A Solitude of Sorts

mornings not longer crash in on me
as they did when working,
from rapid fire to slow motion
they have become...
memories no longer remembered
now are lived large
in the fleeting moments
of their existence
passing - all too quickly
into the illusive, not repeated past.
coffee in hand...  always coffee,
a never changing constant,
take me to the porch - nature
an outward sensation
very easily internalized...
calming and quiet
no sounds around...  except
for the ringing in my ears,
an implication of old age and
the never-ending reminder
I'm on the short end of life.

December 24, 2025

Introspection

into ourselves we peer
not knowing what to see
or overlook...
we are curious creatures
outwardly...  but,
inwardly we falter,
hesitate, postpone
and procrastinate.
we mistake demons
for angels,
saints for the sons
of Lucifer, setting
the dinner table for
those who come late
without excuses...
seeking recognition.
inside, we are free
free to explore or hide
free to overlook or
look the other way,
inside we live out the life
of our inner souls that
need refurbishing like
the poorly constructed
kitchen of a politician
whose journey into hell
began on election day.
into ourselves we journey
like Odysseus who escaped
from himself each time
he waged foolish conflicts,
seeing only that which 
he was programmed to see.

December 21, 2025

Aftermath Awakening

wind howls and blows
a devastating curse
through the valley,
akin to nothing before,
havoc raked out
among the homes
like tilling fields...
crazy - its destruction
late night party sweeping
down from the heavens,
descending god like
weaponization, nature
spits out on the ground
among trees and bushes,
below the ground is
frozen soil oblivious
to the onslaught...
a thousand nails
pounded into us like
a closing coffin
prematurely prepared
for its victims that
were late arriving...
a menacing force 
with which we reckoned
in our sleep is the 
most hideous of all.

December 19, 2025

CHRISTMAS DAY

The Holidays

stockings from the mantle hang
trees in corners stand,,
underneath the presents land,
decoration inside hung everywhere
festive is the season...  for some,
for others, this not be true,
no stockings
no tree or presents
no decoration or festivities,
it is just another day
in a neighborhood of closeness
families cling for warmth
around an isolated stove.
an empty pantry signal the
season for most of us,
too proud to ask,
too fearful to ignore
children understand it all
and want not for more
other than the love shared
between them every day.

December 18, 2025

For a Reason

shallow graves
harvested in rows
on either side
of backroads
lead to the clearing
that houses the
buried thoughts
never acknowledged,
never read twice
never considered
as if they were
aborted babies
tossed in the trash
for pickup on 
recycle Thursdays.
shallow graves washed
over by rain and snow,
heat and cold,
cultivated by farmers
for tobacco...
fertilized and fed 
on even days
weeded and pruned
on odd ones...
and not once did the
neighbors complain.

December 17, 2025

Resilience

moments bleed into
minutes
hours
days...
weeks bleed into
months
years
decades...
life begins as it ends,
alone
but with family,
learning
growing
living
as we slowly die,
returning
to what once was
now no more,
grappling with
why
what
where...
no destiny seen
no future experienced
no reason to 
pursue what is not,
and then...
along comes spring
we bask in the
warmth of light.

December 16, 2025

Friendly No Longer Say

separation
mind and soul
distance foreseen
early on - truth
around campfires told
inside spirits dwell,
protagonist
goes awry...
duty calls seldom
gates are fastened
mouths closed,
loyal to the end
is shared at
meal's end...
fitting are we today,
tomorrow and the
next - hopefully
joined by family
when friends think
for themselves,
odd man out
ladies too
no discrimination
here in this shoe,
save the memories
passed along
one by one,
in line standing
available are
no seats here or
anywhere these days
since the cold
swept out warmth
and belonging 
brought the dogs.

December 15, 2025

Before Consciousness

 

eyes of darkness lived

before the dawn,

before time's beginning

before we were who we are.

eyes of darkness observed

life's creation, witnessing

its explosive growth and 

its formation of all

that lies before us.

eyes of darkness peered

into the future, admiring our

subsequent consciousness

as if it were a rare spectacle

of life - a sentient being

capable of regression

and divestiture of thought

when survival was appropriate

and death imminent.

eyes of darkness, possessing

too much insight were

forever banished to the other

side of the consciousness

they had inadvertently created.

December 14, 2025

Transformation

 

the walk is brief between

land and sea,

we begin at noon or there abouts

to set us free,

 into a new world we

do not know or

may never be witness to,

we journey nonetheless...

a land of new beginnings

new desires and hopes,

opportunities will be presented

never seen before...

all we have to do is

find the portal - the connection

between the two,

one step follows the other

one movement forward

precise, clear and clean...

no one ahead - no one follows

it is our alone to achieve

or vanish in the mist trying.

December 13, 2025

Spring's Blue Skies

window shades pulled halfway down
venetian blinds not really Italian,
glass manufactured in France
home built by Mexicans,
multinational views peer out
looking for rain slow to arrive,
cold air flows through the valley
s temporary place to live,
seasons define characters and
clothes make the man or woman,
juniors watch from cribs sucking
sucking on Venezuela bottles,
neighbors record on cell phones
what's not seen behind curtains,
Cuban sugar cane substitute bananas
monkeys swing on bars while
eating upside down - glorious are
the ones who believe in themselves,
inside, we are warmer than before
waiting for a warmer climate
and the blue skies of springtime.

December 12, 2025

Under the Walnut Tree

empty walnut shells hold
all global truth, whether
real or imagined...
seen or unseen...
practiced or not practiced...
as if life hold the keys
to where it was before;
before all the nations
traded honor for power,
decadence for humanity
freedom for imprisonment,
we founded a new world
far enough from the old
to be special and precious,
alas...  it was not... and
life rotten away on
the god's vines,
souring the grapes
until all that we once knew
was contained in the
shell of a walnut,
cast down to us by our
fearless ancestors who
knew not what they had done
nor the doors they opened
nor the minds changed
because interpretation was
left for the masses to decide,
giving up that which gave
them that right the day
before it all went away
and all that was left
buried by squirrels their
favorite walnut tree.

December

Thought Walks

down through the ages 

my rabid thoughts tumble,
rabbit holes all of them
chasing the dream that
never was or will be...
saved experiences lay
at mental foothills 
waiting the harvest,
springtime festivities
lamented and foregone,
like a judicial review
never performed or a
war never fought...
crimes against nature
is what we do - an
accelerated view of the
life we were forced into
like African slaves or
poor folks out of loan.
distilled memories 
surround us as would
sidewalks surround a city
giving its residents the
needed space to grow
into some predictable
and plausibly deniable.

December 11, 2025

Life Just Lost

darkness prevails
light fades away
fears worsen
evil stalks evil
we are absent
those who believe
or once did...
when the crown
was worn and
laws were obeyed,
not broken as
they are today,
allowing goodness
to hide in corners
of the darkness
where shadows hide
and demons guard
the roads in and out
like Roman soldiers
did before the dawn.
crawlers creep
with death clinging
to them, scents from
hell, it is said...
where no one sees
no one hears
no one senses the
life they just lost.

December 10, 2025

The Tenement House

kitchen smells slowly meander
throughout the rooms
feeling their way along,
riding heat currents upwards
towards the other floors,
inside the other rooms
carrying scents of breakfast
to the tenants of the house,
whose day began before
light broke through windows,
exposing their views and
points of interests while
dressing for work or 
their love making, ignored
by daily preparations...
an unwavering desire to be
first at the table...
first for the stove warmth
for the hot food and
pleasant conversations
before the cruelty begins.

December 8, 2025

Caught Outside

cold permeates layers of skin
into the body - inserting itself
like an unwanted lover,
muscles tense - shivering begins
teeth clinch - jaw tightens,
eyes weep out discomfort
stiff-legged walking begins
stalking the path home,
wind blisters the surfaces
exposed to her attack,
light peeks out from clouds
as if to scold - warms instead,
heartbeats slow - my anxiety
lessens as the birds announce
my presence and squirrels
watch from above, making
sure their stache is safe...
basking in the sun, I am
not wanting another step to take,
satisfied with progress...
rooftops I see - distant still
but real I suppose - hoping
she has had her fun with me
and a new dawn I will see.

December 7, 2025

Metaphorically Speaking

younger shoes walk faster
older shoes walk softer
clothes make the elders
but not the boy or girl,
our society casts aside
what others embrace,
reasons unknown will
die with the choice.
wisdom sits in the empty
chair on the gravesite
while survivors mourn
the eternal loss of that
which they did not know,
and never will - as hard
as they think they tried.
flowers cover the dead
like warmth covers surfers
who look for the wave
that will take them home
instead of farther away,
shoes are easily purchased
and left behind when there's
nothing left to lose, but
they can never replace the
thoughts from anyone
deciding to wear them.

December 6, 2025

Our Garden Seen

through this garden walked
many times, I have,
years ago, dance and sing
playing along the edge,
wishful thinking
changed attitudes and
gave us contemplations
far from over were we
oftentimes overlooked
save the ones who care,
when time listened to our
articulations, responding
as if it were yesterday,
wet behind the ears,
for many years we were,
not knowing up from down
or back from front or
any version in between...
yet, the garden flourished
all the same - not so much
wiser than experienced,
not always flattered 
by our wealth or lack as
much as we were from
the walk itself and all
the various flowers seen.

December 5, 2025

Sky Visitors Preserved

gods from the heavens

strange men from the sky

depicted on cave walls

different parts of the world

perfect record of a time before

imagined or real?

we presume not to know

changing beliefs or history books

standing as gate keepers

preventing universal 

recognition and truth.

cave artists draw what is seen

not wild fantasies - their

mental capacities limited...d

they see what they see

or think they see

explaining the remarkable,

the life form's presence

not hallucinations...

childlike observation drawn

on rock canvases, a permanent

record of a vision yet to be

understood or repeated.

November 30, 2025

Identical Twins

they have lived together since

the beginning of time and before,

latent images in the minds

of our creator(s)...

one is incomplete without

the other by its side,

a contradiction or perhaps

a counterbalance?

we fear one but not the other,

not knowing, which is which,

striving to understand,

aging due to the decision

made inappropriately.

we harness faith and belief

as well as their opposites,

looking for redemption,

salvation, eternal life...

destined to struggle beside

the gates of hell, navigating

the Styx as though we were

born of the seas and oceans,

finding no solace in either.

we are twins, yet opposites

bound by fury or honor,

destined to fight for what we

don't understand or want to

bound by the mysteries of

nothingness and the void that

takes us to the final beyond.

November 29, 2025

A Blinking Eye

matter to energy and back
advanced civilizations
watching and wondering
if it will ever be...
we sit on the sidelines
waiting and wondering
if it will ever be...
alone in the singularity
of time, an individual 
waits but does not wonder,
instead, it speculates as to
as to the nature of its work
and if tampering with DNA
is irreversible...
what will be, will be
what is, is
no changing
no going back
wondering is meaningless
speculation too,
we learn what we are given
substituting what we think
dealing with the ins and outs
of knowledge and the
wisdom of mistakes, not the
fears that share the unknown
or those who live within
our brief present
as it always seems to 
vanish after blinking eyes.

November 29, 2025

Time's Timed Time

time circles back like someone
evading capture,
time loops around to avoid
collisions,
time flows forward never backward
yet the past is still there,
like a bad coin
or a bad memory
unable to protect itself
indiscriminate comments...
time meets itself in a final
exposure of singularity,
creating new universes from
white holes left behind,
nurtured by entropy that
no one predicted...
time is a process - a journey
from past to future
spending time in the present
to catch one's breath.
time is a construct of life
without movement 
until a creational spark
to which no one admits,
time picks up speed the closer
it gets to its destination
unless nature intervenes,
then there is chaos on an
evolutionary level.
no one knows how to count
or remove time,
postpone it maybe with winter
and predictable thaws,
but virtually impossible to end
or end its progression.

Nover 28, 2025

Whisp of Cold Wind

a whisp of cold wind,
forgotten or ignored,
blows through unignited,
circles of doubt
and circumspect,
daunting challenges unfold,
pass the paper bag
contribute what you can
or not...  does it matter?
wealth - the perceived evil,
fried in a pan with oil,
served cold - spends
just as easily as it does
from those manipulated
by false promises,
implications and
seasoned salesmen...
each year,
adorned with gifts,
we beg forgiveness from
those we know not,
expecting salvation and a
key to the door...  not just
a whisp of cold wind.

November 28, 2025

Relatives

the road home was long
as I recall now...
not home as we knew it,
a home of relatives,
in another land...  that
smelled of tobacco
farms and fences 
retched smells of manure
screen doors and flies;
strangers at the very least
gathered around...
admiring one's growth
and features,
claiming resemblances
for the sake of being nice,
I supposed with a
confused, glossy gaze;
words were spoken
by the stranger's leader
my grandfather
was I told later when
it made no difference,
words no understood
spoken softly
like a whisper...
jumbled together like
not wanting you to know
what was said...
the meal was delicious
the bed too soft
the weather cold
and I missed Rebel who
was staying with the vet.

November 27, 2025

Evolving

morning freeze
evening thaw
the heartland moves
to the east coast...
a winter push through 
the southeast - than
western shores align,
treehouses and caves
alike bear the stigma
of early ages when
ice and snow ruled
the hemisphere
and monsters ruled
the lands on 
which they walked
with confidence...
we are the admiration
of ancestors whose
lives no longer
dwell in situations
like those or any other
as we have matured
fighting wars with\
weapons not hands
with technology
not muscles...
a new breed we
have becomes,
evolving in the way
we fight and kill.

November 27, 2025

Sixty Bean Coffee

sixty beans enough for the maestro
assuming the right kind selected
morning pleasure easily consumed
with doughnut, croissant, or falafel.
a two-finger cup - disposable
porcelain not paper by design
table for one or two - matters not
when one has selected the brew.
pure or with a little creme it comes
frothing or no ripples at all,
served on a napkin and silver spoon
not to be confused with royalty.
counter or table - take you pick
rituals all performed, we predict
stand or sit in a leisure way
it's predicable how long you stay,
grievances are filed in writing
on Monday morning before noon
will be read on every other Tuesday
responded to the following June...
provided two expressos are consumed.

November 26, 2025

Not Together

married and alone, some of us are
seeing life through one pair,
paying for two might be cheaper
but it is not better...
most unions are deceptive, they say
whoever  they may be...
we take our lives seriously 
as best we can but no really alone,
episodes of something we watch
chat with AI occasionally too
or someone live on smart phone,
never ever to a neighbor not known.
desperate, we have not become
at least not yet we suppose
looking out the window for hours
waiting for the setting sun to
arc along our roof faster than it is,
riddles plague our household
wondering what might go wrong,
mind puzzles forge our thinking
when sober and alert, wondering
when the end will be, pasting over
the feeling of being one on one.

November 26, 2025

Progress

three walls greet every corner
sheetrock, wood, or plaster
homes bear no resemblance until then,
lost in a wilderness of drawings
and unmanifested thoughts...
on opposite sides we are squared
not taught in schools but learned,
jobs have consequences as do
undiagnosed blueprints held
in the wrong hands while others

meander about like curious cats
not knowing whose side, they are on,
pipes and wires follow the imagination
of the builders with purpose and intent,
reaching their conclusions early
just as their day has started without
any exceptions save the rain...
modest parameters are met with
remarkable accuracy as soil, seed,
and straw are spread throughout,
sunlight through narrow openings
in the mind bring encouragement
to those who have no visas or permits
but whose abilities shape the future
with which we all find time to live.

November 27, 2025

Days Early Evening

golden is the air around me  

sky and sand as well...         

sun hiding behind the clouds

as it descends down...

the waves approach me constantly

without nowhere else to go,

a chair separates me from it all

when no one else is around.

gulls long since have flown away

preparing for another day...

reaching their homes on another

shore not too far away.

feet soak up the water surrounding

steering it left of right...

tiny creatures burrow into the sand

underneath without caring who I am.

nature tends to overlook me

especially when day morphs to night

and the cool breeze from the water

causes me to bundle up inside...

as gentle as it always seems to be

the water crisscrosses in front of me

as if I mean nothing at all...

or it has bigger fish to fry.

summer has left this hemisphere 

but has not totally disappeared,

just replaced itself on the other side

from which I must momentarily hide.

November 20, 2025

The Absentee Ballot

dead and buried, the previous ones
those with red blood instead of blue,
those whose memories fade just
like the photos we used to keep,
into the ground they were chunked
like bags of potatoes off a train,
useless weight once carried by those
who understood a weapon's barrel,
them whose wallets were fat on
the first of every month - empty
at the end just like clockwork...
an orange glow on a horizon hangs
like a noose around a thief's neck,
dangling down like that bag of
potatoes that northern train brought,
we count out dead at the end of battle
just like a gambler when dealing over
or the mayor who finally wins by
only one or two missing voters,
who had not the money for a ticket,
grateful is the one who has the 
desire to say the blessing when so
few have anything at all to eat...
and the souls of the dead rise up,
out of their coffins, they are - glad
they were up in time to cast a vote.

November 19, 2025

Time Carried With Us

time's speed is relative but consistent

slower at the beginning it seems
then accelerates as it ages - reminders
all around us exist is smaller letters,
three lines to the page, maybe more,
lower case or upper, it does not matter,
not to those who have experience,
mocked for their longevity as are
those who lean against the wind,
expecting just a helping hand now
and again, when time does not match
with what we have seen or witnessed
when court was not is session...
realism shattered in a million pieces
not enough time to clean it all up,
not enough time to do it all again,
not enough time to wonder why
there is not enough time left.
slower at the beginning it was then
when knowing little was the key
and we were told how to think and
to react to those around us... who
were no match for our sarcasm...
all up we gave it, forfeiting the
right to slow time down, yet time
slowed itself down - reality 
relinquished its hold on us - we
sold time for pennies on the dollar
and still earn enough respect to
pay for funerals when time expired.

November 19, 2025

Thanksgiving 2025

for seven decades, almost eight have
I participated - knowingly or not,
in this celebration of food and family,
in more than one state or country
was my fortune always found...
sometime with family - sometimes not,
still, I was there in the midst of it all,
as a young boy known to it all,
then as a visitor in a very foreign land
did we spend time with others similarly,
reaching out for any commonalities,
as a military man surrounded by metal
and others chosen or not to sit at the
same table eating the spoils of greatness
that was only found in our minds...
later, many tables were sat at in the
homes of strangers called relatives
did will congregate willingly or not,
sharing what others made or created, 
helping us celebrate our gratefulness,
giving thanks like the first ones did
after surviving in a totally new land,
and now, as a senior citizen, who has
no choice but to look back on it all,
Thanksgiving is still a special time
as I have warmly lived through it all.

November 18, 2025

Lines Drawn

lines on both sides forming
metaphorically mental,
physicality stays at home,
words whip through minds
crusaders' swords returned,
unveiled anguish rests on
the shoulders - stubborn
and illusive people who
bind their feelings in
pseudo press releases only
one side wants to read,
democracy dying on the
battlefield of life - society
choses another way, not
listening to the prophets
or their subway messages,
previous mistakes remedied
with respectful glances,
drawing on the millions
have not what others have
nor likely to get it...  we
have the numbers and the
willingness to hold lines
for lifetimes if needed.

November 18, 2025

Outside Delight

blue sky morning - cloudless
barely breathing winds
haunting memories of snow
prematurely on the ground,
nature's remedy unappreciated
lifelessness sought out in an
effortless way - without regrets
a harmony of unfolding life
peculiar fascinations aborted
like an unwanted child...
lifeless leaves laying down
waiting for removal as if it
were some sort of therapy,
mowed better for reseeding,
and well into we become,
an emotional disturbance
once the sun returns and the
day brings out the heat mostly
needed or wanted in the south,
just another blue-sky morning
sunny and cloudless bringing
with it more outside delights.

November 16, 2025

Without the Other

without dark there would be no light
without evil there would be no good
without male there would be no female
without a beginning there would be no end
opposites attract in more ways than one
our lives are based upon contradictions
and predispositions for the same...
we play both side of the fence and
do so with good spirits before and after,
like we are outside and inside whatever
it is or may be at the very same time...
yet, fail to understand the contradiction
it causes due to its inherent paradox.
we are not in two places at one time
despite Schroeder's cat or the false
assumptions we've made with strings,
we are part of universal entropy and
the denigration of black holes, the
birth of white holes and re-creations,
we smite ourselves with insidious
thoughts that require deciphering 
when we enjoy being in the middle.

November 15, 2025

The Disappearance of Eve

afternoon rain
morning sunshine
evening musky fog
days end challenges
those of us who see it,
changing times
conventions gone
no longer challenged
disinherited we few
standing where we can
pointing the way back
remembering...
tributes paid to mistresses
failed marriages,
children estranged,
marked and relocated
with passion against
their return...
monument renamed
battles never fought
seasons dismissed for
lack of evidence.
the spoils divided
without the wars and
we sit on porches
with our cappuccinos
wondering where
it all disappeared to.

November 13, 2025

This Day Forward

forward the backwards, we move
changing opinions...  beliefs
altered consciousness...  views
seize the day...  the opportunity
look away distraction
new days around the corner
basking in submission's sunlight,
thoughts on display...  a parade
without participants or children,
parents missing too...  holidays
down the line - celebrations too
a carousel of emotions revolving
around internal turmoil...  days
pass by slowly - a few linger,
next season bears witness to those
who never made it home, never
saw the distance shrink, and 
never knew those days tomorrow
brought with it on this new day.

November 13, @025