We Didnt Dare

the soul dies in the body's tears,
even as the straw nest fallen to the ground,
weeps with empty fullness.
my heart does not speak to me,
we walk in silence...
veterans of wars you cant imagine,
returning to homeless streets.
and the bodies of touch and wanting,
are strewn with a beautiful horror.
yet the guilt is named to be forgotten,
as memory turns to vanity.
the sins we wear on the outside,
are nothing to the sins we carry within.
and the weight i carry will be much,
as much as the gift i've felt.
for in the end it is the candle we lit,
and all the ones we didnt dare.
so forgive me for my failures...
and love me for the same!

poem by Eric Cockrell
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The Mouth Devours!

the earth is the body.
humanity, the mouth.
the infinite breathes in the wind.
redemption falls in the rain.
the mountains speak of standing,
standing strong and resolved.
the sky teaches freedom,
the oceans, the womb.
trees wrap their branches in unity,
the grasses sing of equality.
the seasons are the clock,
in the dirt we find the mind.

so why is it then
that the mouth devours,
body, soul, and spirit...
gnawing its own flesh?
words spoken without thought,
hunger that swallows the sky.
lips stained by the grasses,

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poem by Eric Cockrell
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Truth And Justice.... (Part Six)

i'm not trying to make people angry
this morning... an intelligent person
know anger is but a symptom of the
disease...
i do state this firmly:
you are a human being.
i dont care about your skin color,
your religious views, whether
you're male or female...
whether you're gay or straight...
you deserve the right to be who
you are, to your own dignity,
to work, to be fed and sheltered,
to raise your families,
to believe in your dreams.
and all of the people around
this old world deserve the same...
you deserve to be free...
inequality, greed, and apathy
wont cut it.

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poem by Eric Cockrell
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Epitaph

love is a forest fire,
the burning bush, smoke
rising from the embers
of a moment lost to eternity...
love is a healing touch,
the nourishing hand,
the echo of the self
whispering from its deepest
recesses... and answering!

love is murder... destroying
everything in its path.
love is a knife, cutting the soul
from its prison of identity...
love is a trash truck...
picking up the pieces of
lifetimes thrown to the curb...
love is a broken window
in a house where nobody lives...

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poem by Eric Cockrell
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Whose Footsteps Will Haunt Your Sleep?

it's easy to bury the pen,
to break the glass vase
that held the light.
will you then burn the book,
and wipe your shoes at the door?
is it easy to forget the address?
some graves are best unmarked you say...
let the preacher say a few words.
and it's back to home and the dinner dishes,
things that must be done.
what's too painful we walk away from,
and name our victories by our needs.
but on that day when spring arrives,
will you recognize a bud on the limb?
will the sound of wings bring back memories?
will you fall to your knees and weep?
and whose face will you see when
you cry out to god?
whose footsteps will haunt your sleep?

poem by Eric Cockrell
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Already Open!

are we called to love?
or driven, by an unseen hand?
are we the fire,
or the memory of?
is it he who plants the seed,
or the seed itself?
are we alone,
or do we walk with the dead?

concepts! mental cages.
who builds the cage?
who fights against the latch?
in lonliness we struggle,
never knowing ourselves.
painting the picture
of the bird in flight...
not knowing we are the bird,
the flapping of wings,
and the sky!
not knowing, not knowing...

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poem by Eric Cockrell
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I Hear....

i hear the cry of a thousand naked voices.
i hear the sound of the turning wheels.
i hear the guns, and the moment after,
i hear the blood of bodies in the fields.
i hear the cry of babies without mothers,
i hear the hunger of faces without names.
i hear the whisper of god in the homeless,
the hearts of the poor in the falling rain.
i hear the truth beyond all lies,
i hear the hand that takes another.
i hear justice's cry for deliverance,
and the prayer of the stranger that is my brother.
i hear the hammer and wings of freedom,
i hear equality chanted and sang.
i hear the beat of life calling forward,
to dare, to give, tis not in vain!

poem by Eric Cockrell
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Darkness Unto Darkness!

'over the hilltops,
silence,
among all the treetops
you hardly feel
a breath moving.
the birds fall silent in the woods.
simply wait! Soon
you too will be silent.'

Goethe

a knock on the door,
Hermes,
the messenger,
come to gather and disperse!

we run like maddened chickens,
to escape the mossy hands
of the grave.

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poem by Eric Cockrell
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The Poet's Poem

the poet's poem,
the part of his body,
most precious of all....
he cant live without.

boxed up and wrapped,
presented as a gift
to the passing stranger
whose lips a 'quiver!

in word, in paint,
in carpenter fashion....
built as if a home
for the orphaned soul...

or potatoes and milk,
laid out on the table,
for the guests of both
this world and that!

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poem by Eric Cockrell
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Until You Forgive...

you cant feed the fire
with human limbs.
you cant touch the sky
when you're afraid of the dark.
you cant go to the manger,
and pay the tax collecter too.
you cant ride the river,
after you build the dam.
you cant bring about peace,
with the guns of war.
you cant stop prejudice
with fear and ignorance.
you cant eat the poor,
cant sell their worn out shoes.
you cant pray to god
with hatred in your heart.
you cant find wisdom
in the marketplace.
you cant set people free,
until you are free!

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poem by Eric Cockrell
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