Walking to Your Jordan

*  dedicated to The Dave Matthews Band, Lie in Our Graves
http://youtu.be/AMjLybIfoEU
* dedicated to Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Set Sail
http://youtu.be/aZBBJ0DBYQY
* dedicated to Jars of Clay, There is a River
http://youtu.be/gp-HTdyuzoA
* Saint John the Baptist, pray for me.

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--------------------- Jesus’ Baptism; Walking to Your Jordan

How much regret have you borne on your Galilean
roads, and for how long? At your feet
memories as plumes of dust, your sandals
doubling as great oracles conjuring past sentiments
from dirt, montages of love lost,
betrayal, and self-sabotage in the thin nebula
of earth rising and echoing the
tragedy of buried ancestors with similar
stories who speak no more.
In the distance, a convocation of crowds
like a projection of your subconscious desire:
midwives consoling a woman in labor kneeling
before birthing canals of the Jordan River,
a slit of feminine redemptive flesh,
dead fish, silt, loose rocks, and human waste
like amniotic fluid and blood of a mother
expecting the new life of a son.
Your consciousness is John the Baptist caterwauling
for commutation.
Your tears are the food of an eclectic begging
for release from weariness,
begging for locusts and wild honey
begging for locusts and wild honey
anything but the decaying red meat of this world
of vindictiveness and psychological war. 
And so you wade waist deep
in the grave of all that you wish to leave behind,
staring in the faces of the Pharisees in the crowd,
your self-doubt and cynicism,
one last time.
Redemption is a dove circling and descending
like a pure spirit as you look above
bidding farewell to your old life, drowning. Then
a thunderous voice of relief rippling the waters
of what once was-
 “arise my child”
and welcome to the Kingdom of God.




---Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

1 Peter 3:18-22
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

Matthew 3:13-17
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

-----------Lie in Our Graves Lyrics
when I step into the light
 my arms open wide
 when I step into the light
 my eyes searching wild
 would you not like to be
 sitting on top of the world with your legs hanging free
 would you not like to be OK, OK, OK
 when we're walking by the water
 splish splash me and you taking a bath
 when we're walking by the water
 come to my toes to my ankles to my head to my soul
 then I'm blown away
 when we're walking by the water
 splish splash me and you taking a bath
 when we're walking by the water
 come to my toes to my ankles to my head to my soul
 then I'm blown away
 I can't believe that we would lie in graves
 wondering if we had spent our living days well
 I can't believe that we would lie in graves
 wondering what we might of been
 I can't believe that we would lie in graves
 wondering if we had spent our living days well
 I can't believe that we would lie in graves
 wondering what we might of been
 would you not like to be
 would you not like to be
 I can't believe that you would not like to be
 would you not like to be
 ok, ok, ok,
 ok, ok, ok,
 ok, ok, ok,
 ok, ok, ok,
 and we dance away

-----Set Sail Lyrics

Through a stranger's eyes
 I take a good look at my life
 Only to find that I’m not living
 I’m not alive
 I wanna live to tell the tale
 I wanna wake up before my ship sets sail
 Don’t wanna try to be anyone else
 I just wanna try to find myself
 We all know life could end in an instant
 We all just disappear
 So let me put this into perspective
 Let me make this clear
 I wanna live to tell the tale
 I wanna wake up before my ship sets sail
 Don’t wanna try to be anyone else
 I just wanna try to find myself
 I’ve grown tired of the same old f* story
 I think I’m ready for a change
 If there’s a higher power up there watching over me
 Could you give me a sign today, today?
 Cuz I’ve grown tired, I’ve grown tired
 I think I’m ready for a change
 I wanna live to tell the tale
 I wanna wake up before my ship sets sail
 Don’t wanna try to be anyone else
 I wanna find myself, I wanna find myself
 I wanna wake up (I wanna find myself)
 I just wanna wake up (I wanna find myself)

-----------There is a River Lyrics
There is a river that washes you clean
 There is a tree that marks the places you've been
 Blood that was spilled, although not your own,
 For all of your tears, are the wages for things you have done
 And all of those nights
 Spent alone in the darkness of your mind
 Give it up, Let go
 These are things you were never meant to shoulder
 There is a river that washes you clean
 There is a tree that marks the places you've been
 Blood that was spilled, although not your own
 For all of those tears, love will atone
 So, give up the right
 To control the waves that empty out your life
 Above wild skies
 Are the rays that break the shadows we design
 Give it up, let go
 These are things you were never meant to shoulder
 Give it up, let go
 There is a river that washes you clean
 There is a tree that marks the places you've been
 Blood that was spilled, although not your own
 For all of those things, love will atone
 I know the world can turn in different ways
 Most of the time, we're simply hanging on
 And under the signs of how we all behave
 We might find the place that we belong
 There is a river that washes you clean
 There is a tree that marks the places you've been
 Blood that was spilled, although not your own
 For all of these things, love will atone
 For all of those nights, that you cried all alone
 All of your tears, love will atone 

Coals and Bread (Ronda Rousey)

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-------------------/Coals and Bread; A Love Poem to Ronda 'Rowdy' Rousey

Ronda, watching you fight in the UFC
is like watching you fish on the
Sea of Tiberias, flanked by
coaches and training partners like disciples
of a New World casting large nets of ambition
for a woman’s champion into
erstwhile barren waters from small,
unprecedented wooden vessels of steely resolve,
expecting nothing less than generous success,
unflinching in the face of time, even
willing to sleep naked in the cold.  
Your beauty, honestly, is resurrection.
My prolonged loneliness has been like dying,
three days and three nights in the Hell
of my worst fears of never being loved,
and the repudiation from girls Ive liked,
barbaric Roman soldiers with bloodlust  
hammering nails in my hands and feet,
like a shameful crucifixion
inviting public scorn and smirks from
mocking enemies who spit in my face
(Because they are already wedded with kids).
On that day my hope for marriage,
scattered like sheep,
earthquakes and darkening of the sun.
I have the scars in my side to prove
I need your comfort, the painful insistence
that I need you to have faith in us, together.
My kiss will be like 153 fishes in your net,
beckoning you to come to the shores
of my love like eternal life,
my am wrapped around your waist
like a Shepherd
as we walk from your boat
to the coals and fish and bread and fire
of my faithfulness to you.
You are my favorite UFC fighter,
with blue eyes of pure desire
that I need like salvation;
please baby please, will you
feed my sheep
feed my sheep
feed my sheep?


------------------John 21:1-17
After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself. There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea. And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes. As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught.  Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead. So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

All Roman Roads Eventually Lead to Blood and Paradise

* dedicated to all the Christian (white robed) martyrs of the terrorist organization ISIS; I know youre gazing down from Heaven upon us now.  I invite you to be with me as I write this poem, and may your souls both provide me with literary inspiration and relay the comfort of Christ to this broken world.  You do not die in vain. You inspire the Church to galvanize and seek God. Selah.  The Heavenly Father comforts us all, and subsequently fights against our Oppressor, vindicating our innocence.  #ISISisthenewROME

* dedicated to The Amity Affliction, Chasing Ghosts – (The Martyrs names will live on, the ISIS soldiers names will be forgotten like ghosts in the New Heaven and Earth) - http://youtu.be/g2BI3Fww1vA
* dedicated to Thursday, Signals Over The Air – (ISIS is using media to further their message, baptized in the blood of innocent Christian martyrs) - http://youtu.be/pejvzJZSLpw
* dedicated to Thursday, Marches and Maneuvers - http://youtu.be/lbfZScZiptM


-----------------------/All Roman Roads Eventually Lead to Blood and Paradise

At the end of our lives,
cold wind gusts will force our torsos,
the flayed part of us not nailed down, 
to ricochet against wood violently,
clangoring just as loud as our screams
that cynically attest “All Roads
Lead To Rome.” Pelted by stones,
and ravens orbiting our heads, humiliating
hissing of throngs of unenlightened barbarians
stir us in and out
of consciousness,  our
blood cascading from hands and feet
likely now infected by the rust
and filth of overused nails,
the societal pernicious smirk
of Caesar Augustus
on all those deemed nonconformists. 
We recall that there is no
judiciary for those who serve the God Mars,
only myopia.  Only the swift implementation
of guilt
and subjugation for those who refuse to genuflect
to a crass empire that might as well burn,
secret imprecations of the condemned
walked beneath triumphal arches to their deaths
on crosses.  
After the unceremonious whipping
and plodding up winding roads laden with
the patibulum
that will usher into Jerusalem angels of death,
our eyes glazed over, we will see visions
of Paradise
through the haze of our inner most fears.
Though Pontius Pilate condemns,
we look up to a Loving Father with
arms open wide, commending our spirits
to a celestial refuge with emerald streets,
 before sending down his
armies of vindication, consigning the Praetorian
and it all stands for
to a lake of burning sulfur,
dipping each and every Roman citizen
slowly.







the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church - Tertullian
(The foot of Michael the Archangel on their necks as they await their turn at the end of Time)
--------------Luke 23:36-44
And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, This Is The King Of The Jews. And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.


------Chasing Ghosts Lyrics

Will they remember my name when I'm gone
(when they know what I did was so f*g wrong)
Put the steel to my wrist, lost the breath in my chest
(just to forget all the wrongs I had left)
I took the exit, left my friends in the gutter
(left my life right behind me, left myself, left it all)
Left myself, left it all, not a falter, not a stutter
Not a note, and now?
(there’s nothing at all)
Are you at all haunted by memories past?
Are you ready to make this one breath your last?
Is your chest so heavy you're ready to leave?
Or are you just hoping that someone will grieve?
And now we roll on...
I'm gone now,
I don't remember much,
I just know that I would have been better off if I had stayed,
Spoken to a friend,
Let my heart keep on beating and not given it all up
For the grave, for the grave
There's no one there on the other side (other side)
There's nothing more than what I had.
There's no ghost left to haunt you so you know I'm still here,
Just the end of my life nothing left here at all.
There's no memories here, just the regrets of the dead,
Please don't follow my footsteps - cherish all you have left.
Are you at all haunted by memories past?
Are you ready to make this one breath your last?
Is your chest so heavy you’re ready to leave?
Or are you just hoping that someone will grieve?
There's no one there on the other side
(there's no one there on the other side)
There's nothing more than what I had
(there's no ghost left to haunt you).
There's no ghosts
There's no memories here
Just the regrets of the dead
Please don't follow in my footsteps
Cherish all you have left
There's no memories here (memories here)
Just the regrets of the dead (regrets of the dead)
Please don't follow in my footsteps (my footsteps)
Cherish all you have left.
Are you at all haunted by memories past?
Are you ready to make this one breath your last?
Is your chest so heavy you’re ready to leave?
Or are you just hoping that someone will grieve?
Are you at all haunted by memories past? (memories past)
Are you ready to make this one breath your last? (breath your last)
Is your chest so heavy you’re ready to leave? (ready to leave)
Or are you just hoping that someone will grieve? (someone will grieve)

-------------Signals Over The Air Lyrics

this is what you see when you look in my direction:
incandescent corsets draw eyes tight like wires.
this is how it feels,
calling out but no one even hears
the signals that we send over the air
over the air
over the air
over the air.
when you say my name,
i want to split it from your lips
and hide like whispers in the rain.
when you say (when you say) my name (when you say it)
i want to stop it in your lungs
and collect all of your blood to put in the radio.
is this how it feels
when you dont even fit into your own skin?
and its getting tighter,
every day i'm getting smaller
if i keep holding my breath i'm going to disappear.
when you say my name,
i want to split it from your lips
and hide like whispers in the rain.
when you say (when you say) my name (when you say it)
i want to stop it in your lungs
and collect all of your blood to put in the radio.
there's no where to hide.
they stole the love from our lives to put the sex on the radio.
there's no where to hide.
they stole the love from our lives to put the sex on.
if i keep holding my breath, all of this will fade away.
if you keep driving we'll be lying in the wreck.
changing the shape,
folding like an envelope to keep each other in.
shattered glass, broken looks, and mascara gets
washed away by windshield wiper blades
safe, safe
when you say (when you say) my name (when you say my name),
i want to split it from your lips
and hide like whispers in the rain.
when you say (when you say) my name (my name)
i want to stop it in your lungs
and collect all of your blood to put in the radio.
there's no where to hide.
they stole the love from our lives to put the sex on the radio.
there's no where to hide.
they stole the love from our lives to put the sex on the radio.
that's where we hide
the love and lies and sex, on the radio.

------Marches and Maneuvers Lyrics

this is a war we live and the sides are drawn (the sides are drawn).
and we're all wrapped up in fatigues and they wear us out (wear us out).
there is a storm at sea.
if we fly a white flag under a black and blue sky, will the red sun rise?
(the taste of your kerosine lips burn me up)
if we fly a white flag under a black and blue sky, will the red sun rise?
rise, glare from your enemy sights make me go blind/blinds
divide the sunlight into thin strips, the size of a blade, in this trench that we dig for ourselves.
fourscore and fade. glare with the enemy heat of the bodies in the bed. no retreat.
this is a war we live in. now we're up in arms (up in arms)
with our heads pressed against the wall and it's wearing thin (and wearing thin).
these are the screams we swallow,
if we fly a white flag under a black and blue sky, will the red sun rise?
(the taste of your kerosine lips burn me up)
if we fly a white flag under a black and blue sky, will the red sun rise?
rise, the glare from your enemy sights make me go blind
this is our war
administer the pill (keep fighting)
before the cell divides (keep marching)
we'll both go down like toy soldiers.
this is a war
threats and picket lines (keep fighting)
are forming around our beds (keep marching)
and the landmines in our chests will all go off in time.
if we trip each other into this,
do you think we'll find a way out?
we've synthesized a compound to treat this conscience, it's:
one part loss, one part no sleep, one part the gun shot we heard,
one part the screams mistaken for laughter, one part everything after,
one part love, one part stepping out of the driving rain,
one part parting ways, in the cold apartment. don't look back,
just keep running down the stairs. do you hear the footsteps?
can you hear voices in the traffic, communiques in the attic?
they say, after time, all this will heal,
we will rebuild and these broken arms will mend themselves in our embrace.

Drunk in Antediluvian Love

* Dedicated to RB. And listen Party Peoples, just because its football season don’t correlate RB with Marshawn Lynch or any other of those RUNNING BACKS!!!! Because I am NOT referring to a running back! Im referring to my precious R.B…..oh snookums!!! Oh…and….maybe I already used this Bible passage to write a poem, but hey…..RB is worthy of many poems the world over!!!!
* Dedicated to Noah, a man forsaking one world and trying to reestablish normalcy in the next.
* Dedicated to The Amity Affliction, Pittsburgh - No Intro
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu3xGr-lNVI

----------/Drunk in Antediluvian Love; MyThoughts Of Noah As I Stare at Your  Facebook Profile

Your hair calls out to me, like an echo
of a raven, vestige of a time and place
of passion and romantic ruddiness
that I left behind, in a past life filled
with dreaming.  When we first met,
at Christlife, I had interior misgivings,
my heart as God, whispering specific dimensions:
300 cubits long, 50 wide
and 30 high of gopher wood, the most stout,
for an ark of desire meant to withstand
even the most pernicious adversity,
jeering crowds of millennial dissent,
40 days and 40 nights of incessant criticism
like hail and continual winds of chaotic controversy
that would rock the boat of my confidence.
Maybe forever.
You see, our 14 year age gap is immorality.
The cattle, wolves, sheep and horses, the
coarse men, and lowbred women who lick dust
stared with cagey smiles and furtive glances,
eyes glowing red as rubies,
because that depraved craven world
misunderstood my attraction
for the common carnal attraction of their day,
smut of the earth whitewashed,
the harrowing harmony of hedonism
destroyed, garbled screams of wicked men
and
braying oxen gargling water as they drown.
Its been a while since Ive seen you,
the white dove of changing seasons has
dropped an olive branch of hope in my lap,
(parting with a wink)
a relic I conjure everytime I see you on Facebook.
Now I sit in the vineyard of romantic musing, alone,
wondering if I sailed away from you,
voyage of uncertain destiny,
buoyed by this self imposed restraint,
by mistake…if another cup of wine
in a drunken stupor
will bring at least a portion
of my old world back.


----------------Genesis 9:20-29
And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

-----Pittsburgh Lyrics

I've been searching for an exit, but I'm lost inside my head;
 Where I spend every waking moment wishing I was dead.
 For a few minutes get me away from here,
 For a few minutes wipe away my tears.
 For I am lost right now as the ocean deep;
 I am low my friend and how my heart does sink.
 Yeah I am lost right now as the ocean deep;
 I am low my friend and how my heart does sink.
 It's like there's cancer in my blood,
 It's like there's water in my lungs,
 And I can't take another step,
 Please tell me I am not undone.
 It's like there's fire in my skin
 And I'm drowning from within -
 I can't take another breath,
 Please tell me I am not undone.
 I've been searching for an exit but I'm lost inside my head;
 Where I spend every waking moment wishing this would end.
 I can't take another step, I cannot live inside my mind,
 I can't face another day, I am so f* tired.
 For I am lost right now as the ocean deep,
 I am low my friend and how my heart does sink.
 Yeah I am lost right now as the ocean deep,
 I am low my friend and how my heart does sink.
 It's like there's cancer in my blood,
 It's like there's water in my lungs
 And I can't take another step -
 Please tell me I am not undone.
 It's like there's fire in my skin
 And I'm drowning from within.
 I can't take another breath -
 Please tell me I am not undone.
 I've been searching for an exit but I'm lost inside my head;
 Where I spend every waking moment, wishing I was dead.
 I'll take another step for you -
 I'll shed my tears until I drown, or until I am underground.
 I'll take another breath for you...
 Will you still be there when I'm home, out from the great unknown?
 It's like there's cancer in my blood,
 It's like there's water in my lungs,
 And I can't take another step -
 Please tell me I am not undone.
 It's like there's fire in my skin
 And I'm drowning from within.
 I can't take another breath -
 Please tell me I am not undone.