On War, Whimsy, and The Way. Joseph Palen

I cannot see the answer Lord

       But killing can’t be what’s True

       Please shelter all the innocents

       whether Christian, Muslim, or Jew

      What’s in a Name

      When embryos have to die to

       help an old lady regain the use of her brain,

       they call it abortion and veto the plan for the Bible’s

       instructions are plain:

       “Thou Shalt Not Kill!”

       We agree with that. Still

       it seems inconsistent to say:

       It is only “collateral damage,”

       when little children are blown away!

      Final Expenses

      If there’s a bill

       they must pay

       Where there’s a will

       there’s a way

      Light and Darkness

      There is light

       there is dark

       There is life

       There is death

       There is God

       There is Satan

       If I kill my enemy he comes back

       a Hydra, more than before

       Someone said I must love him

       What a crazy idea

       Yet, trying it, a miracle is wrought

       He disappears

       Vanquished, utterly destroyed

       No Hydra heads appear

       He has become

       a friend

      For Steve

       and the Stingray

      A stingray is a beautiful fish.

       Steve was a beautiful man.

       He loved them all, even the snakes,