We Are Generation X-Mess

We are Generation X-Mess

Well the stock market it went bull

And all the stuffed shirts say it’s cool

So many dollars but there’s no sense

So many denials but no innocence

And they would package a piece of hell

If they thought it would sell.

We are generation X-Mess

Words alone could never express

Seems like we got pain in excess

We are generation X-Mess

Twenty-seven going nowhere fast

We look ahead cause we’ve got no past

Don’t tell me about your religion

Cause having a good time ain’t a sin

Twenty-seven I’ll tell you how to score

Damn your god damn your holy war

We are generation X-Mess

Words alone could never express

Seems like we got pain in excess

We are generation X-Mess

I smile with hideous laughter

Not oblivious to my disaster

And Love is my master

Baby come on do it faster

Why do you crucify me

Just cause I disagree

Me I am misunderstood

You say evil but I’m good

Yeah I’m good cause I’m honest

I’m no hypocrite like the rest

I speak for me do I speak for you

Am I misguided do I have a clue

Whether liar or messiah

I can take you a little higher

Cause soldier just between you and me

Ain’t nothing stranger than reality

Yeah I’m cool trying to be hip

Life it comes once so enjoy the trip

We are generation X-Mess

Words alone could never express

Seems like we got pain in excess

We are generation X-Mess

"Without The Music" 

An Open Letter To James Mattis

Dear James Mattis,

I hope you are well and I wish you luck in finding new work. I am confident that you will find something, perhaps as a lobbyist or television commentator.  I would like to thank you for your service to our nation, but I feel that you have only served a certain segment. I truly don’t think that you have served the poor of this land, but I guess that is debatable. I think it is horrific that our young men and women had to become ‘cannon fodder.’ In my mind I recall families scrapping together money so that they could purchase protective armor for military vehicles in Iraq. While this would be perfectly understandable if the Pentagon’s budget were small, it is bloated. We have money to spend developing new sophisticated and horrific weapons but not to adequately protect our troops. This is not entirely your fault, nor are you to blame that over twenty of our veterans commit suicide every day. Alas, I sadly must say that you have contributed to this problem by conducting business as usual.

 Let us be perfectly honest and admit that if things don’t change in the world, the United States will be waging war against both China and Russia. In your letter, you refer to them as “strategic competitors.” Unless the United States finds some way to undermine these sovereign governments as they have done in Chile, Iran and elsewhere, war looms near. I am confident you do understand that there is no winning a nuclear war. Furthermore, even a war without using nuclear weapons war would cause the deaths of tens of millions of people if not hundreds of millions. I find this unacceptable.

James, might I suggest to you that you are not identifying the enemy correctly. War is the greatest evil that mankind has ever created. Think of all that is involved in war. Imagine what all those engineers and brilliant minds could have done with their talents instead of inventing satanic weapons of destruction. Think of the high cost of lives of soldiers and civilians. Think of the massive destruction of civilization. Think of the polluting of the environment. Think of the ill will and the hatred that is caused. War itself is the enemy.

So we need to ask that question, and that is ‘Why do we have war?’ The answer is very simple; people profit off of war. They don’t only make a little they make immense amounts of wealth. I am sure you understand the propaganda, lies, and manipulation that occur to wage wars in the first place. We are not fighting a war on terror but rather the United States has become the terroristic nation. To prove this fact I only need to count the dead, see where they died and find out who killed them.

While I am not a big fan of President Donald Trump I applaud his announcement to withdraw troops from Syria. It is a step in the right direction. The wrong direction is Armageddon. Perhaps that event of Biblical proportions is inevitable, but I would like to delay that dark day for as long as possible. Peace motivates me to write this letter.

If you care to visit and civilly talk things over, I more than welcome you to my home. I do not know your history intimately, but I am quite confident that you are vastly more acquainted with the horrors of war than am I. My expertise lies in understanding Jesus Christ who among the many titles he wears is called “The Prince of Peace.” He has commanded us to love even our enemies. While perhaps that might sound illogical to a military man like you it makes perfect sense. In fact that one commandment, if adhered to, may prevent a nuclear holocaust.

Sincerely,

John Kaniecki 

"The Wall" by John Kaniecki

I don’t recall the circumstances of writing this poem. It was jotted down in a notebook and then forgotten. Though I can’t say with one hundred percent certainty I believe it was inspired by the candidate Trump’s comments. The notebook was co-opted and taken for New Jersey Peace Action service. After lingering in the office for several months we started working on “Peace Poems.” This poem was then discovered and used as my contribution for the effort. 

The Wall

by John Kaniecki

There is a wall

High and tall

Between here and there

It keeps some out

It keeps some in

And without a doubt

It is a sin

It was built for the rich

By the hands of the poor

An ever-present reminder

Of perpetual war

It is a wall of hatred

It is a wall of grief

A cursed blasphemy

Of every sacred belief

Tear it down I say

Burn it till it is no more

On to a new day

Pristine and pure

Check out "Peace Poems." 

Holy Father

Here is an old gem from the archives, a great little piece for a heavy metal or thrash band. Just the depths of the diversity of the lyrics within my book called “Without The Music.” If you are in a band or like great writing my book is a must. It took thirty years to write it. 

Holy Father

They always dress in black

With claws like lions ready to attack

Love is good love is to stay

Just don’t get in their way

Cause vermin if you do

They’re gonna crucify you

Oh holy father, father in the sky

Bless the B-2 bomber to make our enemy die

Abortion is bad killing is not meant to be

That is why we endorse the death penalty

Like an old suit they wear a smile

They perform with dancer’s grace and style

Feeding people lies since their youth

It’s a miracle anyone digests the truth

Oh holy father, father in the sky

Be with your people in places high

Help us opiate the poor

Let the peasant believe in our war

They always dress in black

With claws like lions ready to attack

Love is good love is to stay

Just don’t get in their way

Cause vermin if you do

They’re gonna crucify you

O holy father, father in the sky

Don’t give them the time to understand why

Keep on saying it’s from the book

And pray the people don’t take a look

We know it’s this but we’ll tell them that

Starve the poor while the rich get fat

It doesn’t matter if they’re young or old

As long as they do as their told

Oh holy father, father in the sky

In the still of night I hear a baby cry

O holy father, father in the sky

Could you please tell me why

"Without The Music" 

Hot Black Coffee And A Cigarette

Running down the latter years of my life I proudly turn back to my past and look at the work that I have done. Time brings distance and allows for honest self-evaluation. This lyric has been brought to life but unfortunately, I cannot produce the music for it. I have it saved on my computer but don’t know how to put it on the blog. There is a quantum leap from reading the words to hearing them sung. If you want to hear it send me a note and I’ll forward the song to you. Meanwhile, I have a host of lyrics like this in my book “Without The Music.” I am also happy to say that I am diligently writing more and more. 

Hot Black Coffee and a Cigarette

A thousand demos a day

All I can do is pray

When I rock and roll

It comes from the soul

I have sung them blues

Lived a life of bad news

Hot black coffee and a cigarette

How could life get better yet

Just enough to keep me going

Just enough to keep me growing

Hot black coffee and a cigarette

Looking for a soul to steal

The devil comes to make a deal

But I see through his disguise

Cause his words are only lies

The way Satan he function

He’ll take you to down to destruction

Hot black coffee and a cigarette

How could life get better yet

Just enough to keep me going

Just enough to keep me growing

Hot black coffee and a cigarette

Right now I’m below low

Up is the only way to go

Hitch hiking for a rocket

Only got three dollars in my pocket

But three will pay the toll

On the highway of Rock and Roll

Hot black coffee and a cigarette

How could life get better yet

Just enough to keep me going

Just enough to keep me growing

Hot black coffee and a cigarette

I see a light in the black night

I see a light burning green with delight

I hear a voice that always calls

I feel a hand that lifts as I fall

I may never make it to the top

But the truth is I’ll never stop

Hot black coffee and a cigarette

How could life get better yet

Just enough to keep me going

Just enough to keep me growing

Hot black coffee and a cigarette

Check out "Without The Music" which has my best song lyrics from the past thirty years.

"Going To Grenada" by John Kaniecki

Keeping on the Caribbean theme I am most happy to present to you “Going to Grenada.”  This song lyric was written in that sunny paradise inspired by the journey of my wife and me to her home. Maurice Bishop was perhaps the greatest political mind of the twenty-first century.

You will find this gem and many others in my book of song lyrics called “Without The Music.” If you have are a singer and what some material it is a must. Or from a purely poetic point of view, it is a work worthy of exploration. 

Going To Grenada

JFK was miles away to catch the plane

City in fright, security tight what a pain

Took off my belt and I mooned the guard

Never knew going to Grenada would be so hard

Going to Grenada

The Island in the sea

Going to Grenada

With my Love with me

Landed in the sun, really felt the heat

Maurice Bishop airport that name’s a treat

Long ago the man fought for all our dreams

Rose like an angel only to fall in screams

Going to Grenada

Revolution does survive

Going to Grenada

Our hopes are still alive

Family, friends, we are kinfolk one and all

Calypso, hip hop, reggae, prophets call

Times hard, money tight but hopes run high

Maurice is dead but dreams can never die

Music puts the Love in motion

Sunny beaches by the ocean

Riches here beyond compare

For all of us to share?

Going to Grenada

Can you read between the lines

Going to Grenada

Everything will be fine

My throat dry, belly empty, where is righteousness

Jesus was well until Judas gave his kiss

On that hill on that cross blood was shed for peace

The world could use another man like you Maurice

Going to Grenada

God I beg you for your grace

Going to Grenada

Help the human race

“Without the Music”  

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Hot In Jamaica

Hot In Jamaica

Jamaica has the finest rum

And the ladies love to have fun

In the hot hot sun

A poem sitting docile in the memory banks of my computer. Thought I’d share it with you on this blustery Sunday evening.

"Letting It Out," I say the things that need be said. Buy a copy now!

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