Monument and Cities

down through the city streets I walk

arm-in-arm with my emotional defenses,

waiting to see if the light-of-day

really is as bright as they claim it to be;

figments of my imagination fly by

as the chilly winds of forgetfulness

blow hard down below the buildings

that stand tall on either side of me;

crucial monuments stand in my way

as streets are crossed at each intersection

and avenues are over-looked because

they head in the wrong direction;

fleets of observers’ flock to my rescue

as coffee spills out of my cup and I

forget my apologies have been left

in my room along with my wallet.

23nov17

Cracked Glass

inside the cupboard of the mind

desire for loneliness supersedes

public opinion as instinct rests

in a dark, black alley with the

rest of the rats that freely roam the

city once thoughts are dismissed;

traitors of the right that have gone

to the liberal left cannot be blessed

without seeking redemption

from those who take their place

and must also hide in these

dark alleyways until discovered;

readers review the credentials

of the dying writers and decide

that too much knowledge is

not near enough to escape the

ravages of the mind once it has

been discovered that all the

glasses in the cupboard are cracked.

23nov17

Waiting Alone

except for the light in the makeshift kitchen,

in the dark, here I sit,

waiting for my thoughts to arrive in rapid

succession as they have done before;

but, my request has

been denied by a higher authority

and empty again am I.

23nov17

Wall Clocks

there are three clocks among others
on the wall all of which show a
different time, and none of them are
correct, yet, we base our entire lives
on the passage of the correct time since

its passages dictates our loss or gain.

November 2017

Blind Sight

there is no claim on what we believe

only a rational view of that belief,

and if and when we were to challenge

that belief, it is also our belief that

no one would object to our claim,

since belief is not proof and life is

not to blame for our arrogance.

November 2017

Door-to-Door

Vera and her friend Evan

were on a Christian activity,

knocking on doors in a

well-to-do community

when one of her neighbors

informed her of his lack of

interest in her activity

because it violated his need

for privacy not to mention

his desire to worship as

he so desired and without

her interference of convincing

him there was a better way;

her neighbor informed Vera

and her friend that knocking

of doors was not the best

way to promote her beliefs,

especially since there had

been no invitation extended

and that this type of curiosity

only breeded contempt for

their naive Christian activity.

2017

Come to be

rain floods the land with dirty water

that a reluctant sun soon dry's out;

grass is sewn in columns following

outlines of that which grows normally;

wings of prehistoric birds fly south

out of the instinct of common sense;

muddy land sinks in the holes caused

by thousands of dropped bombs;

we nourish those who taught us

hoping our future is preserved; but,

have no need to stop the catastrophe

of what all might come to be here.

2017

Side Effects

scary is the sensation of nausea at

an older age when the side effect of

chemo course through one's body;

prone, on a cold tile floor, offsets

the sweating heated body as it convulses

with no satisfactory conclusions;

dizziness and fainting, accompany

the heroes of this farce when one

attempts to stand and move about;

an emptiness sits beside me on the

floor like an obedient dog that doesn't

understand his master's actions;

the entire day is forfeit once the spells

hit home as there is nothing left to do

but to let it run the gamut of feelings.

2017

Dawn

darkness appears on the outside while

light from a bulb shines on the inside,

and vulnerable do I feel because I can

be seen when I cannot see beyond the

glass that separates life from reality

and death from imagination when all

that was really needed a desire to wait

until we both could see more clearly.

2017

No Activity

there are trees in the painting that

portrays a house out of nowhere,

in a land that does not exist because

someone thinks it should be there;

Guenter Limburg

the trees have a hint of snow, even

though it is summer and the cabin

has a chimney spewing out smoke

when clearly no wood has been cut;

we have waited for days for the

inhabitants to leave so that we could

clean it out and move in but there

is simply no activity in the painting.

2017

Fatherless

my soul bears no children

but it lives instead

with the demons of a

civilized culture because

it can find no solace in

the savage ways of man.

2017

Bartering

from inside my world of disbelief,

I harbor fantasies of a sexual kind,

thinking that it is better to err on

the sexual side of a fantasy than

to err on the side with nothing at

all with which to trade and barter.

November 2017

Premature

in the world of the spirit,

dreams are not dreams

fantasies are not fantasies

imaginations are not imaginations;

spirits roam freely and abundantly

as they mix and merge with

other spirits who may not

be cast from the same die, but

who now have something else

in common that frees them

from the world of the mind;

and, were it not for what might

become of us, I sometimes

wonder if being in this spirit

world might be the best place.

November 2017

Homespun

futility lies within

the hope that despair

is rather short lived,

and all actions are

a consequence of

those fears and dire

resolutions, especially

since we believe

what we believe

because it seems a

little logical to do so.

November 2017

Sacrifice

under developed countries warn

of cataclysmic occurrence once

their worlds touch ours and we

ignore their ignorance, just as we

ignored all the warnings prior

to the great flood that took so

many unnecessary human lives.

12Sept17

Watching

grey skies dawn
winds blow strong
rain trickles down
to the ground from
above while we sit
in romantic juxtaposition
with our drinks of
coffee and tea,
watching the earth
change before our
eyes as our world
rotates around
the only sun it
has ever known.

12Sept17

Impurities

clouds of

grey

and white

no longer

float

across the sky,

but

linger

above the

land like a

ominous

blanket of

despair

and

foreboding,

until the

rains come

and

cleanse

the skies of

all its

impurities.

11Sept17

Beliefs

it is recorded in
the books of old,
a man with a
beard will appear
each year and
every year thereafter
until the people of
this land no longer
need the sentimental
mythology tales.

11Sept17

Noticed

a hummingbird
flies flawlessly
towards the hanging object
that hold the nectar
for its delight; and,
every third visit or so
shuttles itself
across the deck to see
if I have noticed.

11Sept17

Noon

at the top

both hands meet

as if

it were planned

and 

an eerie tone

sounds

over the land

announcing

it is time to go.

11Sept17

Four Walls

four walls does a prison make
with a floor, ceiling, and window;
and, when the door is opened,
access do I have to the rest of my
world that lies within the confines
of my narrow mental hallways;

forces of nature rule this world
of anguish and abandonment,
that, at my leisure I have conjured
up like one might cook a stew
over the open flame of one's
imagination that tastes horrible
once it has stopped cooking, as
thought it were never meant to
be eaten by anyone in particular;
light enters of the darkness of
the crime it has sworn to protect,
and I begin to vanish in the same
mist that brought me here many
years ago when but a lad of youth,
with an innocence about him
that everyone failed to recognize,
so, imprisoned I was in this home
like animals in a cage, and was
fed all the latest gossip on politics
that my tender mind could eat,
and to this day, no one has ever
known the difference nor have
they cared about the truth of it.

2017

Huddled Up

a coolness in the air
gives pause
to the wind that
gives pause
to a returning coolness,
and even though
under a gazebo, I sit,
staying out here longer
huddled up
in a chair
is not something my
interests would rise to.

11Sept17

Forced Time

we unravel time as easily
as we unravel cloth, but
have not the ability to
restore time as one might
need to restore cloth;
but, we fool ourselves
into thinking we can and
force time into our own
three dimensional universe.

11Sept17

Deviations

wrapped in convenience,
our lives matter little
to those who suffer daily
at the hands of those who
would be gods in a world
of fallen angels who had
little choice but to deviate
from the ways of the ancients
who were responsible for the
suffering of men from the
beginning of time's recording.

11Sept17

IT'S JUST US

there is no understanding here

just a reluctant acceptance as

life clings to the hopes of others;

a peace-of-mind shudders

in the wake of confusion

while resting on the familiar

and the patience of love that

has gathered us all together;

life is life in any form

when family is present

and all the chills of the ills

of life's former self are

revealed even though sealed

in special envelopes to be laid

on the table before grace as all

the flaws of the living are forgiven;

familiar are the words and actions

of our love as we share all

that has been given whether it

be from below or above our

comprehensions since that love

sustains us in all that we do,

and in all that we think and

in all that we say, as we honor

his presence, the day, and family.

2017

No Excuses Left

the wind shatters the back
with penetrating coldness
that slithers through the
body like a sensuous snake,
opening up hidden desires
where resistance is feeble

and the need to succumb to
freezing conditions is great;
we seek no shelter nor
request mercy as we are
violated by the frigidity
of its relentless assault on
our warmed-up bodies that
soon will have nothing left;
we were doomed from the
beginning as we lay roasting
in the sun, not caring about
the global effects of our
actions we denied and would
have continued had it not
been for our very thoughtful
brothers-in-law in crime.

11Sept17

Riddle Out

inside is brown while the

outside is green and

life continues regardless

of the weather around it;

no stone unturned is

turned again and again

if necessary as we learn

limitations for our truths;

August yields September

and each month thereafter

is replaced right on time

before its had time think;

demons from our past

fornicate those of our future

in order to create the present

in which we always live;

birth, death cannot take place

without forgiveness but those

who riddle out new beliefs

will experience neither one.

10Sept17

Being Out There

Inside myself, I have hidden all

that I once was or had become...

Inside myself, I remember it clearly as if it

were the day before or the day before that

one and when I try to share it with myself

two other worlds collide, leaving me

speechless and unsure of what's been said;

Inside myself, I have witnessed the times

that had always passed unnoticed, but

which had been remembered in the mind,

just behind the eyes that watched it happen;

Inside myself, I long for others to be alongside

me and all those who had always been a part of it,

before it had become difficult to understand,

although the faded memories were always clear;

Inside myself, I see myself here and there and

everywhere I needed to be or wanted to be,

allowing my smiles to blend in with those I knew

or that had known me for one reason or another;

Inside myself, is a joy of the excitement yet

to be experienced and an awareness of all the

people yet to me met or passed by as if they all

had never once been just strangers but family;

Inside myself, is the need to remember and be

remembered for who I still am, and if I had

temporarily disappeared, the we need to hold

onto each other before I am disappear again.

Inside myself, I have hidden all I once was

but today all that I am is with you...

2017

Unannounced

chilly winds and sun
battle for dominance,
under the gazebo,
a empty chair sits quietly,
a fan silently turns
without any electricity,
a ritualistic day begins
its journey to conclusion,

birds chatter like old women
with nothing on their minds,
curious creature fly around
in the hopes of finding food,
tomatoes on the vines need
to be picked very soon,
sirens scream through
mental intersections and
we all outside wonder
how soon they
would get here if they
had to stop somewhere first,
each day begets the next
and we forget the originals
as nature continues its
entering growth cycle
unannounced again.

Day Cycles

rumors slip through the cracks
of the morning while
night extends its shadows
and an orange moon
sits on the horizon
teasing the moon;

rumors slip through the cracks
of the night while
mornings issue warnings
that fall into shallow graves
created by the noon sun;


toyed with and toying with
are rules of life
and it cycles,
leaving no stone unturned
and no answered questions
as the cycles of existence
exceed those of death
and the sun lays face down
at the end of a long day.

9Sept17