Revelation

“Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals.”
~ Revelation 5:1

Nights unfold
Like the scrolls of Revelation
Dragons and Leviathan breathing inconvenience
Gehenna burning bright
As the pale horse gallops across America
Lead me not into temptation
Bring the whore to heel
Empire to ashes
As the Barstool Prophet orders another round
Truth to Power, “he sighs…” and sips his martini
What changed from Egypt to Babylon to America?
From bathtub gin to methamphetamines 
Sing me another song Abishag
A melody for humanity
Lyrics of carnal hermeneutics
“going all the way down”
Keeping my body warm in the night
We know Goliath died long ago
Yet, his shadow looms over us all
So, bring me to Jerusalem
We will find new wine to drink
And five smooth stones in a wadi

Bukowski – Days run away like horses over the hill

I put together this digital story centered around a portion of an interview Charles Bukowski did years ago. He talks about the value of rest, to simply sleep when you need to and not feel guilty or that you “should” be doing something. This digital story is a reflection on how I am feeling during this pandemic and the uncertainty and liminal spaces we find ourselves living in while pondering the ramifications of these times. I wrote a poem for the digital story with the word “apocalypse” in it. I do not mean the word as it is often used or understood in the pop culture of evangelicalism but rather with the sense of an “unveiling.” What is being unveiled before our eyes? What injustices and systemic evils? Times of difficulty throughout history have been an apocalypse of one kind or another for the simple reason of what those times and experiences unveiled. Take a look around and reflect on this unveiling.

humming the soundtrack for the apocalypse
eyes begin to see and ears to hear
a world full of stories 
(crying to be heard)
(begging to be seen)
laments of the voiceless
forgotten ones 
with backs bent to build a forsaken 
“American Dream”