Giving

When the economy is booming
“Giving to the poor” is another name
For “clearing your junk”

Giving, then, is for grabbing!
“Give the old, grab the new”
Give to the poor, to feed your greed

Such giving is hurting and also wounding
Not the giver but the poor
Ending in falsehood and in an outright mockery!

But in the more real sense
“Genuine giving” is another sound for “sacrifice”
That hurts and also wounds the benefactor

True giving heals the meager and creates more space
Not for wealth in giver’s coffer but for joy
In the heart of the donor leading to peace with justice

Henry Victor 21.03.2001

Denials and Praise

Neither my denials hurt
You, nor provoke you to will, or act
Against my puny self

Nor do my praises soothe your thought
To bribe you
To favor this bastard

Nor, do they affect you in any way
Or, do little to impair your strength
Neither will they change the course of my fate

But, then these do not lead me to silence either
For your stillness, too, remains a mystery
That prompts my speaking
Even when it is irrelevant
To you, the creator, or, to the other
My fellow creature
Two sure realities
I, unfalteringly, establish
By zealous affirmations and angry abjurations

Henry Victor 17.05.2001

Constant Treachery

When I go for copper
You give me a nickel
When I go for dollar
You give me none
Making me your slave
Bonded so permanently
To your constant deceit
And my colleague so treacherously
Announces: the divine mystery

Henry Victor 25.01.2001

Uncut Stone

An uncut stone
Am I, with bone
Strong like that of John
Who bent not for wind
Of the desert
Or that stronger
From the palace of Herod

An uncut stone
Am I, with bone
Strong enough to stand-alone
With neither praises
Nor graces
From heaven above
Or sources below

An uncut stone
Am I, with bone
Strong to stand stranded,
Refusing all mendaciousness
That goes with marketing
To those with lesser flavor,
Unsold even in eternity

Henry Victor 04.07.2001

Not Magic

Not a magic that I expect
You to quickly act upon
But a miracle that I yearn
In my life, you to execute

I do not ask you to change
My water into red wine
But transform my taste buds
That colorless will hint as wine

I do not ask you to multiply
My loaves, but that me
And mine never go hungry
Or ever disown the weary

I do not ask you for powers
To walk on the roaring sea
But that I will have the luxury
Of a friend, my woes to see

Not a magic that I expect
You to quickly act upon
But a miracle that I yearn
In my life, you to execute

Henry Victor 20.05.2001

details

details, details

when you have nothing
worthwhile to talk
talk of details

length of his beard

width of his garments
seating arrangements
when he supped with his friends -
circular, oblong
rectangular, or something else

details, details

when you have nothing
worthwhile to talk
talk of details

the age of the ass

and the color of the colt

experts on details

you explore, and explode more details
while the hungry are helplessly hanging
around those feeding centers
and the penniless poor
for sake of development, suffer crucifixion

talk of more and more details

until the unseen evaporates
your face is hidden behind masks
while the anxious masses
are disillusioned by your talks
and that holy week is utterly obscured

© henry victor      03.04.2001

To Happen

Nothing happens
Unless you make it happen
All have happened
For you to make it happen
Sit not, thinking that will happen
Or, someone will make it happen
For that will never happen
Until you make it happen
For it only happens
When you make it happen

Henry Victor 10.11.2000