Learning to Listen

for hours we will sit and hear
the entertaining boredom of
speakers and what better way
they have found to do their
cooking in the classroom; and,
after each one, we applaud
as though we were bedazzled,
moving on to the next, and
then to the next and to the next,
praying it will all end soon.

14Aug14

Measuring

equal in size they appear to be,
monoliths of a time long past,
strangers to the new order and
to the sense of ability where
functionality rules construction
and size no longer matters even
though one side has more shelves.

14Aug14

Or Other

an emptiness rests

inside me like a

bout of depression,

but, it is not 

like that at all,

it's a hollowness,

incomplete,

as if I need to 

grow into 

something

or other.

14Aug14

Returning

it is just a memory
I say
and it will soon fade
and disappear
and yes
I am aware
the law was broken
but this one
returns regardless
of my desire
for suppression.

13Aug14

The Cat's Meow

dawn breaks her silent vows as
Mistress of the Night, seducing her
new master, just as easily as she
did the day before and before that;
fickle fancies in completed are
put away in canning jars for the
winter months as we harvest only
that which will not spoil and when
the light once again fades and we
once again adorn our party clothes.

13Aug14

Music

each song is a different
tone for loneliness,
sharing sentiments
and feelings through
rhythms and melodies,
hoping to find sanctuarary
and peace but intead,
a hollow companion
whose nature
was to take, not give,
hoping each new song
will be the one
that breaks through our
depression, but,
it's just another melody
that offers only promises.

13Aug15

Liberty

none of us want what we don't want; yet,

this is what we are consistently offered

each year by those who would be leaders,

guiding our principles of Democracy to

their liking while in protective custody

with bankers, financiers, and merchants,

leaving only the coastal ports of our

distant imaginations fee to explore outside

the liberties that we once held so dear.

13Aug14

Planned

our home has been crowned

with molding and we love it,

but wonder why the change

of heart when these rooms

were first constructed like

some unseen force had

managed to persuade us,

taking us into a different direction

with different ways of thinking 

and different ways of 

seeing life around us as if this

was what we had planned.

13Aug14

Cycles

darkness peers in through
the window then stops
at the light as if an
invisible force was keeping
it from entering and then
as if by magical design
it disappears completely,
leaving me free and easy
to bask in the light until
it disappears later as well
as it always seems to do
and the reassuring darkness
returns right on time.

13Aug14

Our Story

it is your thoughts that
amuse me, not your face;
amazed I am,
at how much influence
we place
upon appearance,
when,
it is all just an illusion,
and we are
mere figments of
someone's imagination,
who has put
pen to paper and
taken then time to
write our story.

10Aug14

Only New

how outside myself
and alone
I feel today,
as if,
a ton of concern
sits evenly
on shoulders of
ravished thoughts,
waiting
to be retrieved
or perhaps
resurfaced with
a few new words;
yet,
there is no joy
in that practice
nor
any skill in
developing
new emotions.

10Aug14

Dead is Dead

 like a multilevel soup that has

settled to the bottom of the bowl,

my view on everything recently

seem to reside there too...

no matter how hard I try to spoon

them back up to the surface

for a little exposure to the light

as if dead is dead is dead.

19Aug14

Paper Thoughts

from under the slanted walls of ceilings,

windows peer out into the dark,

cloudy skies full of rain and wind and cold

provide me with a glimpse of life outside my own

that so easily transpires each day

when and only when

my windows give me a chance to see;

I don't know if I should be grateful or sad

since I have never been out there with it all

as I am merely thoughts on paper.

10Aug14

Wisdom Dies

wisdom rests quietly
and silently between
the ears of the learned
as they attempt to
convey their geniuses
to those with lesser minds
in the hope of gaining
respect and awe for all
they hold inside them
like a bank that needs
to be robbed since
its contents are
worthless and cannot
be spent on anything
in today's world.

10Aug14

Walking

the rain fell as we
walked and talked
ignoring those who
were under cover
until wet we were,
through and through;
then, and only then,
did we smile at our
foolishness but kept
walking all the same
until the sun appeared
and we were dried,
discovering we had
covered most of the
coastline and we in
need of a taxi by which
to return home, but,
none were to be found,
so we walked back,
returning only after it
was time for us to
have left the beach.

9Aug14

VaCay

how brightly shines the sun
with no restrictions
in its pursuit to the ground;
heat and humidity always follow
as if lost animals were
walking here and there;
darks blends in with shadows and
lights lay flat upon the wickedly hot sand;
cool waters
constantly flow inward
surrounding instantly
the castles made of sand;
green palm plums wave to us
as if we were locals
instead of just passing through.

8Aug14

Oasis

reflections of a more
gentler kind and sifted
through an ancient sieve,
bounce up and down in
my thoughts like riding
a camel heading towards
an oasis where none
existed before, and I
simply try to hang on;
sun streaked stains cross
my face like sand scars
from the blowing winds;
my ideas are replenished
and I finally free to go
and continue my journey
to somewhere new again.

7Aug14

Oriental Asia

the continuous flow of light
falling out of the sky mutes
the sounds that are close by;
I see reflections of colors that
have been bounced off and miss
colors that have been absorbed
as my mind instantly calculates
correlations between the two
faster than my eyes can blink;
future thoughts wait in ante rooms
until the process is complete,
then form instant connections as
light continues to fall down around;
weighted perspectives rest on the
strong shoulders of centurions,
who guard the mental entrance
with their lives if called upon; but,
until that day arrives, I feast on
fruit and bagels and imported
teas from Oriental Asia.

7Aug14

Everyday

in my sight a reddish

orange sunrise appears

everyday when behind

two silhouetted palms

I sit recording thoughts,

never too cold or hot

as inside the house I'd be...

and, the image that is mine

is from someone's painting.

7Aug14

Water Suits

a reluctant sun
nurtured by an
off shore hurricane
dampens our vacay
as we wonder what
it is to do today and
should we simply
pack up and go; but,
soon the clouds pass
and our hopes return
and we are once
again glad we slept
in our water suits.

7Aug14

Growing Pains

hate has no shame as it
permeates itself through
various tongues globally,
seeking out someone
or a race to dislike
for one reason or another
as it burrows into young
minds like carpenter bees,
pulling all of us farther
away from the center in
the process and everywhere
you go you can see this
phenomenon grow and
flourish like weeds.

6Aug14

Co-existing

on the verge of extinction
we live everyday,
out-numbered by insects
and animals who live
wildly in and around
our sedate habitats;
and, if it were not for our
animosity of them, we
might have become their
pets instead of ours.

6Aug14

Sun Day

clear skies and lackluster colors

all around me is finally back on

the coast today as we wake early

to see for ourselves and take it

all in or as much as we can,

hoping to spend it all outside

either in the water,

on the sand,

in a chair,

but always,

in and under the sun.

6Aug14

Southern Comfort

fields of southern comfort
lie at the feet of my memories,
illusive at best
but seem to be reoccurring
like the night
and the day that follows,
over and over and over...
and, as I
stroll through these fields I am
reminded of the poppies
from which I was born
in the year of the mind
which came and went
as if it were never here.
leaving in its wake all these
fields of southern comfort.

5aug14

Along the Coast

a reluctant morning burns

 off the night's sins when

light enters the mind and

soul of the eyes who then

must bear witness without

gratitude each new day;

sea gull vision flies low

to the edge of everything,

encouraged by a steady breeze

and the need to see it all before

it get too hot or before new

hurricane rains begin to fall;

tours of duty lasting only 

a few days have us sun burned

and court martial if still in,

but our time is done, even

though our lives are not.

5Aug14

Always Within

 through the sea mist sprayed curtain-less window

and then through another and then another, I see

worlds with no possibilities except endless

dimensions of other dimensions, designed to boggle

our imaginations and keep them from escaping

by using windows with no route out, and

no one leaving once inside,

and since each window is a mirror

we are forever trapped within what we see,

even when eyes closed tightly...

a labyrinth of lines, shapes, colors, and forms

each with infinite combinations to be explored and

experienced while in the presence of hallucinogens.

5Aug14

Black Coffee

motorized sawing sounds

cut through my erotic day dreams 

like a misplaced condom 

before the dance 

leaving my

not just feelings hanging

like a teenager;

wisdom's words waddle from

one perspective to another

searching for meaning

when the musical sounds 

stops and silence clamps

her legs tighter than a divorce;

long metal probes with nets

filter and clean the mind

as if it were for sale again,

when all I really need is simply

another tall cup of black coffee.

4Aug14

Seasonal Greens

around a mental wading pool,

it grows in abundance,

like pubic hair before it is

shaved completely away,

avoiding uninvited summer

guests who always seem to

stay too long, yet the pool

cools the walking feet of  my

thoughts when they travel

too far in the morning like an

ankle bracelet for a convict.

4Aug14

Non Inspirational

a non inspiring evening
casts negative shadows on
the day with subliminal
preconceived ideas that seem
to arrive out of nowhere;
walks down a lane with no
memories are in abundance
at this place echoing early
childhood memories that
traveled to the same location;
the future is wrapped around
the insides of hollow palms
that grow too tall too fast
but used for habitats often.

4Aug14

Another Day's Intelligence

a collapsed umbrella stands erect
with two wooden chairs on either side,
and beside that one is another
on either either and the same on
either side of them and it continues
up and down the rain soaked
beach as foul weather blows in;
guards of life sit in wet towers
surveying the abandoned land

in front of them, wishing this day
would soon come to an end,
and cringe involuntarily at the
sounds of thunder amplified by an
empty and blank, lifeless sky;
well wishers walk the empty sand,
wondering, I suppose, why they're alone
since no strikes or shark attacks
have been reported here recently,
providing them with pondering point
on their journey from the sandy side
with water to the poolside bar, neither
location showing much intelligence.

3Aug14

Vacation

sky and sea show no
differences except a

slight discoloration
distorting perception,
as we listen to the sounds
of the rumbling,
tumbling,
murmuring,
and mumbling
of this morning's
rolling thunder without
the flashes of light
announcing its intent
and arrival;
sky and sea merge like
lovers in public copulation
in a sunless,
sinless day
but well illuminated,
here on the eastern coast
of our imaginations,
allusively trying to
arrive at the perfect
vacation spot.

3Aug14