Undercurrent

Written March, 2010
Author: Parrish Ravelli
---------------

Yesterday I saw the clouds
moving in a direction

that was perpendicular
from which I was facing.

It made me feel disconnected
from the world and it's revolution

And my thoughts, desires
At most,

Were a part of
a quiet undercurrent.

I sat and watched a father and son
Leave the grocery store

A gas station clerk pumping gas
In a customers truck

A homeless man with 12" x 18"
of cardboard to tell his life's story.

I went and saw my nephew.
He recently learned

How to stand up
From a sitting position,

Something that I will always admire.
I cannot help but think

There is no perpendicular direction
As there is no one direction

From which we measure our progress.
There is no measurement

That defines both me and you.
There is, however, and perpetually,

True satisfaction, Grace,
And contribution to the world.

All of which I find
When I look at the clouds.

Beachgrass & You

written January 2006
author: Parrish Ravelli
--------------------


these states become nameless

after so many tears

Last I checked you

fell behind somewhere between there and here

But in a hundred years

this will all be funny.

Today, a seedling

leans into the wind.

Beachgrass & you,

I have missed and hated

in the same day. As we fall

I dream of gypsies and

unattended gardens. One bedroom apartments

are never enough.

Now I dream of picket

fences and what's within

Whether it be foe or friend

sanctity or sin.

My Shade of Blue

written April 2006
author: Parrish Ravelli
----------------------------

my shade of blue
is dancing at sunrise
a four quartet with
a piece for each season

my shade of blue
is waking on Sunday morning
the gospel I see
in your eyes

my shade of blue
is the depth of your words
with the simplicity
of sound

it is unknowing
what my eyes are meant to see

and seeing
what you intend to be

my shade of blue
is a name and not a time

my shade of blue is you
and it is mine

From The King of the World

Written unknown
Author: Parrish Ravelli
------------------


I think about death often,
Though not so much about when I will die

Or why.
I more think about how it will happen.

I feel like we all imagine our deaths
To be poetic, as kings and queens.

That stories will be written,
Stories that will be read,

Even taught.
That, through our deaths,

The world will come together
And mend itself.

Religion will separate us,
While culture will bring us together

And confidence in the global economy
Will parallel the confidence

That we all will have
In each other.

I think about these things
When I think of you.

Because if I must leave,
This is the world I want left to you.

Just make sure there are laughs
And smiles all the same,

When this world turns to you
To take over it’s reign.

One Man's River

Written January 2009
Author: Parrish Ravelli
--------------------


one man's river
this king's river
my ebb and flow
I must give her

the things I owe
the things that show
between these tides
part and go

I am yours
he is yours
take my river
all it's shores

clean these stains
from hurricanes
shattered glass
from window panes

without you
I can't doubt you
where I came from
where we grew

there are things that flow
like your eyes flow
that endless blue
that only I know

here is my river
take my river
keep it safe
under moonlit sliver

We Each, at Medium

Written February, 2010
Author: Parrish Ravelli
-----------------


This will begin how it will end
with Art.

Because what is Art,
If not a medium.

Possibly it's a subject, or an ethic
Or even a language within itself.

However, it is such that we, as Artist, as creators
are the medium.

How do we know Art
That is not seen,

Seen, but not heard,
Heard, but not felt

Felt, but misunderstood.
Though within misunderstanding

is understanding.
Not that you and I

Believe in the same things
but that you(X) and I(Y) simply believe.

We are each denominators in an equation
That is unique to ourselves.

An equation that creates reflection
and aestheticism,

Guides us away from measurement
And contrast.

This equation is a return to balance
That reminds us

That balance does not just mean equality
It also means connection.

We each create and therefore are each
are Artist and Art,

One in the same.

A Formula for Disparate Contraries (I, II, III)

Written January 2010
Author: Parrish Ravelli
-----------------

I. Measurement

Wage is defined as the value of what we provide.
Yet value, in any circumstance

Can only be measured by adjacent quantifiers.
(many of which trickle down to money

though not always currency). If not defined by oneself
or another, what then?

How parallel is a scale of intrinsical degree?
What is my time, my minutes-hours worth

to me,
as compared to what I am paid?


II. That Addition of Grace

In this world, we are denominators
of those things created

and those things bestowed upon us:
science, religion, art.

We are meant to unite,
yet we strive to be distinguished,

set above, separated. We can succeed
under a common desire for progress,

a common passion for beauty,
through an uncommon measurement of success.

And what has been accomplished
without Grace,

the absence of which creates
a culture of stagnant progression.


III. The Formula

I am to X
as You are to X

creates a cultural imbalance
and injects politics into personal expression.

Instead, I am to X
as You are to Y,

with the addition of Grace ,
creates a formula of social and cultural liberty,

a universal disposition of progress
and empowerment.

Society does not exist to measure greatness,
but rather to engage mediocrity.