convulsion

of drama and

adventure

by Roberto Lavidez

the pursuit

of Columbus

a convulsion

of drama

and adventure

aiming progress

through

resource

extraction

downstream

thinking

trapping

the indigenous in

a developmental

backwater

advancing

a moral basis

for invasion and

dispossession

justifying violence

to impose truth

on savages

stumbling

in the darkness

down ravines

opening a

pandora’s box

of iniquities

exterminating

languages

species and

cultures

driven by an

all consuming  

mania for the

satisfaction of

immediate needs

those who inherited

this madness

are managing

history today

exhibiting

flagrant disregard

for the

human dimension

a colossal tragedy

of expropriation

which had gone

on unabated

and largely

unchallenged

for centuries

lingering

despite being

exhausted by

carnage or

weighed down

by the spoils

of their looting

the colonizer

takes a respite

toying with

 a heavy dose

of theory about

redistribution

of wealth

suspicious 

of ideology

and cynical   

about socialist

solidarity

dismissive of

entire mode

of discourse

that may provide

badly needed

illumination

yet language

is quickly vanishing

in the midst

of the collapse

of ecosystem

and what's left

thriving in silence

is the abuse of power

©robertolavidez2013

inarticulable

by Roberto Lavidez

bound

hand and foot

by the

inarticulable

extremity of

experience

running

on a treadmill

to nowhere

an inherent

positional

awkwardness

wildly fitting

in its incoherence

from daily

tampering with

the mysteries

of the brain

which leads to a

clash between

illusion and reality

carnage continues

to stalk the

self-imposed

marginality

of the intellectual

by severe orders

from the colonial

composite

memories

either a

misunderstanding

or a deliberate

distortion

subject to

misinterpretation

in the fog

of cold war

watching

corpses gnawed

by wild animals

and pecked

by birds

fueled by the

simplistic logic

of global

confrontation

succumbing to

the temptation

of pigeonholing

the new conflictual

nature of

racialized identity

imposed in a

symbolic way

so that shame

and stigma suffered

persistence of

institutionalized

violence

inextricably bound

with inequalities

thinking about

the inevitability

of peaceful

coexistence

affording

compassion

generosity

and decency

after a not

so remote

possibility

of an irrational

unthinkable

maximum

devastation

of a nuclear

first strike

©robertolavidez2013

beyond recognition

by Roberto Lavidez

in the midst of

society growing

beyond 

recognition

there lies 

a chilling

undercurrent

of fear and

trepidation

staggering costs

in human suffering

and cultural

destruction

unleash tremors

of uncertainty

and political

fractiousness

something must

be done to mend

the social contract

and reclaim

a little space

in the world

gradually

crumbling

in a ludicrous

debacle

but outbursts

of mirth

seems derisive

sending 

horizontal bolts 

of lightning

zigzagging across

scores of miles

whereby

a hodgepodge

of disparate

elements

will result in

the extension

of subjugation

and misery for 

those whose

legitimate

aspiration

to the basic

amenities

of life had

been lost

overcome by

unimaginable

suppositions

while toiling

through

a miasma

of mounting

decrepitude

a sharp shift

of recent times

fails to stop 

the crazy 

careening

down the

social abyss

to global

annihilation

allowing

virtual genocide

in the name

of progress

protecting cruel

possessions

of sophisticated

elements

speaking the

precise pedantic

lingua franca

of the social

justice genre

©robertolavidez2013

mysterious case

by Roberto Lavidez

vast crowds

roaming a city

festooned with

inscrutable slogans

against a sequence

of incomprehensible

noises conveying

disquietude about

man’s capacity

for faltering

like a morality

tale of the flesh

and the devil

seemed lit with

an inner violence

of excitement

the riddle of the

unintelligible and

mysterious case

of a visiting comet

whose balefulness

hangs closer

night by night

seduced by

the lure of

spiritual

solidarity

from within

the inexorable

connection

between the

womb and

the tomb

the thought

that one must

first endure

torment

to achieve

ecstasy

unjust suffering

prompts feelings

of terror and awe

the universal

good that could

not be divorced

from one’s own

personal wrongs

how dependent

good is on evil

evil on good

no disgust

without desire

no desire

without disgust

there were

a few little

glimmers

high up in the

rubbish heaps

of civilization

launched into

life by obscurities

and puzzles

subsequently

embellished with

further fabrications

dreadful because
of the fluencies

so easily available

on a bright

green lawn

under thunderous

and glaring clouds

a vicious spiral

steadily raising

tension among

blabbing

ideological mouths

of great kindness

and bestial cruelty

©robertolavidez2013

in every bone

by Roberto Lavidez

in every bone

fiber and tendril

in standing

temptation of

those who hunger

to exchange

freedom for

the promise

of bread

in the energy of

shining beam

of particles

in pervasive

melancholy

and self-doubt

in the use of the

natural vacuum

of space

in advancing

all the forms

of human

understanding

in the cosmos

of whirling

stars overhead

in the black eyes

which seem

to sparkle with

hidden fire

in cooling of

the universe

after that

humongous

bang

in opposition

to the politics

of every

totalitarianism

in hundreds

of muscles

a zillion nerves

and blood vessels

in giving way

to tears of

mingled

exasperation

and anxiety

in our skin

our nutrition

our hormones

in the desire

to punish and

the apparent

need for 

being punished

in our intentions

our ideas

our emotions

in acting

alone

against the

flood tide

of revolution

in the descent

of the baby

down the

birth canal

turning

and twisting

to get

through

in the continued

struggle of

the Indians

ethnic minorities

and slave workers

in living with

the universe

in harmony

in waking

people

lulled into

apathy

in the

engineering

marvels of our

bodies

powered

in a dynamic

system

by electricity

electrolytes

and oxygen

in the lifeblood

of democracy

life

is to be

perceived

©robertolavidez2013

hellacious 

apparition

by Roberto Lavidez

too fierce

to be safely

approached

sails

of the brig

flapped

from time

to time

against

the masts

hoping

against

hope for a

breakthrough

exposing

hellacious

new levels

of suffering

from excess

of anxiety

a violent

shower of

rain

come in

the infinite

downward

gradation of

vagabond

existence

slow sinking

through the

application of

brute force

and the use

of superior

material

power

which remain

insensitive to

the problems

of the masses

unmoved by

appeals to

morality

one blinks

and shudders

having little

concrete

evidence

of success

investing

in the basic

underpinnings

of society

often

encouraging

mindless

activity

more than

elegant

mental

cultivation

insight or

patience

grudgingly

seemed to

accept

unexpected

problems

around the

constellation of

overwhelmingly

dominant

tendency

to representing

the fancied

apparition of

human

progress

an expression

of genuine fear

veering out

of control

escalating

sufficiently

seen as much

greater threat

to constitutional

liberty

powerless

to change the

supernatural

warning

only now

remembered

with a certain

dismay

©robertolavidez2013

Schema

by Roberto Lavidez

the outward

schema

for the

intensification

of sacrifice

appearing

to be the

dregs

of a broken

and defeated

race

caught

between the

remnants

of war and the

uncertainties

of peace

ensnared

in the

expansive net

of social ills

rooted in

the material

conditions of life

the reduction

and malleability

of men

are worked for

as progress

habitually

underestimating

the intricacy and

complexity of

a human soul

paternalistic

virus

parasitizing

a host cell

through

attachment

to the soil

bursting

dream

like a bubble

beneath

the peasant’s

calloused feet

sabotaging

the role of

consciousness

and will

in the making

of history

aggravating

tensions

between

the husband

bourgeois

and the wife

proletariat

threatening

to open

display

spectacular

mayhem

exploding

into even

greater

bloodshed

bearing

unmistakable

traces of

barbaric

and altered

rationality

overthrowing

the gods

by the very

system

by which

they are

honored

the entire

age of the

universe

would seem

like an

eye-blink

from the

wistful

longing of

a passer-by

©robertolavidez2013

the sleeper

by Roberto Lavidez

the sleeper

stirs and

writhes

shaken by

a strange

mixture of

tumultuous

passions and

mistaken notions

shared by the

discontented

compelled to

obedience

either

a revolution

breaks out

or that society

breaks up

in the interior

stages of

consciousness

his whole life

unfolding

with all the

existing

actualities

and foreseeable

possibilities

condensed into

an unpredictable

remote spot of

a single moment

his jokes

are stabs

into the vast

and gleaming

carnivalesque

cultural matrix

that plagues him

from the sinews

of time and light

a torturous

complexity

in retrieving

all history

of experience

gravitating into

a play of

reflections

that induces

a sense of

dizziness

and vertigo

nothing

could be more

obscure  and

out of reach

the individual

increasingly

disappears

in the crowd

compromising

the whole

social fabric

in a vain

attempt

to combat

the un-truth

that forces

itself into every

wakeful verity

something

is always

being lost in

routinized ways

despite

the unearthing

of a considerable

body of

new evidence

in which reason

is deeply saturated

by faith in the

political world

which penetrates

into private life

rousing in heart

ardent love or

implacable hatred

the excitement

followed by

weariness and then

by bitterness

the sleeper

is readily
lost in the 

common
oblivion

©robertolavidez2013

rewriting brutalities

by Roberto Lavidez

people survive

furiously under

the smoldering

streets of hell

rewriting

brutalities

in a good deal

of conversation

recorded in

volumes of

historian’s

bullshit

one finds a

floating mass

of questions

disappearing

under the

interminable

fog of detention

the inability

to imagine

arising from

the paradoxical

act of

imagination

torturing

to extract

information

from a victim

with nothing

to confess

greeted by

that strange

inimitable groan

of amusement

and pleasure

atmosphere

of diffidence

destined

to be churned

under the

wagon wheels

of civilization

plunging natives

into confusion

and dismay

facing all kinds

of unpleasantness

and everyday

persecution

threatened

to be devoured

by technological

progress and

ecological

smorgasbord

colossal atrocities

accompanied

building of the

empires

attached to

the bongo-

beating

memories

it recalls

etched against

deep bitterness

sunset underlying 

the placid face

monolith that

would seem

unscathed by

centuries of

habits

ideas

and mores

transmitting

to descendants

at birth the

fount of

ignominy

©robertolavidez2013

cosmic drama

by Roberto Lavidez

neural weapons

in the narrowing

aperture of

consciousness

lingering

in the musty

compartments of

the universe

inside

the brain leaping

out of oneself

towards some

apocalyptic

transcendent

climax

a violent

revolution

staged by

awakening

philosopher

faculties

frustrated

by crippling

environments

and pretensions

of established

cultures

penetrating

to the

lowest depths

the obscurest

corners

devoting

all energies to

the expression

of what is

within

too deep

for words

but is bound to

break through

the ambiguity in

the semantic

dimension

of macroscopic  

conceptions

making a

dramatic show

by subverting

chemicals

of mercy

which numb

the senses

the tiny clusters

which huddle

in jungles

and plains

wreaking havoc

on the world

without

explanation

for depression

specialists

who display

expensive

idleness

hankering for

some morsel

of meat

and pint

of spirits

chasing a flock

of images

buttressed

by the idea of

continuous

process of

exploitation

degradation

humiliation

denying liberty

of the human

essence from

the cycles

of unavoidable

tragedy

in desperate

haste to feed

his appetite

for cosmic

aha moment

like shaping

thoughts

by letting in air

from galaxies

of inspiration

revelation or

any other

spangled

stimulation

©robertolavidez2013

wave of unrest

by Roberto Lavidez

wave of unrest

capable of 

vast deeds 

and destruction

goes through

the land

acutely conscious

of the fragility

of power

it stands

spiritually erect

by regaining

human dignity

shaking off

the shackles

of servitude

through daring

dash and ferocity

with an aura of

heroic infallibility

creating a world

within a world

away from

an onerous past

where bondage

had become

the normal mode

of existence

kindling an inner

as well as an

overt protest

exposing

opposing

obvious wrongs

protecting love

of freedom

aiming at the

vast and

boundless

celestial space

to achieve

greatness

fortune and

prosperity

where even

fishes are

swimming

happily

in the water

enjoying

a peaceful life

without hardships

or disturbances

where even

the dead

in their tombs

have gotten rid

of the devils

their platoon

of guardian

angels

condemning

reprehensible

injurious acts

that interfere

with the progress

of the human spirit

until time came

when battle field

was piled too high

with so many

corpses of the

righteous kind

pride and joy

of their kindred

was clouded with

anxiety almost

beyond endurance

moral distress

more bitter than

physical distress

their cries muffled

in a fog of

empty phrases

until

simplistic slogans

started to

drown out all

profound thought

a new mood

of jingoism

and xenophobia

began affecting

even the more

sensitive beings

standing

helplessly

at the edge

of existence

all free expression

of opinion is

unscrupulously

suppressed

poisoned fishes 

are washed up

on the shore 

a new wave

of unrest

goes through

the land

©robertolavidez2013

about bouts

by Roberto Lavidez

plagued

by headaches

and bouts

of vomiting

humans

can teach

the gods

something

about humanity

its peculiar

combination of

duplicity and

vagueness

its various

hues which

could indulge

internecine

squabbles

its abhorrence

of disorderly

self-indulgence

becoming

the sun

in ones’s own

solar system

man creates

a scandal of

monumental

proportions

seeking

with all its might

for a higher self

he falls into

radically altered

power configuration

down the

black hole

of polemical

oversimplification

the clamorous

proponents of the

common man

allows the

ideologue

to subsume

any means

to a single end

losing battle

through a handful

of avoidable errors

deflating human

aspirations

intimately involved

in the establishment

of human authenticity

dousing the fire

in the bellies of

extremists and

Nietzschean

cold sarcasm

against beautiful

sentiments

grinding to a halt

a chain of events

set in motion

its so called

objective ways

of understanding

blurry

arbitrary

and tempting to

gods

engineering

human souls

©robertolavidez2013

vanishing world

by Roberto Lavidez

a vanishing 

world

of thought

and speech

searching for

something 

that does not

exist

stowing away

flimsy

episodic 

memory

with convoluted

documents in

dusty archives

since 

the beginning

of dynastic 

times

intolerable 

uproar

of humanity

festering 

in the

uncharted 

depths

of a remote 

antiquity

emerges

from the 

trauma

of devastating

tragedies and

endless 

quagmire

of clashing 

civilizations

perverted

in the hands of

an outrageous 

occupying 

power

embedded 

in the ancient 

traditions of

worldwide 

cataclysm

devouring 

flames

of the universal

conflagration

the nihilism

and narcissism

of stunted 

evolution

gnaw 

the best

of ancient 

wisdom

together 

with the

brightest of

modern 

knowledge

what must

have been

a wonderful

connection

to our

vital roots

expanding

science

into the

higher realms

including

valuable time

spent in

fleshing out

all the facts

free from

political

meddling

and adding

substance to

the struggle

against those

who hold

the reins 

of power

the history of

mankind

could have been

rewritten by

downloading

consciousness

into silicon chips

linking

prudent music

in a dance of

understanding

before it speeds

out of control

on its merry way

to a destiny

with death

and delusions of

ancient poets

obsessed with

ominous changes

taking place

in the heavens

©robertolavidez2013

deep silt bottom

by Roberto Lavidez

the spiral

of existence

in a great

unending flow

greed

and hubris

unfolding

causes

empire

to unravel

the strange

contortion of

history

upon human

cognizance

of the poor

excluded

from attaining

the barest

essentials of life

unliberated

from the dictates

of the herd 

mentality

entranced

on the 

continuous

exercise

of forgetting

trapped under

blackened 

heaps and

collapsing 

walls

of posterized 

promises   

to house 

the homeless

to feed 

the starving

to bring life 

to the dying

bound 

not to reveal

the whole truth in

seductive 

lyrical style

of dehumanization

seems to burst

uncontrollably 

into

free verse 

dominance

of western 

materialism

escaping 

to flatland

patriarchy 

and militarism

virtually 

wiping out

spirituality

individuals 

designated

as targets

to be taken out

of the struggle

to reclaim

their legacy

the downloading 

of consciousness

into machines

empirical 

constitution

of the planet

burying millions

of mangled

decomposing 

corpses

lost in the 

enormous

deep silt bottom

forever subdued 

and cordial 

to the rest

of humanity

©robertolavidez2013