Redwood Ritual

By RD Borden Jr.

This has been a very trying project to complete. Redwood Ritual is the objective observation of the world as it is today as it presently presents itself. Though this required far less time than Soul Split Son, Redwood Ritual is quite comprehensive. I've explored various writing styles to express the messages I sought to convey. Some were created in an abstract form, where my thoughts took the lead with no regard to organization. Others explored political events and the cultural metamorphosis which is ever evolving. And then there are entries which directly attack certain facets of life, which we as individuals deem to be imperative to our own ways of life. No one person or group was targeted, but the point and purpose of Redwood Ritual was to illustrate the direction we as a society are headed towards in contrast to the lifestyle and values my generation was raised to embody. It has been said that change and progress are a good thing, however; what happens when we repeat history and trends? There can be no growth, but we will stand mired and lost as a world culture fixated on what has become socially and financially acceptable. We treat the phrase "politically correct" as the benchmark for conversation and education. People have become intimated, shying away from being honest and transparent about their thoughts and emotions. And it is my hope that Redwood Ritual proves itself to be a segway for open communication and unbiased transparent observations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 14, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796060317

Book preview

STANDARD PROCEDURES

PART 1

You saw the flashing lights back in the distance

Was there a checkpoint? Did you miss it?

You could see vehicles swerving, others jumping the shoulder

What’s the emergency? Who’s being pulled over?

White, blue, amber, yellow…The lights are closing in fast

What looked like an ambulance, just screeched passed

Taking a deep breath, your heart starts to mellow

The lights were two types and that was only amber and yellow

The emergency has moved on, traffic begins to reset

You assume the other called off, maybe a safe bet

You lower your eyes from rear view height

Your car weaves through traffic, changing lanes with delight

The music turns up, your mouth slips into rhythm

You’ve become so relaxed; you mimic the sounds of lyricism

Peering into the foggy mirror looking directly behind you

What you saw was only a mouthful of tobacco chew

You saw no lights. Heard no sirens. Continuing without concern

Thinking; was it a checkpoint or that illegal turn?

Frantically waiting, you notice your palms getting sweaty

Your heart races once more, your breath slow and heavy

Just as expected, those white and blues lights flash bright

You pull off the road, just slightly to the right

A figure steps out; readily identifiable from a far

A deep hallow voice follows: step outta the car!

Sure officer, can you please tell me the problem…

You already knew, as you watched his holster and wiggling thumb

That old couple, remember, you did just rob them

But you tossed the gun, there was nothing to hide

You placed arms up and calmly stepped outside

MAKESHIFT

I’ve fallen many times into pools of my own tears

Not because of failure to life’s stressors and fears

If i were to perish today, victory could i still say

With no excuses, i give it my all everyday

Wishing not to mix words and stay only focused

Like a game of chess, my true intentions unnoticed

For every action thought a reaction planned

Despite many obstacles, my will commands i stand

I could never resist the chance to prove myself wrong

Declining all help, i’ve always been intelligently strong

I’ve taken on much without knowing the cost

Many battles won with a few wars lost

Climbed the insurmountable mountain of fear

Traversed the impassable river of pain

Withstood it all and still stand beneath unrelenting rain

Why carry grief for what you go through

You were molded by them and made stronger true

You were meant to be forged from raw steel

Into the furnace of adversity; shaped by feel

Crafted from nothing into sword and shield

PARADISE LOST

I wish we could return to where we made love all day

But those days have all but faded away

I remember when the lights would fade to black

How much would i give to have one moment back

We rolled around and ruffled sheets until you fell asleep

I gave you everything but the price became steep

We’d wake side by side happiness and satisfaction

Still i went far too long without gratification

To lay and wake to you was always a pleasure

But the love we shared was in limited measure

Lights dim, each night my cup filled to the brim

That darkness lingered to the embrace of a graveyard…Grim

One breathing heavy, the other profusely sweating

The ten years lost…I am now regretting!!

BODY COUNT

Never did i think this many bodies would rest at my feet

Clawing my way through the mud, can’t describe this feat

Many stood in my way, now they stand in awe

The chains i once wore, were mine to gnaw

They said it couldn’t be done, they didn’t believe

One by one they fell to what i did achieve

Witnessed her final rest at such a tender age

The playwright then had been written, i took center stage

They thought i was done when they found my cage

Locked away were the emotions of childlike innocence

A hot headed daredevil caring not for consequence

They thought i couldn’t recover despite personal resentment and resistance

I came back from the blackest abyss with a checklist

Of names i would blame for the time that changed

Too many times did they wish to take her place

Family and friends isolated erased from space

There was nothing to care for, i used everyone

To an adolescent what did it matter? The job got done

From dusk to dawn the fallen numbers kept rising

The opposition irrelevant. I kept fighting kept climbing

Over the corpses of failed friendships and marriages

Definitely useless regardless of true circumstances

They said i would regret my calculated decisions

Plans written without exception and no revisions

To the altars of capitalism, consumed by pyres light

Were the souls of so called loved ones sacrificed

They said i couldn’t do it alone and on my own

I didn’t! I treated each like a masonry stone

And if ever should a shadow of the past emerge

At that point would light and dark converge

They say there’s a purpose for when things return

But i’m afraid that’s a lesson i will never learn

THE SHADOWS ARE WATCHING

We all came from nothing, did something to become someone

Thinking you’re better than me, because you chose differently

This life of ours was not created to be challenged unilaterally

It is the multidirectional exits off the beaten path which finds us

We fight challenge and victory finds us in our defeat

Some will climb mountains, others choose to swim rivers

Some seek attention desperately, others do so ever silently

Words carry less weight than their tone heard at depth please listen

It doesn’t matter where you came from or even where you’re going

Half of what you did, you did so without even knowing

Your closet they kept clean, it’s why you don’t come up missing

Where we come from, our neighbors are gunshots whistling

But many believe they are better than we based on what they see

We could come from the streets with an ivy league pedigree

Or eat with a silver spoon from a plastic plate, all the same

It is the positions from our playbook that may never change

We are coached to play one way and stay loyal to the game

It should be to the team, but there isn’t one. Just me

Every other culture likely to succeed except me and how strange

You were trained similar to me, but your choices not the same

We could’ve raised you and still not see what we see

You come from the world of textbook wisdom, we survive by street smarts

Despite where our education comes from, we are not different

But you were coached to think so, it’s where our problem starts

We let you live among us wolves just to be considerate

And you lead us back to your masters as if our lives don’t matter

One by one, wolves deceived by weak and wounded sheep

So when i becomes we, you see me and we fight back

Don’t wonder when we come, more than likely when you sleep

Do so at your own risk, listening for our paws as they patter

MURDER WEAPON

You think you’re a force to be reckoned

A broad and far reaching destructive weapon

The lies we tell ourselves so that we may live on

Your days of usefulness in general are long passed gone

Your blade is chipped cracked and nearly broken

The hilt of you is tarnished bloodied and faded…you’re jaded

I had dreams of doing great things as a team

You’ve had many handlers and users but none with a hand like mine

Had you been maintained correctly; you could cut thin and draw blood

But you’re unkempt and dull…completely useless to me

Unsealed, you are the curse of pandora; loveless, lifeless, loathing, loveless

Like all things of days passed; your memory fades beyond existence

A blade you may yet still be, but cut as you once did no longer

You’re damaged property, a withered worn down weapon with no owner

As you lay alone under the night sky; violent rains fall

You thought the coursing waters and gale winds your blade be cleansed

Alas, your hopes of shining anew lost, you can no more answer the underworld’s call

Carried and held by many then tossed waist-side when the job was done

Now your blade blood-stained burning in the midday sun

The only place you should be found…six feet.Buried…underground

CLIMATE CHANGE

I came in like a leaf carried by the wind

Only reason i fell here, i once called you friend

But i’m a wandering soldier…Treated you like the jewish holiday…Passover

I alone did not hand you off, still i see you broken and lost

I can only wonder if we are the cause of your heart covered in

Frost though the winds may change, you carry much the blame

You would have many believe the seasons owe you

But much to your dismay, we have forgotten you

There’s no sage to be burned, no tea leaves to be read

Your home is not safe, there’s nowhere to be fled

You can lock your doors and tightly secure your windows

No matter how you try to hide, i know your weak and frightened soul

There’s no safe haven from a wrath which begins from within

I came in with the wind, but no longer calling you friend

When this storm subsides, you will know its the end

Though your bones may