As a young man, I saw intolerance firsthand, prejudice, bigotry,
such discrimination came at a price, I kept quiet as I was shy,
at thirteen, I woke up, politically aware, the release of Gandhi,
yes, the movie, made me understand truth, for me, was a rallying cry,
only I had no way to formulate in words what I knew about pain,
until I tried to write lyrics for my punk band, did I find poetry,
now, as I turn fifty, am I able to write and speak about the vain,
gullible people who during the 70s left me marked, so early,
marked by experience, I could never unlearn without years of training,
as a foreign-born child of immigrants, I saw people act with benign
neglect, they didn't care about others outside vested interests, straining,
I could not keep quiet for the rest of my life, this world was asinine,
stupid and complacent, children and adults, all were ignorant of harm,
as a young man, I took part in acts of neglect, unable to process
what I saw as the truth, my conscience corrupted, I lost my way, my charm
ingratiated me with those who cause trauma, their pain, found in distress,
notified me, we all suffer the same neglect, we abuse to act strong,
trauma from this abuse will never disappear without an intention,
our violence must end, or we perpetuate the harm we know as wrong,
left alone as a child, a latchkey kid, I found no one, the attention
every child craves, I found by acting out, stealing, lying, cheating,
religion helped little for me to understand, I set fires and God spoke,
as a young man, I woke to find truth in reason, but suffered the beating
neither parent could turn away and not punish, I suffered and awoke,
childhood was misery, unjust and uncaring, no one knew a shy child
entered the world quiet but leaves as a roaring lion, I march with my army
fully equipped with words I could not speak when young, because my mind was wild,
in fact, my parents thought I was crazy, insane, mad, completely barmy,
really, I lost my mind at twenty to regain my sense of injustice,
senselessly beaten up, as a child, to correct mistakes made, made no sense,
to understand abuse, I forced myself to cleanse my conscience, Augustus
honored me in spirit for my efforts to come to terms with past offense,
as a young man, I harmed others as I had been harmed by others, I cast
no stone to throw, but light upon the harm, trauma, I knew was wrong, my mind
decided to take charge, I trained myself to run, to clear away the past,
prejudice, bigotry, I learned as a young man, injustice was not blind,
retrain my thoughts to think as no other can do without effort, I found
even Augustus saw my endeavors as pure, to accept and forgive,
justice be damned, this world I set alight, on fire, the flames, words of clear sound,
until I burn in flames the souls of each conscience we carry, we will live
damned to harm and abuse, to do wrong, to act out as children, thinking God
in His glory consigns us to act in this way, even this God, I doubt
consents to our actions, as if His will be done through us, our actions flawed,
even Augustus knows I must enter the flames to know the truth, this route
bestows wisdom with age, mistakes made, bad judgment, experience, the good
invites me to enter into the light of truth, beyond language and words,
granted blessings to teach, I know what I must do, I had misunderstood
others as a young man, taken offense, offered the same in kind, the birds
try to signal, forewarn me of trouble to come, I see their augury,
rest assured, the birds speak a language beyond words, the truth I must divine,
yes, wisdom lacks value in our society, thus, I burn in fury.
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