is it possible

by Roberto Lavidez

is it possible

to keep peace

between hostile

communities

to bear an

olive branch

and a freedom

fighter’s gun

hoping that

nothing really

bad happens

is it possible

to dedicate

work to the

idealization

of the possibilities

God offered man

while remembering

the garish picture

of humiliation

at the hands of

the enemy

that no matter

how far it may

be removed

from experience

hellish nightmare

pushes man’s power

and freedom to

limitless extremes

is it possible

to stop the waving

of a wheat field

in the wind

before the rain

for a movement

to not think

in ratonal terms

but in terms of

divine compassion

can secular thought

be compatible with

religious thought

where the lion

would lie down

with the lamb

and the desert

would blossom

is it a fairly simple

matter to determine

whether violence

is a crazed work

of a psychopath

or a politically

motivated outrage

is it possible

for the coarse

and deaf to

discern the

music of allusion

and irony

this sophisticated

but often

brutal world

of dominance

regurgitating

with an air

of profound

fathomless

even smug

authority

with the

power to blow

the entire planet

to smithereens

is it possible

to measure

the sorrow

alighting upon

the earth

following

its destruction

to some extent

it’s inevitable

it proliferates

almost

beyond

the wildest

imaginings

and to expect

a soul will be

left standing

to shed tears

is it possible

©robertolavidez2013

a story

fraught with

contradictions

by Roberto Lavidez

the whole

thing

speaks

for itself

the spoken

and unspoken

lingua franca

of exclusionism

rooted

in a

sense

of injury and

identification

you never

see the

uncomfortable

reality of

the other

side

until

it affects

you

directly

it is

inner-

directed

and once

started

in a certain

direction

cannot

deviate

from it

vaults into

a kind of

Joycean

monologue

at once

analyst

and subject

bidding

good

riddance

to the

democratic

principles

of liberty

equality and

fraternity

a story

fraught

with

contradictions

outside

and inside

the mind

of the

refuser

evolved

from

quite

different

preexisting

morphologies

by virtue

of its

compulsion

to reduce

every

aspect

of existence

moving

ahead

by fits

and starts

producing

their own

special

peculiarities

of form

isolated by

their

mutual

antagonisms

or aversions

leaving

behind

only

scraps of

half-

remembered

details

staved off

by the

many

diversions

which

each day

brought

we live

in a kind

of world

bound

together

by the

primacy

of blood

lineage and

language

but where

no one

listens

staring

only

at the

eye

of a

strange

and

endless

storm

suffering

a vertigo

brought on

by the

sudden

changes

of unsettling

impact

you are

in your

own

mind

condemned

to hell

where

a series

of incongruous

completely

unrelated

images

merge

in a

matrix

of changing

patterns

metastasizing

like a

cancerous

growth

it must

be kept

in mind

just

how

unusual

this may

seem

but as

a habit

of the

unrelenting

heart

nothing

less than

the evident

leaves

a taste

on the

tongue

a natural

consequence

of continued

interconnections

and the

uncomfortable

reality

of being

yourself

©robertolavidez2013

a foot in the

gaping mouth

of hell

by Roberto Lavidez

the lie

that

the happy

consumer

lifestyle

is accessible

to all

a dream

that

generates

many

foolish

desires

and

the most

absurd

fancies

invading

every

nook and

cranny

by which

means

the exploiter

rule the

ignorant

in the

shade

and in the

silence

the vilest

human

passions

creep

a utopian

world

occupied

by an army

of marketeers

so far

removed

from the

grim

dog-eat-dog

realities

the ruthlessness

of ambitious

mediocrities

disregarding

human rights

in favor of

chic

global

economy

highlighting

free-market

inequalities

is there

a way

to abolish

exploitation

of man by man

to release

the workers

and the victims

from the

chains of

imperialism

challenging

the emptiness

of the philosopher’s

concern with

universal

humanity

the ambition

of regenerating

mankind itself

when all ideas

are in

harmony

and in the

service

of the

common

good

that history

is progressing

with its

meaning

and purpose

is an

eschatological 

stepping stone

to a big

sinkhole

evocative

of medieval

renditions

this great tomb

overwhelmed

with darkness

where there is

nothing but

worms

and bones

until

a new man

would arise

to populate

its post-

apocalyptic

age

dressed up

in Armani suit

and Gucci shoes

©robertolavidez2013

the process

of elimination

by  Roberto Lavidez

genes

have been

flowing deep

into the

history

of our

species

or mankind

will breed

itself

into

oblivion

as certain

as the

rising

and setting

of the sun

wondering

if civilized

life

is a savage

if not more so

than the

uncivilized

in its social

inequality

and frequent

warfare

are we

beyond

the threshold

of recovery

when one

seeks to

eliminate

another

while at the

same time

profess to

believe in

human

equality

to see

who was

on the top

and who was

on the bottom

who was

exploiting

and who

was being

exploited

living on

the edge

of subsistence

scrabbling for

every crust

where some

possess

very many

things

and others

nothing

some see

the big picture

and pursue

the transcendent

separating

the noise

the filth

the lies

from the

facts

synthesizing

evolution

with the

existence

of a personal

god

some have

the habit

of dissoluteness

too ingrained

in plot lines

woven into

soap operas

some have

the compulsion

to find the

absolute truth

making all

the world’s

knowledge

available

to anyone

and everyone

in time

who knows

what is going

to happen

as we are

limited

by our own

imagination

like forgetting

how to dance

and explore

the space

of possibilities

we can be

simple-minded

born for war

rather than

for peace

or have we

become like

dinosaurs

merely waiting

for the next

meteor to

hit the earth

©robertolavidez2013

when we try

by Roberto Lavidez

when we try

to make

everything fit

everything

falls apart

whether

the state

of existence

is unfolded

or projected

absolute

nothingness

is still

inconceivable

the haughty

are transformed

into fools

the rich

into paupers

the philosophers

into dolts

where everything

explained

everything else

the tendency is 

to fall back on 

pure nonsense

when you see 

that through 

the combination

of letters

you grasp things

you could not

have known

by yourself

you still 

keep watching

the birth

of other men’s

memories

the birth

of history

or of many

histories

matter is either

broken down

or there is

a mystical

assemblage

of silver hearts

wooden arms

and legs

a metamorphosis

into capricious

manipulable

designations

taking flight

from the last

remaining 

thought of

resistance

to the

blind force

of the

irrational

images of

wondrous

rescues from

glittering

storms and

maelstroms

where fire

keeps you

warm

and cold

gives you

pneumonia

experience

is always

real action

and suffering

either the 

world becomes

the weak or

all powerful

where terror

and civilization

are inseparable

in the

narrative space

of intentions

and choices

the space

of imagination

the space 

of dreams

that the circle

is trying

to prove

the sphere

hearts

cannot be

poured into

concepts

and when

we try

to make

everything

fit

everything

falls

apart

©robertolavidez2013