MINT TEA

The sun goes down; the night has come

Wondering where will my sleep come from

It won't be from bedtime stories or a loving kiss on the forehead. 

Mint tea warm with a scent like a dream.

A resting mind fresh and free

The moon comes up; a cool breeze dance above the trees

They are the audience feeling it every move

A kind of confidence I wish I could have too

Mint tea warm with a scent of peace.

Refreshing sip for you and me

The stars are there all the time; slowdown experience life

The ceramic cup warming the hands 

Just the same for every man

Mint tea warm with a scent of purity

A moment of rest is what this world needs 

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

WHEN HARRY SINGS

Deep meaning entraining the feelings

Words to a story it is much more than dreaming.

Hear the calypso sound much more than singing

When Harry sings 

Everyone dancing, swaying their hips

When the music stops, we are left smiling.

The rhythmic claps as feet move to that.

Not separated by race only by time and space

His music has what we need to see.....

When Harry sings

Everyone moving to the rhythm of peace

Much more than a musical dream

A legacy of sound sing before the crowds

Not intimidated by anyone's thoughts.

It is love that defines art.

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

 

 

HERITAGE

Life is passing you by when you don't see what is right

Living a lie as you live in the night

What is it your trying to find living in the past

Your heritage 

Locks you in a museum of intimidation and hate

What you celebrate is a waste of a day. 

Life has so much to experience you don't want to miss this.

There is no threat in peace when together we resist

A legacy of giving will last.

My heritage

Is the exclusion of hate and inclusion of love

From the mind and heart is where it comes from

Life is learning and living forever; it is about giving.

Where is your morality? Giving it away doesn't make you free.

No control over your mind; your just a political zombie 

Our heritage

Is understanding one another living as sister and brothers

Drink from the cup of life knows the difference between wrong and right.

Life is much more than a competition to get much more.

Your experience is not mine; my experience is not yours.

It is about you, the soul, the time that you hold as you grow old.

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

HANDFUL OF RICE

Hunger of the mind hunger of the soul

A child's stomach empty as it sits in the cold

When will we learn there are things more valuable than gold

A handful of rice sticky and warm

Fills the belly and comforts the soul

A feeling some wish to know

Thankful for what is before you

Some might not see it; a prayer of thanks is what you do.

You see a feast of nourishing food.

A handful of rice sticky and warm

Fills the belly and comforts the soul

A feeling many wish to know

Pressure and time hardens a diamond

Pressure and time softens the rice

We ignore the doctor's advice, think everything is alright.

A handful of rice sticky and warm

Fill the belly and comforts the soul.

A feeling I wish to know

Contentment with the simple joys of life

Strength is facing the challenges of the night.

The next day's pains are healed by the light.

A handful of rice sticky and warm

Fill the belly and comforts the soul.

A feeling everyone should know.

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

 

DANCE OF KNOWLEDGE

 

Deep inside the mind is a light

We have been searching for all our lives

Inside it has been there all the time

Dance of knowledge

Moves to the song of peace

The tune of justice we all need

Deep inside the mind, there is you, the soul.

Holding to the eternity of many lives

This journey is not a waste of time.

Dance of knowledge

Moves to the rhythm of purity

The tune of compassion every step light and free

Deep inside the mind, hear the message of life.

When we march, it is understanding we will find

Walking the path of happiness, we put the past behind.

Dance of knowledge 

Moves to the beat of love

Every step guided from above

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

FREEDOM OF THE SOUL

We give up on life when we think we are right

Only looking for a fight as the mind lives in the uneducated night

Freedom of the soul is more than religion.

It is the understanding of peace and how to embrace it and take hold.

When there is love between all human beings is when we are free.

We give up on life when we seek attention.

Everything you say or do, is proof your blind to your own reflection.

Freedom of the soul is more than emotions.

Thinking there untamed binding them up in chemical controls

When living life is about searching and finding 

We give up on life when we have no goals.

Sacrifice for the greater good never gets old.

Freedom of the soul is more than an accomplishment.

Ignoring the complex parts of life as simple solutions are bought and sold

If you don't reach out to feel you just stumble in the dark

We give up on life when there is no love.

The hero sits alone, looking down from above.

Freedom of the soul is more than a physical act.

A single emotion considered an activity dose does not make us whole.

Turning to a blank page does mean nothing is there; it means there is purity. 

We give up on life when there is no movement.

When we forget our passions and just stop, there is no improvement.

Freedom of the soul is more than action.

Children are the commitment to unconditional love that never gets old.

The recipe is a lot of education, and discipline of the mind is life fulfillment.

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020  

NO DIRECTION

Step up to the line without going over

Thinking you're a soldier but your only a loner

Looking to deceptive things for some direction.

With a gun in your hand, feeling like your a man.

Thinking you own this ancient land

The things you believe are not your own and give you no direction.

But you are the dust in the wind guided by sin.

Your willing to give up your freedoms just to say you win

You're intimidated by lies and fears; these have no direction.

Convoluted thoughts mixed with an uneducated mind you hide.

Unaware of other's misery only to find your on the wrong side of history

Thoughts and prayers give no comfort, no direction.

Complaining and calling names will never let you get your way.

Hearing only one voice now rehab is your only choice.

Your angry dry tears yelling to a deaf ear; there is no direction.

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

 

TEA COOKIES AND LEMONADE

There she was sitting in her chair

The passage of time seen in her gray hair

She sits not in a chair but on a throne of honor

Tea cookies and lemonade the silent child ate

Cookies salty-sweet this is how she will grow to be

Lemonade just enough tart you can see it from her heart

Words of wisdom in a melodious feminine tone

Encouraging us to rise up and tell me you are not alone

As I listen to her wisdom I become stronger

Tea cookies and lemonade the silent child ate

Cookies that dissolve on the tung where words have yet to be sung

Lemonade cooling and refreshing to what she dreams

Still her voice echos in our minds

She has made a mark on the pages of time

I wish I could talk to her

Tea cookies and lemonade the silent child ate

Cookies filling a child's desires that she has yet to reach

Lemonade tart to those who don't understand but sweet to those who she inspired

 

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

FATHERS AND MOTHERS / SONS AND DAUGHTERS

Sons of sand

Holding signs I am a man 

Daughters of dust

Holding signs, life in her gut

Fathers of the past

Never thought how long this would last

Mothers of the movement

Never thought so many forget their commitments

Sons of man

Fictional to control and command

Daughter of woman

Subjected to the desire of lust

Fathers of the future

Hoping they did right for the legacy

Mothers of the forgotten

Hoping their child returns home safe

Sons of redemption

Committed to a dream of equality

Daughters of justice

Standing alone these tears are not forgiveness

Sons and Fathers

Fallow each other

Mothers and Daughters

Embrace each other

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

 

LIFE IS

Life is the reason for living

Even when society has a knife at your throat

Life is the reason for giving

Even when communities are divided by a moat

Life is the reason for loving

Even when you're not worthy to vote

Life is more than flesh and bones

Even when many are left out in the cold

Life is more than a valuable stone 

Even when many have to leave their home

Life is more than ignorance is the tone

Life is unconditional love

A dance you have when alone

Life is a purpose for the soul

A story that never gets old

Life is a constantly changing goal

Life is you

Life is me

Life is us

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

MANTRA FOR ME

To hear my voice in the silence of my mind

Unaware on the outside of the passing of time

In these dark crevices, what is it that I hide

The sound of mid-tones words

As the prayer wheel turns

A Mantra for me, I must learn.

The superstitions of religion created in the past

Stained glass images are not what they seem.

Contradictions of the forgiver will condemn the sinner.

The sound of one repetitive tone

Within my mind, it is clear

A Mantra for me erases my fears.

How to adapt to this changing world

Freedoms traded for political ignorance 

Will we forgive or forget this

The sound of creation of the world

The sound of the echos of life

The heart of unconditional love 

From a mother, it will come.

The sound of this language I must learn.

Ancient in its wisdom more than sound more than a word

A mantra for me is what I have heard.   

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

THERE IS A WIND

The wind in the trees the sound of what it like to be free

The cry of a newborn son is the beginning of love

Where is that mountain top where Martin saw the dream

Where is that path to the valley of peace

Where is that message of hope hidden from me

The wind on the water pushing the waves of the past

The cry of dignity echoing through these monuments and memorials

Where is that promise that you maid to me 

Where is that voice to call for accountability in our choice

Where is that hand reaching down to pull up

There is a wind blowing through the street

There is a wind blowing through the halls

There is a wind in us all

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

BORN OF PAIN / STOLEN NAME

Born of pain cursed to live that way
A forgotten name marked with shame
Guilt by association becomes your fame

A stolen name becomes the scares on the back of a forgotten man.

Fading away to become the dust of another land

Bitterness replaced by forgiveness justice is a slap of the back of a hand.

Born of pain the mind struggle the mental slaying 

The community broke apart day after day.

Families striving for a better way

A stolen name becomes a nations bitterness

Contempt for the past without forgiveness

Celebrating a heritage of hatefulness

Born of pain crushed by the inhumanity 

No matter how sharp the knife we still bleed

Reparations will not make you free

A stolen name becomes the bust on the history page.

A platform of uneducated political rage

Fact and feeling become the moves of this game.

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

  

WE HIDE

Hunger hides in the schools

Hunger hides in the uneducated

Hunger hides in a child's mind

 

Why should this be a political fight?

We are not asking for a feast, just a little something to eat.

 

Sadness hides in the home

Sadness hides in the room

Sadness hides in the man on the streets

 

Don't want to run in your circle anymore.

Want to take that straight line leave it all behind

 

Pain hides in the head

Pain hides in the lie

Pain hides in the woman's box

 

Change your name change your life game.

Want to remove this pain just to replace it with a different kind of pain

 

Ignorance hides in the tip of a pen

Ignorance hides in the words of a little girl

Ignorance hides in the toothless follower

 

Red hat, red mask dyed with the blood of the virus of millions 

Showing off how privilege you can be when it is only attention you need

 

Love hides behind newborn eyes.

Love hides in giving without a witness. 

Love hides in a kiss unconditional.

 

More than a touch more than activity

Life, designed to be free

 

Hope hides in a morel decision

Hope hides in the silences before the dawn

Hope hides in the gift shop of the Obama Center

 

The last few dollars on a losing lotto ticket

Has more hope than what a preacher asks for in faith

 

Peace hides within the mind; the questions of life are inside.

Peace hides in the silence of nature  

Peace hides in the forgiveness of oneself

 

The things we search for we hide

The meaning to these feelings we hide 

All that we hide has become a part of life.

 

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

 

DON'T NEED

Have you given up on me have I given up on you

What is it we really can do as we look like fools

Can't see the future past my own dreams

But can you say your truly free

Don't need no blessed beads.

Don't need no lucky rabbit's feet.

Just need our leader's minds to be free.

Instead of thinking of a destructive ideology 

They have a death wish for our society. 

As we strive for peace out on the streets

Don't need no psychic reading.

Don't need no mystic miracle.

Our past history should be a lesson, not a political chant.

Why would anyone ever want to go back to that

Step on a crack hope to break the presidents back.

Has it really come down to that looking for an easy hack

Don't need no tarot cards.

Don't need no astrological reading.

Just like a lie and the truth, faith, and belief are two different things. 

When the bell rings we are def too injustice as society screams

Uneducated words argued without any proof, it is all they can do

Just to be heard, ignorance should not be an excuse. 

Don't need no prayer.

Don't need no mantra.

My blessings are my own my sins I control

I follow a path set from long ago.

Not by anyone man not by any sacred book

Don't tell the directions to a destination you have never took

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

TELL THE STORY

The voice so strong echoing the call to march to stand for all

Looking to the future to remember the past wondering will this movement last

As the halls go silent never to forget who brought us to this

Tell the story of those who came before us creating a movement that we trust

Tell the story of a boy taken from his home not long ago

Tell the story of the man who went to the mountain top to tell that story

The yellow paint on the streets will it become a forgotten page fading away

Fading away as our ancestor's vague story becoming yellowing pages in our history books

This is our story of those claiming peace and those claiming hate

Tell the story of those who started a movement all the children who grew from it

Tell the story of a girl shook the world just to walk into school

Tell the story of a dream yet to be fulfilled and the hope that it one day will

A friendly greeting a warm handshake is the kind of power I'd like to emulate

A true hero doesn't carry weapons he carries a conviction for peace and equality

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

 

DIWALI

Never seen the night so bright
Even inside when feeling soul the light
This is the time to change from wrong to right

Where is the party when it is Diwali
Music and dancing when it is Diwali
Celebrating a new day when it is Diwali

From the temple to home knowledge in the light is what we all know
I am soul, you are soul, intellectual cleaning will make us free
Remove all the webs and dust know that it is the love we can trust

So much food when it is Diwali

Light triumphs of the night when it is Diwali

Celebrating a new life when it is Diwali

Goddess Lakshmi comes and dances with me

She got all the wealth and prosperity it is much more than charity

Clearing the way for respect and dignity

Light the lamps when it is Diwali

Felling the peaceful mood when it is Diwali

Celebrating a new me when it is Diwali

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

GOT NO WORDS

Harts and souls have gone so cold forgetting what we are marching for

Others claiming to a movement that is not theirs acting like they really care

As Karin cries that this isn't fair worried about what she wears  

Got no words when the silence makes it worse

Hiding while my brother dying as the leaders are lying 

To you and me about what is so obviously 

To much worry in this world teaching it to every boy and girl

Punished for living in poverty hear the calls for equality

Not understanding the reality play hide and seek with COVID-19

Got no words when the heart hurts when every turn thing are worse  

So much consumption worried where our next meal will come from

When we should be worried where is all the peace and love

March during the day, dance during the night is the new way to fight

Walls and fences divide us all who has to die to save another life

Offended by the yellow paint as you live in your hate

Got no words when the third eye is blind to your own mind

Gave away your soul for nothing so one ego can have all the control

Living like a poor man just for a MAGA hat

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

KARIN CRIES

Wasn't looking for her but she came out of nowhere and got in the way

I don't think that the Queen of England acts the same

No cure for what she has she is a victim of her own pain

Karin cries when she knows she not right

Living in her own mental lies

Karin cries at whatever she finds

Loosing out when it has nothing to do with constitutional rights 

Threaten to make a call not knowing she is the one soon to fall

Bitten by the white snake the venom in her blood she got no love

No one knows her pain, no one knows why she acts that way

Karin cries not knowing she has given up her pride

Easily selling off her freedom to someone wish her dead

Karin cries dry tears no container it fills

No cure for the ills of her head

One blame, one shame, has yet to know the pain

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

ESSENCE OF TIME

What do you need from me

Lurking following, there is a sense of you, but I can't see

To understand you is always changing

With no destination my life I am rearranging

What I need from you

I need a schedule to keep pace, is all I can do

Can't quite what I have started

Late to the party isn't what I wanted

Who you think you are

Can't describe you near or far

Never in one place, you got no face

Without you, I might never get paid

Who am I without you

Can't keep an appointment without you

Always running late looking like a fool

Try to keep you on my wrist treat you like a tool

Nothing grows without you

Nothing moves without you

No schedules without you

This is the essence of you

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

 

THE SOLUTION IS IN YOU THE SOUL

Freedom isn't free unless you get up and speak
Patriotism isn't a reason to create a wall
It is a reason we should be inclusive to all

Look deep within and become your best friend 

Then look outward and see your unlimited power

The solution is in you the soul

Demand a better way got to work not just pray

March in the streets march in the capital's halls

Let your voice be heard shake those walls

Look deep at the power within that has no end

Contained in a body of flesh and bone 

The power is in you the soul

Passion is the ignition to a movement inclusive to all

As we are one fist a power that can resist

There is so much in life that we miss drop the ego and understand this

Look deep at your self there is much more than you can know

Nothing that anyone can hold nothing that can be sold

The passion is you the soul

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

HONEY DRIPS

Need something sweet, something to eat

Dreaming of the taste is just a waste

Inaction is a craving that sometimes goes away

Honey drips from your lips.

Passion in the words you use nothing to prove

Nourishment isn't just in the food; it is what is inside of you.

Need something sweet, something like peace

Dreaming of togetherness and what we can achieve 

Fear is just a distraction from the truth

Honey drips from his lips.

With passion in his voice, there is no other choice

Words of compassion, words with feeling, understanding the meaning

Need something sweet, something to hear

Dreaming of Marvin's words *"For only love can conquer hate."

We must march the path that they paved.

Honey drips from her lips.

Her breath through the flute knowledge is the tune

Million tears left at the fence mixed with the mace of ignorance

Need something sweet like freedom

Four hundred years of forgetting is coming to an end

Our ancestors might not have been friends, but together we can win

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

*Marvin Gay, WHAT'S GOING ON

Written by Al Cleaveland, Marvin Gay, and Renaldo Benson

©TAMAL Records 1971

ANOTHER DAY GOES BY

Distinguish the fires from last night bring justice to the light

Fighting through the social misery just to make it to the right side of history

Another day goes by and I am still here still alive

Turn up Marvin and sing along here the words still strong

Fighting in the streets a brother on his knees for justice and peace

All the while the leaders continue their deceit lacking any dignity

What matters in a nation of lies blame-shifting left to right

Another day goes by and I am still here still alive

Turn up Stevie and sing along here the words still strong

Peace is not just a dream it lives inside everybody

Normal is just a myth when there is selective justice 

We can be better than this when there is forgiveness

Another day goes by and I am still here still alive

Turn up Billie bring the song to history

Maybe you need the blues just to see the good inside of you

It is a backlash when you don't give a helping hand

This world was made for you and every man

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

TO BE A BROTHER TO BE A SISTER

To be a brother is to be there

To help those weak become strong

To be a sister is to be near

To ease the fear 

To be a brother is to be a wall

To protect the community when attacked

To be a sister is to lead

To inspire families to move forward

To be a brother is to be loud

To be a voice for those who don't know their own choice

To be a sister is to show passion

To stand up against the so-called bastards

To be a brother is to show a strong hand

To pull those up who fallen through the cracks

To be a sister is to protect the new life

To provide nourishment for the body and mind

So let be human and lift up a community 

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

 

THIS ROOM

All I need is another call from you

Doesn't matter how many minutes we use

Need to hear the sound of your voice to soothe

What more is there for me to do

This room alone again

The walls have become my best friends

Late into the night, we conversate 

Conversations alone with these walls

Echoing in the mind deep in the halls

I say the color of these walls are beige, they say their tan

Arguing with a wall does not make me a crazy man

This room deep in my mind

Trying to master my thoughts

So many secrets, if these walls could talk

If they told the truth I would say that's a lie

But where else is there for me to hide

As night comes outside I close my eyes

Outside these walls is where my dreams flys

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

  

WHY NOW

Given up your truth for some attention

Took a bowl of soup instead of a blessing

Need to think things through before you move

Why now, living in an emotional state

Speeding a million miles an hour with no brakes

Everyone feels the pain of this hate

Given up your freedom for a red hat

There is no logic to this new math

Need a better change, let us all kneel and pray

Why now, twin cities splitting at its seems

As we see the burning of a thousand dreams

Purification in the lakes waters is what we need

Given up your soul for racist words

After four hundred years the echo still can be heard

Need a word to warm the cold blood of the heart

Why not peace right now.

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020  

PRETTY BLUE

Think that I might have forgotten you

It might be true never but I never asked anything of you

My dreams don't match the reality of you

Pretty blue where did you go too

No one like you in my mind

Was our friendship just an elegant lie

These feeling never change the many times the heart brakes

But I am the only one to blame when you walk away

What do you say when you think of me today

Pretty blue where did you go too

When you where the passenger of my mind

Never to experience these unconditional feelings

When you were alone I was only in your mind

I would call you every time just to make it alright

Now I have mastered the feelings I have of you

Pretty blue where did you go too

To hold you would be an intimate lie

When you smiled it would happen every time

Reality lies when I am next to you who is always a fool

Going out of my way for heartbreak and pain

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

GOOD PEACE

Good peace its what we all dream

Never to be out of reach

Should never be too far to see

Why you need all the attention

When a family lives in desperation

Fame alone will never pay the bills

Good peace it should be the reality

Never to be a footnote in history

A man should never have to take a knee

Why we treated different ways

When I stood in line right behind you

I am no better I have nothing to prove

Good peace it should be more than a feeling

Never to be an idea of an educated mind

When we hear our leaders lie another child dies

Why you need to be rich

When the poor only dreams of it

Living a lie when you have to pay someone to be by your side

Good peace is more than thoughts and prayers

Should be service without a care

The proof shouldn't be recorded on your phone

Why not live in purity 

You'll have so much dignity

*Loving your self till everyone else does too

Good peace should be more than a thought

Good peace should come from the heart

Good peace should start from right where you are

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

*From the song STYLE by Prince Rogers Nelson

from the album EMANCIPATION, NPG Music 

 

POETIC

Random thoughts from the heart

So much more than inspirational

Creative lines of words are where it starts

Poetic thoughts profound in rhythm and rhyme

Fractured word caught between inspiration and validation

Haiku is the poetic phlegm I spit at you

Wet and dry all at the same time 

No reasoning to the word that you choose

Poetic words with feeling and deep meaning

Incoherent babble just to make words rhyme to save time

Picturesque musings through the rainbow haze

Hear the songs of the early morning

Put the past behind you look to the sun of a new day

Poetic movement with intent and purpose

Hear the purple omens as Misty Copeland floats by

No one can write the same as the crow flys

On a pilgrimage to the destination, there are twist and turns

You have learned more than what anyone has heard in these words

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

NO ONE'S BOSS

Do you give a thought to what you say
Always use words in a different way
Does God even understand you when you pray

Don't want to be no one's boss
Have no reason to control it all
Only those things close to my heart

No longer can I be happy today
Now it became an orientational social name
To be gay will never mean the same

Don't want to be no one's boss
Have no reason to have the control of you
You're not a minstrel you don't have to shine my shoes

Innocent words use as racial slurs
Generational slave mentality in just one word
You have to make mistakes before you learn

Don't want to be no one's boss
Have nothing to prove
Just call me brother or friend

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

In a comment, I got on another poetry site to this poem where say "We all need to treat each other with respect, my friend."

Not fully understanding the context of the comment. I said, the word BOSS is so overused and miss understood its definition is a person in charge of a worker or organization. It comes from the Ditch language BAAS and in America, it was used to replace another word that word is MASTER because it was too reminiscent of the slavery past. I find it more of annoyance word when being called that so I see it as the person saying it is more disrespecting to themselves than the one that they are saying it to. When writing poetry I do some research when using metaphors on any topic. So what I am saying with the poem respect your self just as much as you respect your self. 

REMEMBER THE SILENCE

Something is in the air some don't even care
The doors are locked the windows are closed
What does tomorrow hold

Sitting still as the sitar sounds
Hear the meditated reverberations all around
Now go inside and remember the silence

As the soul moves on as the love stays behind
Looking to the knowledge at this time
What does tomorrow hide

Sitting still as Ravi makes the sitar sing
Feel the meditated reverberations all around
Only inside we remember the silence

The days move by so slow not sure where to go
Some entranced by words of the uneducated mind
Praying for the resurrection of peace at this time

Sitting still as a lotus as the sitar rings
See the meditated reverberations of the soul
Everything you will find when you remember the silence

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

PROMISED LOVE

In the fog is a lonely place to be
When the sun comes out it will warm you and me
Above the trees out in the sky, there is more we need

Promised love
Come down from above
Promised love
Might feel like it comes and goes
It is unconditionally apart of the soul

Romance is just a selfish act of man
There is so much more than a touch of a hand
When things get hot can't cool things with a fan

Promised love
Everywhere for every one
Promised love
Let it shine from the eyes it will not lie
With purity no way it will ever hide

Like a song from the heart, it is strong
Moving us from this feeling of pride, it just feels so right
It is not a possession that the ego controls there is so much more

Promised love
Some times it is taken advantage of
Promised love
A word that sweetens the air
From the eye removing the sad salt from every tear

Feel the word roll off the tongue pass the lips
Let everyone hear it with the feeling of bliss
More than a hug more than a kiss say the word it's love

Promised love
A phrase from the knowledge page
Promised love
Words mused by the purple omens
Listen to this love note

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

NO DISCRIMINATION

No discrimination from girl to boy
Lavender and peach nothing you ever need
Like I said it is you I want to hold
If you had everything would you still like me

Dorothy, she got the counsel and education is the foundation
This noise is louder than equality that is always free

No discrimination from woman to man
Cheating creation just because you think you can
Now you got more problems than anyone should have
Life isn't all that bad and not ever tear from your eye is sad

Michelle, she got the books anyone can read
Loving that family man better than one woman can

No discrimination from brown to beige
Got no education you let them know your name
Fact and fiction got no description now it is the deception
A question is an insult when you got no intelligent answer

Gail, she got the voice girl you got to make that noise
Known by that one letter optimism gets so much better

No discrimination from culture to tradition
Don't like what you are given when your think life isn't worth liven
Greed is the only thing the ego eats when the mind isn't free


©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

YUSRA

Is the wall to high

I will never know if I don't try climb

Do I crawl or just lay here and die
All of my problems are in my mind

Yusra walked into my life with her Parisian sweetness
She told me her struggles, I told her mine
Can only feel comfortable in the light

Walking this life alone with so much noise
So much to do so much to prove that is if I am in the mood
Form the radio comes that lavender song
It makes your inspiration so strong

Yusra walked in with that Arabian sent in my travels I will never forget
She is exotic and beige there isn't any more I can say
Her beauty in the pages my mind she is a centerfold

Life might have its problems and some times we stumble
The meaning of your name survives all the challenges

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

INSPIRATION

Can't demand creativity to magically appear
It just doesn't rain the right conditions have to be in the air
Original thought comes 30 seconds later from the heart

Inspiration
So much complication a created sensation
Inspiration
So much noise when everyone wants to have a voice

Ask me what I think, you might not like what you hear
But you forgetting me is what I fear the feeling has been there for years
That is in the past, and I chose to burn that bridge and dry up those tears

Inspiration
So much complexity in understanding humanity
Inspiration
So much commotion can't believe everything I am told.

Out of the quarantined mind, I will survive
Finding so much more to life without much time
Looking forward to when *the rainbow children rise

Inspiration
So much involvement only one has the ingredients
Inspiration
So much agitation from one voice making so many contradiction

Can't answer a question got no answers your insults are just dumb
So many much smarter than you but you think you know what to do
They all pander to you know you the only fool in the room

Inspiration
So much thought goes into it got to write that down before I forget
Inspiration
So much content to lazy to collect and organize it

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

*The Rainbow Children by Prince PRN

NORMAL

What is normal?
A state of being comfortable.
I never consistently felt comfortable
Not here not anywhere

What is normal?
A standard of being consistent with what is trendy
The mom who wares yoga-pants to the mall pushing an empty stroller
No one even stairs

What is normal?
A state of being free from a physical or mental disorder
Who collects the rent for this cerebral room I am in
No longer the owner of my own thoughts

What is normal?
A state of being on a surface that measures to the degree of the one after it
The complicated structure just to control the atmosphere 
This place, this room, this chair who is really sitting hear

What is normal?
A state of being close to you when I am only six feet away
Something wrong with you and me that we can't see
The new normal is all that anyone can say

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

CALL OF THE TIME

Wondering why, what is it I don't know
Living in this war of the souls
Regret in my mind all a wasted time

A message of knowledge from the light
No more night while living this life
Hear the call of the time

Fortune of man comes and go when connected with the ego
Without the service of the mind, it is wasted dust to the side
Claiming attention dose nothing for the soul

A message of knowledge from the light
No more night while living this life
Hear the call of the time

A contradiction of messages just for the attention
Corona the cats have nine lives,  pushing all the truth to the side
This all you will be known for it does nothing for anyone's soul

A message of knowledge from the light
No more night while living this life
Hear the call of the time

*A great negative force is reaching its peak...
It is very easy to become confused and even frightened
A positive turning towards peace is what we all need.

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

*From the booklet FEELING GREAT by Dadi Janki
Published by BKIS

  

DEAR SISTER (For Hansa)

The experience you just had
Has more value than any wealthy man

Dear Sister
Love is found in one tear from your eye
Your service to the one will never be done
A smile from your eye is bright as the sun

The story continues in you and all that you do
Sadness is for a short time but love is for a lifetime

Dear Sister
Surrendered to love now you know where it comes from
Living it unconditionally what more could you ever need
The only way to be free is peace, love, and purity

 As a yogi child, there is much more than what is in the eyes
Love is the binding aspect of peace and it is what we need

Dear Sister
The drama has the mind in a knot the knowledge will bring back the light
Got to be a soul just to take hold of all the joy
Look in a clean mirror to see how this was never a dream

Knowing the world has changed happiness is what you have to give today
*You are apart of the never-ending story

©Copyright 2020 Thomas Dooley

*quote from Dadi Janki
from the book I Know How To Live I Know How To Die by Neville Hodgkinson
Photo Credit: Brahma Kumaris

I BEAT THE GROUND

I beat the ground here with fists and with tears
Never to make a wrong a right and never to lose sight
Got to remember the stories and continue the fight

I beat the ground
At the base of the locust tree
So that the ghost of the strange fruit can be free

I beat the ground with marching feet
Every step closer to equality
Look at the black and white photos of the call for dignity

I beat the ground
With peace as the gravel cuts the hand the knuckles bleed
Who died here children, women or men as we hear the stories again

I beat the ground with my mind
Looking past political lies freedom is my right
Ignorance is no excuse when you break the rules

I beat the ground
With optimism hearing the echoing sounds of Martin and Malcolm
A definite dream striving for its reality

I beat the ground with my voice
I demand the right to a choice
To hear the stories of injustice

I beat the ground
To never forget
The stories should not end with regret, but with how to forgive


©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

CRIMSON AND CREAM

An intelligent dream, an education so sweet
With feminity power no suffrage of tears
Striving for more from ourselves

Crimson and cream
Freedom is accountability
Time to see what courage will bring

Skip to the tune of a new generation
But where is the path for our nation
The evidence is clear, but ignorance does not know how to fear
Ignorance only know what it wants to know and nothing more

Crimson and cream
The world will see
A serious composure of dignity

Have we forgotten unconditional love
Some have forgotten where they come from
It is our mothers who give birth to children

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

BRITTLE

The world has become brittle
While we do so little
Not in tweets, not in memes
But in the way, we follow our dreams

It takes courage to bring honest words to life
We say things wrong we say things right
As we pass the blame for these verbal fights

The world has become brittle.
As those in power think so little
Locking doors to compassion and empathy
They might control the dollars, but we are one nation.

It took strength to sit; it took strength to kneel
Harriet could have died, as history books were placed on the shelf to hide
As our children celebrate celebrities with tattooed faces

The world has become brittle.
Forcing society to change their pronouns
Just because you are not who you think you are
This journey is yours; forcing the movement just slows it down.

No medicine will heal an ego that seeks to kill
A coward that hides behind power, this filth doesn't wash off in the shower.
It takes courage to give truth a voice; that is what speaks louder.

The world has become brittle.

People live for the attention of words

Other people die because of words

As Daphne body hits the pavement

The privileged changes history just claim the victim name

Many have died before you tweeting your pain is not the same

Understand the words before you believe the lies; life is not a game 

Stop being so brittle; stop thinking so little.

Bring out the kindness you hide and the empathy inside
Look at where you have come from and just laugh.

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020

LISTENING

Listening to the mid sonic tone
The dream of a comforting home
To my mind all I hear OM

Listening to the sister play the flute
More than a song more than a tune
What you look for is inside you

Listening to the sunrise
The song of birth of new life
This journey begins inside

Listening to the dream
This is beyond free
There is much more to see

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2020