The Sovereign Black Birds

 In my down time I often sit back and watch the birds of the sky, but there is no bird more interesting than the black birds. They observe, they watch, they study and somehow this is how they survive. This makes them unique. I chose this topic because last Independence Day while everyone celebrated and lit off fireworks for some strange reason these birds all gathered together in a nearby tree and stood watch. I observed and recalled some old words of wisdom, “If you need a sign from a divine source that something is about to happen, take a moment and watch the animals.” Curiously, I couldn’t help but wonder who the cunning black birds answer or report to. I wanted to end this piece on a good note, but in reality this bird is not easily fooled by the scarecrow and after a massacre these cunning black birds eat the flesh of dead humans. My purpose for writing this piece is that we can learn a valuable lesson from this bird. The lesson that I personally learned a few months ago when one of these precious birds got hurt is that for some reason the bird came to me for help. One of these amazing birds stood in the back and waited for me for some odd reason. Out of all of God’s creation why did these unfortunate black birds trust me to bury their dead. In deep thought, I found a friend in the cunning black birds. Since then, I’ve become accustomed to their presence and every Independence Day we stand watch while dressed in all black. At night no one can see us, but we can see them through the thick smoke. In the midst of a long hard battle through life I turn to these birds for wisdom, they never change and they know who to trust. They’ve become accustomed to independence, they’re sovereign.

The Sovereign Black Birds.

To the Young Mind

Learn everyday.

It’s hard to listen at times, but try.

Read everything.

Grow and don’t be discouraged because even the old used to be young.

On your journey, comprehend that constructive criticism from the old crowd sometimes can be confusing. Soak it in, suck it up, a nobody is really everyone trying to find a way home and have a good day dreaming of being somebody.

Even the janitor hanging around at the gym knows something. 

One must be wise enough to know that even adults made the same mistakes.

Perseverance to a mentor is to see you molded into a responsible adult and is a seat that you will fill someday.

When you’re annoying, stay in character, you’re unique, be yourself, and sharpen up while training for your test.

Your vision of success can often distract you from the real work ahead, try, try, and spin with the world.

Remember, have fun while doing what you enjoy, make it look easy, sweat, and remember even Moses got angry, but still he had to lead.

A mistake is like a donut hole, it’s nature, and the person who invented it probably had other intentions so chances are—no one planned for you to be here so find your place in life and take nothing for granted.

To smile is much more sometimes than words, it can save lives and yours. It’s not a sin to have a sense of humor.

Lastly, when looking in the mirror, understand that your perception of the world is not the same as everyone else’s; therefore, find your lane because even if you lose, the world will go on with or without you, but your place in history is determined by how many seasons you last in the game of life.

To the young mind, I’m about to be 43, and I still don’t know enough. There’s a right way and a wrong way, it’s pretty enlightening once you figure out that you’re entire life you’ve been doing something the wrong way. Oh, and don’t forget that we’re all made in his image, find God on your journey, science is good but it’s never enough, the Bible is a good book no matter what religion you claim. It will help you find out who you are, who you must become, and will give you wisdom beyond belief, but first you must read it. If you approach it from an academic perspective, you should be able to apply it to the ministry of your profession.

To the young mind.

The Gods of Life

 Chris heard a voice.

“Hey, she’s pretty.”

John heard a voice.

“Put down the weapon, or Gina will be lonely.”

Donald heard a voice.

“Why drop the bomb on beautiful women.”

James heard a voice.

“Child support, ha, love is priceless.”

At midnight everyone joined hands and had sex until they passed out. They then populated the entire world with their offspring. War was defeated and life lasted through all eternity.

The STD had no power over the urge to populate and the sun kept shining and spreading knowledge to feed its children.

The Gods of Life

Summertime

Tired from watching the news all day, I decided to open the patio door. I’d stayed up all night worried about my family’s safety and mine, I could see the sun rising in the distance. It was like magic, the sky had been filled with so many beautiful colors. I ran through the rough sand to stand on a rock by the ocean, the breeze that I inhaled made me feel so alive. At this moment I let go of the world’s problems. I felt free, my worries of a fast pace life had been simplified for a brief moment. Captivated by the awesomeness of nature, I knew for sure now that summertime was not far away. After surviving the craziness of conflict and the madness of uncertainty I found certainty in the rising sun. For a brief moment I felt peace.

Summertime 

The Triumphant Father

The truth was clear, Brad was afraid of his real father and his mother knew it, but said nothing. As Brad grew older he would always tell his mother that his dad was possessed. She would laugh and say, “There’s a good man in there somewhere son.”

“Here comes the demon,” he would say as his biological father would drive through the neighborhood in his fancy car.

One Christmas night Brad could hear his Laboeboe toy talking to him, but he thought he was having a bad dream.

“Daddy loves you Brad.”

Brad looked across his bed not far from his dresser and soon realized that the toy was alive.

“Daddy loves you Brad, now come with me to the haunted store so we can visit him,” the toy said taking Brad’s hand while he was in a trance. 

As the toy took Brad’s hand they walked into the shadow of his bed into the haunted store.

In the haunted store Brad could see all of the women that his father had been with. Their bodies were hanging on the shelves wrapped in fancy doll boxes.

“I want to go back,” Brad said to the toy.

“No Brad, let’s have fun,” he replied.

Off in the corner of the store Brad could see his father’s car. In the other corner he saw his truck.

“This isn’t funny, I want to go back home!” Brad said.

“Daddy loves you, now let’s have some fun.”

The toy grabbed Brad’s hand to show him what his father did to his mother before he was born, having no where to run Brad began to scream.

“Why are you doing this to me? I want to go home,” Brad said.

“We need you, we need you to change the world Brad. When you grow up, don’t be like the demon dad,” the toy said as Brad woke up in a cold sweat.

“Mom!”

Sonya came bursting into his room.

“Is everything okay?”

“I think I had a bad dream,” Brad said noticing his Laboeboe toy staring at him from across the room.

His mother held him tightly as he began to shake.

“I know what dad did to you the night that I was born. He tried to beat me out of your stomach, didn’t he?” Brad said catching his mother’s full attention.

“Brad, you’re scaring me, now get some rest. I won’t let you talk about your father that way,” his mother said.

As his mother left the room the toy walked over to Brad’s bed and rubbed his head until he fell to sleep.

“Daddy loves you, always remember that Brad.”

The next morning Brad woke up in an orphanage and had no clue what happened before he fell to sleep.

Sitting in what appeared to be a waiting room he could hear adults outside of the room talking.

“Where’s my mom?” He asked as one of the adults entered the room.

“Brad, sweetheart, your mom and dad will always be with you in your dreams. Okay. When you grow up you’re going to make the world a better place.” The aid said as she walked Brad to his room.

This was how Brad’s life began. The moments that he shared with his real parents were brief. Every moment that he had alone he wondered how everyone vanished in the wee hours of the night.

“I named you after an orphan, now you be strong,” he could hear his mother’s voice echoing through his memories.

As Brad grew older he had to convince himself that he had a purpose. Never actually getting adopted, he found his world by playing with puppets. On his first date, his girlfriend whispered in his ear, “What do you want from me Bradley Benjamin?”

He looked her in the eyes and said, “I want to be a good father.”

Sadly, his relationship didn’t last so Brad took his goals somewhere else. It’s amazing how a man could fail over and over again and see everything stripped away from him before he actually achieved anything. Down and out, Bradly barely graduated college. He took his degree in childhood care and decided to pursue his dream as a father by opening up his own orphanage. 

“Brad, are you sure you want to do this?” His friend Ted asked him when he got approval from the state.

“Ted, all of my life I’ve seen darkness. I’ve hid in a room while evil people bring the good people of the world to their knees. I am the light now that will help them see. I am the father that will always be there.” Brad said to his friend.

Ted had no clue what force had jumped into his friend, but he knew for sure that Brad was determined.

After the first two years, Brad had just about every abandoned kid in his care. The man dealt with their mental disorders. He rocked them to sleep as they threw chairs at the wall before they went to bed. Through it all, Brad was there and kept taking in every abandoned kid that he could find. He’d made the front page of the local paper eight times in one year. To every kid that heard about him, he was their hero. Brad developed and saved an entire generation with no regrets. At age eighty-eight, he laid the last shingle on his building roof and read his last story to Greta and Coco, the last children he raised. At the end of Brad’s time on earth, sadly, he’d only heard stories of what happened to his biological family so he made his own triumphant story and as he passed on to his next life his kids read his message before he said goodbye. Girls, boys, men and women of all shapes, sizes, ethnicities and colors.

“Greta, Coco, and to all of my kids, I had a million chances to turn away from you all and take the easy way out, but instead I decided to be a father and make the world a better place. I ask nothing of you all but to do the same. Be the light in a dark world.”

A new era had begun and a lasting story of a legacy was told over and over again to bring hope to a world that thought the good will of being a father was gone.

The Triumphant Father

The Beast

I want to be honest to you so here’s a poem.

I used to be a loving kind man.

I was fine until they held my entire family down at gun point and gave the majority of my family the drug option to heal their pain.

I’m one of the few that I know left so, “Yes,” I am a victim.

I used to be a good soldier until I saw the towers fall.

I was a loving man until every relationship I entered into turned into a mind fight, complete hell. I lived a peaceful church life then I was left for dead by the woman that I married. This Father’s Day I’ll be thinking about the son that wasn’t mine and the father who blamed my mother for everything.

I have to leave the past behind me.

I’ll be letting go of the people who would rather enjoy seeing me suffer.

The people who would pay to see me in a coffin as they split the copper pennies that I have left.

Looking in the mirror I still see a part of me that’s still in there somewhere.

No one wants to be around me anymore because I snap at liberals and I’m afraid to fail.

Walking a tight rope, I’ve turned into a beast.

Me and a group of homeless veterans have been spit on, abused, taken advantage of and left for dead in an abandoned building owned by foreigners who too have nothing left.

Washed up, old men wearing black clothes we wait patiently for our next gig because even if we complain, no one cares.

Preparing for my next brawl praying to the heavens to control my anger they feed me through a cage then they too run from what I’ve become.

The Beast

Archaeopteryx lithographica

Running in circles I noticed five birds in the tree. One was a cardinal , one was an eagle, one was a raven, one was an owl, and one was a sparrow. The cardinal I only say in the day, he would come out when I made deals with God fearing people. The eagle would hover over me in the sky, he would only come out when I made deals that were powerful and could get other people hurt. The raven only came out when I made clever deals by watching others around me. The owl I only saw at night when I had to figure out how to survive the wild ride. I came face to face with a bat who is a mammal he was there, but I could hardly see him, he would come out to warn me that most vultures come out at night so beware. Each bird taught me about temptation and why every religion seems to warn us about the same enemy. After falling from a tree, I realized that I had no wings to fly and my only answer was to watch the birds. I worked just as hard as the next man trying to learn how to fly when I came to the conclusion that I had to jump out of high places with so many types of wings. My adventure lead me down a road with few pennies left. While on the roof, I noticed a sparrow making a nest at my building, they sang to me every morning as I tried and tried. In the middle of this life long lesson, I realized that if I were to learn how to fly, I would have to share the skies with the birds. Making progress, a spy told me that I had competition, he told me that I could make a million bucks if I were to put humans in the sky. Realizing that angels in biblical stories have wings I found myself trapped between two worlds. If his eye really is on the sparrow, he has to be watching me too.  Standing on top of a mountain asked to make a deal with the world bank for the entire world I thought of a bible verse: For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what use is it to gain all the wealth and power of this world, with everything it could offer you, at the cost of your own life?

Feeling the pressure, I then jumped only to realize that no one was going to save me when I hit the ground I died on earth only to realize that I had wings in heaven. The entire time that I’d been on earth, I never knew where I was before I was born. I guess that explains why I was so enthusiastic about flying. I guess the God who invented the Archaeopteryx lithographica had other plans for the bird. I wonder what will happen if he changes his mind about humans. This I ponder while God sits in a room putting clay on feathers. On earth I was called a dumb bird loving freak for not taking the deal, but on the other side my soul floated into the heavens and I helped reshape a better world for the next human species in God’s plan.

The End.