Month's End

it is the end of the month

on which my fate is sealed,

another year has passed by

without so much as a notice or a

thank you for having lived it;

just like the day into night

and back again without the

slightest bit of notice other than

understanding it is the light

that keeps us awake at night;

it is the beginning of a new

month soon and we will pay

the some tribute to it when it

dies an unnoticed death and

then another until we realize our

bodies have not fully grasped

the concept of aging...  and we

spit and sputter around in a 

circle as if we are out of gas.

22 October 2022

The Burn Pit

I burned thirty years of my life today

in a lot of dirt we used for a garden,

one by one I tossed the papers in

along with the envelops that held them,

sitting in the green plastic chair, I

watched the papers turn black and 

curl around the edges as the flames

changed it texture and appearance;

No thoughts entered my head as to

what I was burning or why or what

the documents used to represent...

for me, it was a task that just needed

to be done and it was decided that I

would do it today when the wind

was not as strong as it used to be...

smoke would move in my direction

and to the other side of the pit I

would move, poking and proding

and turning the papers over so that

they would burn throughout...  it was

a mildly warm day and the heat from

the fire got me hotter that I would

have liked and the smell of smoke

stuck to the fabric of my clothes and

all I could do was wonder why I had

ever started smoking in the first place.

22 October 2022

Perspectives

in the east we begin

in the west we end,

in the north air is cold

in the south it is warm,

and in the middle of it all

are the centrists, those

who cannot decide if

they are up or down or

sideways in their lack

of ability to understand;

we go west in the east

and east in the west...

the north stays where it is

the south like it where 

they are the best and it

seems those in the middle

are quartered in their

opnions about what to

believe in the news...

there is no grace without

forgiveness and forgiveness

is not possible without

a belief in life and looking

at the morning as not just

a new day but a beginning.

22 October 2022

Side Down Up

blue and red struggle against each other

as they compete for the white that is in

between the two colors...  every two years

this happens across this great land and

every two years we change our minds

from one color to the next and what is

accomplished in very litte as one color

unwinds what the other color winds...

up and down we go...

back and forth as well...

our backs against the wall

or we are facing it...

we have no signs in each other's yards

nor do we stand at the front door, ringing

the bell and no one answers...  we are

content with our live and what we have

or do not have as we have learned to

do without whiles others do with...

we sing when depressed and sleep 

when we are not just to prove the rule

does not always apply to everyone.

21 October 2022

Time's Rotation

Time moves foward

never backward

and yet the future

from a vantage point

is seen before it happens,

and the post unfolds

not as it was but as it

should have been

while we in the present

wonder if our two part

rotation is necessary,

or if it stops will we

no longer have a

sense of time and a

perspective of the

flow of time in order

to even have a past

and a future...   we

think in absolutes 

seeing what we want

to see from a past

no longer relevant.

21 October 2022

Troubled Times

down the road a spell, a man sits  

with a shotgun across his lap...

he has taken a notion that strangers

are coming up the holler...

down the road a little farther, a man sits

with a hoe on his lap wishing it was

real since his wife passed two year ago...

down the road even a little further,

sits a man with a bible in his lap

wishing his congregation of two

would show up to church...

we live in troubled times, everyone

says who seems to know a thing or two,

yet the trouble never never seems to

stop or visit another valley where

life is the way it's always been...

days to nights and nights to days

weeks to months and months to years

and in the passing of a decade we

rejoice that we are moving closer

and closer to death...  and the end to

all the grief that we have encounterd.

17 October 2022

Life's Bypass

From one open door to another

life moves mysterious through,

weaving in and around or

up and over dependng upon

its course of action...  we sleep

through most of this turmoil

as our minds rest and recooperate

from all their daily activities...

suspended animation revolves

around time as if the two were

engaged to be married while a

challenging life tilts the game so

there is no winner...  no chicken

dinner...  no salvation...  and no

resurrection to the promised land...

we fall short of death more often

than not when we are not aware

of where our life is headed but

act as if it was always planned.

17 October 2022

Energy Strings

into the light our thoughts melt

along with the strings of energy

that surround them...  we feel all

the little filaments around us

yet we can see nothing... crawling

our our environment, forming

and shaping in a random pattern

of chaos...  not caring which or

what dimension they create as

along as something is created...

we dread their existence while

realizing if they did not exist

then we would not exist either;

into the flow of energy our thoughts

dissolve like sugar in hot water

but instead of making candy we

making life...  and, as random as

they are, we can predict their

paths once they pass through the

barriers from there to here or

wherver as they form and reform

the space around us with all their

twists and turns and connections.

16 October 2022

Delayed Patterns

rain fell before awakening

an early morning drizzle

at the edge of light when

nothing would notice, as

if it were somehow afraid

of its actions and the turmoil

if would cause in the valley

when fall beckons and the

summer loses its control

over the land and its people

and the animals who live

in and around the area...

winds move the leaves on

the branches, yielding to

the rain in the forecast,

tempted and tempted again

by the weather that cannot

which way to go...  we are

at a point of disrespect as we

lean in the light's direction.

16 October 2022

A Messy Life

middle of the road is where we like to be

not taking sides nor giving them,

we walk the straight and narrow only to

find out that we were wrong,

and taking sides is the only way to go

if one wants to survive...

coast to coast reality smacks us in the face

harder than the wind on the outer banks

and when we turn into that wind in the

hopes of raising our spirits higher, we

find that it works just the opposite...

down and dirty we play our hand, as we

live with the cards that we are dealt, but

but reality has made us wiser than  before

and now we play the games with high

cards hidden up both sleeves...

our children learn from our lies and

create lies of their own so as to feel

more adult and when those lies bite

them in the ass, they bleme the parents.

15 October 2022

Youth Ends

we miss youthfulness

trading off wisdom

seeing age as an asset

instead of a luxury

of the wealthy...  we

sing and dance in a

mental room full of

strangers that have paid

to see our funerals and

watch us lowered into

the ground or enter a

firey furnace and be

cremanted and our 

ashes spread around

in the places we claim

that we enjoyed...  an

orchestra plays at the

celebration but we hear

none of the tunes and

if we did would not

appreciate the serenity.

12 October 2022

Night's End

the inner light of darkness betrays

it stands like bookends on either side

and comforts us in the solitude,

we crawl through our senses from

one place to another never trusting

any of the sensations associated

with what we are feeling...  it is a

moment in time, not a place and

when directions have been lost

we know not how to return nor

how we might recapture feelings

just in case we cannot remember;

we are lost in the light of darkness

we are unable to find our way

we reach out to the spirits but none

of them want to reply...  we are

hungry and alone and desperate

turning to those who live there

hoping for safe passage in return

for a favor or two...  we lean to

one side and then to the other with

no chance of reaching either side

before night's end is unveiled to us.

11 October 2022

Unfamiliar

behind the tears of death 

misunderstandings develop

words are spoken and

heard differently as families

deal with their loss...  an

angel descend down into 

the life of others as they

remove all remnants of the

life that once was...  seeking

consolattion and forgiveness

for the evils that the dead

have caused before it was 

a crime to live so long...

we wrap our minds around

those who have gone and

thosse who have perished,

never apologize for the burst

of tears that flow when in

familiar surroundings...  we

are unrepentent and see no

harm in ouor beliefs or in

the way we express them...

life lives on the other side 

of death and vice versa but

which side is real and which

side is make believe...  it is

always too late when we know.

11 October 2022

Damaged Senses

my eyes see for only a few feet

in front of me, and then it

is all just a blur...  my ears hear

within a radius of three hundred

and sixty degrees, and then

sound exponentially decreases...

my smell has been damaged from

tobacco and then it 

smells a rose a few feet away...

my taste senese iron from the blood

of a cut lip, and then it

tastes no different at all...  my feelings

have been hurt numerous times

during my lifetime, and then

there is no feelings at all...   the odd

characteristic of senses is that they

are constanting changing to

accommodate expectations...  and then

the expectations die surreptitiously

and the mind misunderstands the cues,

leaving us in a state of insomnia and

then a coma of dead thoughts emerge

and we drown our woes in a pitcher of 

beer, alcoholics annonymous donated.

10 October 2022

Time Clock Set

the past becomes the future of a

previous past and then the present

once another past has occured...

it is a constant revolution of time

that has no beginning or end like

a circle that was once a virbrating

filament of energy that whips

around from one side to the other

side in order to create a new reality;

when it joins it is fixed in flight and

chaos becomes random again  --  it

is predictable but uncertain especially

since time never slows down nor

repeats of nanosecond of the present,

leaving us stuck in motion of one to

the next, aging from one moment to

the next and eventually death over-

comes time in that it ends as the

lungs deflat for the last time...  yet,

this time is not infinate bur finate,

our soul carries on with time in a 

different dimension becoming just

another string in the clock of time.

10 October 2022

Life's Ransom

it is the universe that captures and feeds

our imaginations...

with all its galaxies and solar systems

and planets that orbit around all these

suns and moons...

we explores these realms in our dreams

day or night...

but mostly night when we are encased

in wombs of sleep...

we are notes on a scales and when played

our rhythms and tunes filter into the air

and are breathed in by the ancient souls

who travel the stars...

we worship in houses to the gods who

created this empire in which we dwell

temporarily before joining all of those

who came before...

we are intertwined and blessed with the

understanding of this knowledge and its

impact on our lives...

we are drawn into the heavens as the

heavens are part of us and we are part

of that which was aborted.

9 October 2022

Eternal Nothing

beyond the illusion of life is the

reality of death...  a final solution

with which we all must deal...  at

some point in time, as our existence

exceeds the allowed time and we

must return to that state from which

we originated...  a void in time and

space...  blackness...  emptiness...

the hollow of a tree without an end

or a beginning...  a state of limbo

where we float around in a murky

soup substance waiting for a time

when we are allowed to breathe

and fill our lungs with the freshness

of life and see what we are allowed

to see, even if it is temporary and

when done, we remember nothing.

9 October  2022

Knowledge Birth

returning from where we were is not as easy

as it sounds since where we were is nowhere

in particular and certainly nowhere specifically,

we take for granted that which we do not fully

understand as it must be filled with the sort 

of truth that is not easily shared with those who

are less gifted than those who are always on

the right side of underanding...   we have cut

the dragon of knowledge and the pain she is

experiencing is the pain with which we have

been living for centuries even though we are

only decades olds ourselves...  we have just

acquired the gift of innocence that was given

to us when first seen and put away as if we

were a secret that no one should know about,

we dream and mis out on reality as the barriers

of fate close around us and eats our flesh as

we eat raw fish...  the sunshine is our domain

and takes us home everyday that it is allowed

to breathe another lung full of earth's oxygen.

7 October 2022

Sinful Living

a light layer of humidity lingers in the

air and leaves lay on the ground to be

removed or next year's grass will not

survive the winter...  we cut a trail in

the woods to let the animals to move

from one field to another before they

are slaughtered for food...  birds migrate

south to avoid the sounds of gun shots

and the whiskey we drank was just

distilled yesterday by our cousins...

we trim our hair with sharp rocks

while letting our facial hair grow as

long as it needs to grow so it can be

braided...  our wives remove their

teeth before going to bed and the dogs

sleep by the fire in the living quarters...

we are on their radar and must be extra

careful as we move around from one

region to another like nomads who 

have nothing but their hands with

which to barter...   mindful is the day

from which we awake and do the

work of the creator until not needed.

7 October 2022

No Longer Viable

as far as the eyes can see there is darkness

a black veil draped over the head of my body

floating inside a dark room with no windows

that can be perceived by the senses...  the up

and down movement makes me nauseous

but I am reclined so it subsides...  the weight

of my body seems to have disappeared as

well as my four extremities...  I am half of

what I used to be perhaps more as my head

seems to have separated as well...  my heart

pounds in my chest as though it were seeking

to be released from its confinment and my

mouths seems to have disappeared as well

along with my teeth and tongue....  my nose

hairs tickle when my lungs breathe in and

out...  my eyes rotate in opposite directions...

I am the last one on which experiments have

been performed but I have no idea where all

the others are or the disposition of the results,

or if we are going to be reassembled and sold

at auction like I did last year when in charge.

6 October 2022

Valley Innocence

clean air blankets the valley

my lungs fill up with it and

gaze for miles at the green

grass and trees that protect

its weaknesses...  streams

and creeks intertwine with

manmade lakes and the water

that pours down from the

Smokies in ther spring...

my eyes take it all in as I

trot along with my mind as

it wanders and reflects upon

all the time spent here and 

all the time spent here by

others who wanted to call

this valley their home...  how

sweet it is to breathe this fresh

and smell the grass that has 

just been cut for the last time.

6 October 2022

Surrogates

we lie to the tax man annually in the spring

compensation arrives a few weeks afterwards,

we make our car payments with the reimbursement

received from the state, knowing the records 

have been doctored...  it is ther cycle of life that

crowds out the honest person and allows the

others with a conscious to benefit...  our tongues

have been cut out and we keep our mouths

closed to hide the embarrassment...  nature 

lives in the aftermath of our decision and the

fawn walks around the park another day before

animal control takes it away...   we pay the 

price of apathy and indifference and learn to

seize what little life we can out oof the turnip

we ate for lunch...  suits patrol the streets of 

our community since we have defunded the

police bringing in crime that was hidden in the

trunks of our vehicles...  we make no aplogies

for our ignorance or the innocence of our

hatred as they have replaced our parents as

something we should honor and admire.

4 October 2022

Credibility

the day turns green with envy

the night bows down to the day

the afternnon makes plans with

the morning and dusk clears

everything away before the sun

sets on the west coast of our

daily lives...  we boogie to the

tunes of laughter coming from

the street of ouro communities

where drugs are peddled on the

corner of franklin and vine and

mothers wrap their children up

in the blankets given to them

for making donations...   we 

see the fate of eros and learn

that the gods have set a new

date for the trial...  we are keyed

in to witness protection but have

nothing to protect and our words

have even less meaning than 

they did before of the corruption

took away our mortgage payments.

4 October 2022

Sleep Waking

along the mental hardwood floor my thoughts

walk with the silence of a feline stalking their

prey in our backyard...  to thre edge of reality

my thoughts dance like a teenager at their first

party not caring if they are moving correctly

but enjoyu being there all the same...  inside

out then outside in, my emotions twist and 

turn as if being wrung out of water after

leaving the pool...  beyond the core of rational

understanding my minds slithers through the

air like a snake slithering through tall weeds

without splinters...   a ghost holds my memories

and releases them to the general purblice ignoring

the copyright affixed to the first page...  my heart

leaps out of my body just before the shock of

being awake opens my eyes and I wonder where

i am and why i needed to pee every two hours

as if I had been drinking coffee in my sleep.

3 October 2022

Mossy Creek

cloudy skies and cooler temps open

the door for fall weather and while

it may seem a little premature, it is

actually later than it should be...  the

grass is dry from lack of rain --  there

is little moisture in the air...   creeks

and ponds are drying up --  all the

manmade lakes are below capacity.

an evening spent in silence save the

ringing in my ears and I wonder if

all I needed to do was cry a tear...

a mossy creek makes it home at the

bottom of a smoky mountain and

I drink the alcohol made from the

still nestled in the cave where bears

used to make their families on hot

rainy days...  there are no salmon

swiming upstream nor are there any

wide mouth bass swimming down,

we are where we need to be and the

valley learns to take care of its own.

3 October 2022

Without Regrets

a squirrel sits at the bottom of a tree

a bird in that tree defecates on the squirrel

who then runs away in fright...  nature

lives all around us as it balances the

good with the bad and the cold with

the warmth and death with life, but for

squireel it is just a matter of being in 

the wrong place at the wrong time and

has nothing to do with fate or karma

as amimals in the wild are still part of

the world that we have created around

us as our society encroaches on their

territory as if it has always belonged to

us, even though we were not the ones

who had decided to plant a tree there.

2 October 

On The Lamb

light from the fire peers through the

darkness like cat eyes on a black cat,

no one is alone in this valley especially

when one is on the lamb...  my deception

was as clear as the crystal pond in which

I bathed this morning...  we are left to

guide ourselves into our future even

if our future is one of imprisonment,

under a big tree I sleep as if I were at

home with my uncle who is built

that big and more but is a gentle as

a bear who catches salmon who try

to swim upstream in front of him...

we mend our fences on a daily basis

but only with those who have knocked

them down intentionally in their haste

to make a name for themselves by

arresting those who are out of touch

with the rules of the game...  we pay

fees to cowbooys to protect us from

the natives but we jail those who 

have stolen from us to feed their

families...  a tender wife and the

love of family sees us through the

winter and we surrender in spring.

30 September 2022

The Lies of Elders

we inherit our fate just like our facial 

expressions and composure, just like 

our attitudes,predispostions, and all

those memories we swore as a child

were not ours because we saw them

on the big screen...  we learned from

the best that deception is much better

than honesty especially if one is still

an adult and living on the side of 

justice that protects the wealthy...

we loan our spirits to the gods that

built rome and athens and who created

the democracy under which we live

today as if they were still ruling the

skies above our heads and the hollows

of the earth below our feet...  we see

the lies that are interwoven into all

their silk garments and dangling

from their strands of hair like blood

dripping from the carcas of a slain

soldier that has no more value dead

than it had when alive and fighting.

29 September 2022

The Other Side

we seize the day by awakening to it

not looking back to see where we

came from or to see if our dreams

are following us into the daylight...

we bend our eyes into the sun and

gaze deeply into our minds as if to

find the missing memories that we

stumbled upon in our dreams, but

knew they were faked since the

bodies were not as illuminated 

as were the throughts that had

created them...   introspection is

the key to preventing nightmares,

a technique discovered on death

row when we were still young

and relatively innocent yet the

law saw us as adults and took

our lives over and over again...

when we became adults we

saw the news and read all the

reports discovering our faked

incarceration and innocence...

now we roam with the night

and disappear with the day,

living in the thoughts of our

elders and enjoying all of their

fancy and creativie dreams.

29 September 2022

Looking Ahead

through the glass lamp we look

hoping to find a solution, an

answer to the questionn that has

yet to be asked...  and, we wonder

if it is all worth it...  this life...

this brevity of time we have all

been given...  somewhat meaningless

it all seems when pondered...  a

limited amount of years to live when

eternithy is so long --  creation has

not even come close...  time is not

kind to itself as it always looks

in front of itself rather than behind.

28 September 2022

Nothing Else

sunlight illuminates the asphalt street

creates shadows on the porch

hides the reflections in the glass door

morning drowns out the night as we

begin the upcoming day...  paused

to collect our thoughts and create

our plans...  water the plants and

feed the animals that live inside

with the rest of us...  a family of

cooperation and sunlight, living for

day and time spent together as if

there is nothing else for us to do...

sunlight creates the day and the 

day creates life and life creates

pupose and purpose creates the

need for the day...  we are brightly

illuminated both inside and out

believing there is nothing else.

28 September 2022