KEITH BURKHOLDER - POEMS

​Keith Burkholder has been published in Creative Juices, Sol Magazine, Trellis Magazine, Foliate Oak Literary Journal, New Delta Review, Poetry Quarterly, Scarlet Leaf Review, and Birmingham Arts Journal.  He has a bachelor's degree in statistics with a minor in mathematics from SUNY at Buffalo (UB).​

The only ways I could believe in God and Jesus
​

​I am an atheist,
I don't believe in God and Jesus,
But the only ways I could,
If this was a reality,
No need for a military or law enforcement,
No poverty,
No crime,
No bullying,
No segregation,
No racism,
No sexism, 
No classism,
These are to name a few,
There are others,
But I listed these,
Too much spending on the military and law enforcement,
Not enough on universal healthcare,
Believe what you want here,
It is a free world,
Take care for now,
This is how I feel,
Tomorrow is a new day,
May it be better with COVID-19 still in full force.

The government doesn't care what a musician thinks and nice people finish last

​You have musicians and their views,
Yet, nothing ever happens,
Time after time,
Musicians and the like have their views,
The government takes over,
And that is it,
Believe what you want here,
It is a free world,
People have their views time and again,
Yet, the same things occur,
Rich musicians have no power over governmental control,
Protests from unpopular people never pan out as well,
People have a hard time being good,
This is the main cause of problems,
You hear the saying, nice people finish last,
This is true,
Nobody loves nice people,
But bad people take the cake,
It has been this way forever,
When women get abused by bad men,
I don't feel sorry for them,
There are plenty of good men in the world,
They choose the bad,
I feel nothing about that,
People have always loved the bad boy,
Or the bad person,
Change is tough,
So is being decent,
Try to understand what I said here,
Think about take,
Take care for now,
And again, carpe diem.

People love to cause problems

​Think about homosexuality for a moment,
Gays continued to get bashed,
Even killed,
Yet, they are an asset to society,
When it comes to the environment,
Entertainment,
Acting or the creative arts,
Plus, they even believe in God,
All the bashing and still some of them are Christians,
People need to step back and have an open mind,
We are well into the 21st century,
All this chaos continues,
If any thing there are more women to date,
With me being a straight guy this helps out,
Imagine how chaotic society would be if everyone was straight,
Over population would be beyond horrible,
I can go on and on,
Leave the gays alone,
AIDS is huge in their community,
Give them a break,
Develop and open mind,
You are what you are,
Take care for now,
Be good,
Hopefully COVID-19 will disappear,
And may a new day bring you goodness,
And again, carpe diem.

Humanity on Earth is steadily going downhill
​

​This is just the way it is,
COVID-19 is horrible,
Beyond horrible, if I may,
Humans only care about themselves,
If God was around COVID-19 would not exist,
Time after time,
Humanity has caused problems,
The planet Earth is doing fine,
It is humanity that is screwing everything up,
Why would such a virus be invented?
Let's face it, humans only tolerate one another,
The nice guy philosophy no longer exists,
I don't think it ever was a reality at any time,
I wouldn't be surprised if humanity does become extinct,
This will probably happen hundreds of thousands of years from now,
Planet Earth needs a better breed of people,
This other life probably exists elsewhere in the solar system,
Take care for now,
Be good,
May a new tomorrow happen with positive vibes,
And again, many times over, carpe diem.

The world is not a nice place

​Think about it,
The United States wants to put $1.5 trillion dollars
into the military,
Yet, affordable health care is shunned,
It just goes to show you how messed up the world is,
Human behavior is horrible,
People love trouble and are control freaks,
Evolution is to blame here,
It has always been the reasoning for human flaws,
Nobody is perfect,
But man or woman loves trouble,
This is just the way it is,
I hate the military and law enforcement,
Yet again, we need them,
This and for natural disasters,
Believe what you want here,
It is a free world,
This is how I feel,
Take care,
Be good and safe,
And again, many times over, carpe diem.

God is not with us

​Wars,
destruction,
COVID-19,
More money put toward the military,
Bullying,
Torture,
Corruption,
More destructive protesting,
Poverty,
The list is endless,
Yet, God never seems to be around,
No sound,
Nothing,
Believe what you want here,
I choose atheism,
Take care,
Be good and safe,
And may more positive vibes reach one and all on the horizon,
Again, carpe diem.

What is so great about God?
​

​If you look at how massive planet Earth is,
What it comprises of,
There is no God,
There is nothing great about him,
How can there be if you can't see or talk to him?
Religion loves fantasies,
It loves fiction,
This is what God is,
I have never once shook God's hand,
Never seen or spoke him,
Yet, billions believe in him,
Look at how much money is put into the military alone,
It is insane,
Yet, God is not around to help out,
Believe what you want here,
It is a free world,
I choose atheism,
It works for me,
Take care for now,
Be good and safe,
And again, many times over, carpe diem.

Planet Earth is too large in size

​There is no way God could view all of us,
Planet Earth is too massive in size,
Faith is nice,
But not a reality,
Year after year bad things happen all over Earth,
Yet, God is not around to fix them,
I have never seen God at all,
Yet, billions have found him,
People love fantasy and fiction,
That is what God is,
The planet minds its business,
It continues to go around the sun,
365 days later a new year arises,
The planet continues on its way,
Planet Earth is a reality because of science,
It always has been,
Look at how massive the oceans alone are,
Again, this is a free world,
Believe what you want,
God is not a reality,
This is how I feel,
Take care for now,
Be safe,
And may a new day arise with optimism as time carries forward.

​Too much emphasis on the military

​$1.5 trillion is an awful lot of money,
Yet, universal healthcare is ignored,
Healthcare should be universal,
Yet, the government doesn't bat an eye toward a new military base,
I am not bashing the military,
Too much emphasis is put on it,
If you look at humanity, there are too many problems,
People procreating at alarming rates,
Then as they become adults more problems,
The military is definitely needed,
Yet, evolution is the main cause for problems,
People don't care anymore,
Nice people finish last,
No one shows compassion,
Hence, more emphasis on the military,
You can't control natural disasters,
But people have to want to change,
It is not in their character,
It goes against evolution as well,
Religion is fake and fictional,
Nothing in religion will ever change the human race,
It is mind control at its worst,
Believe what you want here,
This is a free world,
Again, I am not a fan of the military,
But as far as humanity goes and natural disasters,
It will always be needed greatly,
Take care and be safe,
And again, carpe diem.

​Religious people are control freaks

​Tell a religious person you are an atheist,
Man, you will get the longest tongue lashing possible,
There is no God,
No Jesus,
Yet, these religious people love to control,
Especially formerly bad people,
You know, the ones that have come out of prison,
The ones who have done time,
Those people are controlling,
That is how people are,
To live the life the Bible says is insane,
Yet, people love to push this on atheists,
If you are an atheist, good for you,
At least you see how people are at face value,
I would never push atheism on people,
I don't expect them to push their religion on me,
Take care for now,
Be good and safe,
And believe what you want to believe in,
It is a free world and again, carpe diem.

​God has not reached out to us

​I have never seen a hand come from out of the sky,
It has not indicated God's presence,
Yet, billions continue to believe in him,
No sounds,
No hiccups,
No flagellations,
No yelling,
Nothing,
God is not there,
He will not reach out to anyone,
God is a myth,
Like Perseus from mythology,
Jesus is a myth,
Like Andromeda as well,
You get better advice from an astrologer
than from religion,
Believe what you want here,
It is up to you,
If you are pro religion,
That's nice,
I am not,
Atheism works for me,
Take care for now,
Be good,
Be safe,
And let a better tomorrow happen any which way possible.

​People need to feel in control

​Just because he or she is patriotic,
This doesn't mean they are decent people,
Patriotism is a feeling of control,
The flag waving,
The military,
Law enforcement,
The national anthems at ball games,
The gamut,
Control is important,
Yet, total control freaks are not really good people,
Being assertive and nice is powerful,
However, control freaks are not open new ideas,
As time passes, now and the past and the future,
This is just the way it is,
People look at destruction in different ways,
The militaristic way is common,
Yet, people still never change,
The average person is neutral, not nice,
Goodness is really a thing of the past,
Think about what I have said here,
It is something to ponder,
The future will continue forward,
Take care and be safe,
And again, many times forward, carpe diem.

God and Jesus are not realities
​

​Look all of the money spent on the military alone,
Even law enforcement,
There is no God or Jesus,
Atheism works for me,
Year after year people praise God,
For what,
One cannot see or talk to him,
You can't shake his hand,
The world continues to decline,
Look at what COVID-19 has done to the world,
Yet, people still believe in something they can't see,
God and Jesus are fictional characters,
Like Snow White and Cinderella,
High entertainment, no reality,
Believe what you want here,
It is a free world,
I choose atheism,
Take care and be good,
Be safe,
And again, many times over, carpe diem.

​Church is emphasized too much in our society

​God doesn't exist,
Neither does Jesus,
Religion is nothing more than mind control,
The church is talked about too much,
When someone dies,
Especially a noted person,
The church is always emphasized,
They always say so and so was a Christian or church goer,
He or she died anyway,
Why?
We are living organisms,
Our time on Earth is limited,
This stinks,
But a reality,
God had nothing to do with that person,
Or even Jesus,
The church always wants more money,
Yet, nothing changes,
Think about what I have said here,
This is how I feel,
Take care for now,
Be good and safe,
And a better tomorrow happen,
And again, many times over, carpe diem.

​Is it worth it to be nice anymore?

​Think about this title for a moment,
This is something to ponder,
Women are hard to read,
They seem to always want the bad boy,
This is just the way it is,
I don't feel bad when a woman gets abused this way,
There are guys out there that are good,
They should seek them out,
Women can be into the hero,
You know, the navy seal or a military or law enforcement type,
Those organizations don't fly for me,
I am not a fan of them at all,
Yet, women love a guy in uniform,
Not all people in those organizations are good people,
Yet, they serve a purpose, but not nice in many ways,
Women, to me are too much trouble,
They are too much work,
I am not gay or bisexual,
Or have gay tendencies,
This is based on experience,
Trying to figure out women is hard and overall a waste of time,
I choose to be alone,
Believe what you want here,
Not all women are bad,
There are good ones,
They are just too much work and trouble for me,
Take care now,
Be good and safe,
And again, carpe diem.

​Children are herded like cattle in schools

​Children have no say in their education,
They are herded like cattle in a school district,
You hear about a lot of things,
The bullying,
Teachers being abused,
Teachers being expected to do too much,
Parents that are oblivious to their children's behavior,
Being in a school is hell for most children,
Yet, people still make children,
The world is not a good place,
People believe in God,
Yet, there is no God,
Waving a flag doesn't make matters better,
I can go on on and on,
Take care for now,
Be good and safe,
And may COVID-19 come to an end soon.