I could tell you it was about love
But it was straight up about the need
I could say I drove too fast due to lateness
But it was straight up about the speed
I could tell you I was into Phish or the Dead
But it was straight about the weed
I could tell you I work for the love of it
But it is straight up about the greed
I could tell you a whole lot of shit
But telling is not my creed
Gene G. McLaughlin 2015
For the world to be off the rails
It would have to have had them
Need is the driver
There is no Lego playset
Just selection
Gene G. McLaughlin 2014
When emaciation had taken its toll
His eyes were sunken in, closed, and hollow
The life slipping from them slowly
Understanding was no closer
All that was left for him was the end
The final stages of the suffering that haunted him
The hunger that held tight to him in these final moments
The desire and want and need
All would be gone soon
Nothing was left to take
Nothing was left to give
The last step was the loss of what he saw before him
The blood slowly coursed through him
He opened his eyes
The tree and air and grass and sun all were in front of him
This was the moment
Maybe this had always been the moment
Maybe this would always be the moment
There was color in the world
There was a color in all things
There was the dark red of his blood
There was the brown bark of the tree
There was the green of the grass
There was the golden yellow of the sun
There was the white swirling wind of the storm of existence
Lingering and circling in the air around all of it
There were his eyes
Through which his slowly diminishing life force met the storm
He faced the end
He saw the storm was not actually white
The storm was all colors
The storm was everything at once
The storm was always there
He had never seen the storm
Gene G. McLaughlin 2013
Wickedness born of scarcity
Scarcity born of need
All entwined in a circle
Wickedness meeting with greed
Love born of sacrifice
Needs of others more than self
Hand extends to a stranger
Holding charity and nothing else
Empathy is the light that is endless
No scarcity in its domain
The light shines brightly forever
Opposition of apathy and pain
Gene G. McLaughlin 2013
I need a hat
For the sun in my eyes
I need a woman
With shapely smooth thighs
I need a job
With a paying high wage
I need a day
Of a world without rage
I need a suit
Of fine Italian silk
I need to find
Some friends of my ilk
I need a sun
Of bright warm orange light
I need to find
The will to carry on and fight
I need a morning
With no direction
I need a taste
Of a fine chocolate confection
I need a tomorrow
Different than today
I need a map
With a clearly marked way
I need a song
Of sweetest melody
I need for you to long
For something in me
I need a salad
With clean fresh greens
I need the ways
To equal the means
I need a world
Without boundaries or borders
I want these things
In no particular orders
Gene G. McLaughlin 2004
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