Dispersed

A Turbulent Wind
A Fractured World
Seeds Fly
New Lands They Try

Dusty And Hopeful
Surroundings Scornful
An Alien Land
Growing In Sand

A New Life
Away From Strife
History Foretold
A Move So Bold

Minimal Nourishment
Little Encouragement
Shielded By A Red Rose
Thankful by A Prose

The Immigrant & The Illusion

There was a time
Landed on new shores
From Somewhere
A storied old space

Generations after
A new experiment
An old language, a relic
New culture of less culture

Newly created forefathers
New Holidays, New Music
New Schools, New Rules
Surreal Perhaps

One’s Own History
Became a Mystery
The Old Familiar
An Illusion, Not So Similar

Tumultuous Change
The Earth, Rearranged
The Immigrant
Are We Not All?

Joe Allen
12 27 2011

Human Less

We are what we are
We were what we were
We’ve been where we’ve been
We’ve seen what we’ve seen

Inhumanity and destruction
Appalling insensitivity and dereliction
History is not a lesson
Another Chapter another season

Life has no meaning
Killing and death, morally redeeming
A Child cries, we have no feeling
Not our own, some unknown

Poverty Cries out
Our iPod tunes it out
War and destruction on TV
Change the channel someone pleads

What a horrendous place
We turn our face
Humanity for some.
Humanity not for one.

Is this a human planet?
Or a lifeless Mars echoing sonnet
Inhuman are we
We are what we are.


Joe Allen
2/5/2011

Our Jerusalem

How can it be
Jerusalem by the sea
The Gem of Old
Adorned with Gold
Existence so Bold

Standing Proud
Draped in a Shroud
A marvel of beauty
A history of Cruelty
Everlasting Serenity

Never Forgotten
Never Silent
The Omnipresent
Ever so Vigil
Steeped in a Ritual

The body without a Heart
Humanity torn Apart
Incessant Dream
The Forgotten Stream
Never to be Seen

Nor Jewish
Nor Christian
Nor Muslim
Jerusalem so Tall
Inspiration to All

The Hills beyond
Civilizations Abound
A Lonely Tree
Swaying in the Breeze
So Free

The Shiny Beacon
Ever Forsaken
Alone on a Hill
A Golden Dome
Our Jerusalem Home


Joe Allen
10/1/06

A Fall, A Season

A Forest Stoic and Still
A Wind Meanders through its Hills
A Cornucopia, The Colors
Leaves Shower, A Fall Flower

Trees Towering, Each a Personality
Full of Life, and Finality
Bare, Rock Like Towers
Swaying, In the Wind’s Power

A Once Green, Hillside
Now Seen, Far and Wide
A Season Ends
A Change Pretends

An Earth, A Marvel
Regeneration and Survival
The Yellow, Orange, A Red, A Brown
Take Notice, On What You Found


Joe Allen
11 19 2011

A Celestial Star

Vibrant, Bright
Reflecting Light
A Sparkle
In Space, The Dark Marvel

The Million Years
Forever Unseen
The Mystery
The History

A Gaze, A Wander
A Thought To Ponder
An Iridescent Dream
The Bright Gleam

To Look, To Seek
Atop A peak
To Stare, the Distant Glare
To Wonder, What Compares?


Joe Allen
10 7 11

A Marvel, A Stone

A Slab of White Marble
A blood red vein branches through
The contrast, bold and unmistakable
A marvel of the force, the pressure

Deep beneath the Surface
Unseen, until disturbed
Brought out, polished and paraded
The past, disintegrated

Unearthed, scathed
An entrenched history
Formed In amazement
Deep, varied colors

An undeciphered language
That speaks volumes
The past, the present
The treasure

The human, the stone
Formed and created
Polished and decimated
Revealed and recreated


Joe Allen
9 27 2011

A Tree

In A Stream, A Tree Stands Alone
Hallowed Roots, Disappearing Stones
Strong It Becomes
Each and Every Sun

The Flow of White Rapids
The Decibels, Proud and Loud
It Stands Stoic and Strong
Erosion and Soil, Gone Wrong

It’s World, Its Place
Past Trees. Its Fate
Into The Ground, An Insight
The Beauty and Its Fight


Joe Allen
12 27 2011

An Israeli Soldier

Are You Human?
Do You Have A Soul?
Your Politicians Scorned?
Left You Alone

No Conscience, Just Depravity
No Humanity, Just Insanity
Alone In The Wilderness
To The Depths of Emptiness

To Offend A Land
Offend Humanity As A Stand
To Defend Zionism, The Perpetrator
To Offend Your Creator

Are You A Religious Extremist
Are You Just Racist
An Insult to Humanity
Evil As Your only Clarity

Insensitive Insecure
For Your Land To Be Pure
A Killing Paparazzi
Or Just, A Natural Nazi


Joe Allen
12 15 2010

Comandante Siempre

Comandante Siempre

A Trace, In a Forever Place, The Symbol, The Parable
Ideas That Lived, A Revolution Gives,
Hope For The Suffering, From Oppression, Enduring
A Man Called Che’, Beliefs Still Sway


Winds That Changed, The Earth Rearranged
Moved and Transcended, Even After his Life, Ended
In A Poor Village, An Evil That Pillaged
The Hunger, The Pain, The Forever Rain



A Murder of That Day, Tears That Long Stayed
To Stand To Resist, From an Injustice, That Persists
The One, The Symbol, The One To Remember
Through Darkness, An Image Still Upon Us

Joseph Allen
11 29 11

Fire

A Bright Orange, A Flame
Consuming, Not Tame
Relentless and Scorching
Disintegrating and Nourishing

The Land, From It was Born
Traversing Its Own
An Inferno Blazing
A Rage, Not Containing

The Heat, The Power
A Life To Devour
A Mass, Too Incendiary
Never, Was Ordinary

The Start, To An End
Its Will, Its Friend
A Fire, A Burn
Nowhere To Turn


Joe Allen
12 17 2011

Hamza

We as humans mourn, even some animals in the animal kingdom, have been observed mourning, a Mother elephant, mourns the death of her calf. In Syria, at the start of the uprising, a young boy was tortured, and a month later given back to his family lifeless. He was tortured by a criminal regime, by animals, and I certinly do not want the world to forget his name.


Hamza



In A Century
Not Devoid of Infamy
In an Absolute
Freedom A Resolute

A Martyr Falls
A Child So Tall
Defines A Nation
His Death A Humiliation

His Father Cried
His Government Lied
Tortured and Battered
His Life Scattered

Veiled and Disgraced
His Body Displaced
His Life Left
His Death Felt

A Criminal Regime
Grotesque and Obscene
Dares Kills A Child
Forever Cannot Hide

His Blood Ran
A River’s long Span
His Thirteen Years
Now Forever Long Tears

All Mothers In Despair
A Killer, Never Cared
A Tortured Hamza Cried
Now Lifeless, His Nation’s Pride


Joe Allen
6 4 2011

I Am

To Some I Am Nothing
To Others I Am Something
To Me I Am More
I Am, Only Palestine

War or Peace
If Israel Release
Occupation The Trauma
Hypocrisy, The Dilemma

Peace I Am
New Nation To Stand
Only To The Ill Will
My Breath A Still, Still

I Am
What I Am
A Flag of Injustice
The Only Flag toward Justice

The Past Blood Red
The White Bright Peace Ahead
The Green Beauty
The Death Black, No Longer A Duty

The Flower To Flourish
War the Scourge
Palestine I am
To Join, To Just Be Human


Joe Allen
9 24 2011

Joe Strummer

Once upon a time a musical band reigned, the zeal, the fervor, the passion still yet unseen, and it was called the Clash. A leader of the band, Joe Strummer, has passed, but his legacy still lives.


Joe Strummer


A Musical Name
Beyond Just Fame
A Fervor, A Passion
Never Never Fashion

A Voice That Yelled
His Infectious Spell
A Bell That Rang
With An English Twang

A World Gone Wrong
Justice To All, His Song
A Comet Streaked
Long Before It Peaked

A Musical Storm
Forever, To All Not Born
His Music, His Feelings
His Conscience Revealing

Goodbyes Are Not Forever
His Songs, Endless Treasure
Gone , Long Missed
Singing, While Still Pissed


Joe Allen
12/28/2010

Least We Forget

The Arab spring began with an act of self immolation, by a street vendor in Tunisia by the name of Mohamed Bouazzi, least we judge, right or wrong, just understand what transpired, and learn from it.


Least We Forget



A Lowly Desert Town
An Insatiable Frown
Away from Glamour
The Hustle, The Clamor

In The Middle of Summer
A Tunisian Winter, A Spring Forever
A Flame, A Life
To Reconcile, The Strife

Clawing For Existence
He Gave Up, His Persistence
Corruption, Life’s Stagnation
The Spark, The Self-Immolation

His Freedom Was Never Free
Nor A Polite Plea
His Passion, His Defiance
Forever, His Self-Reliance

Bouazizi, His Deed
A Firestorm Indeed
Engulfed A Human Race
An Enflamed Vision, His Face


Joe Allen
12 15 2011

Ode To Sunday Afternoon

On A Sunday Afternoon
The Sun, Gone The Moon
A Color. A Flower
The Awe, The Power

A Lingering With Friends
Times of No End
Traversing Lifetimes
Endless Sometimes

A Petal, A Sparkle
Brilliance To Foster
A Landscape A Stream
Traversing Ones Dreams

It’s Sound
White Capped and Loud
Cuts A Path
The Wonder It Has


Joseph Allen
9 26 2011

Syria The Fire

The Tortured, The Deprived
A Martyr, No Longer Alive
The Inhumanity, The Insanity
Witness, The Brutality

An Elderly Man
Tied and Bound
Proud As He Cries
Another Boot Kick Flies

He Yells for Mercy
A Boot of No Clemency
His Piercing Cries Grow Loud
Lifeless, Then No Sound

A Yearning So Simple
A Detested Regime, So Vile
A Final Bullet to the Head
Until Lifeless and Dead

The Tree of Civilization
It’s Tortured, Their Annihilation
Their Longing Desire
Their Innocents, Set A Fire


Joe Allen
9 2 2011

THAT AURA

That Day
Forever Stayed
A Miracle Birth
All of Life, It’s Worth

Born In Poverty, A Cave
To Those Standing, In A Gaze
To Wonder The Meaning
The Birth, Life Revealing

Years That Passed
A Vision, To Last
The Gift, The Only
To The World, The Lonely

The Beginning With No End
A Bright Circle Transcends
A Star, Like Our Sun
That Day, Her Son


JOE ALLEN
12 20 2011

That Day in Norway

One Long Day, An Hour Long
A Distant Norwegian Song
An Endless Merciless Slaughter
An Evil Man Did Falter

A Rage, A Tragedy
A Horror, An Infamy
One of Eighty Five
A Teen, No Longer Alive

A Disgust, An Inhumanity
The Peace, The Broken Serenity
Innocence and Piercing Screams
A Picturesque Island, A Blood Stream

The Survivors Their Tears
In Their Eyes, The Unforgettable Fear
That Dark, Friday of July
Lifeless Bodies, Now Lye

Rest Now, In The Peace You Sought
Before You, Forever Long Fought
To Be Young, To Be Lost
Your Toll, Our Forever Cost


Joseph Allen
7 24 2011

The Horse

A Wide Open Range
In A Full Run, Not So Strange
The Sweat, Beads along its Neck
Bulging Eyes Focused, On Every Speck

Its Body, Its Thin Legs
A Natural Design
To Run Free
To See, All It Can See

Every Rock, Its Path
Miles An Hour, In Class
The Horse, Its Element
Its Natural Fulfillment

Traversing The Plains
Wind and Daunting Rain
Not A Step Missed
Just A Streak, Its Bliss

Joe Allen
12 28 2011

The Years

A Life span
A Perpetual Plan
Spanning the Ages
A Life in Stages

All the While
The Tears, A Smile
Traversing Life
Amid the Strife

In a Day
Life Sways
An Endless Dream
Always Surreal

A Sky Blue
A Morning Dew
A Sunshine
Always be Thyne


Joe Allen
12/5/2010

Our Street Their Wall

Our Brick Their Wall
Their Street, Our Fall
Our Ravaged Day
Their Dishonest Way

The Lives Decimated
The Dreams Evaporated
The Cause, The collapse
Their Greed, Their Relapse

Their Profits Surged
All Innocents, Purged
Their Government Their Bail Out
Our’s Just Sold Out

A Homeowner. Kicked Out
A Heartbreak, A Lonely Shout
Their American Dream
The Tears, The Stream

Never Never PC
Their Power In DC
Occupy Their Street
Truth, Their Only Defeat

Joe Allen
11 6 2011

Tsunami

Least we forget, the enormity, as we humans have a very short memory span.


Tsunami

The Blue, The Serene
Power Yet Unseen
An Ever Present, Land
No Place, Left To Stand

No Walls, No Buildings
A Child’s Cry, Piercing
Crumbling, Consumed
To last, Was Presumed

The Planet Water, Not Earth
Still Unseen, It’s Worth
Floating Atop, A Wave
Not Indigenous, It’s Slave

What Was Never Yours
The Disappearing Shore
A Lacking, The Respect
One Day, Now The Effect

The Mighty, Ring Hollow
The Water, Did Swallow
In The Past, In The Present
The Future, Now To Resent

Joseph Allen
11 5 2011

=========================

Sunrise Again

Tragedy upon tragedy
Seemingly no end
Life Always Precious
A Prayer to Send

Japan the ancient
Japan the new
A great wonder
A time to renew

Shock and disbelief
Hope, the coming relief
The world stands as one
With the land, of the rising sun

Joe Allen
3 15 2011

Vittorio Siempre

Vittorio Arrogoni was a peace activist kidnapped and killed in Gaza by criminals. Here is my tribute to this man of courage and conviction, and his short stay on this earth.



Vittorio Siempre

In His Life
The Forever Human
A Witness, A Victim
The Stain, The Inhumanity


An Injustice, A Wrong
Vitrrorio, Forever Strong
His Fate, Against Hate
His Love, The Oppressed State


A Venture, A Discontent
A Flag Did Not Represent
Traversing Humanity
His Scar, The Insanity


Palestine His Calling
His Soul, Never Falling
His Innocence Did Tell
For All Humanity To Quell


The Human Wealth
Long After His Death
His Symbolism, His Voice
Humanity,His Forever Choice

Joseph Allen
7 1 2011

World Peace

World Peace



A Want, A Need
Harmony Indeed
A Reality, A Dream
Children, Yet Unseen

To Wonder, To Gaze
World Peace, A Phrase
The Distant Star
Communication From Afar

A Light, A Sound
A Message Profound
Respect Humanity
Respect The Dignity

A Continual Cross, To Cross
The Many Lives Lost
Never Endear
To Witness, A Tear

A Light Not Seen
A Nightmare, Often A Sad Dream
Words That Are Not Spoken
The Many Hearts, Long Broken


Joseph Allen
10 16 11