Mirror Image

some find joy

in buddha swag

in overspending

on winding paths and

perennial gardens

the happiness

of others is in red

hats and gold coins

minted with

the king's deceiving face

you say to me

in fervent rebuttal

that these choices

are not the same

that i am guilty

of facilitating

a false equivalence

of morals

steadfast perhaps

you are

in your belief

that you alone

can summon angels

to lift the stone

                  *

what flavor i might ask

do you prefer your savior

more kin

to desert

than to sea

a lonely mountain

where ancient oceans

long ago subsided

an empty ark

once paired with life

now abandoned

on jagged rocks

an immigrant prone

to rage

and violent acts

quick to flail

the air and leave

a small part

of the world

beyond repair

a hero of

indeterminate race

hanging on a cross

perhaps you hope for one

who only does unto others

or have the deeply held

conviction the world

is better left with

no saviors ever

                  *

humanity

one hot mess

of imponderables

has it always been thus

does the craziness extend

to the entire plenum

would we be better

somewhere else

or gone forever

are we a small

evolutionary mistake

in a big space

or do we as some

suspect theoretical

physicists suspect

make it all up

                  *

take an objective look

from the vantage point

of your small speck of the planet

at the direction the arc of

our unnatural history twists

too many photographs

of starving children

abandoned dogs

felled trees and

interminable wars

flashing on your pixels

shot by who knows what

asking for cash

are we here

to be in mood and flesh

sinister and determined

as detritus piles up

like national debt

and days pass

like borrowed time

to maintain a stoic face

fanatic resolve

to do only what

we are told god

put us here to do

which if truth

is what we’re after

adds little more than

another piece of trash

upon the heap

or do we

move in a steady manner

utter a kind word or two

because we believe

that's the right thing to do

whether or not others agree

bring comfort

in the storm of

so much hate and manipulation

to those less fortunate than we

before we fall

despite our best intentions

with the debris left from

what we cannot complete

                  *

really

who in hell

can tell you

in the name of a deity

what you should be

if we are made

in the mirror image of god

then we are perhaps looking

at god backwards

what about

a crawl through

the looking glass

to ask your soul

with all your passion

what you are here to do

to watch with open

eyes and heart

to listen with your

wax-clogged ears

and a mind clouded

with judgments

and pre- and mis-conceptions

for the answer