occupied

misreadings

by Roberto Lavidez

there were

many errors

of translation

and numerous

misreadings

and some fairly

definite

conclusions

present

themselves

almost unsought

these things

don’t disappear

they are

reformulated

and reinterpreted

in ways

in which

it is adopted

on aggressive

mission

holy wars

primitivism

and the like

produced

through

cultural

discourses

and vast

networks

of social

relationships

perhaps in

remembering

perhaps in

irony

writing

histories

without

analogy

without

parallel

in the

ongoing

drama of

investing life

without

a purpose

without

a direction

without

common

understanding

this is the

crux

of the

matter

allowing us

to  praise

the great 

dead

as if they

were  still

alive

intoxicating

them with

the miasma

of their

primitive

hatred

sending into

paroxysms

of godlessness

a world

of war

sickness

hunger

and pain

the great men

of the past

had too often

been disruptive

no other

path of action

would be

appropriate

for they were

precisely

the features

a hoaxer

would eliminate

the exclusionist

view that

there was

only one

truth

about the

inner nature

of the world

temporarily

breaking

the hold of

a suffocating

sun

unexamined

uncriticized

uninspected

evidence free

argument

resting on

nothing

more than

speculation

the lack

of respect

the quick

judgement

we make of

each other

coming back

again to the

same old cycle

occupation

evictions

and violence

whether  as

hero

clown

or fiend

to shed faith

is to embrace

the logic

of the occupier

©robertolavidez2014

storm cloud

by Roberto Lavidez

how do you

determine

where the line is

between the real

and the unreal

there is a sense

of a continuum

disrupted

the breadth of 

the gap is 

disquieting

everything 

grew confused

like a 

billowing

storm cloud

giving a

passionate

impromptu

harangue

the rivers

cease to flow

the dead

rise from

their graves

filth on

the face of

the country

the very

underpinning

of civilization

imperiled

rapping out

a message

that seemed

to reflect the 

incoherence

of events

suggesting

the great

melodrama

of history

and mankind’s

folly in a

struggle

toward light

not the

beginning

of the end

but the end

of the

beginning

the risk

of error

cannot be

avoided

something

no human

could face

with anything

but terror

letting the

tide of 

reproach and 

recrimination

flow over

one’s head

the berserk

snarl of the

blown exhausts

exposing

the fallacies

of arguments

an ill omen

that nobody

should have

ignored

had sought

through

so many

unknown

byways

of inquiry

being forced

to turn

a blind eye

when the

laws were

bent

freed of the

uncertainties

and fears

which beset

other men

once the

myth is

punctured

we can

liberate

ourselves

from the

stultifying

dogma

and the

conditions

created by

mankind

demanding

freedom

to be left

alone

©robertolavidez2014

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