Victor D. López's Blog: Victor D. Lopez, page 57

Why I Write

I do not write for money,
And even less for fame,
I write because I have to,
It’s simply who I am.

I’m a jack of many trades,
And the master of a few,
But they do not define me,
They are just the things I do.

What I write will not endure,
Much of it will not be read,
Little of all I publish,
Will survive long once I’m dead.

I’d write if no one read me,
In ink, on sand or in blood,
As long as reason abides,
I know that I will not stop.

It is so for all of us,
Who are writers at our core,
Writing is...

The Subway

The Subway (from Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems)

I stand alone in the dark Fulton Street subway station,
Breathing in the urine-scented air,
Breathing out clouds of steam,
A subway train rushes along,
Not stopping,
Biting at my eardrums,
With the painful percussion,
Of thousands of people,
Silently screaming,

I don’t want to see,
I don’t want to see,
I don’t want to see,

The air fanned by each subway car,
Rushes against me,
Pushes the ozone and the smell of burnt...

Coding Will Set You Free

Coding will set you free,
Repair, rework, renew, reinvent ruinous reality,
Into a multiverse where reason reigns and creativity flourishes.

Excise the tired, mundane, mind-numbing predictability of the real,
Transform it into a rebooted reality that erases every flaw,
Expiates original sin and finally frees humanity from its anchor to clay.

Soar on the winds of possibility to heights undreamed of,
With wings not of feathers and wax impervious to the sun,
Then cut the cord of existence and live f...

True Wealth

All that you have and all you may yet own,
Can be stolen, lost, consumed or destroyed,
The state can tax it to oblivion,
Or outright confiscate it–some or all.

There’s only one most precious thing you own,
Beyond the reach of corrupt governments,
That you can use and share but not use up,
And pays high, tax-free dividends for life.

Its value is undiluted by strife,
It thrives in markets of both bulls and bears,
It is inflation- and recession-proof,
Beyond the reach of world economies.

It is not ...

Agree to Disagree

agree
gracefully
to disagree

to disagree
on how we view the world
is not a sin

a sin
is forcing
our views on others

The Harshest of Times

The harshest of times,
Truly test our character,
Let us hope we pass.

When our trial is done,
Will we remember with pride,
Or heads hung in shame?

How we act today,
Will define our future lives,
Let’s avoid regret.

If You Thirst

if
you thirst
for justice
quench your thirst friend
by doing what’s right

if
you thirst
for glory
quench your thirst friend
accomplish great deeds

if
you thirst
for money
quench your thirst friend
through honest hard work

if
you thirst
for freedom
quench your thirst friend
setting others free

if
you thirst
for God’s grace
quench your thirst friend
helping all you can

if
you thirst
for power
drink as you might
you will die of thirst

Available as a pre-release at https://www.smashwords.com/books/vie...

I So Yearn to Ring

I so yearn to ring,
Chimes that waken sleeping hearts,
And lift them skyward.

Like Keats and Shelley,
Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Blake,
Or Whitman and Poe.

Sadly my chimes are,
Like a cracked church bell struck by,
Leaves in a wind storm.

Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems, Vol. 2

My forthcoming second book of poems is now available for preorder at Smashwords and will soon be available at all major book retailers. It is slated for publication November 1.

You can get additional information today at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1035449.

For Textbook Sellers, an Uneducated Consumer is Their Best Customer

I’ve been fighting an uphill battle against the high price of college textbooks all my academic life since publishing my first textbook back in 1993. You can read my detailed journal article on the causes and possible solutions to the problem at https://lnkd.in/dJRsnTx. What attracted me most to my current publisher is its emphasis on selling quality textbooks at the lowest price. I’ve gladly sacrificed royalties for the sake of affordable textbooks being available to students for three decades....