catching a glimpse of evil: dedicated to the homeless of Oakland

This poem was read by my longtime friend,  Casey, at a protest today against the way Oakland is treating her and its other 9,000+ homeless. (Yes, 9,000 is the bottom approximate estimate, not 2,000, based on the city's own research back in 2015).

She requested a poem, and described the topic at length; I happened to have, by slightly unnerving coincidence, a nearly perfect fit.  In revising, I removed the former subtitle ("In which the triumph of Good is assumed") – given the recent United Nations report, which listed the City of Oakland, California as next to last anywhere on Earth for its deplorable treatment of the homeless, I thought that was inappropriate.

my poem was read at this #oakmtg – but not by me.

Thank you Case.  I hope it helped.

catching a glimpse of Evil, a warning                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

by johanna faust

i could be you just as easily – you 

could be me just as well –

we could be through with this misery

we could have done with this hell

each one of us already knows how

and, even though some of us don't understand --

the pretended ignorance shows, 

now -- we can see all such traitors are damned

if ever you get like me beat down & frightened 

overwhelmed,  overcome by the fear 

that maybe the world can’t be made right 

in enough time — to avert what is near

and then -- as if on cue -- to save you from despondence

at long last -- no, not even a bell

remember please our correspondence

so that this won’t be a so you’d expect me to tell

springing eternal, confused we confide

in sight seen nearly more likely than far 

more into it talking of taking a side 

than they can tell "ser" apart from "estar"

because those who refuse to be saved 

have been Evil -- well, all along --

take a proud satisfaction depraved

in choosing senselessly yet to do -- wrong....

a new revision for casey to change the world a little  — october 22 2018

Be seeing you.

compliment complement, or, please love your children, please

lovedsong

@anomie belle | a poem by a faust

As It Were Seeming We Feel Our Own Being

Composed During The Last Leg Of A Long Trip Home Via Bus



as we were waiting, and waiting, two others arrived



Rushing to fall in

& over itself

water leaves once breathless air heavy with sweet

so easy to breathe in that coolness, the smell



of a kind very two, of a feather what rapture



sugar added to water 

softens & smoothes it so well

that lacking it many a cup's incomplete



i despair, lacking skill, in these phrases to capture



for a bed one could so very easily take

plush expanses of moss, 

distinctly inviting

a languor, a reclining delight



what the senses and soul together connive



like when you first 

see the light 

of the campfire built 

by your lover 

while you were out

getting lost –



– out, that is, in –



yourself by yourself

yourself at yourself

yourself for yourself



– looking & through –



would you see what they see when they look at your me

would you know which it was when they recognized you                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    



would you know what it was when you found it 

would you know what you had when you had it

would you 



you know 



would you know what to do



because with enough of the clever 

with practice

if quick lucky or high



you can feel your way almost without being shown

you can taste on your lips breathlessness almost your own 

you can catch in someone's eyes the blue of the sky



more precious than any thing the Earth on or under

more rare than any creature on dry land or in Water

more sought after than the grace of communicant Air

more strong than can the rushing of Fire e'er sunder



they reminded me strongly of one you and one i

tempus fugit

Composed in the Waiting Room

 

A bit of verse composed in the waiting room
Calle Cuarta 7796 (between Mutualismo & Miguel F. Martinez) C.P. 22000 Zona Centro, Tijuana, B.C.

"Dentist most excellent."  You doubt me, or you quip "At what cost?"
Rare as it is unlikely, should some wager be made,
In the virtue of dentists, for those who doubt to have lost:
Given just firsthand stories, likely as not they've been played --
Not with this one, however, with this one we win. Respectful, and kind
Attentive and fluent, he'll explain it, he'll do it
Chances are good he conspires not his but – your pockets to line.
If you've despaired of finding one not done in by his greed
Or his laziness --  or not too young to know what you need --
Despair not, amigo, be unafraid to be drilled,
Enjoy feeling alive again. Know we are blessed,
Lucky.  For in finding a dentist who is as honest and skilled
(And whose prices do render, it must needs be confessed,
Very easy decisions, when compared to what they demand,
Expect, and presume, north of la linea & not south.
Give yourself a few days in this happy, colorful land,
And trust De La Vega to give you a perfect new mouth.


by a happy patient, Saturday, May 19, 2018.

Pandora has another answer for the Sphinx (a repost feat. art by emilieleger)

the fifth power of the Sphinx

(or, a creature, with feathers: that chooses to remain)

 

.'.Joy.'.
 

...see a life left a chance yet a present perfect as surrender to new
 

.'.Love.'.
 

always already the only foundation upon which will the Great
 

.'.Work.'.
 

be as good & as easy as is energie infinite & as Beauty is True
 

.'.Will.'.
 

birthright Divine of innocence Human: even in sorrow, to know we can see...

this repost dedicated to Zataaz