Judgement - by Rand

When I
close my
eyes, relax
and simply
say the word
I'm left
with a sense
of dread

Like something
terrible is
about to
happen

I suppose
I haven't
been wronged
enough

Move - by Rand

move over
moveover
movover
moover
mover
overe
overve
overove
overmove
over move

Alphabet - by Rand

Another bastard-crazy day

Enough fighting

Grasp humanitarian insight

Justify kindness

Love mankind

Nurture old people

Question rage

Stop terror

Unwind violence

Wrestle xenophobia

Yoke zabernism

Fear - by Rand

Fear is a silly word
Say it out loud
Sure the "eeeeee"
might be mistaken
for a girlish scream
But the "ur" reveals this word
for what it really is

Afraid
Now that's a well made word
They put the R behind the F
where it belongs
Together they launch the open "ayyyyy"
which stretches as long as you like

I prefer to imagine the word
falling off a tall cliff
The "ayyyyy" growing increasingly distant
until the shudder of finality
that accompanies the inevitable D

Princess - by Rand

She looked down
and shyly said,
"Princess"
dropping the end
of the word
so that it
sounded less like
royalty and more
like the possession
of a spoiled
young
boy

Dark - by Rand

It's always darkest

before it gets less dark

Unless of course

it got more dark first

No one would see that coming

Mountain - by Rand

I've never climbed a mountain
Not a big deal, really
It's not like it's one of my
unfulfilled dreams or anything

And no, I'm not making a list
I'm just stating the fact
The plain truth remains
I've never climbed a mountain

I figure, let the mountain be
It's no less impressive
with me on solid ground
In fact, you might argue
that I'm doing good work
standing here with you
admiring it from afar

When people ask why I don't
climb mountains I can reply
with dignity, "Because I'm here"

Blue - by Rand

I think blue
gets a bad rap
I mean, look around
The clear sky
and clean water
The planet itself
These are all good
things, right?
When I look at them
they make me happy

Come to think of it
Why isn't there a color
to represent happiness?

Blue = sad
Red = angry
Green = envy
Yellow = cowardice

Why are colors only
assigned to negative
emotions and behaviors?

But back to blue

I wish I could make
it illegal to use
blue in a pop song
It's just so lazy
and when I hear it
I'm embarrassed for
the singer, the song
and the color itself

Post-Card - by Rand (for Jenn and Scott)

To the right of my monitor

a tiny square photo of a mountain

is thumb-tacked to the wall

I remove the card

flip it over and read

"We are following our bliss

Everything here is beautiful,

and it seems to me Montana is a leg"

Replacing it I write

with no pen or paper

My grandfather worked with his entire body

My father worked with his hands

I work with the tips of my fingers

Will our children leave their bodies behind?

Crown - by Rand

It's hard
to eat
with a
crown
of thorns