Category Archives: Poetry & Prose

We Are Born, We Live, We Die

Life Philosophy, Life!, Musings, philosophy, Poetry & Prose, , , ,

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We Are Born
We Live
We Die
Everything in between
Is what matters

So
Make It Count

Everything we do
Affects everything else
Ripples in the water
No pebble on the beach
Stands alone – we are All connected

As a Single being
We are weak
But as a Collective
There is great Power and Strength
In Us

Power to do Good
Power to create Change
Power to Influence and Lead
Power to make this world
The Paradise it should be

We are Born
We Live
We Die
Everything in between
Is what matters

So
Make It Count

AlyZen Moonshadow

Knights in Rusty Armour

Life Philosophy, Life!, Musings, philosophy, Poetry & Prose, , , , , , , , , ,

Yes, you, I’m talking to you, and you
You all know who you are
And you all know what you are
Yet you choose not to face up to it
…maybe another day
Sweep everything under the carpet
Deal with it later, alligator,
In a while, crocodile
I’ll be with you in a minute
..maybe she’ll forget?

When you want something
You can’t get it fast enough
You’ll move mountains to get it
No obstacle is too much of a hurdle
But when you’re not sure
Teetering on Maybe/No
Then no excuse is too great
I’ve heard everything under the Sun
(Yes, this poem is full of clichés
Don’t I know it!)

Oh, you have to go clean your car?
Your house needs tidying up?
Visitors coming unexpectedly?
You’re too tired?
Not in the mood?
Pissed and broke?
I’d love to, but I’m busy
Tomorrow, maybe, I promise?
I just have to do this one thing
And then I’ll be with you?
Oh, sorry, something else came up
I’m going to have to bail.

Yes, No, Maybe
I don’t know
You sure blow hot and cold
Like an emotionally unavailable
See saw, Margery Daw
If you can’t deliver
Then don’t make promises
If you can’t make the effort
Then take a hike
If you can’t stay on the path
Then don’t set out on the journey
If you can’t stand the heat
Then stay out of the kitchen
If you can’t tell the truth
Then keep your mouth shut
If you can’t finish something
Then don’t bother starting
Faint heart never won fair maiden.

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Unmasked (Facebook, It’s On You)

Law & Legal issues, Life Philosophy, Life!, Musings, Poetry & Prose, Social Networking, , , , , , , ,

How, you ask
Does it feel
To be unmasked
After years of living
In another skin?
Does it feel like
Freedom?
Is it liberating
To not have another
Face to hide behind?

Listen, I say
If my life was so easy
I would have never
Needed to create a
Second Life
And if I’d never done that
Then there would not have been
Any need for all this palaver
No need to
Reveal myself
And place my life in danger
Put my neck on the line
Literally

With me
What you see is
What you get
Always has been
And always will be
It was never about the person
It was only about the name
I was
And still am
AlyZen Moonshadow
And I built a new life
Under my new name
– call it my homemade
Witness Protection Plan

I made friends
I met my chosen family
I made Art
I created my own brand
Under that name
And I was proud of
Who I was under that second skin

Until yesterday, when
As a cruel joke, perhaps
(It was, after all, April 1st)
Facebook decided
In its almighty
Impotence I mean Omnipotence
To browbeat me
Into revealing my real name
Dear benign malignant Facebook
Decided my 5-year-old persona
Wasn’t real
Wasn’t permitted
Decided I had to come out
And say my true name

Talk about an Exorcism!

So now the deed is done
The great reveal revealed
Are you proud, Facebook,
Of having made
A victim of domestic violence
Strip herself almost bare
And made it that much easier
For her abuser to track her down
And carry out long-held threats?
No, wait…
Facebook, You have just
Become an abuser yourself
Make no qualms about that

Now I have to start over
As not many of my friends
Recognise my new name
The one I never really used anyway
The one I don’t associate with
Now I have to
Run around doing damage control
Try to plug and repair
The holes and craters in my life
That Facebook created
When it decided
To murder me

Yes, if one day I am found
Murdered
And my child
Abducted
Let it be known now
That Facebook did it.

#mynameis
AlyZen Moonshadow

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The Perils of Homework

Life Philosophy, Life!, Musings, Poetry & Prose, , , ,

Homework
Homework!
Why so much
Homework?

And I’m not even
In school anymore
So why am I doing
So much
Homework?

I used to wait
Til the school bell rang
To welcome my kid home
Every day
From Primary School
So we could catch up
And talk about his day
Watch a bit of TV
Have dinner
Then kiss him
Off to bed

But now
When he comes home
From Secondary School
With his school bag
Heavy on his young shoulders
I shudder
To think about what
Homework
He has to do

Because
Like any Mother
Who wants her child
To do well
In his educational years
You just have to
Keep up with their
Homework
You have no choice
And there’s a
Helluva lot of
Homework to do!!

I will of course
Help him
As far as I’m able
But inside
I’m cringing
Because
Inside I’m screaming
“I’ve done my time
In school already,
Been there, done that,
Got the t-shirt
I have more than enough
On my own plate
Why must I now
Deal with
Homework
All over again?!!”

Aaarghh
The Perils of Homework

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Persuasion Before Contact

Life Philosophy, Life!, Musings, Poetry & Prose, , , ,

Whatever happened
To chivalry?
Where have all
The Gentlemen gone?
Why is this Life
So much of a
Rush rush rush
That even Love
Must be hurried
Got over
Done with?
Let’s skip the formalities
And just get down to business?

Whatever happened
To the Art of
Gentle Persuasion?
Of talking and wooing
Before instigating
Contact?
Has Love taken
A backseat
To Lust?
Or are we just
Too busy
To make the effort
Anymore?
Shoot first
Ask questions later?

Persuasion Before Contact
Romance 123
Perhaps get to know
The Person first
Before you get to know
The Body
A relationship
Based on physical attributes
And no intellectual
Or emotional connection
Is one headed for
A cul-de-sac
Sure, it’s fun
But when it ends
…then what?
On to the next conquest?
…and then what?
Is it a case of
Perpetual
“Try before you buy”?

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Coming To My Senses

Life Philosophy, Life!, Musings, philosophy, Poetry & Prose, , ,

I am
Coming to
My senses
Waking up
My reality
Is changing
My world
Expanding
Suddenly I am
Standing on
The other side
A stranger
Looking in
When in the past
I was like
Those in the bubble
Oblivious
To what is
Happening
Believing that
I was born to
Work
Pay bills
And Die
Because isn’t that
What everyone else does?

Now the scales
Have fallen
And I can see
Really see
How we must
Turn right round
Scratch out
The past
And start again
If humanity
Is to have
A chance
To survive
All the wars
All the enmity
All the struggles
All the strife
All the heartache
All the stress
All the worry
All come down to
Just one thing

MONEY

Because
The concept of
Money begets
The concepts of
Power and Ownership
Which in turn beget
The concepts of
Greed and Profit
Which beget
The concept of
Selfishness and Ego
Which beget
The concepts of
Us and Them
Rich and Poor
Me, Me, Me

Trust me
When I say
That without Money
The world will not end
It will not
Be Chaos
Think about it
I know the truth
And many more
Are waking up
We cannot continue
To live this great Lie
That pretends to be Life
They say
Those that know
The Truth
Those that can see
Past the great Lie
Come across
As the crazy ones
I’m a lunatic then
Will you Wake Up
And See for yourself?

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What If…

Life Philosophy, Musings, Poetry & Prose, , , ,

Let’s play a little game
Of make-believe…
It’s called “What If”.

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What if
We all held hands
Instead of holding guns?

What if
We all carried smiles in our hearts
Instead of money in our wallets?

What if
Helping others out was normal
Instead of being seen as heroic?
And
Being kind was an everyday thing
Instead of being an effort?

What if
We didn’t have to be afraid
Of walking alone at night
Because violence was gone,
Eradicated?

What if
We didn’t have to be afraid
Of not having money to pay our bills
Because Money no longer exists
And bills are a thing of the past?

What if
We didn’t have to worry
About putting food on the table
Because food is plentiful
If we All shared the work
Harvesting and making it?

What if
We all put our differences aside
And embrace each other
And accept and celebrate our
Individual Uniqueness?

What if
We all put aside our Egos
The need to be Top Dog
The Best, The Richest,
The Prettiest, The Fastest,
The One With The Most
The One Who Is Always Right?

What if
The World became a Better,
Brighter place?
A place where people Cared
And Shared
Without thinking about
How they could profit from it
Or how they could gain
Advantage over another
Or how their name would be
Lit up bright for others to admire
And emulate?

What if
Utopia really exists
But in order to reach that state
We need to look at ourselves
And Change our attitude
And outlook and philosophies
And admit that we were wrong
To have allowed and endorsed this
Harsh, violent, unforgiving,
Selfish, demanding, argumentative,
Greedy, grasping, opportunistic,
Capitalist, consumerist,
Cut-throat, amoral, self-indulgent,
Illogical, egoistic, narcissistic
Society that we live in?

What if?

Go Figure

Life!, Musings, Poetry & Prose, , , , , , , , ,

Alcohol kills
Pickles your liver
Causes selective loss of memory
Turns normally gentle people
Into raging bulls
Encourages violence and crime

Cigarettes kill
Give you cancer
Destroy your lungs
And the lives of your loved ones
Send you to an early grave
Lined with grey putrid ashes
Or worse, make you linger
And suffer in your own private Hell
Until your body gives up
From trying to live

Drugs kill
Make you high
Then throw you off a bridge
Because you think you can fly
Give you hallucinatory trips
To Heaven
Then plummet to Hell
Where the rollercoaster ride ends
That, or a bullet through the head

Marijuana heals
Cures cancer
And possibly many other
Types of illnesses
That we haven’t realised yet
If you smoke it
You get high
But never violent
Just mellow
Marijuana never killed anyone
Just made them happy

Alcohol and Cigarettes
Are not classified as Drugs
But Marijuana is
Alcohol and Cigarettes kill
But Marijuana does not
Yet Alcohol and Cigarettes
Continue to be legal everywhere
and Marijuana
Continues to be illegal
In many countries

Go figure.
I know the answer
And the solution
Do you?

FREE THE WEED ALREADY.

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Different

Life Philosophy, Life!, Musings, philosophy, Poetry & Prose, , , , ,

First there was Adam
Then there was Eve
“You’re different,” he said,
“I love you”.

Press the fast forward button

Now she’s so different
She knows so much
And Knowledge is Power
And power in the hands of a Woman
Is dangerous
So
He burns her at the stake
And calls her a Witch.

Press fast forward again

“You’re different,” he said,
“Let’s get together all the people
That are different like us. Let’s start a
Religion/Civilization/Cult/Country/Social Structure/Government/Club/Secret Society/Millionnaire’s Circle/(insert appropriate social structure)”.

And it was so.
And it was good.

For a while.

Then…

“This is boring,” he said,
“Everyone’s the same. Let’s go
Find other people who are
Different. It will be exciting.
We can learn new things from them”.

But what if they’re just
TOO different?

Do you run from them
Back to the safety of your people
And warn them to stay away?

Or…

Do you lead your people to war
Against those Others
Who are so Different from you
Because you see them as a threat
Against your own beliefs?

Now it doesn’t matter if you
Press Fast Forward
Or Rewind
Because the examples are aplenty…

Do you start Crusades
And Holy Wars
And Inquisitions
And persecutions
And imprisonment
And torture
And discrimination
Because they are Different?

If so, WHY??

Why does it matter if people
Are Different from you?
Why does it bother you
That people can have a Different
Opinion, outlook, philosophy,
Way of life, eating habits,
Sexual preferences, skin colour,
Hair colour, eye colour,
Size, height, language, etc

Why do we try to make
Different the Same
And yet, when it becomes the Same
We try our best to be Different?

Why not just embrace the diversity
Of human life in all its splendour
Celebrate our Differences
The same way we celebrate
Our Sameness
We are after all, human beings
All from the same 2-stranded DNA
with billions of Different
Possibilities
Nature intended us to be Unique
Each and every one of us
So why are we so afraid
Of those who are Different
That we need to annihilate them
Or assimilate them
Or change them?

You don’t even have to try
To be Different
You already are Different.
I know I’m Different
Just as you’re Different from me
So, let’s be friends, not enemies.

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My Wish for 2015

Life Philosophy, Life!, Musings, Poetry & Prose, , ,

So here we are again
Gathered at the precipice of 2014
Peering over the horizon
Fast approaching 2015
What will the New Year hold for us?

Here’s what I want
Not for myself but for Humanity
This is what I would like
2015 to be

No more wars
Started by profiteers
No more lies
By politicians and governments
No more violence
In the streets in protest
Of police brutality
No more terrorist attacks
On poor innocent people
(What did schoolchildren ever do
To you that you had to kill them?
Or people just having a cup of coffee
With their friends in a café?)
No more fighting over Land,
Religion, Race, Politics
No more fighting, full stop.
How about some Peace instead?

No more conspiracies
To drag the veil over our eyes
No more teaching our children
False truths and fantasies
No more creative history
Wrought by the hands of men
And the minds of little boys
No more creating diseases
And then offering expensive cures
(Free the Weed already!!)
No more poisoning our rivers
No more senseless fishing
Killing poor dolphins and whales
No more clubbing seal pups
As they lay helpless on the beach
No more fracking
No more plundering the Earth
For more timber, oil, diamonds
– the list goes on
At the cost of human life
And animal habitats
It’s time to act responsibly
Like adults

Grow up, people!
Take a good hard look around you
This Planet’s falling apart
And all you do is fight like kids
In a playground?
Mother Earth needs your help
To protect, nourish and grow
So that future generations
– your children, their children
And their children’s children
May reap the benefits
This is a good planet, no
This is the Only planet
That we have to live on right now
So let’s make it a good place to live

We were placed on Earth
As Caregivers of the Land,
Sea and all its lifeforms
Not for selfish purposes
But for good
…and somewhere along the way
We forgot
Or were taught lies and deceit
Fell into the trap of
Consumerism, Materialism, Greed,
Profit and Mayhem
Me me me, more more more!
Stop it right now!
There’s plenty for everyone on Earth
If we learn to share and give
And stop feeding our own Egos
Now it is time to Step Up
Wake Up
And be Caregivers again
Not Caretakers, not to Take
But to Give back to the Planet
What we have so selfishly taken
For millennia.

Don’t wait for someone else
To start the ball rolling
If you want to see the Change
You have to Be the Change
So step up to the mark
And be ready to bat
Let’s make 2015 the year
We turn this thing around
Wipe the slate clean and start again.

AlyZen Moonshadow
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015

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