"omen" and "right now"

Two poems by Andrew Lafleche

omen

shanti shanti shanti peace peace peace
why these words dare come to me
at a time like this I do not know

shanti shanti shanti

peace peace peace

I close my eyes and return to that place
sitting cross legged on a firm cushion
inhaling the promise of hope to be found
exhaling the chaos my life had become

nothing more to do or achieve
shanti shanti shanti peace peace peace

comfort beheld in the manufactured
sincerity of strangers: a smile, a bow
clasped hands and an empathetic eye

what is the universe telling you?
are you open to receive? why do you wait?
what would you do if you weren’t afraid?

shanti shanti shanti peace peace peace

and the sun begins to rise
on another sleepless night
and these six words echo
against these hallow chamber walls

​haunting or foreboding
still far too early to tell

right now

I wish I were a god
if only to laugh at
all the               reasons
we seek in earnest
to be bothered over

---

Andrew Lafleche is an award-winning poet and author of six books. His work uses a spoken style of language to blend social criticism, philosophical reflection, explicit prose, and black comedy. Andrew enlisted in the Army in 2007 and received an honorable discharge in 2014. His short stories have been published on CommuterLit and in The Merrimack Review, and his poetry has been published in Alt-Minds, Barren, Bywords, Garfield Lake Review, Gargoyle, Havik, Lummox, The Manhattanville Review, Military Experience and the Arts, Montana Mouthful, Night Picnic, PCC Inscape, The Poet’s Haven, Polar Expressions, Raven Chronicles, Royal City Literary Arts Society, Sheila-Na-Gig, and Snapdragon. Visit www.AJLafleche.com for more information.