be obedient and on time.

I try to make my products and services affordable.

I try to learn and soak up new information daily.

Humorously, I learn how to take a beating every day then get up and do the same thing over again tomorrow.

Everyday I take on a new task in similar fashion, knowing that I don’t know everything, but I have to be humble enough to accept that simple fact. 

The more I try the more I grow as a businessman.

If I fail, at least I tried.

A Revelation of Hell & War

A jungle is filled with wild animals fighting for survival. Giant black venomous spiders. The constant fear of being in danger. There’s no peace. Tribes constantly battling for territory and treasures hidden underground.

Alpha males breeding with pure virgins and some screaming while being raped. Foul winged demonic spirits, snorting pure white powder to fuel the serpent’s rage and to ease the pains of an abused past. Animals fighting in cages, beast being set free, and hunger makes it even wilder.

Mushroom clouds exploding from nuclear war and innocent civilians running in fear. Chaos and deranged lunatics set free in the wild. 

Tears of blood falling from combat faces painted in dirt.  Kill, kill, kill, for what? 

The revelation of hell and war.

 Comprehending the probability of survival, one becomes psychotic, screaming like a mental health patient. Beating on your chest like a wild gorilla after a gut thirsty victory in the middle of nowhere. I write you to warn you of what evil can be unleashed, so listen, read my words cautiously, because it can happen in the blink of an eye, it’s not pretty. Take my words seriously because a jungle is filled with wild animals fighting for survival. 

There’s no mercy in war. Choking on gunpowder. Survivors are often scarred for life, seeking refuge in unfamiliar territory. Scarred for life, waking up in the middle of the night shaking from the memories of those they killed haunting them in their dreams. Screams of virgins being stripped of their innocence in the field. Prisoners beaten into submission with no savior in sight. Slaves never to be set free. I, as in, I, a man, once sat in front of a computer screen and watched the souls of humans with eye popping tattoos being devoured by the beast. Now, I, too, am slowly being devoured by uncertainty.

The echos of madness begins to open up gateways into my mind. I’ve become sick, tired of human misery, I too, begin to be devoured by the beast, fighting for my soul.

Sitting in the darkness of night, war, had turned me into a warrior. In the distance I could hear bones crackling, prisoners being squeezed to death by giant anacondas. Fed to hungry snakes. Falling deeper, I stood tall in the muddy pit only to witness my people being enslaved by the enemy, this alone, turned me into a raging soldier. They stood in line with no flag, no more nation, no more memories of stars, just the dead of night under a new regime being tormented—their entire history being erased. 

A Revelation of Hell & War…

This was a life or death situation. My mind, body, and spirit would never be the same. I’d been exposed to a different side of life. Everything that I took for granted in my time of peace had been placed in front of me to reach for, but the enemy took it. I reached and reached while fighting for my dear life. Captured, they put a noose around my neck. In a moments time I’d be erased from present time. Trembling with my feet to the fire, I saw my family suffering the same fate as me. I was already dead, I just didn’t know it. Feeling a boot kick me in the back I dangled from a tree branch only to awaken from a terrible dream.

In one nights time, I’d literally walked through hell, only to awaken and appreciate everything that life had to offer. Fortunately, I didn’t die in the dream, I awoke in freedom.

Choose peace, my friend, because war is not pretty.

A thousand chances at life dwindle away in minutes time.

The Revelation of Hell & War.

Jot it down

 Save a thought for a rainy day,

Save a thought when you can’t pay,

Plant a tree, write a book,

Save a thought for a good song hook.

Watch the sun rise and think about love,

Jot a thought down watching doves.

These thoughts may be your passions, your deepest desires.

These thoughts may keep you from being called a liar.

A thought here, a thought there, sometimes even thoughts to share.

These thoughts may be your relief, these thoughts may set you free.

Jot it down.

Magic Popcorn

Ooooh, look, it pops when it gets hot.

The Peruvian man’s secret recipe.

Oooooh, it helped some in the moooovie business survive the Great Depression.

Oooo boy, it’s doing something to my insides.

Excuse me mam, where’s the bathroom.

I wonder if it was the butter?

Those little pebbles popped right out of me.

The Magic of Popcorn 🍿 

The Opened Doors

Sitting in my room, I could feel the draft of the cold breeze blowing from outside. Mom and dad were at it again. Arguing and fighting. I could also hear the action and adventure blasting from the television of my sister’s room. She was occupied, doing her best to block them out. Every door on the inside of the house had to be opened. One thing was for sure though and that is the fact that I was not ready for what was about to happen. We’d been put out on the streets, yep, the arguing left me, my Mom, and my sister to fend for ourselves in one of the most crime infested cities in the world. Looking at my mother’s face, I knew she was reaching for some form of lifeline. Damn, we had to figure this out. We had to face the monster of circumstances. Who would let us in? Drowning in life’s possibilities, Mom drove the car to the Eastside, I guess Grandma gave the okay for us to stay a few nights at her place. My sister and I hated Grandma’s house, but this was the hand that we’d been dealt. I’d never seen a woman fending for her babies until I noticed Mom tipping over in alcohol trying to figure things out. For weeks we searched and searched for a place to call home. Nothing but closed doors. That’s when the wind blew. Something happened, the wind must’ve heard Mom praying asking for God’s mercy. Some form of supernatural strength because the wind blew everything down. Everything…Hiding in the basement we heard rescue workers searching for us in the rubble. The entire district had been left in ruins and even my Dad’s house was gone. At this point, few people had a place to stay. The entire city had felt what we were feeling and now the world had heard our story. Mom’s baggage had been blown into a national news story. The wind blew all of the doors open and somehow we survived. Seeing the entire town like us, gave us the strength to all work together. At this moment, God left us all with no choice. If every door had been closed before, some how a tragedy brought on by the wind had opened every door. People all over the world let us in just to hear our story. Migrating to safety, the people generously opened their doors. I guess when God saw this his door of a new beginning opened as well.

The opened doors.

Sleeeep. Zzzz. Dream

I’m optimistic, but reality can be scary at times. It’s the truth. It’s hard knock. I wish I could shut my mouth, but I may go hungry. Behind the mask, there’s confusion with a mass gravesite filled with primary colors. Was it personal to shoot me and leave a bullet in my skull or was it pure hatred? I chose that life because a business mind can be dangerous in a business environment. There’s too much competition, too many wants. Too many egos. Too many master plans. I’m assuming it was business that led me to eternal sleep. Maybe I was just in the way of a raging white bull. If I’m correct the bull rages and the bear sleeps… I guess I’ll dream in hopes that I awake to see another day. Somehow I just got in the way. Tipped over, with blood dripping down my head, I fall to sleep realizing that I was never a part of the plan, never apart of anything but my own dream. I guess I’m a king with no nation. A king with no home. As my heart takes its last beat, I fall to the ground, alone in my own little mind, falling, yet lifted in a dream. That’s one right I don’t have to fight for, if I’m not mistaken, it’s natural to sleep and dream.

Goodbye world, I’ll see you on the other side of the dream. Maybe I’ll awake on a hotel balcony with some friends, my wife, and family. 

Skyscraper

 “Vick, you’re a dummy, your entire bloodline is filled with dummies, you’ll never succeed at anything,” Connie said slamming the door and never returning.

College life was not turning out like Vick had hoped for, he wanted more. His grand idea of a building that reached into the heavens kept him awake at night so he went and gathered all of his old construction buddies and they got to work.

“Fellas, it’s been a while, but we need to get the attention of the world. We need to create something that will set a new limit to how far we men can go,” Vick pulled out his blueprints and continued to explain his plans, “I call this the skyscraper.”

“Have you lost your mind? We’ll die building something that tall,” Ronnie, Vick’s foreman replied.

Vick stood tall, “You know Ronnie…I have lost my mind. College and everything that life has to offer has driven me down an empty road. I want to do something that’s never been done before. Now either you’re in or go home and cook for your wife.”

This got his team’s attention. They went to their rich friends and got the money and began to build. It took almost 10 years for him and his team to build their skyscraper and they lost a few men, but it was now the first building that people saw from surrounding cities. No one had ever seen anything like it. A building that reached the heavens. At first, people were afraid to rent space but Vick found a team to prove to tenants that the building was safe and secure. Vicks idea sparked a wave of new inventions and investments. He’d changed the game. Inventions like magnetic elevating floors to get people to upper levels were created. Airtight windows were created and new ways to issue contracts with leases were also created. After the building stood for so long people began to wonder how it could be torn down. This created even more ideas. Vick’s drive to master the art of building had opened up a new part of the human brain. Vick became a catalyst, an entrepreneur, and an innovator. He changed the world. His girlfriend Connie was wrong, but she fueled Vick to reach for the sky and in the end he proved her wrong. She pushed him to the edge.

Skyscraper 

The Boxer

Delirious, confused, and amused, I sat and watched a man take a beating for 12 rounds. The man was done, eye socket flesh bulging out of his face. Blood literally dripping from his nose. A swollen rib cage from body shots and what looked like a broken nose, why? I mean what was this guy thinking. I watched the winner connect with uppercut after uppercut but the losing corner would not throw in the towel. The guy’s lip had to be hanging off of his face but the referee kept it going because he just would not go down, he kept fighting. In all of my years of boxing I’d never seen anything like it. After standing for 12 rounds as a loser I had to interview the fighter to see if he’d lost his mind, but his comment about fear and the reason why he took a beating made me a fan of the sport.

“I took a beating on national television so the world can overcome fear and pain. My advice is learn to lose, learn to take a beating, learn to get stepped on and left for dead. Today I took the most brutal beating a fighter could take and I’m still standing. Throughout all of history I will be known as a loser and will be humiliated. Everyday, people will watch me getting my a** beat just to feel some form of gratification, but until they step into the ring, I’ve defeated them. So technically I am a champion. I won.” 

That was his explanation. He was a loser but took on the most powerful boxer in the sport and stood tall after the fight. 

He won in all categories but the stats and statistics. He defeated the power of our minds. He won by coming out alive.

Unbelievable!

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Ahhh! Rumble, young man, rumble.

The next day, even I’d been motivated to hit the gym.

The Boxer

India & the Stuffed Bears

Her teacher had just put her in detention for not reading the class policies.

She sang at her first concert, and they didn't stand. 

In her room she found comfort around her stuffed bears.

They didn't say much, and they always had a smile on their faces so she would perform for them quite often. 

Oddly, every time India was called to perform in front of people, she wouldn't. 

She'd come to accept the fact that her stuffed bears appreciated her time. 

She'd spend long nights pouring her heart out to these stuffed bears. 

Tragically, the family house burned down. 

How it happened almost seemed impossible and that's when India as a teen started to understand that some things were just out of her control.

Her father did everything to prevent the house from burning down but it did, and her stuffed bears were all consumed by the fire. 

Confused at how time and odds took away her audience, she had no one to perform for. 

Lost in discovery, she heard crying and babies screaming at the shelter where her and her parents had been staying. 

The shelter had to be an old church, because it had a stage. Randomly, she took to the stage and began to sing for them, and just like her stuffed bears they began to smile.

At that moment the people began to rebuild, India gave them hope.

Sometimes just a simple gift is all it takes to create hope.

The End.  

the COVID cry

You’ve bankrupted everything.

People are fighting to make ends meet.

I’m in for the biggest fight of my life.

I won’t let you defeat me.

With the little that I do have left, I will continue to fight.

Wiping my tears away with a dirty used cloth, you have dragged me into a pit, but the raging bull in my heart has made me stronger.

For if my soul was made righteous, you have turned me  into a righteous beast.

For if I worshipped God, you have now turned me into a God of worship.

For if I were crucified before, I have been resurrected into a fighter.

the COVID cry

I now have nothing to lose, I will fight til the death.

Interview with the Devil

Host: “Audience, my guest didn’t show up today but I was able to get an interview with one of the most depressed creatures on this planet, the Devil.”

[The building gets a little hot as the audience sits on the edge of their seats while the devil takes a seat.]

Host: Now, you personally called and asked me if I couldn’t find a guest that you would do the show. Why?

The Devil: Well, I’m a bit tired of people blaming me for their desires. A dear friend of mine told me that the world has a habit of blaming me when they get into a mess. Gino, for instance, I caught him in bed with my wife. The both of them are in hell now, believe me. I come into the room and he’s praying for forgiveness. I’m like, she called you and you came over to get a piece of that sweet little A**. The both of you made a choice.

Host: I know Gino, he’s a good friend of mine. He told me that story. I hear you wrote a book about it also. Tell us about your book.

The Devil: Yes, it’s called, “Stop blaming the devil, I have enough problems trying to pay my gas bill.”

[Audience applauds]

Host: I hear he got your wife pregnant. Talk about that a little.

The Devil: Yes, broke my heart, do you know that she got an abortion and went begging God for forgiveness. 

Host: Your brother?

The Devil: Yes, humans are so cruel. After they ruined my life they blamed me. I’m like, did I jump inside you and tell you to wax my wife’s sweet little A**? No, you did it now burn in hell.

Host: “We’re going to take a quick commercial break and when we come back the Devil is going to sing his hit song, ‘The balance of power,’ when we come back.”

The Producer’s Message

 In the middle of a World War, Davis jumped out of his director’s chair, “Jimmy, that’s not good enough, I need you to smack him as though he said something bad about your wife, and Megan stop biting your nails, this is a drama not a horror film. Derrick, what are you looking at? The gun is pointed at you, you look to excited, you should be looking like you’re about to lose your life!”

Everyone takes their position even after a real bomb goes off in the distance. Boooom!

Davis yells, “Action!”

Jimmy cocks-back his hand and smacks the snot out of Dave’s nose. The scene is perfect. 

Even in a combat zone, Davis wrote, directed, and produced a film. He spent every last dime he had to show the world his work and ended up with nothing left.

He got no awards, no audience participation, but the movie’s content propelled independent filmmakers to new heights. No one was brave enough to film during an all out war, but Davis and his little team pulled it off. If he had never completed his film, the opposing country would have won the war. The territory that Davis shot his film in was needed by the enemy nation. After the war, Davis finally got the credit that he and his small team deserved. His message to future producers was to keep producing as if they were going to die tomorrow. The world got the message. Every independent film maker with a camera started filming in some of the most dangerous places, even some of the hardest ghettos in the world.

Every way of changing the world is different. Davis did it with a camera, and he found a group of people brave enough to do it with him.

Every story is also different, Davis told his story with a camera and he found a group of people humble enough to pull it off.

In the end, everyone involved in the film lived forever and as long as the message stayed in production another humble soul would take the time to watch it.

So in reality, the story never ended, it just got retold throughout all eternity. 

Art is more powerful than you could ever imagine. Without it, a mystery can be a lie if there’s no Art to prove it; therefore, if you desire and crave the truth, follow the art.

The Credits

 I guess I’ll sit here for another few minutes and see who wrote, acted, and produced the film 🎞️😊.

The Amazing Black Birds

What was I thinking? Was my mind in the clouds? The Black Birds were out at night in high numbers. Why?

Science may have a logical reason, but I still wonder why were there so many Black Birds out New Year’s Evening?

Weathering the seasons, I was lost in what used to be a wooded area driving my car trying to find something to do on New Year’s Eve. Honestly, I didn’t know where to go. Wasting gas and a resource in high demand a Bird used the bathroom on my windshield. The Bird didn’t do it when I was driving though, it was done while my car was parked, but what makes this poem unique is the simple fact that I have no evidence that it was a Black Bird. I just assumed it had to be because there were so many of them flying at night. That assumption led me home wondering if the Black Birds knew something that I didn’t. 

Safe and sound, I fell to sleep in my man cave thinking about the Black Birds. Mystified by their presence, wandering through the night, I tossed and turned thinking of them in my dreams as if they were guiding me to the daylight.

The amazing Black Birds, that survive by watching and observing humans from a tree. They’re often overlooked in the night but I noticed them due to a flare of light. The odds of that happening was slim so I’ll sing this poem like a hymn. For if it were not for their presence in the sky my mind would not have gotten lost in their ability to fly. On a night filled with vibes and partying desires, I couldn’t help but notice Black Birds flying together. Amused, I turned around only to notice hundreds of Black Birds in a tree. I’m sure they’re always there, but because of the dark we just can’t see.

Lost in the darkness of my imagination, I assumed that it had to be a Black Bird that used the bathroom on my car, and for the next 365 days I won’t be able to prove it by far.

Was it a Black Bird or a sparrow? I’ll never know, so I’ll just go with the flow. When I thought I had nothing to do on New Year’s Eve, Black Birds unknowingly fooled me and gave me a show. 

I guess everything does happen for a reason.