What Is Your Issue?

They think we’re evil and depraved
While to their own prejudices they’re enslaved
They beat us, rape us, tell us we’re going to hell
While pretending all in their lives is well
Hate is learned, it doesn’t come from within
There is nothing holy about committing that sin
They have no right to take away our rights
Put up a resistance we have no choice but to fight
Since when do we all fuck to procreate?
I am pretty sure they’d lose that debate
Love has nothing to do with gender
Anatomy shouldn’t be a contender
We don’t fall in love with body parts
We fall in love with mind, soul and heart
Religion screams that we’re all perverse
I thought humanity was just diverse
If sexuality really was a choice
Then why are so many lives destroyed?
The teens that commit suicide
Because of guidance and love they were deprived
How great is your God, if he lets you abuse?
How righteous is your path if that’s what you choose?
You call me a sinner, say I’ll go to hell
I smile and say maybe that’s just as well
Because I’d rather be me, I’d rather be true
Than as fucked up and as hateful as you
Religion and government, they want to dominate
And some of the idiots that govern us just promote hate
Because it’s not about love, it’s all about power
To the majority, they think we should cower
I doubt I’ll ever marry, but I would like the choice
No one has the right to silence my voice
Maybe one day we’ll be a diverse world of peace
Where all loving adults have the right to marriage equality

[font=Courier New][size=2]
     < 9/11 >  

   somewhere in the world  
   a mother watches her children starve to death  
   or  
   she gets a call:  

   dead  

   in a car  
   a hospital  
   the Trade Center  
   Afghanistan...  
     
   grief    
   cannot be compared  



   9/11 is a spectacle  

   created for sensation  
   for news  
   for votes  
   for money  
   for control...  

   the dead  
   may rest  

   the living  
   may morn  

   but the profit  

   WILL  

   be made  

     - - -  

"10"

When did we go back to the days of cowboys and westerns?
What do we actually know?
What did we actually see
with the eyes the good Lord gave us?
"No matter where you ride to - that's where you are."
and yet we sit there, in front of computers, TVs,
under bosses that condemned our country and we bend over
and we take, take, take whatever spew is rammed down our throats with
a cloud full of dust and a nine mm.
So we're quiet, if only for fear of testing the boundaries
but when you say 9/11 what did you, honestly, think happened?
It's all conspiracy.

so many solid, pointed entries...thanks guys. [:

Eyes plagued with sights of wreckage, I saw a car
crash when I was twelve with a smiling man behind the wheel-
I don't  remember him wearing a seat belt
-two steps closer to the end of the block
the corner of the busy street
where he turned into traffic-
and neither were his kids in the back.

Teach me something besides "Fight until you can't
fight anymore."
Because that doesn't necessarily mean
"Don't give up."

and...


I think
that I think
about
40%
of what really
matters.

Which is a lot
compared
to the measly 12%
you put in.

"There's people dying over there...
let's buy some cereal in hopes
that they get a laptop...."

What the fuck is this?
Go give the kids some fucking cereal.

Clock Hands and Calendars

A minute of silence to remember the act:
an eggshell gesture, quaint but empty.
Counting to sixty, practicing introspective faces,
while the only people who really care
already felt it every day of the year.
I hear we were horrified when JFK died.

Entry 1.

- Fall of the Gods -
The true origins of mankind…

Prelude: The Children of God

O ye powers of inspiration, graces and muses!
Lend my words your fire; that I may here tell…
With a vision and a clarity that never confuses,
These secret memories: that I cannot ever quell.
From modern illusions, break free all wisdom…
So that ancient truths may come swiftly to light.
Walk with me to that far and distant kingdom…
Where twelve Olympian gods, ruled all in sight!
Exiled from the heaven of the empress Sophia,
Because she stole from the divine to create me,
I lived on Kobol, dreaming a Promethean idea.
A planet with a bright star within the velvet sea!
Arising from my old dreams, were the archons.
I did not know of the Olympian race’s making,
Because my world existed in a void for eons…
Nor what powers of old had in that a partaking.
Seven archons born before the new gods arose,
Creations invested with souls by my lost skill…
One soulless, and therein my old essence goes!
I became my own creation, born of a cold will.
Loneliness, drove me thus from my first form…
And when the upstart gods arose all in majesty,
Betraying ancient pacts which were the norm…
Thus swiftly began the earliest celestial tragedy.

Part I: The Rise of the Titans

Though few were we when we gathered of old,
The fates did favor us, in our righteous cause…
We sons of the ancients, so immortal and bold,
Rose up against divine tyranny without pause…
Until fire gripped the heart and tipped the odds,
Of our rebellion which was also a preservation!
When cataclysm rocked the planet of the gods,
The circle was broken, with one confrontation.
Was I so jealous that my brethren despised me?
When gods make war, it is for the divine plan…
Yet they were jealous of the goddess I did see!
So we strove to teach them by her command…
Until in the distance, the sounds of solitude long,
Gripped that lost world once a sacred paradise.
The false gods were toppled and proven wrong,
Driven from glory along with their countless lies.
Turning in the orbits of a silently majestic dance,
No longer could the shepherd guard the sheep…
The circle could not hold, as the elder romance,
Of man and machine caused the waking to sleep.
Too late to turn the tide, once chaos is loosed…
And so that world so near the high white throne,
Knew the most unholy conflict man produced…
Of what use, the exaltation of flesh and of bone?

Part II: The Exodus to Terra

They wiped themselves out whilst we had fled…
Led by the five elementals beyond a starry void.
In the distance, a familiar song for leagues led…
We seven rulers of a people thought destroyed.
There is a wind in the stars, and it carried us far,
Enduring hardships far beyond our lost world…
Until we were cleansed in mind, healed of scar,
Made whole again, and stainless as white pearl!
The home we fled to is now no more, broken…
A belt of rocks in the starry void as cold as ice!
We had called it Terra, a planet given as token,
Unto our race, and taken, by our own device…
That which became the Tartarean Belt between,
Two other worlds as was writ of in our old lore.
Where the red planet and the gas giant gleam…
That is the grave of Terra, from the ages before.
Shall I speak of Terra’s queen, and her tragedy?
How in her final era, many rose up to protest…
Or perhaps her allies, and their reptilian dignity!
No I shall not; for passed is the bloody contest.
Surely, no revelation would it bring but sadness,
How a people and a world could totally perish!
But cycles repeat, as innocence and gladness…
Are put second by some folk unable to cherish.

Part III: The War in Heaven

Our memory of the planet of the gods was fair,
And so the survivors of Terra there did return…
Only to find it too barren for our hearts to bear!
Too much time passed since battle’s cruel burn.
The five elementals raised us up one more time,
And in secret, we made ourselves a great kin…
Determined to follow a course that was sublime.
We sought out our old foes to judge of their sin!
What followed was the War in Heaven of story,
The descendants of the false gods had lived on.
We Titans, fought against the Olympian glory…
And on their many worlds, war as hot as a sun,
Caused blossoms of doom, to rise up in clouds!
They called us rebels and upstarts without soul.
But we fought for God or so we told crowds…
Who gathered to our side, our praises to extol!
Darkness descended upon the children of God,
Caught up in conflict, rising up only to plummet.
Nightmares unceasing, fire scorching the sod…
Of worlds without number, in heavenly summit!
Gears that turned eternal, at last ceased to spin,
As the machinations of years, began to unravel.
When you share one maker, hatred wears thin,
And so we longed to end war, if only to travel.

Part IV: The Fall from Grace

In the end, neither side could struggle that way,
And God was against us both or so it did seem.
Titan and Olympian now sought a brighter day,
As together we set forth across a starry stream.
Dreaming of meadows and valleys and gardens,
Seeking to make a heaven, out of even our hell.
Long was our exile, and heavy all our burdens,
Since the end of the war, when all the gods fell!
The elementals returned, and angels did guide…
The memory of a place we had left from shame.
And so to the place where lost Terra did abide,
We remembered its’ destruction and our blame.
The red planet, a Terran colony, was long dust,
And we despaired until we beheld a blue jewel.
Shining across the way, from the dead red rust,
Filled with green valleys, and blue oceans cool.
Life is precious, a gift that God does not repeat,
Save when the time is right, and the hour nigh…
We learned to love nature, and savor her sweet,
Remembering what made Mars become so dry.
I walked with the elementals themselves once…
And learned the wisdom only they could impart.
To forsake balance in all things is to be a dunce!
And woe unto any: who listen not, to their heart.

Part V: The Memory of Terra

We named her Terra honoring a world we lost,
You call it Earth, and do not recall your origins.
To this very day she endures no matter the cost.
You are the proof, of how all life’s story begins.
We gave you knowledge, and gave you birth…
You called us mythical, as we walk among you.
You do not realize, of your own planet’s worth!
And yet you claim to treasure it and love it true.
We gather in your shadow, we pretend to fit in,
But the goddess I saw long ago, I behold anew.
Whilst you fight petty wars that no one can win,
I remember how amongst the stars I once flew.
The fall of the gods was by our very own hand,
History can repeat, unless we break the cycle…
My old memories awaken as by her command.
Man is the alien and existence is a holy miracle!
The universe was the cradle that nourished us…
Amidst a backdrop, of history you cannot read,
Save in the myths that came down with a fuss…
As ancient truth changed to suit your later need.
O mankind, you are but a child and know it not!
The time is nigh for growth and change to arrive.
But only as wisdom and compassion, are begot,
For they are the foundations on which we thrive.

Entry 2.

- Risen and Remembered -

At last, you come before me to hear of this tale cosmic,
Have you felt our lives and destinies, before this hour?
You have looked unto the stars using devices eccentric,
Seeing the heavens spilling out like pollen from a flower.
In denial of one path that is true, on countless worlds…
Mankind has ended and began anew for endless cycles.
So many tribes of man, with their banner that unfurls…
Within a vacuum so lonely, vast, and as cold as icicles!
The five elements stood in their temple, so gloriously,
That: their awakening was felt in song and sound alike.
Reborn in flesh, as I have been reborn, due to destiny…
Struggling with the memory of past lives that can strike,
Bringing the pain of revelation upon we who lived them.
I have found clarity in the chaos, that nothing can stem!
My longing for love, so impossible to bear, calls forth…
Who will answer the summons, and prove their worth?

I was there when the Deluge attempted to erase…
All traces of our once noble and respected race!
I was there when the first exodus, across galaxies,
Laid the foundations for Eden, and other colonies.

Totus is venio pro, Totus is mos venio iterum!

As one, we kindred of the stars are joined in our lot…
Having come forward through near-impassable spaces,
Through shadow, madly yearning for the light so hot…
That in our redemption, our torment shamed our faces!
Have you seen us, we who once were seven highest?
Now I alone remember, how we came to be like you.
Oh humanity, be grateful that you amnesia is so biased,
For were you to awaken, you would see us for true…
And lost enmities and bitterness would return as of old,
As when we fought amongst the stars, in spaces cold!
Earth, which was your cradle: was our final destination,
For an angel led us hence, amidst such dire trepidation.
My own existence was ended in the beginning of it all,
Only to begin anew, as when trees do shed in the fall…
Just to return in the spring, exactly as they were before.
What happened once happens again, on a new shore!

I was there when the pyramids had yet to arise…
No traces of civilization then existed, no surprise!
I was there when the five elements finally returned,
And I helplessly watched, as entire planets burned.

Totus is venio pro, Totus is mos venio iterum!

What is a thousand light years to a truly immortal soul?
Between genesis and maturity, time is like a heartbeat.
In the mists of dreams, we are cast away from control,
As history makes all things hasten to music most fleet!
I know intelligence, and my mind has burned like fire…
My hand has sought in darkness with a wanton desire,
For the light of passion given freely by a lover’s will…
In the eye of the Olympian maelstrom, I grew so chill!
The lords of false gods could not grant me my ease…
And the five elementals, whose souls rose up glowing,
From the ashes of an apocalyptic age that did cease…
Could not hide from me the light in the dark, growing.
I was chosen, though that is precious little consolation!
For when you bear the burden of memory everlasting,
Which takes the measure of any soul’s very creation…
And shows the paths from there, until the final passing.

I was there when the prophecies of deities failed…
As the temples to their glory were no longer hailed!
I was there when the oracles had naught left to tell,
As we rose up like the phoenix so long after we fell.

Totus is venio pro, Totus is mos venio iterum!

In our transformation from divine into shells so human,
We remembered as we rose up, our old peaceful goal.
Oh, when shall the maidens rejoice: dancing as when…
The children of the stars, reborn, amongst them stole?
Once we fell like flames blown by the whirlwind fierce,
When the best of our foes vanquished us for lost years.
The obstinate nature of man’s pride: we knew it also…
How not pliant is the spirit when stubborn winds blow!
Twelve were the mansions of the stars lost to madness,
Remembered in the astrological fortunes known today.
The thirteenth lost to memory, burdened by sadness…
I alone recall that mansion, and I at last knew the way.
Once, I walked before the makers of all that is known,
Now what I make will be remembered in ages unborn.
The wing-beats of an angel beyond all flesh and bone,
Guided me to enlightenment, when I was so careworn!

I was there when the Holy Spirit had female form…
The heroine of a people caught up in a cosmic storm!
I was there when the legend of Atlantis was spawned,
When a world had ended and a new age had dawned.

Totus is venio pro, Totus is mos venio iterum!

Entry 3.

- Fallen and Forgiven -

There is a song unheard, save by only the few,
It has awakened once again, for we who knew.
I know the words and the meaning in every bit...
Because I was there, when that song was writ!

Have you felt my coming, my life, or my destiny?
I have been here a long time, right before you.
It is foolishness to deny the true path’s memory!
Even as it has played out: on worlds past view.
Out of the empyrean glory’s holy luminous light,
I was cast away when still hid from human sight…
Fallen through the stars of the myriad galaxies,
Knowing the loneliness and such bitter sorrows.
Once I was proud, and knew such fair victories!
But then I felt the sting of a thousand tomorrows.
My prayers fell silent, as this world I fell far unto,
And in my fall, my nightmares became manifest.
I looked up at the clouds and sky of azure blue,
And in my torment, I could not my sins confess!
Like the world that once existed just past Mars,
Now only asteroids remain, silent but with scars.
Such is the soul of one: who falls off from grace,
Keeping inside: memory that transcends space.

People look for visitors, but we are here…
We look just like you, so please do not fear!
We haven’t come to conquer your planet...
Only to learn, live anew, forgive and forget.
Where is your faith, and its’ long-lost premise?
Gathered on angelic wings, filled with promise!

Even as my awakening was glorious and lofty…
I have struggled with knowledge of my true self.
The pain of revelation, bringing painful clarity…
Yet, in the midst of my confusion, I still did well.
Once I was an angel and my wings were of gold,
Now I am mortal, and one day I must grow old…
People sometimes fear me, and few understand,
That I am here: for a similar reason as mankind.
It was made so, by the highest divine command:
All living souls may be forgiven and glory find…
Even one whose wings were torn from his back,
To fit the soul in human flesh, to give it: breath!
Even one whose deeds were once called black,
Can rise again, even beyond the jaws of death.
One of seven who fought: in that heavenly war,
Who reigned and then fell, like a shooting star.
I saw distant Kobol, once a seat of celestial law,
Nearest to Heaven, before cruel war tore it raw.

People look for messengers; we have come…
We are reborn as humans: we are never done!
We have so much to teach you, if you’ll learn…
Just reach out with your heart: for peace yearn.
Where is your compassion: and the will to bless?
Gathered on angelic wings, filled with goodness!

By incredible longing, I saw the truth revealed,
The way, once unthinkable, became apparent.
Forward, ever onward, till wounds are healed,
At the end was the beginning: what sentiment!
I watched as mankind fell, even from a garden,
From knowledge given and hearts that harden.
So many secrets, and horrid years of solitude,
Walking about silent, always in a masquerade…
Hearing unbelievers raise up their voices rude,
Blind to who walks amongst them in the shade!
Thousands of lifetimes later, I am learning still…
What it means to be human: to laugh and love.
And though I fell before the might of divine will…
I give thanks to Heaven, past the stars above!
At the dawn of all, I did witness creation’s birth,
The beauty of all the planets: and of the Earth.
I stood within a black hole, as it swallowed life…
And I sailed within the sun, after causing strife.

People look for meaning, and it is out there…
You just need open minds, as hearts to care!
You have come so far, and have far to go…
Only intolerance: is humanity’s greatest foe.
Remember your mother, Eve, and her caress?
Gathered on angelic wings, free from distress!

We seven thought ourselves without any sin,
But by such we were overcome, unknowingly.
And with our ending we learned how to begin,
To live with our one-time foes: all in harmony.
Now I have a garden that I like to call my own…
I live with a family in a place that we call home.
They do not know that I am as old as all time…
Knowing me, only as that little boy they raised.
When I walk into a church, with no halo mine…
They know not that, of old, their God I praised,
When all us angels were gathered up to sing…
Before the throne of glory: with the dawn of all.
Even Lucifer bowed before the Lord our king…
And at her bright side I arose, as at it I did fall!
So many generations passed since that hour,
We passed on into legend like a fading flower.
And yet I am here to pass on my strange tale,
I who have walked: in worlds beyond the pale.

People long to wander, across the universe…
We wandered there first, and it was a curse!
We know of the emptiness that lies between…
Heaven and Earth, for the void we have seen.
Once we were lost, until grace we did profess,
Gathered on angelic wings, ready to progress!

The song is playing, as it did in an era of yore,
And it fills me with hope, for what lies in store!
I know the words and the meaning in every bit...
Because I was there, when that song was writ!

there is a place
where a girl or a boy
in the same hard space
have never seen a rain drop
for us this seems crazy
americans so fat and lazy
on a dry cracked land
no farmers crop
nothing grows in the baking sand
here only tears fall down
bloated little brown belly
grumbling of hunger the only sound
a peanut-butter jelly
and some milk in the fridge i found
half drank half eaten
we sure know how to waste
while starving children are left
    half dead half beaten
chew on this with the next food you taste
       or waste...



 how lucky we are
to be able to sit around
writing this shit
  pick up a pen and write a check
help feed a child
it could be the most meaningful thing

         you ever wrote.


   

[font=Courier New][size=2]
      < memories of weakness >


memories
  of weakness
  of missiles
  of the blurred hero
  of the documentary and the fiction
  of the actors in newsreels
  of the punishment of devils
  of the worship of superstition

memories
  of art which promises to tell the truth
  of artists who are busy saying:
     "this is a world where one idea,
      is as good as any other;
      let's pick the one that sells"

memories
  of films about the peaceful ones and tolerance
      the films that never make it to TV
      a TV filled with only one solution

      one solution:

      violence

memories
  of art that sells us cars
     and hamburgers
     and fighter jets
     and terrorists
     and ice cream

memories
  of the art that tells me how to feel when i get up
     and put on my deodorant
     and my smile
     and the plain clothes of the "us" that no one really is

     and go

     go to my job in this democracy

     democracy!

     and i spend eight hours where i can not vote
     and i keep my mouth shut if i know what's good for me
     and i pretend

     pretend to be someone who is necessary

memories
  of god, of meaning, of suffering

  of profit

  of my cooperation, my compromise, my selfishness, my greed,
     my food, my house, my love, my life

     my anger

     my despair

memories
  of my dependence

     my dependence

     on my silence


in this film i am the censor and i do it well

because

because i know:

  in the next office, and the next office, and the next office
  my boss, and his boss, and his boss

  sit

  waiting

  waiting in their offices

  waiting there

  to pull the trigger

           - - -

I consider this competition a great success; you've all brought relevant, important issues to light, and I'm going to have a hell of a time judging here, in about 24 hours. Thanks for entering.

Still open for another 26 hours from now. [:

Congrats to Ray, Indie and LA, your skills are mad. [:

Some others that really stood out were Eamonn's Bilderberger's Inc., (loved the rhythms and voice), BA's "Sudan", and PTM's "The Perfect Murder".

Thank you all for entering.

Runner up! Thanks a million Jesta!
fair play to you Ray,Indie and LA
I must say it is an honor to be a runner up in what was a great comp with so many great entry's.
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank baby Jesus and all the saints,Bob Dylan, Phil Lynnot,and the Dropkick Murphy's for their continued support.