To Live!

I stare at an oak tree and think to myself,
"How is it that this motionless, unusual being exists?"
I examine it from roots - to tips of branches... My brain tells me it is alive, as its leaves are green, but my eyes find it hard to believe.
I stare past it, at another tree in the distance. Then, the oak tree comes to life. It bows before me and says,
"Just because I am in the same location, year in and year out, doesn't mean I do not live... This, Man, is my purpose. Look at my branches... what do you see?"
I don't hesitate to inspect once more, and a wealth of things become apparent. Squirrels, birds, lizards, and a multitude of insects.
Then the tree says,
"Look around me... what do you see?"
I respond as if doubting myself,
"Shade?"
And she quickly replies,
"Now do you understand what I am? It's quite simple. You see, I am a home. I breathe life for you and for all... This is my purpose."
How foolish am I to have not noticed this...

She then asks, "And you, Man, I see you day in and day out, sitting with friends, running around, singing, walking aimlessly. What is your purpose?”
Then, just as the town clock announces the hour, the Wind begins to blow, and the tree falls into a trance. She swings and sways and rocks to the rhythm of a song that I have never heard. The Wind blows through my limbs as well, but unlike the tree, I am unaffected. I hesitate to interrupt her, but I overcome my fear and I ask,
"Why is it that you can dance with the Wind but I cannot?"
She responds, as if with a fire burning within her,
"Because that is the Wind's purpose... He plays the lute, that I may dance... Because the Wind is my love. Go now, Man... Go and find your purpose, and like you have witnessed today, wait for your love. And when She comes and plays for you Her sweet, seductive melody, dance for Her and with Her... Until She plays Her song for you no more. And when She parts from your side, fear not... Be at ease, for just as the Wind ebbs and flows, she will also return... perhaps stronger, perhaps longer... and she will play her song for you"

"I am alive because it is so... This is all I need know. My purpose is simple... To Live!"

© José V. Guerra Awe

Crime Scene

A new age Dr. Lector

With a bloodthirsty rage

Impales a red robed body

Of a tender ripened age

With blade in hand he takes a life

One that's now unfulfilled

A recipe that takes its course

And leaves another killed

Four corpses now lay slaughtered

On a board atop his table

Blood oozes like a pulp

From a freshly gutted navel

Flesh acquaints with cold steel

As he slices and he dices

Holocaust drenched in rich oil

Enhanced by savoury herbs and spices

Carnage in the air

Spatter on the wall

Eyes that show no fear

Drops trickle down and fall

Dark elixir from Modena

Is his culminate addition

Sweet smile of acquiescence

As he savours his rendition

Overlooking his art

Head drenched red

Sinisterly salivates

Waiting to be fed

[Death Of A Tomato]

© José V. Guerra Awe

La Selva de tu Alma

Quiero flotar en el cielo de tus ojos

Nadar en el mar que es tu amor,

Perderme en la selva que es tu alma.

Pero me has cortado las alas,

Roto las aletas;

Y peor que todo,

Has destruido la selva.

© José V. Guerra Awe

A Whisper

I've got nowhere to go, but I still keep walking...
The night is windy; clouds blanket the sky and hide the stars.

The ocean - choppy, waves crashing on the shore.

It sounds as if though God is trying to silence a restless earth with every "shh!" of crashing waves.

What was once an ocean bordering a sea of beach towels, chairs and people, is now water serenading his love, the sand. Only the occasional passerby and I are witnesses to the power and majesty of their love and passion for one another... this love affair as old as time itself... fire lit by God.
The celestial blanket curls down a bit and from the darkness peaks out but one lonely star. How I yearn to be with her... My Star... My One... My Love!
And if she was here beside me, I would serenade her as the ocean does the sand, and we would sit here beneath the twilight in each others' arms...
The moon peaks out from behind the clouds, awakened by the ocean's song.

She stains the sky around her orange as she ascends from the horizon like a firework in slow motion.

Just as the ocean calls out to the sand, so does the moon to her love, the sun.

She traverses the heavens, day in and day out; loyal, steadfast and patient... and every now-and-then they are united.

And, the universe and its myriad of creatures all stand in awe and marvel at the power of the moon as it cools the sun's ardent passion.
Just as the moon is loyal, steadfast and patient, so am I.

My heart awaits the day that it will be united with another.

All I have is but a whisper of her... On my lips, on my fingertips and in my heart...

© José V. Guerra Awe

The Child That Life Forgot

There was once a happy child

That used to run and play

With her mother and her father

Every single day

Such a happy family

Were all of them together

They had the kind of love

That lasts until… Forever

They used to run along the beach

And used to walk the park

They loved each other in the light

And even in the dark

She was such a happy child

Well, with all the love she got

But little did she know

She’d be the child that life forgot

On a morning like no other

Grief befell her soul

She just could not believe

What she had just been told

Her parents whom she loved so much

Had died the night before

And then and there she understood

Why she didn’t hear the door

The two things she loved most in life

Were torn away from her

And so she was consumed by grief

For her parents were no more

The only child of only children

She had no one but them

Grandparents had long passed away

And she was only ten

She often wished that just perhaps

She'd died with them on that tragic day

Or that they tucked her in that night

And so her skies would not be grey

Now she’s all grown up

But there’s still a hole inside

And that thought just never left her...

The thought that they had died

She realised quite soon

That the past could not be changed

Her helplessness consumed her soul

As her eyes became enraged

“How could someone be so thoughtless

And kill my mother and father?"

"Did he ever stop to think

That at home they had a daughter?”

She’s shed a million tears by now

And she knows she’s lost a lot

She now knows that she’s the child…

The child that life forgot

© José V. Guerra Awe

Damn The Dam!

Damn the dam!

This electrical plant

That has stirred a concerned citizen

Into writing this rant

Damn the dam!

This plot to destroy

A fountain of youth,

And the times we enjoy…

Damn the dam!

That threatens to kill

The heart of a people,

Against their own will…

Damn the dam!

This rapture of freedom

We must find a way

To take back Toledo

Damn the dam!

That intends to steal

A unique way of life

With one shady deal

Damn the dam!

This threat to our wildlife

That will cleave through this valley

Like a blunt butcher’s knife

Damn the dam!

That we fight against

With all of our vigour

Yet our voices are shelved…

Damn the dam!

For which our sisters and brothers

Have been blatantly deceived

By one P then the other

Damn the dam!

That’s going to show

Into how ignorant an asshole

Any man can grow…

Damn the dam!

That you’re planning to build

We live in this jungle!

You just sit with your guild

Damn the dam!

This “Necessity”

There are many other ways

To produce electricity

Damn the dam!

For which you’re willing to spend

While crime keeps on rising

And our debt never ends

Damn the dam!

Concrete abomination

And greedy politicians

Who seal the fate of our nation

Damn the dam!

HIV of a river

You prescribe this slow death

For an electrical sliver?

© José V. Guerra Awe

The Daylight Moon

The daylight moon awaits the setting sun, sitting at the bottom of a bowl of blue

Howlers roar, parrots chatter; a sea of endless green in my periphery.

From atop this ancient castle, in the midst of a forgotten Eden, I adore you.

You, oh Moon, who waits with such serenity, in that sea of blue eternity.

I stare into your sky blue iris; the wind singing softly in my ear.

Her verse, an ethereal Acapella, it carries a familiar scent.

This scent, this etching; one without compare

Of two Blue-Morpho eyes that wander, luminescent.

As you do, oh daylight moon, I await the starlit archer

That cupid’s arrows he may aim and fire

Shooting stars that from the bowl departure

Piercing through her whom I desire

© José V. Guerra Awe

Day Dream

Today I found my soul in hiding...

Sitting, waiting for the sweet whisper of your eyes

To follow through the doors of my perception.

And when inside, you helped comb out the

Tangled strings of my guitar

And I watched as you

Made sweet sounds of music

To accompany the wind's acoustic melody

As it reverberated throughout my body,

Echoing through the shadows of my loneliness and

Sparking my soul to the point that I became electric.

And in the end I stood alone.

Teardrops running down my cheeks

Evaporated by the sun,

Transported by the wind,

Plummeting toward you

As you sailed past me in my dream.

As I drifted into consciousness

I saw truth written there

Upon the doors of my perception.

It read:

"Pain and Love are kin.

They are inseparable

As man and woman,

Life and death.

To embrace one

Is to embrace the other

Willingly, unconditionally

And without fear."

Such is our reality.

A sun and moon

In sweet embrace.

A Maximum eclipse...

In maximum beauty.

Life has its ways of putting you down...

Gravity sets in and you are grounded.

But down comes the rain...

And cleanses your soul,

It fills the void of your reality.

The deeper the ditch carved into you,

The more the rains of joy will have to fill

When they come thundering in.

I feel the breeze sailing past my ear

Announcing the coming of the rains.

And I can see them in the distance.

Joy-showers storming in my direction.

© José V. Guerra Awe

Conglomerate

"How could we continue to live if we were changeless? To live, we must die every instant."
-Thich Nhat Hanh

My life is built of pieces of castles and huts that once stood within myself...

Buildings that I have toppled over out of necessity,

For they were confining to my true-self; 

Just as an egg-case is to a chick.

I've crumbled them in my own hands, 
Like one does the case of a nut, 
And with great conviction 
I have blown off these carapaces 
To reveal a seed ready to be planted.

I am as ever-changing as a river, 
And every realisation, 
Every revolutionary thought that floods my mind, 
Transforms me.

Master Hanh's words resonate within my mind, 
For my life is a conglomerate of my past...
But this rock will never cease to be destroyed and rebuilt.

© José V. Guerra Awe

Face Of Stone

A face of stone

A face so cold

It shows not one emotion

No smiles, no frowns

No laughs, no cries

A face completely vacuous

Mounted top of flesh and bone

A cumbrous face

This face of stone

A bleak visage without a dream

But from within

A silent scream

This silent scream

A rumbling thunder

It echoes in the distance.

But no one hears it

No one cares

Alarm that goes unanswered

A face of stone

So cold

So lifeless

It shows not one emotion

But perplexing eyes tell truth within

A yearning for devotion

© José V. Guerra Awe

People

People live

And people die

People laugh,

People cry.

People win

And people lose.

People waver,

People choose.

People do

And people don’t.

People will,

People won’t.

People speak

And people mum.

People welcome,

People shun.

People smile

And people grouch.

People feel,

People touch.

People see

And people show.

People come…

People go.

© José V. Guerra Awe