By Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes

How will we find our way
out of desert
when the Joshua Trees are gone?

No iconoclastic arms
reaching out of mountain passes no white flower
guiding Yucca Moths
to broken promise of land …
  [Read more…]

By Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes

See me hovering
above unnecessary spans
diving for petrified fish
in imaginary lakes?

I am older
but not as distant
as the lines of power
drawn between us …
  [Read more…]

By Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes

Not angels
that make spaces sacred
nor vaulted ceilings
arching violin bows

It isn’t candles
offering themselves to light
nor fountains of spires
spilling city

Holy
isn’t wholly religious ….   [Read more…]

By Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes

If I had a rupee
for every manifestation of the Divine
that has crossed my path
I’d be wearing
the gold embroidered silk
of a wealthy landowner
rather than the cotton thread
of a Brahmin/poet
an untouchable station of life
in a society
squeezing a “few drops of honey” from a thirsty globe
enslaved by suffering …   [Read more…]

By Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes

Happiness
doesn’t lie

Inside designer purses
drive luxury vehicles
tell time
by taking stock of inventory sold
doesn’t advertise itself
to invent needs
more addictive than meth …   [Read more…]

By Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes

Cities have scars
war wounds
that maim walls of viscera
neighborhoods live with
long after
the instruments of infliction
are dust

Cities have scars
decapitated domes
cauterized arteries
bearing witness to gain’s loss …   [Read more…]

By Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes

Buddha’s head
lying broken
spilling roadway

For 4 days I passed
the noble prince
stuck in the spokes of dharma’s spinning wheel …   [Read more…]

By Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes

If you believe in the god of war
go to Dresden
where charred faces
still look anxiously up at clouds

If you can wash your hands in fountains
where women and children
sought refuge from the firestorm of incendiary bombs
only to boil in water …   [Read more…]