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