On life...stream of consciousness

Life is...complicated nowadays. I am torn between the unending dreams of all things ephemeral, and the ever dying lithoid moments that define my existence. I am continually fascinated by the banal, by the painfully ordinary; I am struck by the dull chords of guttural voices and the ugly reflections of turbid water. Cannot help but scream-sing pointlessly at the shower head or monomaniacal moon. Sometimes, I even strain tinnitus-stricken ear drums to hear their reply. But, like the days and the loves lost, their rejoinder is but the last gasp of long dying stars, lost to cold-dead space. And so it is that I define the most meaningful moments with blundering, mute words. I am a blank statue to the passing days, a tarnished beach bleached black with the shales of inaction. I tremble at tones that rise above a whisper of coherence.

So, I look for her in strange places, Glimpsing heaven in the bordellos of my soul. I yearn for the tender kiss of her interest, but taste indifference in her stead. I wake in the morning still en-wrapped in bitter-wonderful dreams. I dream of her, devoid of coffin confines, sans desolation, sans that awkward, unknowing look in the daylight. I sometimes dream while standing, dream-pang for an Annabel Lee to mumble J'taimes to at water's edge. To mutter memento mori when she again forgets my name. She was nonpareil, or would've been if I ever knew her. I've only known her at the street corners and in the shelters of the morgue. She only smiles when the light flashes jaundice yellow, only flushes at red. She is the thirsty root of exotic trees, and that is why I will always love her, and never know her.

Perhaps, I should stop looking. Float like the lilies on strangled lakes and simply soak in the sun of an imperfect, but ever-radiant life. But, I know that I'll always struggle. Struggle to understand the opium of the intangible, struggle to discern the demarcation of day and dreams. And know, that I am forever bound to navigate the tattered seams of those beautiful beautiful memories.

-Cameron

In Support of Marriage Equality

Friends,

I have previously written about and spoken of my support of Marriage Equality and equal rights for the LGBTQ community. So, it is easy to understand that I was and am elated about President Obama's recent endorsement of Same-sex marriage. This announcement was historic, as Mr. Obama became the first sitting President to issue such a sweeping endorsement. The President has already made history as the 1st African American President and as the first President in several decades to sign into law sweeping health care reform. That said, I am under no illusion that Mr. Obama is perfect or that he is everything we liberals want him to be, but he has displayed undeniable courage and exemplary leadership through out his first term (4 more years!). For Mr. Obama's service to the LGBTQ community, and more importantly: his contributions to overall equality, I say, 'thank you and Bravo Mr. President'.

Which brings me to arguments against same-sex marriage...

While wthe Melissa Harris-Perry Show the Saturday before last, I came across an interesting counter-argument to the assertion that 'traditional marriage' is immutable and hasn't been changed in some hundreds of years (and thus shouldn't be changed). The discussion by Melissa and her guests focused on the fact that marriage today is not the direct descendant of marriages past, but an evolution and a drastic alteration from its prior forms. The argument followed that marriage used to be an arrangement of convenience and patriarchy and was often puppeted by parents and/relatives. Marriage was not a union between two loving couples, but a societal expectation and a vehicle by which one could advance in society. Marriages were also a male-dominated arrangement by which men called all of the shots and women were expected to be seen and not heard.

Obviously, marriage has changed in the western world and is seen as a partnership of equals (for the most part, though patriarchal dominance most assuredly persists in many marriages). Marriage is a consistently oscillating institution and is a seemingly fragile one at that. The argument that marriage is an inexorable institution defined by an unchangeable mandate from God, falls flat in the face of logic (and thus falls flat as an excuse to deny the Homosexuals the right to marry).

But more importantly, separate is simply not equal. One cannot simply say, 'give gays and lesbians all equal rights, excluding marriage' without falling into paradox. Marriage equality is essential to ensuring that the LGBTQ community receive equal rights commensurate with those that heterosexuals receive. Un-married Homosexual couples have to pay thousands more to raise children, file taxes, buy health insurance and do not receive the same Social Security benefits and retirement benefits as many heterosexual couples: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/03/your-money/03money.html?pagewanted=all

Many on the opposing side of history will make the claim that states have all voted down same-sex marriage when it is put to the ballot. This claim is fair to the extent that one believes that basic civil rights should be put to ballot. If one believes erroneously that one group of people should subjugate and discriminate against another group at the ballot box. We have already seen that separate cannot be equal when it comes to marriage equality, so a rational thinker cannot countenance a return to the antiquated ideas that spawned Miscegenation and intolerance. This image from Wikipedia documents that many states in the South hadn't allowed Blacks and Whites to marry until after June 12, 1967: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_miscegenation.svg. Thusly, we cannot rely on the average voter to come to the conclusion that segregation and discrimination are wrong. Sometimes the courts and the legislatures of various states have to push the populace to the right conclusion.

Thanks for reading!

All the best,

Cameron

Hey Friends,

It has been awhile since I have posted on here, but I wanted to share some new poems. As you may know, I released a self-published poetry book via Wordclay called, 'Ephemeron'. I hosted a very successful book release party a few weeks ago and sold out of all of my hard copies. Thank you for all of your support!

You can still pick up a copy of 'Ephemeron' here: http://www.wordclay.com/BookStore/BookStoreBookDetails.aspx?bookid=70747

Here is one of my newest poems (not featured in Ephemeron), it is called 'Opiate Dreams' -first draft, written  on 1-26-12:

This house is haunted love,
Decrepit and derelict,
We are directed by daemons to the sad
State of today,
And your eyes
Tired-green eidolons
Flicker like grim
Lamp-light about the
Harsh contours of my face,
 Finding it harder
To swear fidelity to the burdensome
Neighbors of present and past,
Our minds and cold hands entwined
Like opium and dreams,
Doppelgangers of life too
Turbid to comprehend.

Oh, but I live for the morning,
Torn from mourning,
When we gaze with gaunt
Eyes at one another
When love and lingering
Illuminate the nascent day,
When you speak in signs
And sonnets and signal
Such... beautiful things,
And when rhythm and rhyme
Fail to encapsulate
Every look
 and the
Music of love mutes
The inexorable screams
Of buried past and interned dreams.

Thanks for reading!

Best,

Cameron Morgan