for the man

of his time

by Roberto Lavidez

everything

was dogmatic

for the man

of his time

who was

trying to

escape

his time

the path

was very

rough

and full

of thorns

the smoldering

ashes sent

a sickening

plume into

the sky

carried with it

a whole panoply

of ceremonial

display

shaping

paradoxes

which have

aroused

the uncomprehending

anger of others

there had to

be an

underhanded

spiteful motive

the state of

the self

is something

to overcome

a condition

to transcend

whole areas

of our experience

were to be

considered

as having never

existed beyond

the fragile

boundaries

of discretion

as damning

as it was

unsupported

by events

irrespective of

how justifiable

they may be

that’s when

you start

to do

a revision

of the real

history

with the

power of the

written word

in the phraseology

of the left and

the right

there should be

no abandonment

of extremes

one must gain

greater

advantages

from efforts

in the

struggle

for life

one must

discover

the outlines

of his own

earthly

paradise

a lyrical style

that seems

to burst

uncontrollably

into free verse

from time

to time

unless one

does not have

a small fiefdom

that could settle

the problem

in its own way

or the disposition

to be able

to play

a leading role

in his true

historical

drama

©robertolavidez2014

the illusion

of control

by Roberto Lavidez

the illusion

of control

makes

the difference

between life

and death

a cloak behind

which the

individual

can make

the very

careful

weighing of

all the elements

of the situation

bathed in the

flat sunshine

of an early

May dawn

asserts that

a rupture

would be

inevitable

hurling

the world

toward its

destination

of an ever-

more complex

future

having nothing

left to which

to resist

to minimize

both the peril

and the

confusion

it's all about

belief and

you’ve got

to want

to believe

a willingness

to think

beyond

borders

creating

within

ourselves

a sense of

the ineffable

that no matter

what else

might happen

all are ways

in which

the universe

has ratcheted

upward

in degrees

of order

everything else

around it

would collapse

making days

worse than

your most

appalling

nightmare

making for

a needless

confounding

mess

spreading

as rapidly

as the germs

of plague

a point of

understanding

and compromise

cannot be

reached

too contentious

and speculative

to resolve

the underestimation

was from

blindness

those who

had mortified

themselves

in the name

of God

had the

message

pierced

to the heart

of matters

all hope

of surprise

would come

to nothing

in the end

©robertolavidez2014

going down in history

by Roberto Lavidez

certain doom 

watchers

perched high

on their

orthodox

mountain

in a habit

of regarding

the future

through

prophetic eyes

by the doctrine

of the unreality

of time amidst

the gloom and

dire warnings

of disaster that

surrounds us

bolstered up

by all kinds

of nonsense

from the flow

of modernizing

ideas

afraid of

awakening

suspicions and

provoking

contrary

reactions

unless refuge

in mysticism

is sought

a residue

of past feudal

ways of

thinking

going down

in history

as a period

of wasted

opportunities

of ruthless

exploitation

of resources

the source

of dangerous

misunderstandings

and catastrophic

miscalculations

aborted

revolutions

xenophobic

revolts

demented

ideologies

and fanatical

mass parties

seduced by

the allure of

worldly wealth

forced to submit

to humiliating

concessions

a kind of

paralysis

descending

upon the

community

leading to

cultural decline

and political

chaos

emptying

history

of its

contents

©robertolavidez2014

craving

an idealized

world

by Roberto Lavidez

revisionist

history is

commonplace

for everyone

who preferred

the thought

that they 
were righteous

craving an

idealized 
world

of beautiful 
words

sights and 
feelings

but irreconcilable

in hatred

ready to believe

and to act 
without asking 
questions

evil ever 
threatening

from both 
without

and within

extracting 
the poetry

into anthologies

and remodeling

the husks 
of plot

seeding stories

with deceptions

aggravated

by compulsion

concealing

the truth

from the world

separated

from what 
has gone before

the humiliating

struggles

the painful

and constricting

chains in

the proverbial

darkness

the pattern of

mourning

depends

quite as much

upon the

condition

of society

the emphasis

and morality

of history

tailored

to suit

political

expediency

it is essential

that it should

not be

compromised

in any way

the creation

and preservation

of the dramatic

illusion

©robertolavidez2014

enveloped in a cloud

by Roberto Lavidez

the body

and mind

operated

in distinct

realms

the whole

fascinating

vision

vanished

enveloped

in a cloud

the omission

of a once

glimmering

memory

never rectified

conflicting

drives

mirrored

in the

paradoxical

behavior

placing

the ultimate

metaphysical

questions

at the center

like a

scaffolding

designed to

support

an edifice

bridled

under such

nickel and

dime nonsense

the necessity

to make a

moral stand

the struggle

frequently

invoked as

pedagogically

necessary

given the

desperate

state of many

embittered

broken and

disillusioned

thought is

impossible

without

universal

language

operating

according

to universal

laws delivered

in a plethora

of prose

to the very end

as foolish and

hysterical as ever

the coincidence

of minds

entirely opposed

imbued with

the nature of

the object it is

meditating on

to resolve the

question of

evil in its

ultimate form

and its closest

proximity to

the heavenly

throne of Zeus

©robertolavidez2014

the new reality

by Roberto Lavidez

we grow up

in perpetual

insecurity

uncomfortably

close to

nihilist despair

the crux of

the matter was 

exactly that

an atmosphere

of unrelieved

tension 

and gloom

resembling 

that of the 

restlessness

of myth

to accommodate

the new reality

anything less

would be

incomprehensible

unrealistic and

unacceptable

we always 

have to be 

aware of

the enemy 

within

the many 

different shapes 

and forms

human beings

endure

deprivation of

consciousness

of reason

of human

dignity

living in

the shadows

of terror

human nature

is not cast

in bronze

longing for

a glimmer

of sense

in a world

that came

about

through

a mistake

the idea

that there is

no smoke

without fire

fails to draw

the necessary

conclusions

intellectuals

with blood

and sweat are

rusting away

perhaps

the better

for the 

struggle

life experience

vindicates

man’s nostalgic

approach to

the future

to have the

right thought

provocations

to rise above

the clutter

kites are flown

and balloons

are sent

into the sky

into an intimate

embrace of

the unimaginable

no need to look

for supernatural

explanations

there is nothing

like it before

©robertolavidez2014

a different story

by Roberto Lavidez

to remember

one thing

is to let

another

slip from

remembrance

no one could

envision

anything else

making

the putz

understand

the reality

of life

why me

why me

why is this

happening

to me

needs a

rescue effort

to bail oneself

out of his

dilemma

to recognize

his own

impulses

burdened

with the

forgetting

of all those

parts of

ourselves

we want

to forget

echoes

from our

ancestors

fanatically

convinced of

their presence

although they

remain invisible

perhaps it

does not seem

obvious that

something

is amiss

something

that tends

to fade

into the

background

too vague

to constitute

a definite

threat

under

the noses

of an

unsuspecting

world

avoiding

a sensation

of helplessness

dominating

our dream

thoughts

like the tail

wagging still

after its head

has been

cut off

or the vision

of a mermaid

drowning

in a sea

of deep

desire

if nothing

matters

there is

nothing

to save

the story

would

have been

completely

different

©robertolavidez2014