Beach Day Cancelled

morning falls short of expectations
wishing we were at the coast,
hiding among sea oats and dunes
hoping the crabs stay underground,
visions of waves dance through our
minds like children at the zoo or
a teenager's first date with braces
not really knowing what to do...
sun torments the skies 
rain showers momentarily stop
umbrellas on decks opened again
still needing the shady spots...
open doors no longer a policy
neighbor's dog comes for meals,
barking away the quietness
until we open the door...
cats sleep together on pillows
our AC is set too low,
meandering smells from the kitchen
provoking no responses from
those lamenting inside...
backdoor neighbors hoot and holler
hoping we'll come outside,
time to teach them a lesson in
manners - urinating on a foreign flag.

July 24, 2024

Morning Misty

misty morning misty
rain falling gently
wipers play disinheritance
tunes on the windshield,
hydroplaning possibilities
as rain increases...  we
always steer ten to two,
bankers hours we keep at
nearby hospitals just in 
case we need to use...
misty morning misty
weed eating in the front
for curb appeal and such,
back yard vanquished
like a sunset cowboy,
range rover tires on front
and rear keep pace with
the falling rain - we all
do due diligence today
as the reaper blows in.

July 24, 2024

Hollowness

softly walking along the shoreline

of our mental discoveries, we

splash through subconsciousness

as if it were imprisoned in our will,

carelessly opening up its arms

like those of a lover who cannot

receive enough satisfaction...

clearly denied is our understanding

of that which we don't understand

or that which we want to understand;

we tetter on the brink of extension

yet are calm about our hollowness.

July 22, 2024

Fish Fries

united is our destiny
division our flaw,
we slip and slide our
way to destiny,
better than crawling,
hope lives inside us all
fear resides their too,
a uniform consciousness
we do not have nor do
we see collective reality;
we are mentally neutered,
reveling in the thoughts
of other larger dogs,
barking to get attention
seldom grateful for
the assistance...  nature
leaves us alone most
days, waiting us up
when too far astray,
night brings closure to
our happiness as we feast
on lobsters and soft crabs.

July 22, 2024

Transitional Morning

morning coffee sits on the glass table
the glass table sits on the front porch
a rocking chair sits there too,
in which I comfortably sit, pondering:
the end of the rain...
the turning of green tomatoes to red...
the end of inflation...
why the morning sky is still cloudy...
when my Siamese cat will awaken
and want to perch in my lap;
thoughts of a silly nature
some serious too,
but meandering nonetheless
on this newly discovered afternoon;
ponderings for the foolish mind
some have declared in the past,
while others have noted
a concern is lingering in the minds
of most of us as to when will our
country ends its delusions...
and while that was not on my mind this day
it is clearly on other minds,
more solid than my own...
as what is primarily bothering me is
when do I come in from the cold.

July 21, 2024

Lazy Dreamer

I hear no pitter patter of rain
on the rooftops, nor do I hear
the drizzle of it in down spouts,
yet, it rains in front of me for
hours on end this morning as
trying to remove me from all
my lazy dreams - humidity 
is felt inside my head, clouding
my introspective visions...
keeping me from the trances
I seek while the rain pours 
though my memories...
cool air it is not that blows
though my consciousness,
seeking a recombination of my
illusive DNA...  a mysterious
sidewinder it be to me, wanted
dead or alive, if I remember 
correctly - down it pours...
again and again - letting up
is of no concern...  but misty
is the created morning, no 
doubts afternoon will be the
same or maybe more -  who
knows for sure anymore...  I
seek no companion to take me
there, into these lazy dreams
the rain creates, meandering
through my mind as it does...
grass towers above the fallen
leaves - yellow and brown
splotches on the ground...
Mariah cries out in pain -
boyfriend lost, never found,
rain buries the memories,
surrounding the spectacle
of thought that always stands
between me and my reality.

July 20, 2024

Death Do Part

death comes to us all
some sooner
others later,
we process as it happens
spiritual doors open
reluctance declines
we take one last look
we are gone...
survivors mourn
others cry,
loss is loss
we know nothing else,
years pass by
we forgive
but not forget,
we live in retrospect
always wanting
what we cannot have,
seeking refuge
with powers above
wondering - pondering
when our time will come.

July 19, 2024

Night's Lifetime

the night kisses us to sleep

then disappears into an

ocean of dark matter...  

the night covers us like a

security blanket then fades

into dark energy...

the night was created to

compensate for the light

needed for enjoyment...

the night is as mysterious

as it is benign, lingering

moments of a forgotten

time when life was just

meaningless as death and

we knew more than we

know today, transformed by

the nature of bending time.

July 17, 2024

Choice Interference

day arrives unexpectedly
night struggles to find a friend,
loneliness lays on the floor
like a Persian rug
waiting fora buyer...
we deliver what we can
hopeful for the next sunrise,
meditating at noon
praying to the gods when
enduring a storm...
life begins and ends with a
glance towards our future
destiny is written on the wall
discussed in the hallways
of our mental faculties...
dreaming and fantasizing is a
way of life for most of us
especially when young,
deliberate at midlife and
necessary to prevent senility,
turmoil lives at the base
of our footstools, offering up
a chance at recognition but
life interferes with our choices.

July 16, 2024

Bug Bites

 itching
     itching
          itching
a bite or two
sustainable
more than that
irritation
and the spray,
paste or gel
unworkable,
at night
when sleep is nigh
yet unachievable,
itching
     itching
          itching
irreversible
maddening
insurmountable...
pills to the rescue
late at night
sleep arrives
just before dawn
noonday sun
finds me refreshed,
ready again
to take on the
remaining day and
more bug bites.

July 16, 2024

History's Tunnel

hour after hour
day after day
week after week
we condescendingly
project our beliefs
on an unsuspecting
public that only
wants to receive
that which they want
rather than that
which they need;
month after month
year after year
decade after decade
we proclaim jurisdiction
over our opinions
with your opinions
as being superior to
those who don't agree;
we live our lifetimes in
a cesspool of political
bullying leaving us with
a nation that has changed
little with respect to how
it treats all of its citizens.

July 15, 2024

Sour Grapes

once in a lifetime, we stroll through
the town waving to those who have
come to see us in person...  we are
the new breed of sons and daughter,
we are the children who have rejected
the teachings of our creators...  we
are those who hold the world in
contempt for the way they treat those
we don not fully understand...  we 
are the sour grapes of a new race of
thinkers who have chosen not to think
at all but to listen to those on the radio
and the vid makers for our daily dosage
of reality...we are those who bear false
witness against our leaders and who
burn symbols of wealth and power...
we are your offsprings and we reject
everything that you want to stand for.

July 13, 2024

Glaring Heat

heat rumbles through me like nausea
twisting and turning me upside down,
night seats during the day -  my heart
pounds rhythms of a reggae band...
an oppressive of sorts the heat has
become to most of us in the southern
hemisphere as we put ourselves under
house arrest and remain mostly inside;
plants fair even worse than humans as
they are forced to remain outside in
their holes, trapping what little water
they can from their owners at night,
above ground pools have long since
been the fantasy of the non-wealthy
as they emulate their heroes, spending
as much time as they can in four feet,
sun worshippers on the coast and in
and around our lakes, spend time in
the evening wishing they had used
more lotion while some not at all...
blistered and burned, they return to
home vowing never to go there again.

July 13, 2024

Summertime

not a single blade goes unnoticed when
the sun come out to play - summertime
brings the heat and humidity and showers
to cool it all off again - summertime
brings the bugs and mosquitos and cool
sprays to ease the skin from burning...
inside we stay - some of us - most of us
depending upon our conditions while
braver souls relish in the sultriness
of the season...   begging for more as
the rest beg for less, encouraging the
world to turn faster in the hopes the
the cold of winter will be there - time
is what it is and does what it does,
no one is about to change those tiny
dynamics just to make it relatively
better for a few more days - climate
controls shift the focus - we give
ourselves more room to understand.

July 12, 2024

New Standards

we petition the courts to hear us

we sequester all the magistrates

we wear our cap and gowns and

powdered wigs to no avail...

we are summoned to the city square

flogged and hung out to dry,

twisting and turning in the night air

like a piece of meat on market day,

we hold no truths in our hands as

may be the case with beggars and

we ask no help from the forsaken,

we are admonished by all the

fathers of the court in which they

have served so admirably...

but we are desperate in our pleas

to be heard knowing that the

statutes have all run their course.

July 10, 2024

Amusement

backdoor friendships come and go if

you can find someone to participate,

inside out they appear at first, longing

to be your best friend...  the door of

many colors turn pale in the sunlight,

vanishing in the night as easily as 

she had arrived...  we are forever in

your debt and grateful for your note

of gratitude and surprised by your

lack of understanding...  we are the

new breed of animal, raised to use

the front door when at all possible.

July 10, 2024

Progress

from the heavens the rain falls

and we praise the gods above, 

from the ground crops grow

and we praise the gods above,

from the water floods arrive

and we damn the gods above,

good, bad, or indifferent it is

always someone else's fault

and we never seem to wonder

why progress is oftentimes

slower than we anticipate.

July 9, 2024

Heatwave

heat bears down like an anchor
even though time in the navy
was done many moons ago...
it is oppressing and obnoxious
the way it lays down on you,
pressing you into the ground
as if it were a winter blanket;
inside the cool air soothes
making us rather complacent
in commonplace routines,
sleeping in past noon and
napping in the afternoon...
we awake to eat and defecate,
leaving behind responsibilities
and the rules by which we
lived our lives...  until the
heat became too unbearable
and we denied ourselves the
life we sold away at auction.

July 8, 2024

Foreign Born

through these doors we walk from
one experience to another,
one moment in time to another,
one perception of reality to another,
fascinated by what we find and
amazed by what we might have learned,
dedication and persistence, the keys
to understanding and enlightenment,
as foretold by our ancestors...
descendants of those who were 
righteous in their indignations and
persecutions by those who knew not
what they were doing, yet followed
blindly into the shadows of life...
brave men and women, used and
abused for their beliefs and their
ways of life that were so foreign.

July 7, 2024

Summer Sun

heat permeates the air and body
mental clarity diminished,
sweat trickles down as we look
for shelter and shade...  leaves
turn on the other side in a 
futile attempt to cool off,
mosquitos bounce from arm
to arm looking for their long lost
cousins from years previous,
rain in clouds takes it time to
leave home for feat of not ever
returning while currents glide
the birds around from one 
venue to another....  high stakes
poker games are the least of
our worries today since ocean
water and its waves beckon us
all inside their borders... a hunt
red october on the mind is in a
phase of recall since the chairs
only lounge one way, cooling
ourselves off with iced lemonade.

July 6, 2024

Bites

gloves, sleeves, pants, and hat

protection from the elements,

against the summer sun is worn

like a soldier going off to battle,

sweating out the fears of animal

infestations on the skin...

lively creatures bite and sting

in a useless effort to keep me 

away from their private domain,

lofty expectations these creatures

have thinking they can rule the

outside world free and clear...

at least in the summer months as

in the winter they don't appear.

July 6, 2024

Thoughtless

memories reflected by mental mirrors

leave one gasping for air,

fallen images of the past flow through

like fine processed wines,

lumbering motives tease the thoughts

into rare duplications as ideas

stored in senses smother imagination,

humans rely on their instinct much

like wild animals when challenged,

leaving winers and losers in the wakes

of their terminal condemnations,

falsely accused ideas penetrate the

fabric of the mind with the veracity 

of a gangster collecting on a debt.

July 4, 2024

Mourning the Mournful

we mourn the loss of freedom
with our covert actions,
speculating on the cost of our
radical behavior...  while
freedoms come and go with
the changing tide of political
discourse just as easily as they
were destroyed years ago...
we mourn the loss of innocence
growing up in a hateful world
similar to the one our ancestors
escape from years ago...
history repeats itself in magnificent
abundance as each generation
struggles with its own frailties,
lamenting those who went before
paving the road later destroyed,
only to rebuild with a renewed 
vigor and prosperity...  we curse
the dawn on change, tearing down
the borders once separating us.

July 2, 2024 

The Heiress

fear runs through our minds
like a creek meandering down
the side of a mountain...  we
seldom notice its currents,
only its clear, refreshing waters,
anxiety lives at the bottom of 
our thought like tree grounds
grown deep into the soil...
mindless matter floats around
in our subconscious like an
otter floating on the waves...
we are full of our surroundings
and they are aware of our
presence even though they may
not appear to be paying attention,
seldom does it matter
seldom does anyone care
and when they do, we bring our
bodies to attention and salute
their arrogant forgiveness

July 1, 2024.

Open Season

unforgotten knowledge lays on the ground
students pride themselves in not knowing
teachers frolic instead of lecturing,
hoping for pay scale increases...
life goes on and then it doesn't - one or
more reasons to blame - just not the
system as it was designed not to fail;
people stand in line to talk with stars
no knowledge required for admissions,
tickets are sold by the boatload
charging the expense to someone's
credit card - needlessly mounting up...
caregiving stroll through the garden
pushing their patients with vegetable eyes,
not worrying about the accommodations
since they sleep elsewhere at night...
millionaires and billionaires' bobble
along the ground like talking heads
attempting to play broken records on 
phonograph - no one has spoken to then
in years so they know of no changes...
we spend our lives in isolation wondering
why the world is the way it is - never
letting us know that life could be different.

June 30, 2024

Death Ambiguous

our souls wander aimlessly throughout

the night, searching for the instinct of

character left sleeping in the bed...

intertwined and intermingled with

other souls who have left to find their

masters of reality - a mindless quest

for those who have no training...

our souls kiss the darkness as if they

were misplaced lovers during the

tribal wars that never quite concluded

since lasting in minds forever...

conclusions never drawn up legally

orchestrated doubts for a millennia,

souls out of touch, out of sight and

out of mind does us good to to know

the perils for when we all finally die.

June 29, 2024

luminosity

the hollowness of pure thought

eludes me temporarily,

I strive for excellence in what

I see, blotting out the reality

of existence as if it were

some kind of barrier to growth;

taught to have good posture,

I walk through the night

with my illusive cane, hoping

to find other sojourners on the

same path but none appear;

Lost in a world of mediocrities

alone in a fantasy vision 

life becomes what it is not and

I sit at the foot of its greatness.

June 29, 2024

Adolescence

light bends in my direction
but not permanently...
age passes me by as if I
part alien or something...
neighbors run and hide
whenever they see me...
I am one of those creatures
that just wants to die...
the wonder years were never
my strong suit...
youth spent searching
never finding that which
was intended for me...
life betrayed my feelings
countless time - ending up
in a mental padded cell.

June 29, 2024

Onward

along the lines of least resistance
we walk - like robots...
wordless - expressionless
eyes wide and fixed - dilated,
quietly searching for those
with similar characteristics...
mindless we perform our chores
like children of the keep would
back in the day...  swords and
spears at the ready - long live
whomever or so we say, not real
sure of our vocabulary...
along the road of normalcy, we
tend to find ourselves strolling
without the slightest of cares
or misconceptions, just good little
soldiers going to work every day.

June 28, 2024

Tediously Toiling

free spirits rise from the gloom of the nest
leaving the past behind them, hoping their
thoughts will correct everything else...
ranging bulls gallop mindless around the
walls of the arena hoping to gore any
and all in their path - clowns in colorful
dress steer them off another way and the
crowd boos out their loss of fun...
fans of the idol stand aimlessly in the
cold dark recesses of the alley, hoping
to catch a glimpse of a falling star...
mother and daughter drink tea on the
sidewalk of their favorite cafe, hoping
to catch a glimpse of passing royalty...
we hedge our bets each day by betting
on either side of an opportunity, never

realizing we do nothing but breakeven.

June26, 2024

Inheritance

fear lies at the footsteps of courage

awareness is the foundation for fear

parents teach awareness to children

lessons learned teaches parents...

natural cycles have been broken

by well-intentioned individuals

and the harm is always delivered

to our future innocent generations.

June 26, 2024