The change

Sometimes I feel I understand what feeling is made of,
why clouds follow a storm, why earth seems to remain still

while its twilight breaks till there's only the soot of it left,
a residue charred by a day whose world is getting older.

Stars blink at me in a sudden moment; but when the embers
of creation have petered out, I feel I’ll know the meaning

of all blackness. I’ll give myself to the mystic of its life
in order to see the truth of how fine a truth our birth was.

At other times I listen to voices of change, and from them
learn that there are things even the mental cannot calculate;

the lame, the starved, the enslaved, those beaten into assent
with the sjambok of faith. These I have failed to comprehend.

So I say go on, brethren, into town and country and village,
and turn that dark page of the sky into something that is blue

again; progress to the power seat till you can advance no more
and there, at the edge of yourselves, turn pauper into king.

Bachata

(for Nadia)

After every party in our house
when the reggae, reggaeton, R&B
have exhausted the younger couples,
and they sit separately to cool down,
I want to dance with you,
the way our friends, Miguel and Ramona,
who have made a promise,
that despite their struggle
with lawyers, bill collectors, and cancer,
they will never leave each other,
and whenever the bachata begins–
we stop to watch how
he will catch her–
she spins out of his arm’s reach
they pass like strangers,
but then his hand
finds the small of her back,
her legs quiver to the old music,
and they are partners in time
with the rhythm, once more.
© Geoffrey Philp

Ed's note:
Bachata, a form of music and dance that originated in the countryside and rural marginal neighborhoods of Dominican Republic. Its subjects are often romantic; especially prevalent are tales of heartbreak and sadness. In fact, the original term used to name the genre was "amargue" ("bitterness," or "bitter music"), until the rather ambiguous (and mood-neutral) term bachata became popular.

Bachata was created and primarily used by servants, who used to play it when they got off of work. They made the music out of ordinary objects like those commonly found in a backyard (Trashcans, Fences,etc). In some rural areas of the Dominican Republic, bachata means trash, but most citizens agree that it means a party. Others say that bachata is derived from the Italian Ballata, which was a popular form of music in Italy centuries ago [source]

Judas and the Sanhedrin

Did Judas kiss Jesus as they say just to betray him?
The Pharisees and the Romans knew not who Jesus
was, so when evening approached and they were sick
and tired of that bloke who drew multitudes to him,
and unto whom the people of Galilee were attracted,
they sent a message to Judas and promised him cash
if he could point out the son of man to them. Thirty
gleaming shekels; and they asked their messenger
to be sure to dangle the bag and jangle the coins
before his eyes. Judas was fucked, for he liked money,
and although when alone away from the troupe
he would sometimes visit the local amusement scene,
he had a good heart. The guy found him drinking
at a bar, and subsequently left him there, struggling
with his feelings. Judas thought of kissing Thomas
instead, to mislead the Pharisees, but when night came
he walked the short distance up the mount to where
people were already milling about, and kissed Jesus
on the lips, smiled, and kissed him a second time,
after which he ran off to hurl that money of shame
back at the people who had given it to him, removed
his belt, and hanged himself on a low-lying branch.