Two Voices

Two Voices

Hateful words flying through the air

Like missiles and poisonous gas

They don't listen

Being so intent on trying to come up with

The next argument to prove how "woke" they are.

And let the people say.....I'm tired of this crap!!!

Anger's voice is too loud to talk over

We need a peacemaker like Ghandi, like Martin Luther King, like Jesus

The Bible says: Make no friendship with an angry man

Why?

Because an angry man is a walled city that can't be scaled

Bang your head on his wall, he won't hear you

He only hears the screams of his anger

Anger, non-righteous, is a demon that is only afraid of love

Righteous anger is good but even that must be laid aside

Before the sun goes down.

There comes a time

When weapons need to be laid down

And replaced by handshakes and hugs

And let the people say...I'm tired of war!

You can't rewrite history

You can only write the next chapter of the story

Let the poets and the lovers and the godly write that chapter

Take the thousand dollar pens out of the hands of the one per centers

It is they who wrote the previous chapters of hate and war

And made the innocent masses pay for their crimes.

And let the people say....Ain't that the truth!!!!

We know what's going on here,

We who have ears to hear

And eyes to see

We know who it is that loves war and hates peace

We know who it is that conquers by division

We know what drives men to madness 

And children to nightmares

We know.........................

And we know that the ancient law of "eye for an eye"

Only led to a world full of blind men

"Tooth for a tooth" led to teethless people made even more angry

By their inability to gnash their teeth

The only people who will attain peace in this world

Are those, like Chief Joseph, who say "I will fight no more again forever."

For fighting leads to fighting and killing of the body

Leads to killing of the soul.

And let the people say...... Somebody done growed a brain up in here!!!

All blood is red (unless you're a Martian)

And all men bleed the same color

Why?

Because we are of one race, one species, one family

Sly Stone said it well in "Family Affair" when he sang....

"One child grows up to be somebody that just loves to learn

And another child grows up to be somebody you'd just love to burn

Mom loves the both of them. You see it's in the blood.........

What am I saying?

 We are all one family, one blood

But depending on whose voice you listen to and follow.....

You will either be a good or evil member of that family

You will love your fellow man or burn in  the fire of your own anger

It's your choice to make

 Hate begets hate, love begets love

The Creator will still love you

 But He probably won't like you very much.

Why? 

Because you don't listen to the voice of Reason

But are swayed by the voice of Vengeance

There are only two voices in this world

One wants you to live in peace and love as you were made to love

And the other one knows...................

His time is short.

And let the people say.....Amen and Amen!

(now give me a High Five 

and a hug around the neck, Somebody!)

©by Voo Shining Stone

Sept 29, 2020

8:34 p.m.

Family Affair By The Family Stone

let that devil be

let that devil be



perpetrating storm
she lied with sunshine
flattering with a look
that belied her cold disdain


patronizing innocence
she became my heart's betrayer
falling in with clear skies
she became my drowning rain


truth was not one of her gifts
nor was it in her nature
sincerity's beguiling dance
a trap I dropped into


 red rose scent upon her skin
it hid the smell of danger
luscious lips and snake skinned hips
and dark clouds in the blue


seducing like a sideshow
in the eyes of curiosity
in the latter days of childhood
before the boy became the man


I threw my money at her feet
and entered at her bidding
left my soul at her front door
and I've not seen it again


flashing pretty darkness
the morning fled forever
redemption's promise blazed and burned
and the rays of sun were gone


swallowing me like a sugary treat
she wiped her hands and mouth
threw me in with a thousand men
and her lair became my home


perpetrating storm
she lied with sunshine
her hands of sin are never full
and now they're holding me


if you should hear her honeyed voice
don't listen to her calling
turn your ears from her sweet song
and let that devil be.


©by Voo
Sept 24, 10
2:36 a.m.

Squaring The Circle

Squaring the Circle

He happened to me
Like a tragedy happens to some people,
Like a train wreck or a windfall,
Like good time or a bad time,
Like an incurable disease
Leading to death or remission
Or a night full  of fantasy
And a dawn of remorse;
He happened.......
He just happened.

The thing about actors is:
They don't know how to be themselves
They don't know how to love themselves
They don't know how to be vulnerable
They are afraid..........
And they avoid knowing and showing
Who they really are
By becoming other people.

Don't ask me how I know this
Stop! I said, don't  ask me how I know this!
This is my script and my biography
And my experience and my life
And the scars written here upon this page
Are my scars!
Who are  you to intrude upon my private thoughts
And ask offensive, impudent questions?
Oh, yeah..........I forgot......
I asked you to read this, didn't I?

He came in like a hurricane
And I was standing alone on the beach
Wearing my love
And with my heart all exposed
Thinking little else
Wanting little else
But to  be in his arms
With his lips pressed to mine
I was the starlet and he was the Star.

To this day I don't know what happened
One minute, all was light and love
And the next minute, darkness descended
And the perfect form before me
Became alien and terrifying
The mouth I had kissed
Twisted into an image of disdain
And the man I adored,
Someone I barely recognized.

And still..............
The memory of the man he was
Haunted my every waking thought
Followed me around like Mary's little lamb,
Jarred me awake like some insane cuckoo clock,
Flashed in my mind like a paparazzi flashbulb,
Heated my body to unbearable temperature,
And made me go cold like a dip in the Artic sea.

Who knows what makes us become
What we eventually become?
Lack of love, too much love?
An inflated big ego? No self esteem?
Not enough discipline? Way too much discipline.....?
Hating ourselves or loving unhealthily
The face that looks back from the wall to wall mirrors?

You tell me
No, wait! Don't tell me!
I'm not sure I want to know
Maybe someday........
Maybe when I'm on my deathbed
And my chest is rattling
And my eyes are dim with age
And the Reaper is standing in the corner
Waiting for my soul to come out of it's shell.....
Maybe then...........
Maybe not.

I was talking about him, not me, anyway
The him that happened to me
Back when life was new and love was an ideal
And every bird sang in it’s tree just for me
Every day was a peach to be plucked
And a sky full of rainbows,
A pocket full of four-leaf clovers
And a story that had no end.

It's all about making changes, isn't it?
New directions, new adventures, new horizons?
New frontiers, new outlooks, new chapters
And all that crap..........
Well, I certainly had my share
After him
I had more than my share,
I had more than I could stand
But I didn't have him.

I could have had him, I could!
The day came when fame and fortune found me
And the world lay at my feet like a shining pearl
The flashbulbs were popping,
The champagne was flowing,
The hands were all clapping,
And the audience was adoring........
And there he stood,
An older and wiser version of his dimmed, dazzling self.

I drew myself up in my four inch heels
Like a queen meeting a peasant,
Like a goddess on a pedestal,
And an luminary orbiting
A star that had no peer,
And I extended my hand for the obligatory kiss
And I said, And you are.....? 
I don't believe we've met.

The crushed look on his countenance
Was worth the price of admission
The way his eyes fell
And the sound his heart made
When it dashed to the ground
And shattered into a thousand tiny pieces
There before my dark-shaded and sun tanned,
Older but ever young..........
Make believe, beautiful, Hollywood face.

I  lie in the dark
And think about it sometimes
Even now, when fame has ebbed
And fortune has seen it's better days
The kisses on the hand
Are fewer and farther between
And the lovers I loved
Are no longer loved
Just articles and photos
And names on a page.

He never recovered from my rejection
He faded from fame and faded from life
Disappeared into obscurity
And off of the tongue,
Stepped out of the spotlight
So out of sight, out of mind......
Except for mine
Where his bright star still shines.

Vengeance is a hollow victory
Only a fool could celebrate
And celebrate it, I did for a few short days,
Gloating over the way I felt
When I made him feel
The way he made me feel
When he happened to me
Yeah, well, I happened to him!

Two foolish, selfish children,
Two shallow, selfish actors
We don't know who we are
Only what we were
Throwing away treasures
To run after trinkets…..
But the circle always comes back around
Doesn’t it?
Most of the time.

I was standing in the supermarket
Buying peaches and veal,
Looking for items to buy with my coupons,
And there he stood,
Looking puzzled by cantaloupes
And disgusted by carrots,
And our eyes met over the orange juice.

His eyes lit up
And his mouth smiled before he could stop it
And then he remembered
And his back straightened and he turned away
Without a word
And marched out of the store
With empty hands
The circle was squared.

I was crushed,
Tears sprang out of my eyes
And showered my tanned face
Like rain drops in April,
I had no handkerchief
And so they fell, soaking my produce
While customers stared, whispering
Well, that serves her right!

You see, they hadn’t known
About what he had done to me
Only what I had done to him
And he had their sympathy, not me
Tomorrow it would be in all the tabloids
And everyone would know my shame
But not what was buried in my heart
Buried in the sand of the shore
Of first love……………..

I was taking the groceries
Out of the car
And preparing to lug them inside
When I felt a touch on my shoulder
And I turned and it was him
I gasped, not knowing what to do
Stunned, really, to see him there
And stunned, more so, to see his smile.

I’m sorry, he said, I didn’t mean to do that
I didn’t mean to do anything to hurt you
I didn’t mean to…….
Well, I mean’t to do…..I wanted to do…..this
And  he took me in his arms
And kissed me like the first time so long ago
When love was new and a movie unscripted.

And all our pretenses fell away,
All our fake and phony importance,
All our glamour that was no glamour at all
But smoke and mirrors
Hiding the small and frightened children
That we were inside……….

We clung there together
Like the present does the past,
Our lips pressed together and our hearts pounding so,
Circles of heartbreak turning to symbols of infinity,
Beginning again a-new and at last
And forgetting everything
That had happened to us.


©By Voo
June 11, 2011
2:11 p.m.

Insurmountable Odds

Insurmountable Odds

Against insurmountable odds he stands
A survivor in the wars of life
Expecting never to be whole again
Though he has crumbled in the stress and strife.

But in the fighting with and the fighting against
The giving up and the giving in
It's made him stronger, wiser and sweeter
And a better man than he might have been.

Losing sometimes gives you gains
Like gaining sometimes makes you lose
The things that mean the most to you
And often forces you to choose.

No one chooses to suffer loss
For eyes can't see the greater good
That often comes in the midst of hell
And makes us do that thing we should.

For wisdom comes with experience
And experience with pain
And heartache comes from reaching out
And love with reaching out again.

So the man stands there with smiling face
Wondering why he has not died
He doesn't see the strength I see
Living joyfully inside.

From life to death and back again
The journey inches onward
The trail gets cold, gets lost, grows old
But one day will point him homeward.

And all will be laid out to see
The Whys, the Whos, the Wheres
The insurmountable odds and the roads that were trod
And the treasures that wait for him there.

©by Voo

Jan 31, 2005

written in a dream last night,

typed out at 11:30 a.m.

The Garbage Man

THE GARBAGE MAN

HERE COMES THE GARBAGE MAN

GET OUT YOUR GARBAGE CANS

THROW OUT THAT TRASH THAT YOU'VE BEEN GLEANING

ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES AND GET SPRING CLEANING.

PITCH OUT THE HATE YOU'VE HELD SO LONG

THOSE LONESOME OLD BEER DRINKING SONGS

VACUUM UP THAT LITTERED STRIFE

AND GET THE GARBAGE OUT OF YOUR LIFE.

TEMPER YOUR TEMPER AND MEEKNESS RELEARN

IMPATIENCE THROW ON THE FIRE TO BURN

GATHER UP YOUR PARTY HATS

AND EMULATIONS ADD TO THAT.

THROW OUT THE POSTERS OF YOUR IDOLS

AND ON YOUR TONGUE PUT ON A BRIDLE

STOP YOUR EYES FROM ROVING OVER

TO THE BACK YARD OF YOUR BROTHER.

STOP YELLING AT YOUR LITTLE KIDS

FOR DOING SILLY THINGS YOU DID

` TURN OFF THE T.V. AND HIT YOUR KNEES

AND INSTEAD OF YOURSELF, TRY GOD TO PLEASE.

AND WHEN YOU'VE GATHERED UP YOUR TRASH

AND BURNED YOUR RUBBISH TO THE LAST

RUN YOU A BABTISM AND JUMP RIGHT IN

AND WASH AWAY ALL TRACE OF SIN.

THE GARBAGE TRUCK ROLLS BY EVERY HOME

AND KEEPS COMING BY TILL THE GARBAGE IS GONE

BUT THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER I'M TALKING ABOUT:

HE CAN'T PICK IT UP IF YOU DON'T PUT IT OUT.

©by Voo