Hour Twenty Inspiration= “Cluster One” Pink Floyd
5:43

Hot are the rivers
running through scaled eyes
blinded by the serpentine
motivations and macabre machinations
of the world of today
every day lacking
the promise of tomorrow.
Lord, hear our prayers
as we silently wilt
our petals fall with
an absent minded cause for concern.

We realize this world requires
a shift in perception
from the mummified remains
of wise old trees
ringed with years of stately experience
that have seen far more than we.
They are filleted into thin slices
and stuffed into the mouths of
those whose authority
govern the people
seething with ulterior motives
and promises broken like spirits-
Lord, hear our prayers
as we gather in hushed whispers
and the biting of fists-
our fear of standing out
standing up
at the injustice of greed
as nothing is filled more than pockets
with no thought to starving mouths
that lack the strength in jaw
to speak out or chew upon
another daily headline of
another corrupt institution –
failing in moral and character.
It is one thing to have fault,
yet another to continue the cycle of it.

The world, an unholy empire
built upon the backs of popular vote
and someone else’s work
for none consider a change in habit
and that fact is cause to salivate
where corporations pay homage
to the next candidate
with a vote of confidence
and clandestine bribery
to adjust tax brackets
and let it ride
the coattails of mudslinging,
ensuring the victory- a campaign of hate
and the blatant traces of facade.
Lord, hear our prayer
as we cry to heaven
as countries vie to expand
their attention upon expounding dominance
of yet another land-
not a battle of wits, but a measuring stick.

In a world where the appetite for power replaces
the wealth of knowledge
and subterfuge, loopholes, and manipulation
becomes the goalpost-
we neglect to realize that
wisdom and education is our fountain of youth
as opposed to the artificial cosmetics
affixed unnaturally to
the beauty of imperfection.
The world craves attention,
yet goes about it in the wrong way
for we fill our bellies with materialism
and the next best thing
comparison to who has the best new what
instead of filling our hearts
with love that has become
so fleeting in this cruel world.
Lord, hear our cries
as deep within the hollow
we know the truth-
a candle lit in memoriam
for the faith and hope that many have lost
as circumstances have much want to improve
They’re snuffed out and dimmed by
the shadows of suits and power plays
as we believe our father and not our Father
knows best…

As jealousy and envy pave the road
to our own demise-
competition became a war
borne of death, destruction, and ego
as it collides with faltering self-worth;
an uprising as the neglect to our own talents
leaves us no room for improvement
to highlight how intricate and substantial
each soul truly is and what
we as individuals can contribute
as we play to our strengths.
This has become a realm where
pride wires shut the mouths
and ties the tongue in knots-
a place where assumptions rule opinion
and emotion becomes fact
and not felt
The world a gameshow
where the winner takes all
and leaves behind no crumbs to those
who break their backs
and hearts to survive.

Lord Father, hear our cries to heaven
and bestow upon us Your righteous hand
shield us from the growing savagery
and crack open the tomb of our hearts,
uplift our broken spirits
that have shattered upon the rocks
thrown through every window
of our lives.