EVERY THING BUT THE DREAM

The end has come; all that is left is stone and bones

Escaping death and pain in a nation built on hate

Rebuilding a new life, not knowing it will be taken away one day.

Pack up your clothing, pack up your photos and memories

Everything you think you will need

Everything but the dreams

Ike and Tina had a better relationship than the Taliban and Afghanistan

No one returning to Nutbush in that land, even if they can

Now controlled by men without any education or any soul

Pack up your pain, pack up your tears, and your fears

Everything, even a lifetime of deceit 

Everything but the dreams

A house and land, the building of a family, is the plan

So much to do so much to see the desire to be free

No one telling you it is a temporary thing

Pack up your religion, pack up your faith as you endlessly pray

Everything that helps you forget your sins

The ever-changing history of the word of God remains a mystery. 

The illusion is the inclusion of everyone going to a place you've never been

Everyone fights to be the president, as Prince rather be the Pope.

Looking for that formula that brings you some hope 

Pack up your peace, pack up your love and your purity 

Everything that the soul will ever need

Everything, and don't forget the new dreams

©Copyright Thomas J Dooley 2021

LOOKING AT YOU

Looking at you, you looking at me

Loving the summer; so free

With our feet in the waters of the Mediterranean sea

Got it now; you have to look at life, putting all your problems behind

In this mental darkness, you are wrong; got to get up, get out to be strong

Thinking in the sunlight, everything will be all right

Looking at you, you looking at me

Let us play together in the Chanhassen parks

Later, we can purify ourselves in the inspiration of loving art.

Looking at the world in a different way

Look at life differently; you know how to spell cool

Taking a page from Prince's book, *style is loving yourself till everyone else does too

Looking at you, you looking at me.

A loving friend will help you so the pain can mend

You might have a heavy heart; that is where you start; it will never end

Got it now; you have to look up as the sun shines on you

Deaf to the words of babbling fools, there is so much more about you

Take that talent in you and show those who love you what you can do

©Copyright Thomas J Dooley 2021

*Style by Prince from the album Emancipation 1996

Pasley Park Studio

 

CRACKERS AND SOUP

Got all the reasons to lie got no reason, to tell the truth

All this talking without any proof this is what they do

Placing all the blame with no shame, this new hate is what they maid

Crackers are boring without the soup so dry with the same old lie

Trading your blessing for a bowl of lentil soup

Now you and your brother pray in different ways

The children in their bare feet playing on the Gaza streets 

Never to know freedom under the iron dome no one is home now alone

It is hard to be so different when those who hate you say you have no soul

Crackers are boring without the soup, so dry with the same old lie.

Get your last breath as politicians vote for your death

Don't want to believe the lier but still, you believe the lie

Gentrification is a hipster way to say community segregation 

If every life mattered, we would be one nation

But everyone wants to be a famous hatter

Crackers are boring without the soup, so dry with the same old lie.

The skies are blue for now; if a tree falls in the woods, does it make a sound

If those woods have not burned down

Sensitivity of the past isn't what Notridomis could even predict.

Many conversations in this life we should be having

Equal rights, social justice and don't forget Daphni

 

Crackers are boring without the soup, so dry with the same old lie.

Crumble up these crackers and let them soak up the flavor of another culture

So delicious so fulfilling just like those bean pies

The content of your character is lost when looking for other peoples miss-steps

Life is so random and love is an emotion, not an act 

So be kind to others when thinking of that

Crackers are boring without the soup, so dry with the same old lie.

Negative attention only bring negative oppression 

Education is commonsense, and learning from the past is the only fix 

©Copyright Thomas J Dooley

  

LOVE MASK

The experiences we had together in our minds are forever

True relationships of the mind will never lie

We got something that others take a lifetime to find

A love mask doesn't have to cover your heart.

Knowing you and you know me is where it all starts

Intellectual thoughts I have of you that is my one and only move

Feeding the seed of love with a conversation, these words are the fruit

I don't need to be by your side when you are with me in my mind

Is there any more I need to do to prove my feeling for you

A love mask doesn't have to cover your heart.

Knowing you and you know me is where it all starts

Intellectual feelings so reveling what more is there to prove

The expectation you put on me isn't then the ones I see

Just want my mind and body to feel free

No need for labels; I just want to sit at the table and just be me.

A love mask doesn't have to cover your heart.

Knowing you and you know me is where it all starts

I choose my loneliness, but I am never lonely with you

©Copyright Thomas J. Dooley 2021

BE POETIC

Where you go when lost in your mind 

In those corners, what do you find

Into this depth of forgotten life

Be poetic your thoughts a portrait painted colors not found in this life

A feeling a moment put to words are chosen from the heart

Searching for a brand new start, why is life so hard

Listen to you, the soul speaking, read those words of feelings

Mentally mystical words that come together with influential 

Our emotions speak louder thought these words

Be poetic in the way you walk; let it be the way you are

Overemphasizing your words doesn't make it art

Say something that will inspire to tickle the mind.

Find those words to understand this world

Cheating the genetics with only boy or girl

Is it the attention you try to find guided by what is inside

©Copyright 2021 Thomas J. Dooley 

 

 

HOW DO YOU CRY

In the light of day, there should be no shadows, no douts

Is that what respect for life is all about

How do you cry when there is no time for life?

How do you cry when hate is all you can find?

How do you forgive every time?

With marching feet, the calls for justice and peace

These sounds still echo from the streets

Will the next tear to be shed will be for you or for me?

How do you cry when life is just a short time?

How do you cry when a lie is revealed as hate?

How do you forgive next time?

Serve and protect until the next death

Mistakes and excuses do not make you innocent

Justice and peace are political vinegar and oil

How do you cry when this happens every time?

How do you cry when the tears run dry?

How do you forgive this time?

Tears spilled on the streets of Minneapolis.

No one should die for a light to be put on racial justice

Living and dying has no longer has any purpose

How do you cry when you have no tears?

How do you cry when you walk with fear?

How do you cry right NOW?

©Copyright Thomas J. Dooley 2021

Notes: 

MAGIC SPELL

What are the words from blessed lips that are heard but always missed

A soothing phrase whispered in one's ear during one last breath

Stepping into the next beyond, not knowing the destination is the only fear

Magic spell more than calling out a name who can't hear your praise

More than a phrase said over and over again that only you can say

The preacher tells of a destination they never been

But still living with their own unconfessed sins

The path that they lead you is in the direction of deceit. 

Magic spell more than the son of man who never touched dry land

More than a political speech, people blinded by leaders own greed

Haven and hell the chose of the red or blue pill 

Heaven is a destination not spelled out in a will

Hell is a destination with a long list that we all hope to miss

Magic spell more than words that provoke mystical things

More than the psychic lines spelling out your destiny

The guru gives you a mantra, every day, it is all you can say

They want so much from you, never knowing the things you do

Just need what is inside to understand what you can't see with the third eye

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2012

THE CARNAGE OF TIME

Looking to the future, looking to the past

Putting out the flames of ignorance 

Is the tragedy that we have

The carnage of time

The loss of over four-hundred thousand lives

A community disenfranchised

Now the uneducated run and hide.

Looking to our neighbors, looking to our communities

Moving towards unity, are we truly free

With hope, we live with integrity.

The carnage of time

Walking through a field of destruction 

Littered with rubble left behind

As the uneducated look on with pride

Looking to our mentors, looking to our leaders

A future with positive change is nowhere.

Words spoke with strength dismissing all the fear

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2021 

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

 

 

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  

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

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.