Spoiled Faith

espousing hate while smiling seems
to be a new way of life for humans,
using their faith to justify their words,
blind to their own failings and the
understanding of their beliefs...
it is in his hands now, they exclaim
taking no responsibility for the stew
they are cooking on public grills...
faith is no longer belief and belief
is no longer the religion designed
to bring differences together...
our way or no way, is shouted and
believed by sons and daughters...
your wrong thoughts are evil and
evil only lives to be destroyed...
who is right and who is wrong 
the new unanswered question,
flowing around the world like
short wave radios....  we no longer
pray for salvation, no longer pray
for forgiveness...  we pray for
someone to tell us who is right.

November 23, 2023

Innocence Lost

misaligned thoughts flow through minds
like a waterfall of endless opportunities,
we discriminate against white masters
who perceive their lives are dedicated
to all forms of superiority...  all eyes
are removed with dotted "Ts" and we
look towards the skies for answers if
only to see whose will is being done...
in whose hands is our life?  in whose
hands is the life of all citizens of the
world held?  we wonder and speculate
in the lateness of the hour, if light or
darkness prevails...  wired and plugged
in to a web of misinformation, our
thoughts are full of lies as if we had
been filled with shotgun pellets...
dead and reborn into the light, we died
numerous times before only to be in
a forgiveness line that addressed none
of our fears...  clean and refreshed,
our lives are mere figments of an
enlightened imagination, as we reach
back to earlier memories for support.

November 23, 2023

James Webb Telescope

earth is in orbit with other planets
in our solar system, nestled with
other solar systems in our own
milky way galaxy...  but when we
put our big eyes on the sky, we
we find that we are one of billions
times a billion and more of other
solar systems, also nestled in their
own galaxies that number in the
billions times billions as well...
we are therefore insignificant when
it comes to any kind of universal
comparisons...  even though we also
believe that we are the only human
beings around...  how arrogant of
us to think this way...  how minimal
we are in comparison and when we
realize that others have visited us
before we had a chance to visit then,
we will still find some way to make
ourselves look more superior...  we
are a lesson in what not to do and
we are small in our way of thinking.

November 23, 2023

Americans

united we are but one

divided we are many
the needs of the many
outweigh the needs of
the few or the one...
divided we are crushed
by our enemies but
united they are no match
for us on land, air, sea;
we are divided in our
philosophies and in our
beliefs and in the way
we want to be governed,
but in a natural disaster
we unite as only one...
we are different generations
different levels of education,
we are male or female or
somewhere in between but
we don't accept that which
is closest to us since we
believe it is only about us,
we take more than we give
from those who press no
charges against us, thinking
we were oh so clever in 
how we manipulated them,
and nature smiles back at us
knowing we all must die.

November 20, 2023

Pejorative

eagles dance in the sky when the
sun comes out to play and craps
on the heads of its watchers when
the sun decides to stay inside...
neighbors blows their leaves on
our side of the property line and
make explanations that it was
not their intent to deceive...
congress fails to pass laws for
the people that elected them
while making sure of timely
results on their pay raises...
we insert our heads up our butts
only after we convince ourselves
was not due to ignorance or
simply being a little naive...
advertisers spit on our opinions
when we don't purchase the
goods and services they want us to
because it is their livelihoods...
cops step on necks and claim that
they are innocent of wrongdoings
when juries of their peers send
them to jail for twenty years...
drugs and crime plague our cities
and we blame the black and they
blame us for their laziness and
both sides spend time in jail...
electric vehicles are the rage
among the wealthy who cannot
understand why the poor do not
want to even own one now...
boys are girls and girls are boys
and marriages are no longer what
they were but dating has become
exciting for those who experiment.

November 18, 2023

Afternoon Naps

shadows on the trees confirm suspicions
backlight yields a 3-D appearance
leaves that have not fallen say
tomorrow is the day they will arrive,
weather bands tumble into the sixties
as senior citizens cool off with sprinklers
thanksgiving has come and gone and
we are none the wiser for it...
windows to the world open up in my sunroom
birds fly by looking like fish in an aquarium
cats sit in their trees quietly expecting lunch
fueled by misconceptions that is was 
only a linger shadow in the trees...
a month from now, maybe two or three
we will be unwinding the memories that
we took today, hoping the light captured
all that we wanted to see, not caring 
about what we thought we heard...
I wonder if I could wonder about the past
without the memories I have stored
inside my head when my mind no longer
sees the white line on the highways...
we are only the children of our age
since life we heard is to be ever-lasting.

November 18, 2023

Sleeplessness

sleep eludes me
over and over I turn
this way and that,
rearranging my body
adjusting my legs
keeping knees apart
and still no sleep...
an afternoon nap
I took today
not realizing its
implications...
tired I was from
an early morning
but no nap should
I have taken...
the darkness moves
through me like an
evening prowler,
I see faces in the
shadows and shadows
in the faces that lurk
behind the trees
peeking out at me,
my eyes grow tired
and red and feel a
little itchy from the
dust that fills the
air at night when the
cats ran through 
our hallways...
we are subdued by
the darkness and
its eerie connotations
before the light
returns and I can once
again afternoon nap.

November 17, 2023

Thankful

once again, the end 

of November has arrived

in the valley, we are 

thankful for so much that
we cannot think of it all...
we have survived a heart attack
and are cancer survivors,
we got through covid without
any false accusations...
affording the meds that 

keep us alive,
affording the food that 

nourishes our bodies,
limited are we with our income yet
we always seem to have enough...
family and friends 

gather at our table
our cup overflows with goodness,
we are as humbled as we are 

proud and as forgiving as we

are filled with
an abundance of gratitude...
we have no mission or purpose 

except to be the best we can, 

rolling with the flow of life as 

it takes us up and down the 

path in front of us...
we live for another day and 

are thankful for all with 

which we have been blessed.

November 17, 2023

I am You

light pours in around the darkness
of my soul,
surrounding my evil natures,
I wonder the streets of despair,
eat yesterday's food that was
thrown out as scraps,
I clothed myself in the shadows
of the day,
watching the innocent frolic in
the streets without a care,
I am the lone wolf,
the bastard child,
the retarded no one wants...
I linger inside your heart
confusing your thoughts
causing action 
where there should be none,
inaction when
something should be...
I am the movie clip of your
failures, causing you
to lose patience with yourself
and those close to you,
I am the hate you tried to ignore
and the love you could not
hold onto...
if I were the devil you would
run away and hide but
I am only you inside it all.

November 15, 2023

Lesser Minds Prevail

life bends around our desires
some fulfilled, others not,
we seek shelter in the mind
wants and needs around it
seem to flow through and
around as if trying to shape
and mold our futures...
we are not children as we
once were, grown adults is
what we are now, looking
before we cross the road
to our past, dredging up
we had long forgotten, seeing
faces we hoped we would not
see again, pawing and scraping
to enter the fantasies...  we are
manipulated by the best or so
we tell ourselves, realizing
it is just the new generation
wishing we would leave...
normalcy rules passion and
passion controls our souls,
we are within it all when we
are outside and above it all
when inside...   the law no
long applies to those who are
lost in their own oblivion.

November 21, 2023

On the Wall

five paintings divided

now in different shapes and sizes

a white moon in the middle

drifts into either side,

red tree leaves on the left

black leaves on the right

an island in the middle

floats through the white moon,

on the wall it hangs

alone in its own solitude,

birds fly south in the winter

but not through these,

a house off in the distance marks

a time when life was there

and we can imagine the

frivolity of children running

about undisturbed...

water emerges at the bottom as

it stretches all across and if

you look closely, one can see

faint reflections...

its stair stepped configuration

attracts attention and that's

the point but one wonders if its

colors blend in with all the rest.

November 12, 2023

Age

age comes in many sizes
sometimes small
sometimes tall
sometimes wise
sometimes oblivious,
but never as a number
is it perceived unless
a number is what you
need it to be...
not as strong is age
not as fast
not as smooth and
loving long never lasts,
age lives outside just as
well as inside and often
is perceived will never be
in our lifetime...
days move by as if they
were minutes and then
as if seconds and the next
time around we are no
longer there to worry about
our age nor our limitations
that other point to ever so
frequently...   age lives on the
doorstep of time and seldom
comes in unless invited.

November 12, 2023

Theorizing

wars and rumors of wars

guide our daily thoughts,

foolishly we prepare for peace

knowing it will never be,

condemning those who fight,

we referee their conflicts

by threatening to fight ourselves,

not realizing our foolishness,

we have no skills of leadership

no skills to unite our enemies

only threatening words

and bombs we claim will use

if they heed not our words,

we are no leaders as we bully

those who bully others and

claim we are the righteous ones,

we are delusional and misguided

our words falling on deaf ears

including our own...

we have not what it takes to be

our own god, even though we

perceive technology will take us there,

we are neanderthal in our minds

and our consciousness is displayed

on the floor like a bearskin rug.

November 10, 2023

Its Only Our World

mankind is an original specials

composed of human beings

both male and females and those

who cannot decide...

we are a world of leaders and followers

nations and islands some of which

are governed and some are not...

we are compose of the powerful

and the weak and those who hide

in between the two...

we govern and we rule and we

dispose of those who oppose us,

we see our manifest destiny in the

money we amass -  the power we consume

not giving a damn as to how we might

e perceived by those less than us...

we rule the land, the seas, and the heavens

and all that is below and the magnetic

fields that surround our planet...

we are a warrior species that has not the

intelligence to unite our differences,

we in the head we have become as power

and illusion guide our course of actions.

November 10, 2023

The Screening of Death

a clouded vision passes through my mind
leaving me with an emptiness...
a singular solitude that no one else can
experience or imagine...  it corrupts my
thoughts and all my pretenses, and I see
falling stars like dark spots in my eyes;
I sing to the rhythms of the rain that
pours through my fantasies, interrupting
my exposure to life and its forgotten
children...  we see the war on screen...
we read about the war in newspapers
and online, as dead souls seem to be
trending as fast as they are streaming,
a clouded vision passes through my mind
and wars appear in my thoughts...  daily
rituals are forgone for reality of loved
ones passing over and we moan their
loss wondering when it all will stop.

November 9, 2023

Lost Reflections

galaxies are reflected in the eyes of the universe
solar systems in the eyes of galaxies
planets in the eyes of solar systems
earth in the eyes of planets
nations in the eyes of earth
cities in the eyes of nations
people in the eyes of cities
memories in the eyes of people
and when those memories fade , death is
just around the corner to take possession
of the eyes...  in death there is no reflection,
no records of previous events
no journals of recorded deeds and no
reason for us to have ever existed, except
for the life we left behind that has now become
a part of the universe...  a part that has been
incorporated inside all the others who
still roam the world wearing their sunglasses.

November 9, 2023

The Poet's Night

a soft wind barely touches the face

of the brown leaves, they fall to the

ground in random descending patterns,

collecting at the tree's feet, just in 

front of the opening in the bark where

the squirrels hide their nuts for the

anticipated cold weather...  more out

of instinct and habit than the dry cold

that blankets the ground...  the end of

the day raises the night's curtain,

sending a message to all little creatures

it is time to hide...  a soft rain melts

the dead leaves together that have

inappropriately overlapped...  sounds

of the night blend with the eeriness

that created them as birds tuck their

heads under their wings for warmth,

tilted stars fall through the heavens

on their way to the horizons they

never reach...  a poet's glance 

through the windows explores the

night as their reassuring gaze reminds

the darkness that is being watched.

November 6, 2023

The Chair's Arrival

a chair in the corner sits

waiting to be occupied

smells of oil based paint

filter through the room,

the visitor arrives, looking

at the corner chair, wondering

why it is empty...  and why

there is no one else around,

light drifts into the room

from the skylight above,

rain had been there before

but the sun came out...

the chair moves closer to

the visitor unexpectedly,

causing him to sit down,

grabbing the arm rests

to stabilize...   bells from

the outside ring loud and

clearly announcing the

end of work as we know

it today, but there will be

no bell tomorrow as no

work is available and the

reason for his arrival and

the need to sit in the chair.

November 6, 2023

Last Wishes

the dead understand not the time

nor do they understand the life

that was left behind...  they are

transformed from one form to

another and as spirts live in a 

non-existent world of make-

believe that is only reserved for

children...  they are without

form and without shape, they

are without thoughts and they

are without memories as they

scoot across the universe on

energy strings that take them

into alternate dimensions where

life to them is real and sanctified,

they are witness to the beginning

and to the beginning's end as

float between currents like the

dust particles they have become,

hidden the superficial cells that

are cast off by the body each day,

they are in constant communion

with their last thoughts and wishes

flashing quickly before their eyes.

November 4, 2023

Colors of the Night

blood thirsty night shows its colors

webs of deceit hang down from the

tress like spanish moss...  the wind

howls as it streams through the

valley like a cable movie...  jaws

of darkness bite at the gusts as if

it were wolf snapping at the snow

that flies into its face...   a sole

light dangles in mid air as if it

were a falling star and the gods

failed to catch it before it dropped

through the heavens and their

fingers...  a preacher falls asleep

as she writes a sermon, failing

to grasp the significance of her

words when they enter the ears

of the congregation...  not as a

baptist but as a universal church

that stretches through denominations

like crap through a chicken when

its neck has been cut...  the night

air is cold and damp this time of

year as we mostly stay inside,

avoiding the rituals of neighbors

who want to remain friendly...

cats and dogs sleep on the couch

without turmoil since their bellies

are full and their teeth have been

clipped along with their nails...

we can only serve one master at

a time and when he light appears

we are bound to another loyalty.

November 4, 2023

Our Inheritance

clouds of misunderstanding cover the land

from the east coast to the west and from

the land above the lakes to the gulf waters,

like a plague, it lays out on all of us, 

like a blanket it warms our souls,

like an old friend, it stays too long...

we swim in the mouth of its rivers, cleaning

ourselves with its dirty waters as if we were

are pure as the driven snow that covers the

land to our northern borders, while our

southern borders bleed out immigrants, who

perceive the best is yet to come, not the

least bit concerned they are all unwelcomed;

we stand on the shore of our thoughts and

gaze out at the blank universe in front of us,

seeing nothing that we haven't seen already

but expecting more than we deserve since

we are the children of convenience, the sons

and daughters of those who abandoned us

before the night had created day and day

had created the uncertainty of life that

we all eat regularly to maintain our spirits.

November 3, 2023

Refraction

light glides through the galaxy

pending around planets and
through the transparent dark
energy like floats like a 
cosmic consciousness enroute
to a distant solar system where
the laws of physics do not
apply, creating matter in its
wake used to expand the
non-expanding universe...
strings of dark matter join
together and disjoin as they
form and reform different
dimensions of reality...  a
playground for the rich and
famous who visit between
their earthy encounters...
pawn galaxies move along
the universe, moving from
once quadrant to another in
a desperate attempt to get to
the other side...  just like the
chicken whose wings could
not save it...  graceful moments
sit on the doorsteps waiting 
for the worm holes to open.

November 2, 2023

Family Connections

from one generation to another
we learn about our heritage,
its values and moral conditionings,
we trust our ancestral dialogues,
the influence from which we
select and design our futures...
rejecting their pejorative attitudes
that seek to make us like them,
we hold hands, linking our minds
together in familiar harmony, 
a family of mutual understanding,
a family of mutual support,
a family so diversified in its
beliefs that we sit on each other's
doorsteps as if we were strangers,
failing to see the connections
due to the words and actions,
forming a mote around our
behavior castles in which we live
our lives with only those who
think like us or act like us or
might be willing to break bread
during the holiday...  we are not
like our ancestors at all nor was
it ever meant to be as each new
generation perceives history has
little to do with their happiness.

November 1, 2023

Singularity

a void opens in the universe

home to unknown galaxies

a black hole appears

swallowing up two or three

out of reach the others are pushed

by the dark energy created

the distance between galaxies expand

as does the distance between solar systems

as does the distance between planets

orbits are modified and changed

atmospheres are created and destroyed

where there was once life

there is nothing around...

the stars create new patterns around

the moons while the moons

double or triple up their numbers

as more is always better....

travelers surf through the universe

riding on one galaxy after another

making sure their disturbances

alters nothing in their wakes...

one by one they stop at the black hole

and peer inside as if looking for 

the dark matter lost eons ago...

one by one they drop down inside

never in this cycle to be seen again.

October 30, 2023

Beaver Paradise

a tree leans over too far and

falls into the water...a beaver 

makes his home just underneath,

soon a family lives inside...

stylists cut the hair of the rich

and famous while barbers cut

everyone else...  stores open

and close because of customers,

and the world spins around

the sun in three hundred and

sixty-five days...  ferns and

water lilies grow iu the water,

making platforms for frogs

to bask in the sun...  travelers

from both coasts visit our little

pond of water that has been

photographed for the news...

and if you are still and quiet,

you may see a few deer who

come down for a drink and to

pay their respects to the beaver

who rents out rooms in the log.

October 30, 2023

Life's Colors

maroon, black, grey, and white

are the colors of my life,

the colors of my rug,

the colors of my shower curtain,

and the colors of our pillows;

we went from browns, reds, and yellows

to these new colors when we

physically moved our location...

colors form the basis of my thoughts,

my excuses, my explanations, and

the daydreams I experience;

green and light brown vases sit

on either side of the fireplace,

black tables hold a purple vase

and the seldom used VCR...

we are not color blinded nor

are we color sensitive, despite

what social media says about

all the Caucasians here...

colors play with our eyes and

some colors we wear and like

more than other ones...

green is the color of our grass

in the summer and brown is its

color in the winter... when there

are no leaves of color on the trees;

we are simple minded folk that

do not mind a colorful life nor

will we mind a colorless death.

October 27, 2023

Night Path

a dead mouse or two
somedays a rat,
along the edge of life
we live with family
by our side...
dirty clothes and
unwashed bodies, we
stroll through the
filth of life as if we
were rats or mice
ourselves...  dawn
finds us on the street
in an alcove
hidden in shadows
since those ordinary
souls don't like to see
us much anymore...
we are looked down upon
spat and urinated on
by the drunks whose
lifestyle is acceptable,
we complain not to those
in charge as they would
not listen -  we have 
tried all that before
and were ushered back
out into the streets
where they were waiting.

October 27, 2023

Modifications

eyes close heavy - sleep overcomes

a dream or two perhaps since I am

here is spirit only, waiting for the

re-awakening, reborn into time and

space as if eons ago when life was

just a molecule or two, floating 

around in some mystical, magical

soup waiting for the mutation that

would begin dividing genes...

but not before our DNA was ripped

apart and recombined into that by

which we know ourselves today;

A crematorium of dead and useless

thoughts surround our countenance

like flies on cow dung, hoping to

recognized and brought back to life,

given a purpose again as we adapt

and modify ourselves once again.

October 25, 2023

A falling Comet

down through the stars a comet falls

tumbling and turning this way and that

down through the heavens it falls

breaking all speed records of which

are known...  a galaxy of transparent

dark matter stands in its way...

down through the energy that holds

the universe together...  as one may

cause another to fall and then another

as if it were an avalanche on a 

California hillside...  light bends

around the comet as it falls, first

red then blue then aa white as one

can imagine before it collides with

the darkness of outer space...  we

see it all in our telescope, wondering

if Chicken Little's Sky is really falling

or if it is just an optical illusion that

our eyes are too old to recognize...

but when gravity comes to our rescue

the comet burns up in our atmosphere.

October 24, 2023

Leaders

leaders who know how to lead

don't run for office...

leaders who know how to lead

don't criticize others...

leaders who know how to lead

are servants to subordinates...

leaders who know how to lead

don't have egos...

leaders who know how to lead

know how to apologize...

leaders who know how to lead

admit their mistakes...

leaders who know how to lead

don't dress the part...

leaders who know how to lead

trust their employees...

leaders who know how to lead

know how to open doors...

leaders who know how to lead

know when to retire.

October 24, 2023