All For Nothing, By Brian37

Why don't you

Rape and murder

Why don't you

Steal from your neighbor

This is such

The asinine query

From the believer

Upon hearing the word "atheist"

That if there were

No one watching

Nothing could stop us

From doing harm

Yes it is true

That "all this"

Is in fact

"All for nothing"

But in lacking a god

Does not mean

The atheist

Lacks morality

To us your need

For a cosmic parent

Is immature

Infantile

For to want thus

Is to say

You lack self control

And need that mental prison

Adult morality

Need not a god

It is doing the right thing

Even when no one is watching

"All for nothing"

Is not fatalistic

But to say you need to be watched

Is to be pessimistic

It is saying

You need a leash

You need a dictator

To do the right thing

Brain Cells, By Brian37

No one can name me

One nation

On this planet

That does not incarcerate

These tepid, uninspired dreamers

Would have us believe

In a vacuous plan, a cure

For social ills

Yet prisons exist

In every nation

With the full range

Of human cruelty

Please tell me

All ye fans

Of your cosmic elixir

Why such a spotty record?

If Allah seeks "Justice"

And so does Jesus

And their rival Yahweh

Whom are all powerful

Then why, do tell

That of crime

That any prision

Should exist at all?

Could it be

That people do bad

Even when

We don't want them to?

Could it be

There is no god

And simply humans

Who do bad?

Could it be

We are better off

As a species

To study our faults?

Could it be

A better answer

Is not in fantasy

But study our condition?

Maybe it could be

In every nation

Would need less prisons

If they had knowledge, not superstition.

Just Do It, By Brian37

If Apollo 13

Had followed that line

Without the "what ifs"

Or redundancy

"Just do it"

Would not have

Gotten them

Safely back home

In our daily lives

We think in terms

Of black and white

Of simplistic solutions

Our whims and wishes

Our predilections

Do not constitute

Complex reality

Thought is more

Than mere emotion

Thought that produces

Fears no qestion

The thought that translats

To reality

Has never to fear

That of scrutiny

The failed moon shot

Was not of wishes

Or of comic books

But that of planning

From The Start, By Brian37

The obscenity

The poison

The death

Of intelect

Is insured

From the start

When it moves

On buying, not testing

"Wait a minute"

"Where's your evidence"

"How do you know"

Are victims of faith

Faith never was

Or ever will be

A form

Of quality control

From the start

It hinders human progress

And only those

Who dare

Who dare

To kick the tires

To thrash a claim

Are the heros

They are the Edisons

They are the Fords

They are our doctors

They are human progress

From the start

The only tactic

Of good quality control

Is investigation, not marketing

Faith is a shell

And a deadly starting point

Rotting the mind

Holding hostage our future

From the start

The alarm bell should sound

When someone tries to sell you something

And then says "Don't offend me by questioning"

From the start

All absurdities successfully sold

Are sold on gullibility

Preying on ignorance

There is no "essence"

There is no "utopia"

There is just reality

We can and should observe

Voltaire

Most aptly warned

Of where lack of questioning

Can lead

From the start

The only real sunrise

That opens the mind

Is healthy skepticism

Any person

Who sells you a utopia

Political or religious

Is inviting you to commit suicide

Do not follow them

Or anyone blindly

From the start

Always question

Take Me Seriously, By Brian37

If you piss me off

Take me seriously

If we disagree

Take me seriously

But when you doubt

Our humanity

Always remember

I crack jokes, like you do

"Serious" to me

Is the ability to bitch

And laugh

At everything, including self

Double post.

A Boy Named Sarah, By Brian37

At the start

Of the millennia

When I was married

We fancied a pet

At the time

My now X

Thought Peyton Manning

Was cute

So we adopted

An orange tabby

And took the kitten

To the vet

When the aid

Asked for his name

Little did we know

There were two ways to spell it

P- A -Y

Is what we gave

Neither of us knew

That that was for girls

When we returned

They pointed out our error

We laughed at our mistake

And told them to keep it

Since this time

I've been divorced

With no animosity

I kept the cat

This boy cat

Kept me entertained

Once fell off

A bay window ledge

I let him play

With my shoestring

On which the end

I kept my keys

The string got suck

Around his neck

So I let go

Not to strangle him

The clank

Of the keys

On the tile floor

Frightened him

He bolted like lightening

Away from them

In my small apartment

Like a ping pong ball in a jar

As unavoidable

His time had passed

One New Years Eve

He died on my bed

Hollow I felt

Distraught as well

Others told me

To get another

And that I did

And in Payton's honor

I have another boy cat

His name is Sarah

Design?, By Brian37

The giraffe has a nerve

That starts at one ear

Goes down the neck

Then back up to the other

An unseen bacteria

Can infect a healthy person

Through breathing and touch

And even kill them

Dolphins and whales

Do not have to worry

About choking when eating

Because of separate breathing

High in the sky

As eagles do fly

Have far better eyesight

Than on which humans rely

And as much we try

To rid our dwellings

And eating establishments

Of cockroaches

They still outnumber us

And have been arround

In evolutionary history

Much longer.

So try as they might

And futilely try

To sell such garbage

We'll expose the light

The light of truth

In that of science

With DNA

Which confirms it

We do not claim

We fucked monkeys

But all primates

Shared common ancestors

Just the same

When you were born

Your parents and cousins

Did not parish

To know the truth

Of evolution

Look at a tiger

And a house cat by comparison

Same twitching arching tail

Same ear shapes, and paw shapes

And even the same

Grooming behaviors

Tigers did not fuck house cats

House cats did not fuck tigers

But both at one time

Shared common ancestors

Adenine, guanine

Thymine and cytosine

In every living thing

Has proven this.

Your myth will never explain

One fucking thing

So please do refrain

From rotting human brains

Nor would you accept

If a human with another pet

Another pet god

If this same argument they made

Then false cries of bigotry

Are soon to follow

Because the skeptic

Merely says "that is not true"

It is not about rights

Or us being fascists

Trying to oppress you

Because you don't like the message

The people who wrote

These absurd stories

Had no tool of science

To question or query

Their ignorance then

Was understandable

But to claim it today

Makes you look childish

Just grow up

And let it go

The mature thing to do

Is admit when you're wrong

This poem was inspired by the bullshit "reverse discrimination" white guilt excuse people who are not racist use but also use to ignore the issue.  After the Zimmerman verdict some people argued about a story where 3 blacks were accused of murdering a white waitress claiming "Why isn't this getting national attention". This is nothing but selection bias and sample rate error. I watch the news every day, I hear more stories about white kids and white women being kidnapped and murdered, but the reality is that blacks are much more likely to be victims of murder. If any white person says "I am not racist", PLEASE STOP, instead of doing that, TALK TO YOUR BLACK FRIENDS AND CO WORKERS AND FAMILY MEMBERS, they will tell you the reality. Don't pay lip service to equality, OPEN YOUR FUCKING EARS AND LISTEN!

You can bring up a white waitress being murdered by 3 blacks and I can bring up Temar Boggs saving a white girl with nothing but a bicycle. And I can ask the same question "Why isn't Boggs making national news?"

Bogged Down By Ignorance, By Brian37

Some defended

Zimmerman

Claiming it had nothing

To do with race

Then pointed out

A murder story

In which a white wattress

Was murdered by 3 blacks

"Reverse Discrimination"

Is their cry

Why was this story

Not getting the same attention?

As often they do

Claim "I am not racist"

Which is not an argument

But an excuse to ignore

There is such a thing

Ask your black friends

And co workers

And family members

There is such a thing

As being guilty

Of being

"Black in public"

When Temar

Saves a white girl

With nothing but

A mere bicycle

And all you do

Is fucking bitch

"I am not racist"

"I am not like them"

Prove it

Don't just say it

Listen to blacks

And their concerns

I can ask

The same question

About Temar

"Why isn't this national news"?

The truth is

In the news

We hear more

About white girls and women

When they are murdered

Polly Class

Or Adam Walsh

Are headlines far more often

But on average

15 times a day

Highly more likely

Blacks are murder victims

Don't talk to me

About Jodie Arias

Or that of

Casey Anthony

When you say

You are not racist

That is not my argument

But have you ever listened?

It should not be

About race

And Temar

All should celebrate

But "reverse discrimination"

Is a bullshit fallacy

It is a mind trap

To ignore reality

That blacks

Are more likely

To be murdered

And to be punished harsher

Harsher

For the same crime

A white person possessing pot

Will do far less time

So excuse me

For being white

And if you insist

On making it an issue

To my "white folk"

I say "fuck you"

If you want to understand

OPEN YOUR EYES AND LISTEN TO THEM

When you talk

About a white waitress

Being murdered by blacks

I give you Temar, who saved a white girl.

"I am not racist"

Is not an excuse

Open your ears

AND LISTEN TO WHAT BLACKS GO THROUGH!

Simply Criminal, By Brian37

Nada ran away

To avoid what goes on

Every day

Around the world

She could have been

Christian

Living Under  Warren Jeffs

In a cult compound

Or Sikh or Hindu

Whose parents insist

You are property

A mere dowry

With much more bravery

Than I could muster

This 11 year old girl

Showed extraodinary courage

On par with Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Whom I am sure

Will hear

Of Neda's story

Will look upon her

And be proud

That even such tender age

Can stand up for themselves

With college level language

Articulated her objection

To being property

To become a child bride

"Simply criminal"

This 11 year old said

On being sold

Like oxen or sheep

Humans are not tools

To be molded

To be subject

To dictation

Neda is Jefferson

And will prevail

And to all ages

Is humanity's hero!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-J7_TKgw1To

The Daily Delusion, With Jon Theist, By Brian37

Once said by Jon Stewart

"Religion has given people hope

In a world

Torn apart by religion"

I agree Jon, create a needles drama

And sell an impossible utopian solution

In an imperfect world,

And you can lead them by the nose.

This poem is an ode to black atheist and civil rights advocate Hubert Henry Harrison (1883-1927) and his quote, "Show me a population that is deeply religious and I will show you a servile population, content with whips and chains, … content to eat the bread of sorrow and drink the waters of affliction."

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2012-02-22/black-atheists-civil-rights/53211196/1

"The Bread of Sorrow", By Brian37

I can only

With certain humility

Borrow his profound words

For the title

"The waters of affliction"

Harrison decreed

Allow humans to be chained

Allows them to be whipped

The deeply religious

According to Hubert

Were a population

Doomed to be servile

And the colorful monarch

From a famous movie

This black actress

Would certainly agree,

 "As my ancestors

Are free from slavery,

I am free from

The slavery of religion."

And even today

There are so many

From Reginald Finley

To Jamila Bey

Ayaan the giant

Did the same

Escaped the shackles

Of Islam

Reason shining

Out of darkness

"A Raisin In The Sun"

Loraine did write ,

"God is just one idea,

I don't accept. …....

I get so tired of him ,

getting credit

For all the things

The human race achieves

Through its own stubborn effort.

There simply is no God"

Hubert I thank you

And all thee above

"The Bread Of Sorrow"

Is on borrowed time.

(end)

Triple post, sorry.

Guernica By Brian37

While I was in Japan

My x took me

To a Museum

Depicting their horrors of war

Mangled and blown up

Stabbed and shot

The pictures were

Of their dead

A man in Iraq

Throws a shoe

At a leader

In disgust

For their civilian death

And that panting

When I was young

Made no sense

Until now

He meant it as

A reflection of

The horrors

Of war

Burning buildings

Posture of the bodies

A mother holds

Dying child

Some screaming

To the sky

Hands raised

In agony

Those faces

Are not spanish

Or Jewish

Or Japanese

Those are the faces

Of screams of agony

As bodies plummeted

From the towers

Those are the faces

Of the chained negros

Tossed off slave ships

In the middle of the Atlantic

Those are the faces

Of the chambers

Of Jews who thought

They were being led into showers

It does not have to be war

It can be oppression

It can be Trevon

It is the pain of history

Yes that painting

Was about war

But the real issue

Is the pain we inflict

In all matters of life

Of bombs

Or profiling

Of war

Or of murder

Pain is pain

And neither Japan

Or Israel

Or Spain

Neither black or white

Or gay or atheist

Guernica

Is our unfortunate existence

All suffering

In all it's forms

Is timeless

Unbound to boarders or wars

Domestic too

When we are harmed

We all react the same

In pain, like the faces in that painting.

The Dirty Hounds of Sand Creek, by Brian37

My parents generation grew up

In sandlots with cap guns

And played

A horrible game

The vile propaganda

Of the word "settler"

When it should be

"Invader "

Roy Rogers

John Wayne

And Eastwood

Were far from reality

Gold and greed

Troops side with the "pioneers"

The new comers

Were not heros

The crimson November morning

Followed a drunken twighlight

The stench of peity

Of celebrating blood lust

"I saw the bodies

Of those lying there

Cut all to pieces,

Worse mutilated than any I ever saw before;

The women cut all to pieces ...

With knives; scalped;

Their brains knocked out;

Children two or three months old; all ages lying there,

From sucking infants up to warriors ...

By whom were they mutilated?

By the United States troops ..."

John S. Smith, Congressional Testimony 1865

"Just to think

Of that dog Chivington

And his dirty hounds,

Up thar at Sand Creek,

You call such soldiers

Christians,

Do ye? And Indians savages?"

Kit Carson had exposed them.

There cannot be

Excuses by moderates

Not then

Not now

We would not do that

Is a cop out

It sets the future

Up to repeat

In the Arab lands

To the orient

Atrocities occure

When humans forget

The cry of the squaw

Is the cry of the Jew

Is the cry of the guy

Who threw that shoe

It is why

I also warn

My godless brethren

Never to say

"When we

Become the majority

We will

Treat you better"

We are one species

And have always displayed

Both cruelty

And compassion

Learn

Damn it!

LEARN

DAMN IT!

Otherwise

We will produce

Our own dogs

And justify it.

(end)

Poem inspired by a facebook picture which lead me to this wikipedia artical, and in the interest of quoting sources the places in this poem where you see "" with names after are direct quotes from the wikipedia article which can be found at this link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_Creek_massacre

Double post.

You want me? By Brian37

You want me,

Fine

Then tell me why

Those around me

Those I love

In my entire life

From my mom

To my friends

Are your hostages,

If you want me

Then why

Do you take it out on them?

Test?

What exactly

Did they do

If your beef is with me?

Plan?

Mysterious ways

You don't

Have to answer to me?

If you want me

Then why are those

I love

Caught in the middle?

It seems to me

Your best shot

Is to use fear

Not because you exist

But because humans

Cant stand

When you

Dont buy into their delusion

If you want me

"Dear God"

Then don't

Take hostages

If you are after me

You show yourself

To be morally bankrupt

To take it out on them

Just to get to me!

"Real Men" By Brian37

"Real men"

Is of the same ilk

Of "True Christian"

Or "True Muslim"

The same

Unrealistic image

Of "what should be"

Causing anorexia in women

There is no

"right way"

To be male

Or female

I cry at sad movies

I love giving hugs

I love ABBA

And my testicles have not fallen off

I don't need

Big bicepts

Or a muscle car

I simply need to be me

Just like girls

Don't have to wear dresses

Or submit

To the whims of men

Just like women

Can be body builders

Or run companies

And do what men do

There are no scripts

No right way

Other than to be

The only thing you can be

You,

You and not

What others

Project on you

I am a human being

First and formost

And an individual

Not a clone of you

That organ

Is only a biological label

It is one part of me

But is not defined by others

Roles and scripts

Are all bullshit

The only real thing

We can do

Is to be

The only thing

We can be

Ourselves as individuals

I define myself

Not you

Nor your memes

Or your social norms

"Real men"

Are sensitive

Can cry

Are gay and bi

"Real men"

Read and think

Wear dorky cloths

And drive compact cars

Some like sports

Others like books

Some are tall

Some are short

Some lift weights

Some do not

Others wear glasses

And argyle socks

Some are skinny

Some are fat

Some like meat

Others are vegan

Just like women

Can wear pants

Don't have to wear lipstic

Or follow fashion trends

There is only

One real way

Be yourself

Forget what others think

I've never undstood

Macho bullshit

Other than

It's bloody history

Do men not

Understand

That all that bravado

Does not prevent the end?

It leads us

To needless conflict

To corporate greed

And gang violence

It leads to wars

Craving immortality

While completely ignoring

Our fragile existence

We don't need

More "real men"

What we need

Are more thinkers

What we need

Are more books

More education

And less judgement

Don't define me

Nor that of women

I don't buy

Your script thinking

Brawn is hollow

And temporary

Physical strength

Still gives way to age

We are not special

Because of our sex

We are not special

Because of our looks

We are not special

Because of class

We are not special

Because of politics

We are not special

Because of our faiths

We are not special

Because of our race

We are not special

Because of our boarders

We are not special

Because of our sex

We are merely

On a ride

A nanosecond

In cosmic time

If we would face

As "real men"

Our finite nature

And common existence

If roles are scrapped

And we focus on

Our fragile existence

More could be done

I am me

I just happen to be

Born

With a penis

Vederlagging Cassandra, By Brian37 (Another ode to an Abba song, although I disagree with the lyrics to their original "Sorry Cassandra&quot.

Down the street

They are reading and praying

Staying alive

Though their logic is dead

Pity Cassandra

Your fans cannot see

That your feigned prophacy

Is mere insanity

Sorry Casandra

I do understand

The age of reason

I wanted and did

Listen to instead of you

Sorry Cassandra

I don't believe

You or anyone

Has truth in mere dreams

So go and grieve

Cassandra over your romance

Of superstition

Which science is defeating

You didn't warn us

About tragedy

We know it always happens

In reality

You predicted nothing

Your dreams are insanity

Our final hour

Is certain in all cases

No mas Cassandra

Romancing pain

Bastardizing nature

With comic book claims

Only you Cassandra

Are caught in sleep

In the hostels

Of Islam, Christianity and all others

Sorry Cassandra

I know your name

Your friend is Alice

Your dreams the same

(end)

This poem is making the connection of mythological "prophecy" and currently held religions who truly believe in others who predict the future through reading holy books or believe in the writers of the holy books as if "prophecy" is real at all. "Prophecy" is fine in fairy tales and fiction, but only as FICTION. They are deadly when people read fiction and claim it to be fact. If someone hears voices or claims to "see the future", they are in reality con artists or mentally ill.

However, in the Greek mythology "Cassandra" is scapegoated and cursed by  the male god Apollo, funny how the god of Abraham makes Eve the scapegoat.

Cassandra was given the "gift" of hearing the future by Apollo. But when she refused his advances he cursed her so that no one would believe her prophecies. So she was doomed to a life a pain knowing the future demise of Troy her own family and even her own demise.

EDIT....I just realized what a horrible story this is. Sure it paints Cassandra as the tragic heroine. But where is the real anger in the story that should be aimed at Apollo for being such a fucking dick?

" Limo Driver", By Brian37

He adjusts his black hat

With polished brim

Looks down

To make sure his dress shoes are not skuffed

He climbs in the driver's seat

Unwilling to see

That he is

Nothing more than a pawn

Reaches the gated community

Greats the splinter sect

The party goers

Look forward to the club

They climb in

Shouting of joy

In the limo

Of the impending end

The champagne of tribalism

Bubbles in crystal glasses

The "chosen"

Are on the way

Upon arival

He does his duty

Gets out

And opens their door

They file out

In drunken state

To get in line

In velvet ropes

He follows them

But to his chagrin

They tell him

He is not welcome

"If you want

To join us

You have to rebuke

The god you claim

If you chose not to

We thank you for the ride

But sorry limo driver

You are simply not our kind

But please take solice

You did get a nation

What is wrong with second place

Even if you don't get in?"

Central Park, By Brian37

We are cleaver aren't we

Skyscrapers

And massive

Cities

We'd like to think

We are masters

When all we are

Are passengers

And the rocks

In the city park

That represents

Human triumph

Gouges and cuts

Tell the truth

Of our

Existence

At one time

In earth's past

Ice covered

That iconic island

Twice the hight

Of the Empire State building

Should serve

As a reminder

The deposits

And gouges

Of ice

Carving into rocks

Should send us

A vital message

That we are on a ride

Not in charge

The gouges

And groves

In the rocks

In Central park

Should serve lesson

To our importance

Our species is not

An empire

Never A Good Time, By Brian37

A clock tower

McDeath in California

Pictures made my yearbook

Pow pow pow

A movie theater

Texas cafeteria

Pop pop pop

Pow pow pow

Tic tic tic

Suicides and murder

In the next 24 hours

34 more will die

The doctor in DC

Got it absolutely right

"I want you to

Put my trauma center out of business"

Pop pop pop

Pow pow pow

Rights are not the issue

It is the flooded market

Follow the money

Follow the greed

This is about profit

Not Constitutional rights

Pop pop pop

Pow pow pow

Another Navy Yard

Will happen somewhere else

Another city boy

In a body bag

Another school child shot

Another spouse murdered

Never a good time?

Then when?

Because I myself

Have had enough.

Petulant Tantrum, By Brian37

Of sages and soothsayers

Of prophets and prognosticators

Who merely rely

On their own desires

This is a ride

A finite ride

To which there is

No transfer

It bothers you

Doesn't it?

That you are not

The reason

It bothers you

Doesn't it?

That you

Are not special

We may keep records

Of our triumph

But the universe will erase it

And continue on

Then when of this

Those dare to speak

Our ordinary existence

Children throw petulant tantrums

With guns and glee

Of false decree

Of foolish martyrs

Who cannot see

The vastness

The scope

Our futile thrashing

For false hope

And Sagan

Comes along

And shows us

Real humility

Specks are we

Arrogant and blind

To our place

Of which we ignore

So we talk

Of glory and war

Of religious battles

That produce gore

Mutilation

Based on superstition

Is far to happy

To fill the coffins

My God Exists,  by Brian37

Where?

If having no locaton

And being everywhere

It would seem a contradiction

"I will protect you"

Is a hollow prospect

With 56 million deaths

Every year worldwide

But if you die

You get to be

With your fictional

Cosmic security guard

So then if this

Is the ultimate goal

Then your death

Is to be celebrated

Why mourn

Your demise

If after your death

You end up in a party?

Those who don't make it

Will you remember

In the clouds

With angels wings

If you do

How can pain

Exist

In this utopia?

If pain erased

In this afterlife

Then what are you

But a mere pawn

This cookie you offer

Is poisoned

With the promise

Of naked assertions

To have faith

In the invisilbe

Is to have faith

In selfishness

Shoes, Cars, Irons and Top Hats, By Brian37

Don't roll the dice

All outsiders

Will go to jail

And will not pass go

Delusions of Boardwalk

And Park Place

As if in reality

We are game pieces

I am no pawn

To gamble with

I am no prize

For either to have

The utilities of reason

Missing from the board

Railroaded by fantasy

The money all fake

The bearded man

And guy with pitchfork

Battle over our neurons

As if we were prizes

The truth is of all this

Neither heaven or hell

Were ever real

And chance is all we have

I am no shoe, nor car

Nor iron, or top hat

A product of evoluton

Not that of fictional magic