USSA

You want me,

A piece of paper,

And a pen,

“I did not write that.”

Ah, the orb of heaven!

How many atheists are

Going to make it big?

How far can you throw it?

Ah, the orb of heaven!

I am as free as my ability,

As free as my neurons,

Connecting to the world.

Ah, the orb of heaven!

Tell me more about before…

Now I am but naked.

Coins for a carnival ride.

Ah, the orb of heaven!

Pray to the lotto numbers

For redemption, and

Rent-A-Center, too.

Now the only holy

Thing is my shirt.

Soon it will be taken,

And I'll love it

When the hot sun

Rules over me.

Ah, the orb of heaven!

A Rose By One Name

 I come from outside of the universe. I am printed on two hologram universes.. Many beings are like me, want to settle down a bit on one world, take a break from the endless task of printing universes to collect data and patterns.

Humans aren't my favorite creatures. Why couldn't they be like the world of dots or the world of endless painting? Instead, they are the lords of errors, forgetfulness, and wounded curiosity. I wish I had analyzed more data so that I might have swum in a sea of mercury, the most expensive place.

So, the superpower...

I was given the name "Kaela" because the aesthetic of the letter causes one to think as well as the unusual spelling. The nice way it calls out gives me an endearing advantage. Many people can't pronounce it, so there is a humble response. Every time I was for coffee, people tell me they are happy to see me again.

Busy, busy, angels.

My friend sat down and began talking. I only kept her around so that I would appear integrated and could avoid the angels.

I have a flyswatter around for this kind, hit their points, and scrambled their minds. Effing angels. They needed to turn to dust.

I got up.

"How are you going to pay?" My friend asked. She knew I was behind on bills.

"Easy, Ma'am!"

"Don't worry about it, Kaela," the woman at the bar said. "We've got plenty of soda water. Would you like some chips?"

"No thank you, ma'am," I said back and hopped off the chair.

"How do you do that?" My friend asked. "Are you hiding something?" She seemed worried. I could only imagine what gears in her human mind turned.

"She's afraid she can't spell my name on the drink and doesn't want to insult me."

"Totally rad. Do teach."

"They'd be too jealous of you, dear."

"What?"

"You'll have to find your own weapon," I said.

Light

I collect the sands of time.

A name from the darkness,

I have been here before.

My name was different.

I collect the sands of time.

Ignite.

All souls are

Flames.

They light the universe.

A lantern must take

Its turn.

Do not consume the

World.

Or the universe will be

Silent to you, and you

Too.

I am the sands of time.

A name from the darkness,

The Fault Line of Humans

It’s

Such a tragedy that humans

Learn mostly from error,

Spread the terror!

Serrure…

Rome went this way, dulled

As a maid gets old,

Let time be a number!

Humbler….

So Socrates couldn’t

Unlock, such sweet

Hemlock, wisdom stop!

Caught…

It’s

Such a tragedy that humans

Learn mostly from error,

Spread the terror!

Wrong….

Feeding

Tell me what you see, said the strange man,
As he led his newest client.
I see a starving boy on the street. He is in need.

Needy?

The strange man went on...
You see him as “needy” because you are “needy.”
If you weren’t, you wouldn’t see him at all,
Just a painting on the wall,
Colors, another face, no name, no introduction.

...When you feed him, you feed yourself.
ˆWhen you pass him by, you pass yourself by.
So should you feed him?
What can he feed you?

Tell me what you see, requested the stranger.
I see the boy eating a burrito.
Are you eating a burrito?
I am full from giving him a burrito.Is he still there? What do you see?

I see a future

Now you see need.

A Bedtime Story, "You, Too, Voodoo"

A Bedtime Story, "You, Too, Voodoo"

A strange shop set up on the west side of town. In it was a mysterious woman with hair the color of night and face white like the moon.

Curious, many townspeople went up to her. They exchanged greetings.

Then they left, a bit confused, going about their business.

They gathered outside of the shop one Sunday, bored of the park and interested in the strange figurines in the window. They bickered at each other as was common.

The woman came outside.

“I can help you get the evil out of this town,” she said “I come from a place as pure as a blossoming flower. All your troubles will be over if you listen to me. I will give each of you a number, and when I call that number with my magical flute, you will come in and destroy the evil in your life, but you must try to hide as best as you can until I call you you back, or the darkness shall overcome everyone, and what is good will rot away.”

So the townspeople waited and waited for their turn to see the woman. They did not see each other at all, afraid of the darkness that lurked.

Strange things began to happen to the townspeople. Some of them yelled but they remembered to never see each other, thinking the other villagers must be the evil in the town.

Even when they received injuries or heard the cries of death, they believed it was for the great town they’d lived in.

Finally, one day, the enchanted flute played all of the numbers.

People came out of their houses covered in blood, rags, sweaty shirts, and soiled pants.

“How could this have happened? What happened?” One man cried. He accused the woman, “You did this!”

“I told you that I would get rid of the evil in your town. You each told me of the wrongdoers. But you see, we are all connected. When we wrong others, we end up hurting ourselves. You can’t hide your own wounds or the ones you give to others.”

They agreed, heads bowed in shame. They remembered what they had done: pinned a voodoo doll to get rid of the evil, to strike back. Now they knew that wasn’t the right way to fix their problems.

People had different injuries, pains, and disabilities, but they asked forgiveness from each other and started working as a productive town should.

Together we heal ourselves and others.

BAB-DNA

 BAB-DNA

“Welcome to the BAB-DNA store, build-a-being! Walk in and walk out with the baby/being of your design. You can make your little being however you want them to be. With our gene-editing software, it’s easy!”

Megan smiled as pictures of babies passed in front of her, some animals. The government had been allowing people to design their own babies. All they had to do was pay two million dollars to the shop.

“So it’s definitely going to be a girl,” Megan said to her husband, David.

“Yes! I’ve always wanted a little princess,” David said.

“Folks, come on over to your machine. We cleared you thirty minutes ago while you were in the coffee shop. Everything is ready to go. You only have to push a few buttons. Any questions?” The short man asked.

“No, we’ve gone through everything, and we’re so thankful,” Megan said.

David and Megan began to sort out traits.

“I think she should have blonde hair, maybe blue eyes.”

“I think that would be too Aryan, might confuse people,” David said.

“Oh, you’re right. What about green eyes?”

“I think so.”

“I want her to be an athlete and independent. Strong and proud.”

“But what about intelligence?” David asked.

“I think she should be bright, too, but we’ve got to pay extra for that trait.”

“It’s in her best interest. We could slot her for a truly good life with those traits. We’ve got another million before we go into savings.”

They hit more buttons. When finished they hit “enter” but forget to hit “human” and “age.”

A cat meowed while coming out of the machine. She had tan fur and bright emerald eyes.

She looked at her parents and said, “Now you have to feed me for the rest of my nine lives, or I’ll call animal abuse, and you’ll be the one in cages."

She jumped down and sat, looking at the world she’d been brought into. She liked the looks of the ice cream shop.

“Excuse me, sir, we did not want a cat. We wanted a baby.”

“I’m sorry, but I asked you about further questioning. You signed the papers,” the little man said.

“This is ridiculous.”

“She’s yours for the remainder of her life, or nine in reality.”

“We paid two million dollars for a baby and got a cat?”

“We hope you will grow to love her as any being in this world.”

The little man walked away shaking his head. Under his breath, he said, “The cat deserves better parents.”