POSSESSION

Collection of knowledge can't just be put on the shelf
It is looking deep inside of one's self
Outside desires can't be obtained like this
They are just memories like when you had your first kiss

Possession is nine-tenths of the law
You have nothing when your back against the wall
Success in more than having it all

Having things make you feel like a success
A big house, a nice car, a designer dress
But what is the value of emptiness
Sitting in first class is not a sign of success

Possession is nine-tenths of the law
You have nothing when your back against the wall
Success in more than having it all

Claiming you have friends but no one is there when it all ends
Smartest guy in the room and it's not you
Held down by the weight of your own ego, some wonder do you even have a soul
You don't own the air even when it blows through your hair

Possession is nine-tenths of the law
You have nothing when your back against the wall
Success in more than having it all

How did you earn what you've have been given

Bullied your way through life calling it success

Talking like you know all the answer but you cheated on the test

Living in a borrowed house all your claimed friends are your mental prisoners

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2017

MORNING OVER AHMEDABAD

The sun pokes it's face
Through the gray haze
From the rough top
I sit in my own peace

Morning over Ahmedabad
Above the sandalwood trees
The feeling that is only found in dreams

The baritone call of a waking bull
The buzz of motor cycle passing by
In the market debates of the price of dates
The clinking of the spoon stirring the mornings chi

Morning over Ahmedabad
It is much more than a place
It is feeling that is beyond meaning

Many smells masked by burning trash
A pail of soapy water smacks on the street bellow
The thin lines of smoke from burning incense
In this experience time does not exist

Morning over Ahmebad
No other place like this

 © Copyright Thomas Dooley 2017

NEVER TO BE

Drips of a dream found in these tears
No sadness love is all I can hear
The voice of the soul whispers in my ear

Falsetto sounds in the tune
Gave life to the muse
She has me thinking of you

Never to be a brother, Never to be a friend
In the cycle of life, I hope to pass you again

One-color in my pallet is all I need
For the pictures that you sing
Setting the sound free

If I chose to be anyone, it wouldn't be you
I would be the muse just to see what you do
To see the alchemy of a creative groove

Never to be brother, Never to be a friend
The story is not over when the light comes on at the end

Copyright ©2017 Thomas Dooley

Notes 2020: To sound strange, the times I write a poem, I some times hear PRINCE say a line not in a song but in my mind. Later I would find out I used a word he doesn't use or in referring to how he creates his art. I found this out while reading his book The Beautiful Ones, that it is the dark art of turning metal into gold. I know this will resonate in my mind in trying to understand this description of his artistic process.
In trying to come up with an alternate description, I see it as an opportunity to be more creative. What I see it as the use of profanity in any kind of art comedy, music, and movies, etc. Trying to find this elusive wording that best describes the process. What this will do is pull a crutch right out from under me and teach me to walk, it will open up more creative opportunities and bring more depth to my writing.
Outside the literal definition of the word, an alternate could be a recipe, but that would make it sound like anyone could do it. But PRINCE is not just anyone, and no one can do what he does.
   

JASMINE AND INCENSE

Sitting inside my silent mind to find what is inside
Close my eyes for deep visions to feel peace without permission
I am more than skin and bones I am a soul

Jasmine and incense fill the aura of the room
A sitar sets the mood as the sister plays the flute

Dreams of experiences in a land far from me
In a place, I have never known but when I go it feels like home
When there at me every one stair every one wants a photo with *gora vyakti

Jasmine and incense fill the aura of the room
A sitar sets the mood as the sister plays the flute

The words of wisdom filled with peace and love
From GOD is where it comes from
My mind wanders into drowsy thought

Jasmine and incense fill the aura of the room
A sitar sets the mood as the sister plays the flute

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2016

*In Hinglish, a gora is an informal word for a White or fair-skinned man

YOUR NUMBER

Your number is coming
It was set before your grandfather death
It will have you wondering
How did we turn down the path to the end
In the chaos, you will be running
Talking Heads saying "How did we get here?"

Your number is next
666 placed on your neck
He fooled you into it blinded by forgiveness
In your mind, there will be no rest

Like a masked clown in a dark alley
Signing his name to lies like it is reality
The dreams we had are now the nightmares we live
It is the punishment for our fears

Your number is planned
666 placed in your hand
Now how you going to live day to day
Don't worry the yellow smoke will lead the way

Every wrong for protesting a lie
Now the truth is easy to hide
Everyone jump on the waggon it is going to be a bumpy ride
When the driver is blind

Your number is dead
666 placed on your head
Living a zombie life
Not knowing day from night

Apocalypse of ignorance no one wanted it
But ever one clamouring for a front row seat
Smiling with nothing to eat and no doctor to see
Death and taxes are the only reality

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 1968 - 2017

BITTERNESS

This twisted conversation you turned my words on me
If I didn't have these feelings I could be free
Still dreaming of you and what more I could prove

You kicked me down when you shout
Don't remember what it was about

Bitterness
Now you still want to kiss
Bitterness
Still thinking I am your PRINCE
If that was true I would have removed you from my list

This twisted conversation thinking of words that would defend
Got too much to give never telling me what I did
Try to make up for it I feel appreciation is overrated

You give me no doubt got to kick you out of my mental house
Should I change the locks or just tear it down the house

Bitterness
Got to stop making friends like this
Bitterness
Got to stop call me for a flavor
I am not the flavor you savor

This twisted conversation has to stop
If this continues on I will never reach the top
Delete me from your phone I will be the same to mine
No more living in a lie
I am not your friend and your not mine
I have no more time

You defined the line between friends and relationship
We never had any of it

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 1968 - 2017

DESTINATION OF THE HEART

When it all comes to an end
Will you continue to have friends
Or will you be faced down or dust in the wind
In this game of life who will ever win

Is this a destination of the heart
Unconditional love is where it all starts
How far do you have to go
To feel you're not alone in your own home

You got a lifetime to live
A lifetime to give
Heaven is only a destination
It is the journey that gets you there

No one is going to make a path for you
It is you that have to get up and move
No one is going to do it for you

Is this a destination of the heart
Love is not a commodity bought and sold
Love is not an activity
Afterward, you get dressed and go home

If you know the soul
You will know where to go
Nirvana is just a dream
Wake up and let your karma set you free

To think there is one thing, one way to be
You're blind to reality and sometimes a bee will still sting
Say what you want you still can't scream FIRE in a crowded theater

Is this a destination of the heart
Human love comes out of trust
Why has it changed to lust
Love should be a light burning forever like the sun

To take a life you don't know
Will not make peace for the world
Paradise might be nice
If you think everyone has 72 virgins there
It is going to be a crowded place

©Copyright Thomas Dooley 2016