The Dark

Once, my world was luminescent.
From every life emanated a glow.
I gave my widest smile to anyone
For we were all equal and no one was low.

Once, my world was shining splendour.
Jew and non-Jew could reach the Divine.
Dogs and birds, leaves and grasses,
Even the worm, were bathed in shine.

Then she told me my eyes were closed
And she proceeded to help me see
We are the only possessors of souls
And this great truth would set me free.

And as I watched, the light receded.
"They're not Jews, they'd never fully understand."
The light retracted as this phrase was repeated.
From the faces of my friends, the light was banned.

I looked on in sadness as the darkness
Swallowed some I dearly love
And only Main Street and Kissena Farms
Was blessed with light from Heaven above.

I felt nauseated; my mind was reeling,
For behind my friends' eyes, there was no soul!
And I smiled at them, but my eyes were half-lidded,
For they could never reach the same spiritual goal.

It was pitch-black, a night with no moon
As I met up with friends who are not my kind.
She opened my eyes, and in the process
She struck me utterly, desolately blind.

Touch Not This Tree

Touch not this tree
Don’t cut me down
Lest you soon see
God’s saddened frown

I breathe with mirth
I give you air
The lungs of Earth

Show me you care

You’ve got a choice
It’s in your hands
But I’ve no voice
To change your plans

If not for me
You’d choke, you’d drown

Touch not this tree

Don’t cut me down

Within

One can be guided from within or without.
The former is what life is really about.
Some shut their eyes and call themselves blind,
Too fearful to challenge the darkness of doubt.

"What if I can't trust the strength of my mind?"
"If I open my eyes, what might I find?"
On a swaying rope bridge, you cling to the railing,
Clutching the beliefs that others opined.

"I am just a human, in danger of failing.
"Were there no ropes to guide me, I'd go toppling, flailing,"
Yet if you were to trust the force from within,
Wings would burst from your body, your conscience prevailing.

How did religion actually begin?
It began boldly and bravely, without terror of sin.
Love of all living beings was its true origin,
And we flew with exhileration, eyes wide open.

American Nightmare

His parents lived in a tiny hovel in the old country.

They scraped out a living farming the hard, infertile ground.

But he wouldn’t be satisfied until he’d crossed over

and worked in a car parts factory,

and lived in a little apartment.

His son watched his father come home from the factory

to their little apartment.

But he wouldn’t be satisfied until he finished trade school

and worked as a skilled mechanic,

and lived in a bigger apartment.

His son watched his father come home from the gas station

to their little apartment.

But he wouldn’t be satisfied until he finished high school

and owned his own gas station,

and lived in a house.

His son watched his father come home from the station

to their little house.

But he wouldn’t be satisfied until he finished college

and owned a car dealership,

and lived in a bigger house.

His son watched his father come home from the dealership

to their little house.

But he wouldn’t be satisfied until he got his BS degree

and owned all the company’s dealerships in the area,

and lived in a bigger house.

His son watched his father come home from a dealership

to their little house.

But he wouldn’t be satisfied until he got his BS degree

and became the CEO of the car company,

and lived in an upscale apartment in Manhattan.

His son watched his father come home from the office

to their one and only apartment.

But he wouldn’t be satisfied until he got his BS degree

and caused his car company to dominate the nation’s market,

and owned a mansion in the Hamptons.

His son watched his father come home from the office

to their apartment.

But he wouldn’t be satisfied until he got his BS degree

and lobbied for looser regulations for his company,

and owned five vacation homes.

His son watched his father come home from the office

to their apartment.

But he wouldn’t be satisfied until he got his BS degree

and caused his car company to dominate the world market,

and owned the world.

And across the ocean, his distant cousins, descendants of the immigrant’s siblings

lived in a tiny hovel in the old country.

They scraped out a living in his car parts factory.

But their sons wouldn’t be satisfied until they crossed over

and worked in a … there are no more car parts factories here

and lived in a little apartment.

Two Girls

I have a friend
She has no God
Yet the stars in the heavens set her eyes aflame
With true fascination
She ponders their beauty
Yet to her, their Creator has no name

I know a girl
She has a God
Yet the stars in heaven give her no pause
"Oh, yeah, that's nice,"
She says and shrugs
Yet knows the Being who is their cause

One could stand
For hours on end
And never be able to tear away her gaze
The other, nonchalant
Just walks away
So which of them walks in God's ways?

Rapture - A Short Story

Once I considered myself a good Christian. I was sure I would rise up with the other good Christians on the day the Lord Christ appeared in the heavens. After all, my family dutifully attended church every Sunday. I volunteered at an old age home with the youth group at my church. I turned the other cheek when girls in school called me rude names.
     I was ready for the Rapture. Or so I thought.

     It was a bright, sunny day in the summer. A few scattered clouds drifted across the sky. The weather was warm, but not humid, so it felt comfortable. Unexpectedly, that day would turn out to be The Day. And to my horror, I wasn't at all prepared.
     Oh, I was called up, all right. I rose, with all the others. Yet I wasn't ready.
     My best friend Gabby and I were taking her dog to a dog park that had just opened. We had never been to one, and we were curious to see what it would be like. We hoped Chester would make lots of friends with the other pups, and we were looking forward to throwing a frisbee around to him without worrying that he wasn't on a leash.
     At 10 am, I pulled up to her house in my dad's car, which he often let me borrow. Gabby and Chester bounded into the car, excited. Chester went into the backseat, and Gabby sat in the front, beside me. She grinned at me and showed me the green frisbee that Chester loved to chase.
     "I hope the other dogs don't try to steal this from him," she laughed.
     "I hope not," I replied.
     Gabby was Christian, like me, but hardly religious. Also, she was of a different denomination. She and her family only went to church on Easter and Christmas. They didn't pray very often, except if something bad were happening, but I had never thought about these things. She and I were friends from school, and we got along well. I'd never considered her religious beliefs or practices. I'd never even thought about whether or not she would be saved.
     I never imagined what I would witness that day.
     As we drove along, Chester looked out the window, letting the wind blow his floppy ears around. Gabby and I chattered about school, about family, about a movie we wanted to see next week. I kept my eyes on the road to be safe, periodically checking the street signs so we would turn at the right spot.
     All at once, I felt very strange. I didn't feel sick or nauseous; I just felt very light. From the corner of my eye, I noticed through the windshield that the sun looked brighter than normal. What was going on? I shrugged it off, because I was behind the wheel, and I couldn't afford to pay attention to anything else right then. I would think about this after we were parked.
     I tightened my grip on the steering wheel, and saw that we were approaching a red light, so I gently pressed my foot to the brake.
     Or I tried to.
     With a startled cry, I started to feel myself rising. My foot couldn't reach the brake. I stretched out my toes, but they wouldn't reach! I was being lifted up! I gripped the steering wheel, and to my shock, I saw my fingers, like those of ghosts', pass right through it!
     "The Rapture!" I realized, watching as the car sped closer and closer to the intersection. I chanced a glance at Gabby. Her mouth was wide open in shock; her rounded eyes followed my gradual flight.
     She wasn't being raptured with me!
     "Gabby!" I choked out fearfully. She would crash! "Drive!"
     My ethereal body passed through the roof of the car, but I saw her hands through the windshield seize the steering wheel and attempt to gain control of the car.
     "Gabby!" I kept crying out, praying she would hop over into my seat and get her foot on the brake in time. Chester, becoming smaller and smaller below me, howled in a frenzy of panic, running from one side of the backseat to the other.
     Other cars started careening out of control as well. I watched one crash headlong into a street sign and bring it crashing down onto its roof. Another crashed right into a fire hydrant and sent water spraying onto the street.
     Soon I was moving through the air faster and faster, and suddenly I found myself surrounded, in the sky, by several other people, some of whom I recognized from my church. In fact, my pastor was there.
     "Welcome, welcome," he said, beaming at me. "I knew I'd see you here, Leona."
     "Wait, put me back!" I cried out, still watching my dad's car as it sped along the road, dodging other cars that had gone wild. "Let me save Gabby!"
     "She is not one of those meant to be saved," the pastor said. "She had all the chances in the world to turn to our Lord, and she didn't take them. The Lord is patient, but she deserves whatever He has in store for her now."
     I was barely listening to him. My eyes were still glued to the car. Suddenly the car stopped short - she must have pressed the brake!
     Yet, just ahead of her, a car, driving the wrong way down the road, sped right for her, its own driver amongst our little circle in the sky.
     I let out a shrill scream. "Let me out!" I begged. I tried to move downward, but I was held immobile, I supposed by the hand of God.
     "Leona, there's nothing more -" the Pastor began.
     "Let me go! God, let me go! Gabby! Chester! Noooooooo!"
     Just in time, Gabby turned the car and drove out of the other car's path. She pulled over and parked, and I saw her getting out of the car, then opening the backseat door on the driver's side, reaching for Chester's leash.
     "Gabby!" I cried, watching another car, this time behind her, speeding in her direction. It would sideswipe the car and hit Gabby, who didn't even see it! "God! Have mercy! Let me out! Let me out!"
     Suddenly one of other members of our group, a woman I didn't know, seized me by the shoulders and shook me. "Get it through your head, she doesn't deserve to be saved, or she would have been! How dare you tell God to put you back! How did you even get up here?"
     "God, where are You? Where is He?" I asked the woman.
     "He'll be here soon," the pastor said gently. Suddenly a blindfold went over my eyes; how did a blindfold get here? Who had brought one with them? "You must understand this is the will of God," the pastor went on.
     "What about Gabby?! What about God's mercy? What about His kindness? How could He do this? This is a trick! My God doesn't do this! This is an imposter! This is a lie! My God would want me to save Gabby, my God wouldn't do this!" I cried. I struggled and tried to reach for the blindfold to get it off, but strong hands held mine down.
     "Gabby is a sinner, and hell is her destination," the pastor patiently told me.
     "No, my God doesn't do this!" I repeated. "We've gotta help her, if we tell her, she'll pray more, she'll be more devoted, God doesn't give up, how could He let any of His children be thrown to hell? He's gotta give her another chance! Gabby!"
     "Her blood will stain God's robes, which is what she's got coming to her," a man in the group cruelly laughed. "Heaven will rejoice. God's faithful has returned to its rightful home, and the sinners will burn in hell for eternity! This is our just vengeance!"
     At those words, I gave a tortured cry, and at last broke free of those that held me. I ripped off the blindfold, but perhaps it would have been better not to.
     Gabby was clinging to the windshield of the other car, as it drove, driverless, toward a raised road, on either side of which was dense forest.
     Another car slammed into Gabby's car's side, sending her and the car into the metal railing. She and the car toppled over the busted railing, about tumble down the steep sides of the forest. Chester, barking, ran after her down the sidewalk, attempting to rescue his beloved human.
     And then the car burst into flames.
     "Gabby! Gabby!!!!!" I screamed, putting all my devastation and fear into one long breath until my lungs ran out of air, and I was left, sobbing, on the floor of Heaven.

Exception

I am not the exception
I am not the rule
We are not all kind
We are not all cruel

I am not common
I am not rare
Some of us give
And some don’t care

Some of us kill
While some of us would die
To save the life of another
And why, you ask, why?

On this little planet called Earth
Our common home day and night
I’m neither exception nor rule
On this journey towards light