Two Choices, One Voice

 Born into a system with two sets of rules

One all for self and the other to give away all your jewels

One is awake and the other asleep

One wants to give and the other to keep

The trick is to step back and see

What is fighting for your power complete

Two voices inside, both pulling the reins

One promises pleasure, the other brings pains

One builds a prison you never can see

The other unlocks what you’re meant to be

The one that takes whispers, “Think only of you”

The one that gives asks, “What can love do?”

One feeds the hunger that never is filled

The other grows quiet where faith can be built

So stand in the middle, don’t run, don’t pretend

Just watch who is speaking, and who is your friend

For power is chosen in each breath you make

To give for the truth, while the ego takes

The Fire We Aim

Envy, Lust and Honor, gifts from above

Showing us how to use them to promote love

We can use them for corporal desires

But the second you do you extinguish the fire

Chasing the body, the praise, and the throne

Leaves a man empty, cold, and alone

You fill up the pockets but starve the soul

Each selfish step digs a deeper hole

But envy the friends and the path that they take

Lust for connection that none can fake

Honor the ones who walk truthfully near

And suddenly love begins to appear

Oh turn that fire, let it rise up high

Lift the friends’ hearts to the open sky

What burned for self now lights the way

Love in the ten grows day by day

What once burned wild for self and for gain

Now warms the heart and softens the pain

The same fierce fire that once pulled apart

Now lights the ten and ignites the heart

See the ten as new with each sunrise

No fault in the friend, just mirrors for the eyes

Take their desires, make them your own

Raise them together to the One on the throne

Oh turn that fire, let it rise up high

Lift the friends’ hearts to the open sky

What burned for self now lights the way

Love in the ten grows day by day

So turn it around when the ego takes aim

Don’t kill the fire, just redirect the flame

These gifts were given so love could be shown

A vessel of bestowal the Creator calls home

Oh turn that fire, let it rise up high

Lift the friends’ hearts to the open sky

What burned for self now lights the way

Love in the ten grows day by day

Climbing The Mountain Of ME

 Climbing The Mountain Of ME

A man walks proud, says, “I’m strong, I’m fine,”

But trips on the same old wants every time.

He swears he’s good, he means no harm,

Then grabs for self with a greedy arm.

A hill shows up, but it’s no small mound,

It’s a mountain of “me” piled high on the ground.

Each thought for self, each secret deal,

Stacks one more rock the heart must feel.

He fights that hill, slips on the clay,

Curses the dark that blocks the way.

Shouts at the sky, “Why me? Why now?”

While feeding the beast he won’t disavow.

Then comes the spice, so plain, so light,

Not a sword, not a grand big fight.

Just words of Torah, a quiet flame,

That slowly tames the inner shame.

The evil voice don’t die or flee,

It just sits down more quietly.

Still grins, still waits, still wants its share,

But now there’s help in the air.

So man keeps walking, bruised but true,

With love in sight and work to do.

The hill is self, the path is above—

A brutal road, all wrapped in love.

Our Only Demand

 We gather to connect, not for comfort, not for fame,

But to build a place where the Creator can reveal His Name.

There is no other goal, no side road, no clever disguise,

Only the bond between hearts where the true connection lies.

He holds us together in ways we don’t yet feel,

Gives us the texts, the path, the hunger that is real.

Like arms around a child that we’re too numb to see,

His embrace is constant, but we lack the sensitivity.

Everything in me, every thought, every fall, every climb,

I attribute to Him, in the Ten and alone in time.

Each friend a doorway, each moment a hidden sign,

That nothing in this life was ever truly mine.

Until the day arrives when the veil is finally torn,

And the revelation within the connection is born.

A person must yearn, must ache, must plead from deep inside,

For the moment the Creator no longer has to hide.

At first I search for the friend, for a hand I can hold,

For warmth in the circle, for hearts that are bold.

But slowly it changes, the picture becomes clear,

Through the friend’s form, the Creator appears.

The difference fades between the friend and the King,

As light through a vessel begins to sing.

And what finally remains when the searching is through,

Is the Creator revealed in the friend standing next to you.

The Judge In My Chest

 The Judge in My Chest

I put on a robe like I’m holy and wise,

But the judge in my chest sees straight through the disguise.

I rule in my favor, I bend every law,

Then gasp in pure shock at the faults that I saw.

I pound on the table, “I’m righteous! I’m right!”

While feeding my ego all day and all night.

I sentence the world for the things that they do,

Then quietly pardon the same things in me too.

I call it “bestowal,” I call it “the climb,”

But most of the time I’m just serving my slime.

I polish my halo, adjust it just so,

While hiding the horns that continue to grow.

The truth is a mirror I try to avoid,

It shows me how much of my love is employed

To serve only self with a sweet holy grin,

While whispering prayers through a mouth full of sin.

I judge all the friends like I’m seated above,

Yet starve them inside of the smallest of love.

Then cry to the heavens, “Why don’t I feel light?”

While blocking the door with my own inner fight.

But the Judge never shouts, never strikes, never shames,

He just holds up the truth and calls me by name.

“Look close, stubborn heart, this ruling is true—

The one you must sentence is always just you.”

And covered in laughter, in mercy, in grace,

Love stands there smiling me straight in the face.

No gavel of anger, no cold iron rod,

Just truth wrapped in warmth from the hands of my God.

Covenant to My Ten

 Covenant to My Ten

From our connection comes rejection, nowhere to hide,

I pledge to stay standing right here at your side,

When ego rises and pushes apart,

I will not run from the work of the heart.

When distance appears and the darkness is shown,

I will remember I’m never alone,

For every resistance the soul must face

Is the Creator preparing a place.

I pledge now to hold to the line,

To see all your greatness and make it mine,

To bow to the friends when pride wants to win,

And ask for the strength to include us within.

If anger or judgment begins to arise,

I’ll fight for our love, not the ego’s disguise,

I’ll pray for your hearts before praying for me,

That in our connection the Creator will be.

No matter the fall, the shame, or the strain,

I p;edge here to return again,

To build what we can’t as one man alone—

A place in our bond where He makes His home.

Two Actions in The Dark

 “Two Actions in the Dark”

When the light fades out and the heart feels tight,

And the road ahead disappears from sight,

The fall is not to break the soul apart,

But to pull a prayer from deep in the heart.

Do not agree with the dark that you feel,

Do not accept it as something that's real,

Hold to the friends, to the path, to the plea,

And cry for the One who sets you free.