I Had a Crazy Idea
By Jay R. Strisik

Fantastical thoughts come to me,
Drinking coffee at Starbucks,
But I never tell anyone, only you,
For fear of being put away.

I thought about a world with no borders,
Nations retired as historical relics.
Only bronze signs remain,
To mark former check points. 

One religion for all,
Or none,
An end to beliefs
Warring against each other.
The new religion embraces
No religion as the one
True one.

Open up gated living,
Organizations that separate us,
Until we become blind to differences,
In the rapture of peoplehood.

Where Will I Be?
By Jay R. Strisik

Where will I be,

Afterward?

Sublime heaven?

No cares, no illnesses.

Clamorous, messy, human follies

Stilled. An endless vacation.

Sedated, failures forgotten.

But some imagine another

Afterworld. Pain, searing heat,

Punishment exquisite.

Two extremes. No one has seen them.

Allegories to restrain the living?

I believe life enjoys reruns.

I need no eternal retirement village,

Nor deserve endless fires.

I will be back in some life form,

Though I won’t remember me.

Migrants
By Jay R. Strisik

What manner of men are these?

Cousins to our own Pilgrims,

Who braved months at sea

To find freedom,

Self-determination, a better life.

What manner of men are these?

Crossing deserts, facing death

By thirst, by predators

Both human and animal,

To escape poverty and tyranny

And longing for a homestead.

What manner of men are these?

Men America needs to renew herself.