one

the latest word is that positive living translates as       better living and extends the longevity of one’s precious life….

in order to achieve this, one is told they must eliminate and purge themselves of all toxicity and negativity        be it in food, water,  pollution    in  broadcast news reports or unpleasant things in general ….

but especially, purge the worries and stresses about things            purge the mindless acts of some fellow humans       the funny “things “that have we and the world spinning out of control right outside our front doors….

two

CHANGE!  YOU MUST CHANGE, THEY SAY.  YOU MUST CHANGE HOW YOU LIVE YOUR LIFE AND WHO YOU KEEP IN IT  IN ORDER TO LAST LONGER!

CHANGE!  YOU MUST CHANGE IN ORDER TO BEAT THE ODDS THAT DEATH HAS ALREADY STACKED AGAINST YOU!  PUSH PUSH PUSH ALL THE NEGATIVITY AWAY FROM YOU!

CHANGE!   CLING WITH YOUR BLOODY STUMPS TO LIFE’S RIM AND RID YOURSELF OF ANYTHING THAT’S IS UNPLEASANT OR DIFFICULT BECAUSE ITS BAD FOR YOU!                                     ( it will kill you)

LIVE LIKE THIS AND YOU WILL SURVIVE!

three

in this life, we have surrounded ourselves with madness              and happily  chosen its crooked, rain-slicked  paths instead of the alternate   straight and narrow highways

we’ve held hands with the other crazies        (who are just like us)

the depressed and troubled   the pretenders and the man-children     to the artists and dreamers             those often suicidal     and to the lost and bat-shit crazy

we have giggled wildly while tossing wildflowers from the garden       scattered petals from the perfect scarlet rose to create a thing of softness and beauty    for love    with them       have  skipped and stumbled, cried hysterical never-ending tears with them           and, always, they waited for us too…….waited and worried for our safe passage back when we’ve  been lost for awhile, a little too long    in a dark wood or two….

we’ve climbed up from the benthic depths and raced skyward  with those most beloved:

the artists, the madmen and women      the loyal who know us best      our fellow humans, our chosen blood      the creators we’ve known, those who have run the entire gamut  ………..the brilliant       terrified to cease or fail, they all have tasted on their lips the blood     and the struggles      day to day sometimes        trying hard to simply remember to exhale the precious breath they didn’t realize they were holding…listening to doubt’s voice in their head, wondering aloud:  is it over yet?  is the Muse really gone?  is this the day that i will……….stop?

four

with insight, we have shared and melded their like-mindedness with ours  gathered them close         shared with them our deepest secrets and fears       because   we speak the truth and of the unspoken things         we know that they too understand balance of this honesty in life.              we have loved and cared for these humans           in degrees          in the present and in the past

danced and doe-see-doe’d with them across hardwood floors and soft talcum powder  sands      we’ve hollered and screamed with them—and, later, on their behalf, at raging thief rivers       at killer waves on beach fronts      stood with them in the silence of  blessed mountaintops      laughed til we’ve cried til’ we’ve peed    shared in the beauty of a tender garden, while a lost voice of silliness still whispers behind every leaf…

soul-exchanged and heart filled, we have cared and been cared for…changed roles as the drainer and the drain-ee             always have managed to survive, bond in tact        strong, yet disconcertingly tenuous….

five

the new sad  rule is to eliminate ‘toxic’ people from your daily diet, including all of the aforementioned

another cruel blow to compassion for others!         

death laughs, shakes his whitened skull, and with his bony hand, turns to his dusty chalkboard, and adds another hash-mark         while we turn, face the red-brick and mortar wall and slowly                            bang our remaining hearts              repeatedly          against it

(AND THE MADNESS)