Abraham and Jesus

It is suppressed news
That the Jew Abraham
Fathered Arabs and Jews
And how can it be
That Jesus, a pious Jew,
Originated Christianity
Which denigrates Jews today,
The very people
Who put Christ on his way.

If Abraham and Jesus
Would live today,
They'd cry out and say:
'Have you no shame
To persecute your own,
The Jews, in our name?'

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

The Arts

Man is a mixture
Of the good and bad,
Life blends
The happy and the sad,
But art expresses
The sublime,
Combined with passion
It can be divine...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Hold Back the Dawn

Hold back the dawn
And let us dream
Beneath the jewels
Of the night,
Stars blinking
With the rhythm of the sea,
The world our oyster
- just you and me,
Capture this night
For all eternity,
Forever I'll recall
Its splendid ecstasy,
But deep within me
I do rue the morning gray
When dreams, hopes
And illusions go astray,
Faced with the cold
And cruel realism of the day...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Remember the Six Million

Six million Jews
Died in the camps,
A remnant survived
To carry the lamps,
The lamps to remind us
Of death, gas and fire,
Of genocide, killing grounds,
Murder, barbed wire,
Telling the world
To never forget
Our sisters and brothers
Or in the future
Some ovens
May burn you or others...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Regrets

Don't fret or cry
'cause life passed you by,
just make the most of it,
for the past is gone
while the present is right here
and the future is still on...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Night

When the sun casts its last ray
In the dusty, red evening glow
And shadows grow ending the day,
Then a splendid canopy of light
Fills darkened skies with stars
And moonbeams shining bright,
A time for love and dreams and rest
And promises of sheer delight,
Those precious hours I like best
When I"m at peace and all is right,
Body and soul in quiet harmony,
I am a creature of the night...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

My Mom - Betty

Sweet memories of the past
Are ever present on my mind
And often I think of my mom,
A woman, loving, dear and kind,
She was the center of my life,
A better friend I'd never find,
She taught me how to love and care
And to be decent, good and fair,
She shaped me, put me on my way,
I'll miss her till my dying day,
Yet, from my heart
She never went away...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

War

He followed an unlucky star
When he went off to fight a war
And died on foreign shores, quite far,
Torn up for country, god and apple pie,
But never understood the reason why,
For platitudes he gave his life,
A medal for his children and his wife.

All this did happen long ago,
Forgotten is the hero's glow,
Old enemies are now
The best of friends,
And this is how my story ends...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Random

If there be gods,
They would not smile
Upon man's predatory style,
But this is idle speculation
On the nature of creation,
No gods or devils
Shaped this universe,
Just random accidents
Turning perverse...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

End of Love

Two pools of yearning
Are the eyes of my love;
"Marry me", I offered.
She: "Are your assets enough?"
I: "Not really, it'll be tough."
Her answer was rather rough:
"I yearn for substance,
Can't live on love!"

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Iran and Iraq

Our country is going down the drain
Led by a leader without a brain
Who holds the people in disdain,
Gives war and oil lobbies all gain,
Took out Iran's enemy - Saddam
And put Iran's supporters on.

Yes, GW has brought us far,
We now face Iran united with Iraq
And prospects of a nuclear war
While wives and mothers cry
And our boys for nothing die...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Old Vienna

Old Vienna is still in my heart
Where my life had its very start,
Broke my spirit when we had to part,
City of Mozart, Strauss and Freud
Where life can be fully enjoyed,
Hiking through the Vienna Woods
On a bright and sunny day,
Listening to waltzes in a small cafe,
Dancing to music in the park
Beneath starlight after dark,
Boating down Danube's flow
In the hazy evening glow,
And the food is just sublime,
Schnitzel, goulash are divine,
And the famous Sacher Torte
Is the Austrians greatest forte,
And those Vienna girls
Are charming,
When they flirt
They are disarming.

Oh, you, my City
Of waltzes and songs
Where my heart still belongs...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Three Kinds...

In this world one finds
People of three kinds,
In the very top faction
Those who make
Things happen
Are the men of action,
Those who watch and wait
Usually come too late,
Those who watch and wonder
Wind up with nothing
Here and yonder...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Wheel of Fortune

The wheel of fortune
Keeps turning
Round and round
As fate of men
By chance is bound,
The chap who's doing
Now quite well
May on the morrow
Face his hell,
For Lady Luck
Is a fickle belle,
What she decides
No one can tell.

The wheel of fortune
Turns round and round,
The one on top
Is later
At the bottom found...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Killed in Iraq

My love in Iraq's desert lies,
Stares with broken eyes
At leaden skies
Because corrupt leaders
Told us brazen lies,
Thus, our people suffer and toil
So special interests
Can profit on wars and oil,
While our big wigs
Dodged defending our soil.

My love will never, ever return,
The flow of tears
Which fill my eyes still burn,
And every single morn
For him I yearn.

May this blessed nation
Rid itself soon from this
Republican Administration!

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Open MInd

Let us have an open mind,
New ideas we'll always find,
Life styles of a better kind,
Always question, always doubt,
And you'll never do without,
Never stand just in one spot,
You'll deteriorate and rot,
Cope with the uncertainty,
Reject the perversity,
Live with courage and with zest
And you'll always have the best...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

The Statue

There is a statue
In the park,
Quite old, quite old,
So I am told,
A noble king
Who lost his crown,
Now, only the statue
Is his own,
He stands there
For a thousand years,
Without any warmth,
Without any cheers,
A fairy took pity
On his poor soul
To grant him one wish
Was her promise and goal,
She asked the old king
What he wanted most,
And in an eerie voice
Answered his ghost:
"To dump on the birds,
I only wish this,
They've abused me for years
With their leavings and piss,
To do it to them
Would be sheer bliss!"

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Fat Burgers' Pit

Lickety spit,
Lickety spit,
Join us
At the
Fat burgers' pit,
We'll fill
Your arteries
With fat,
And soon
You'll join
The cholesterol dead...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Ethical Culture

The fear of death and the unknown
haunts mankind since the dawn of time,
they then created gods and images divine
in order to avoid morbidity, decline,
a heaven, angels, hell and afterlife
to counter misery and strife,
immoral scoundrels would burn in hell,
good souls would live eternally quite well
up in some delightful, heavenly abode
where they would at the sinners gloat,
't was a story told by priests and kings
who promised the poor masses angel wings
and the good life after they are dead
while lords and priests feathered their bed,
sold them Jesus, Jehovah, Allah, Zeus,
misled poor souls with their ruse,
morality was sold quite dear,
the people paid for it with fear,
and now the time has come for all to shout:
Let's throw those gods and priests finally out,
this is a random, unfeeling universe
and supernatural illusions are perverse,
for god-imposed morality we cannot wish
in a world where sharks eat little fish,
there is nothing below and nothing above,
the only thing we have is love,
let existentialist morality be our fare
where all men for each other care,
give each man devotion and respect
and never animosity, war and neglect,
our angels and our heavens can be here,
only the hell we make we have to fear,
we're here today and gone tomorrow,
let's give each other joy - not sorrow,
refuse to be this world's vulture,
unite together in Ethical Culture...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

We

We are two fish
In an alien sea,
Swimming together
Wherever we'd be,
Forever and ever
Just you and just me...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Flighty Birds

Gone are the days
Of wine and holly,
Of youthful zest
And love's sweet folly,
Those best of times
Which cast a magic spell,
Like flighty birds I knew
And loved too well...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Remember the Six Million

'tis said that on Yom Kippur,
the Memorial Day,
when most Jews gather
in the synagogue to pray,
a smoky cloud drifts
like a shadow across the sky,
and all over the world
a whispering is heard up high
about the six millon,
who were murdered on the sly,
no rhyme, no reason,
no one knew quite why,
the smoke forever drifts
from ovens where the had to die,
eternally their plaintive voices
will the heavens ply,
remind this cruel world
to think of them, perchance to cry,
remember them, never forget
their death knell sigh,
to tell the truth about their
horrid end and never lie...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

As Time Goes By

I'm on in years,
And yet my soul is strong,
My body 's old,
Yet spirit fierce and strong,
I feel the fire and the glow
And yet my hair is snow,
The winds of winter
Touch me now and then,
But in between
I live and laugh and love
For all I can...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Molly

A melody from days
Of youth and folly
Reminds me of
My dear, dear Molly,
My Irish rose
So sweet and jolly,
First love 'neath
The old apple tree,
I wonder, does she
Sometimes think of me?

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Cat

The man is absolutely gross
And to society a total loss,
A criminal mind, a scheming soul,
A flaring vicious temper,
Fiery as burning coal,
Loves no one, even hates himself,
A broken human vessel
Fallen off nature's shelf,
And yet he somehow loves his cat,
For everyone loves something,
We may not know just what,
And men can turn to better ways
If we can only find their cat...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Wife's Story About Her First Lover

She said that she once loved
With passions - unrestrained
With heart and soul and mind
Filled with a wildness
Primitive - untamed,
Her very being
Bound beyond repair,
When youth and life,
The world and all in it
Delighted her with loving care,
It was a time
Of heaven and of bliss
And I, for my part, jealously,
Cursed fate and gods above
For I have never loved like this...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

The Poet

There is a fire in his soul,
In an economy of words
He paints the world the way it is,
As white as snow or black as coal,
Cuts past all illusions
With genius and great insight
The poet captures truth and beauty
In profound conclusions...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Israel's Defiance

Defiantly a nation
Lifts its weary head,
The pulse of freedom
Coursing through its veins,
And in their souls immortalized
The anguish of their dead,
Boldly denying rights
Which their aggressors claim.

A spark, divine, unites
These people, in their plight,
Against those savage fanatic hordes,
Beacons of freedom burning bright,
All hell and death proudly defied.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Terezin Memorial Concert

A concert at the Bryant Library,
Young musicians playing the works
Of composers killed in the Holocaust,
Music they played in the Terezin Camp
Before death ended their imprisonment,
Their compositions a legacy to memories
Never, ever to be forgotten...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Shakespeare

Wished that the fiery passion
In his soul were still to burn,
His poetry to cast a shining light
And make our senses churn,
Rich legacy he left us
And for his muse we yearn,
But as the generations pass,
We do to others turn,
Though rarely will we ever find
A poet with such visionary insight
And a uniquely brilliant mind.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Bad News Travels Fast

Amongst the media
It is the fashion
To bring bad news
With great passion,
Lady Jones found
Strangled in bed,
In Rwanda a million
Starving to death,
Children all over
Poisoned by lead,
A movie star drowned
In a water bed,
Ending the news
Good and fast
With a worldwide
Atomic blast,
For if all moves
Smoothly and fine,
The media business
Will quickly decline.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Crimes of Passion

What in a fit of passion
You can lose
May put your neck
Into a noose,
So, keep your temper
Under control
Or to the hangman
You'll pay the toll.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Intelligent Life in Outer Space?

If intelligent life
In outer space would exist
Some signals will persist
But there are none
Which means they never were
Or they are long, long gone,
For the scheme of things
Which us existence brings
And runs all facets
Of our universe
May find all intelligent life
Destructive and perverse,
Thus, life on earth
May possibly not last
And be on the way out
In an all-consuming
Nuclear blast.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

The Swiss

In a thousand years
They had no war,
In this climate of peace
They should go far,
With plenty of money
And a land nice and sunny,
A well educated population
In a thriving, happy nation.

So, what did they do,
Creative and new?
They yodeled a lot
And created:
The cuckoo clock!

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Bimbo

She's the bimbo
Of the boss,
A lot of paint,
A bit of gloss,
An empty head
With brain
Quite dead,
But on the boss
She put a hex
With a degree
In kinky sex.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Religion 2006

Synagogue and Church
Will leave you in a lurch
If you give no contribution,
You won't get absolution,
For if you cannot pay
You just can't pray,
That's the modern way.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

The Jews

From slavery in Egypt
To the agonies of Babylon,
From the burning of the Temple
By the Romans
To the Inquisition of Spain,
From the pogroms of Russia
To the Holocaust in Europe,
The Jews were persecuted
And suffered endlessly,
Yet, they never cursed the darkness
But lit a candle
Which turned into a beacon
For all humanity,
Giving them monotheism,
Abraham, Jesus, Marx, Freud,
Spinoza, Heine, Einstein, Salk,
Gershwin, Berlin, Bernstein
And untold others
Who lifted humanity
Into that enlightened sphere
Where wisdom and tolerance begins
And ignorance and prejudice ends.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

John F. Kennedy

Good night sweet Prince,
Now peace is yours
In that eternal sleep
Which destiny assigned to you,
No better have we ever seen,
No better will there ever be
To grace this earth like you,
And on the morrow
We'll bend our heads in sorrow
Regretting our loss
And all that might have been
Had you but lived...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Peter Kohner 1923-1942

One of the brightest
And the best,
A handsome lad,
Excelled in every test;
To Poland by the Nazis
He was sent,
Gassed and buried
In a lime pit
Was his destined end.

Let us never, ever forget
Peter Kohner
And our six million
Honored dead!

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Disillusion

I've traveled this globe
Far and wide,
Seen the ebb,
Seen the tide,
Seen decent
People of renown,
Seen as president
A clown,
But never have I seen
So many lobbyists
Engaging in seduction
And wide-spread
Political corruption,
Where people starve
On minimum wage
And Congress
Keeps them in a cage,
While CEO s
And corporations
Rob our nation.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

She is...

She's my lover,
She's my friend,
She's my partner
Till the end,
She is my
Ever loving wife,
She is my sun,
My moon - my life...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Losers

He's all macho,
Big and strong,
With all the ladies
He gets along,
They think
He's really nice,
But once they bed him
He is no prize.
---
She's a tease
And aims to please,
But when you crave action,
She offers distraction,
Turns you on
Without satisfaction.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Blind Date

On the corner I wait
For my blind date,
She's rather late
But looks really great,
Took me home
To make love,
More than enough,
But I got a chill
When she gave me
Her bill...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Path not taken

The path not taken
Left me with regrets,
Feeling life punishes
For placing wrong bets.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Atrociously Descriptive

Atrociously descriptive
Is modern language style
With unlimited rudeness
And unpleasant bile,
Forgotten those days
When speech was elegant,
Genteel and worthwhile...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

At the Plaza

Met this blonde,
She seemed just right,
Dancing at the Plaza
On a Saturday night,
Crystal chandeliers
Glittering bright,
With champaign
Amply supplied,
Feeling happy,
Free and light,
Left the party
For a buggy ride,
Going through old
Central Park,
Heavy petting
In the dark,
Waking later
At some hotel,
Blonde
With wallet gone,
Felt like hell...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Not without you...

Just can't live
since you are gone
and have left me
all alone,
for my world
has been undone,
let fate put me
'neath your stone
since you were
a part of me,
without you,
I cannot be...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Night Visitor

On a night
So dark and dreary,
Moving shadows,
Strange and eerie,
Frightened wake I,
Anxious, weary,
Sudden chest pains
Make me leery,
Could it be
I'll die tonight,
Never see
The morning light?
Darkness quickly
Turning bright
Into starkly glaring white,
While a ghostly
Voice replied:
"Name is Bones,
Here to pick you up
This very night..."

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz