Ryokan's Thief

I’ve always loved hearing
Stories of hard travel
From people who’ve scattered
Like ghosts across the earth
Whether fugitives or followers
It’s their journeys I’d rather judge
Knowing, somehow
That our differences are mostly circumstance
And that condemnation is misunderstanding
But to hear a man out
Humbly, in good faith
Is something far more essential
To the development of decency
Than adherence to laws
However exalted
And that, shown compassion
A guilty man’s face
Will betray him absolutely
Fearing, as he should
No worldly harm
But only what conscience can deliver
The gentle reminders
Of his buried other
That part more enamored of the hardships
And solitudes of life

Sabi

I am sick
With the poisons of my culture
And if I ever succumb
Or happen to become
A thing which serves it
Be a friend
And affect my end

Neon Rain

It's a stroll through the city
And it's toe to toe
With king kong billboards and vampire clerks
Roaming hungry for hidden money
That last twenty bucks you keep tucked behind your I.D.
Like a shield against final poverty
And you almost wish for the honest brutality
Of Old World thieves
The mug and stab
And leaving to die
In fog-dark alleys
And the bliss!
To look your killer in the eye
Feel the blade go in
Put up your fight
Spill your life
And stain red the guilty hand