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).​

​People love control

​Look at the list here,
The church,
The military,
Law enforcement,
Pro sports,
Waving the flag,
National anthems,
Control all over the place,
You are forced to think this way,
Now, mind you, here is something
people don't like,
Good and decent people,
They don't seem to attract a large crowd,
Bad people do,
Bad people are controlling and love to wave flags,
Look at the Confederate flag as an example,
Try think about what I have said here,
Keep an open mind,
Believe what you want,
Be good and stay safe,
And again, carpe diem.

Imaginary beings

​I have never seen God or Jesus,
This is how I would classify them,
Beings need to be seen,
They need to be tangible,
God and Jesus are supposed to be perfect,
Nothing on Earth has changed,
They are figments of one's imagination,
People love fantasies,
It makes a person feel good,
I live on planet Earth,
The world is not a good place,
There is goodness, but not a lot,
I have no idea why people believe in God and Jesus,
But again, this is a free world,
Believe what you want,
I choose not to,
Try to be good,
Be safe,
And may tomorrow be a better day as time carries forward.

Believing in evolution makes life a lot more understandable

​I know there are religious people out there,
I am not one of them,
Evolution makes sense to me,
Look at how humans behave,
They are warlike, barbaric, devious and ignorant,
This does not include everyone, but a good percentage,
Wars happen a lot,
Too much,
Imagine if God really cared about us,
Same with his sidekick, Jesus,
Would life be different?
I expect greater happenings from perfect beings,
Humans are not perfect,
Far from it,
Yet, billions and now trillions are spent on the military to protect us,
Human conflict happens more than natural disasters,
Evolution is the main reason we are what we are,
God and Jesus are fictional characters,
Let me put it this way, there is a greater chance of being abducted by aliens
from other worlds than you or I seeing Jesus or God in our lives,
Again, this is a free world,
Believe in what you want,
Personally, science fiction is great, but alas, it is fiction,
So is religion, Jesus and God,
We need protection,
This is where the military and law enforcement come in,
No God or Jesus to help them out,
Why believe in God or Jesus?
Take care and be safe,
And again, carpe diem.

Rules, rules and more rules
​

​Think about this logically,
People are really messed up out there,
Crime,
Killings,
Bullying,
Bashing,
More destruction,
Wars,
Vandalism,
Sexism,
Racism,
Classism,
The list is endless,
Yet, more rules are made,
People don't follow them,
Year after year more people exist,
Apparently having children is great,
That in itself is highly overrated,
People love problems,
Lots and lots of them,
Then the government steps in and makes more rules,
You give a person latitude and freedom and all hell breaks loose,
Please, think about it before you have children,
The world is messed up,
Too messed up,
You can believe what you want,
It is a free world,
Take care for now,
Be good and safe,
And again, carpe diem.

You are a born again Christian, who cares, people need affordable healthcare?

​You hear this a lot,
So and so has found Jesus,
They are born again Christians,
You know something, who cares?
There are a lot of religious people out there,
Too many,
I don't push atheism on people,
I don't expect them to push their beliefs on me,
God is not a reality,
Like Jesus, they are two fantasies,
Children believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny,
As they get older, they realize they are myths,
Being good is what is important here,
There is a major pandemic the world is facing,
How come God and Jesus are not around curing things?
Then you get the flag wavers,
Or the true patriotic types,
Yet, COVID-19 still exists,
Let's face it, humans love to kill one another,
Some psycho probably invented this virus,
Like AIDS, it is deadly no matter how you look at it,
AIDS has wonderful medications,
Like many illnesses out there, no cure,
Health care should be affordable to anyone,
If there are no cures, make health coverage affordable all around the world,
People live and die,
It is insane to charge people obscene amounts of money for healthcare,
Totally inhuman, none of us asks to be born,
Believe what you want here,
There is no exact answer to this,
Take care for now and be safe,
And may a vaccine occur for COVID-19 from here on out.

​Evolution is my reality

​Look at how humans behave,
Skyrocketing divorce rate,
Constant tensions,
Wars,
More destruction,
Bullying,
Cliques,
Backstabbing,
Classism,
Racism,
Sexism,
Homophobia,
More segregation,
The list is endless,
Yet, billions believe in God and Jesus,
Are you kidding me?
I might as well continue believing in Santa Claus,
Or event the Easter Bunny,
Again, it is a free world, believe what you want,
Science is the answer here,
Always has been, always will be,
Take care for now and be safe,
This is all you can do,
Be good,
And may COVID-19 disappear or be cured,
For now and many times over, carpe diem.

Anybody can be religious

​There are too many religious nuts out there,
Too many,
God is not a reality,
Neither is Jesus,
Yet, billions believe in them,
As far as research goes,
Why hasn't God or Jesus helped out?
There still needs to be a vaccine against COVID-19,
Does God or Jesus realize how many people have died because of this virus?
That's right, they don't,
Yet, the religious nuts keep praying to God and Jesus,
Religion will always be fake and phony,
This is just the way it is,
Again, science needs to come in and take over,
Like all the other ailments in the world,
Again, believe what you want here,
Atheism is great,
You can look back and realize religion is not helpful at all,
Take care for now,
Be good and safe,
And again, many times over, carpe diem.

​There is no equality in the world

​If you look at humanity,
There is no equality,
A pro football player should not make more than a nurse,
But that person does,
Nurses save lives and do things doctors don't do,
Yet, pro football players make millions of dollars,
The world is a weird place,
Look at COVID-19,
The rich and famous survive it when they get it,
Yet, a nurse who is in action try to help someone, dies,
It is strange beyond belief, but this happens,
I can go on and on about this,
Yet, this is reality,
Try to stay safe and healthy,
Stay out of trouble,
May COVID-19 disappear,
And again, many times over, carpe diem

​Life

​We are alive,
For a limited time,
The planet continues to revolve around the sun,
Life is a strange predicament,
It has many different components,
Choose the one you feel is right for your well-being,
Life happens in strange ways,
We are well accomplished in certain areas,
And not so accomplished in other areas,
Let life lead you to the path of happiness,
Happiness is really all we have,
For tomorrow is a new day,
A new day to create or do whatever you like,
Life is made of choices as well,
Choose the best choice for your well-being as well,
This is life,
It is a part of who we are,
Never underestimate this power,
For this is a power that makes us who we are,
Let time take over and let it make you feel compelled to accomplish anything you want in life,
Seize this with open arms.

I am not a big fan of the military or law enforcement

​I am not bashing either organization,
I am just not a fan of either,
Too much money is spent on these organizations,
Nowadays, there is no such thing as a good person,
People are the causes for such great spending,
Now $2.5 trillion dollars is spent on the military alone,
This is in the United States of America,
Let's face it, you really can't change people,
People are the way they are,
Natural disasters occur,
But most of the spending is based on human behavior,
Humans love conflict and trouble,
Good people are far and few in this world,
There are people out there who don't know what good is,
I can go on and on here,
I will never be a big fan of the military or law enforcement,
But they are needed greatly,
Think about what I have said,
Keep an open mind,
And may tomorrow be better as the future lingers on.