Appearance of Light

light appears out of nowhere
a crack in the wall unsealed
desperation unleased
motives unusually conditioned,
justice failed twice
laws of an older time

no one bothered to complain.

light appears out of nowhere
a jurisdictional mandate ignored,
sympathy dwells in isolation
geographical regions in peril,
where to go?
what to see?
it boggles the mind immensely.

light appears out of nowhere
fugitives on the run,
clandestine meetings cancelled
rumors abound in silence,
no one admits to anything
justice hangs on the coatrack
officials down in the mouth

light appears out of nowhere
someone paid the bill,
echoes of thanks throughout
not knowing why they are cheerful,
aides step up to the podium
accepting appreciation
still wondering if there hope.

May 29, 2025

Hiking Backpackers

smells of fresh cut grass
smell of barbeque
waffle through the air
together - intermixed
still uniquely different,
early morning drizzles
flow in and around
an off-white misty fog
blocking directions
for mountain hikers,
camping beside ponds,
not quite lakes but large
enough to float across,
dismal thoughts of the day
lay underneath the dying
embers of breakfast
doused with leftover coffee,
packs a little lighter as
the journey continues...
one with nature - stress free
the enticing slogan read,
not mentioning the reality
amateurs often discover,
wilderness exploring
finding themselves and
their sense of purpose,
destiny calls out like a
coach over a missed play
and the opposition
scores once again...
troubles packed away safely
leaving the keys in a
safety deposit box while
making sure the latest 
walking boots are purchased.

May 28, 2025

Downtown Slums

lies buried in the night
along with souls who
didn't work out right,
bangers going door to door
women closing the curtains
wanting death, no more...
cities scream at their alumni
hoping for better support,,
we just live here they say
since there's nowhere else,
dogs bark at the city lights
splashing in dark puddles
of blood that constantly
roll down the sidewalks,
never knowing who they be
since no one claims them.
change elects mayors but
no change do they promote,
residences fear more of the
as they board up windows
and move across town,
since that district is better
by the gangs that freely
flock to popular corners.
eyes in the highlights
stun the city dwellers whose
night on the towns ends
tragically like all others,
we claim there's no solution
when some know there is.

May 27, 2025

Mental Pulse

tunes from the ancient times

enter my thoughts often,

assisting in my neglect of

new century artists...

not the Celtic vibes on ytube

nor the Scottish folk songs

or the twang of bluegrass,

the slang of country, or the

harmony of funky folk.

my mind pops to the rhythms

of the blues and the lyrics

that make you sad and think,

the power of music in those

words will stay longer than

the styles of dancin' to which

your body naturally swings.

it's a DNA thing...  I think...

we get it or we don't and

who try to understand will

never feel that mental pulse.

May 26, 2025

The White Lighthouse

a white tower with a black helmet
stands that juts out into the water,
waves splash over its concrete and plaster
as if trying to push it away from tragedy,
a beacon of light shines brightly
day and night, giving passing vessels
warning to stay away from danger...
locals call the structure a lighthouse
sea captains call her a savior...
the man who operates the guiding light
lives inside her and has for several years,
cooking his meals on an iron stove
with local wood from the neighbors
to pay for his constant services...
the man in the lighthouse is old
and feeble - not much longer will he live,
the locals worry not for this occurrence
and no one to replace him they have,
"yonder she blows" say the sea captains
a nor'easter to beat all storms declared,
the old man hears of the storm and
makes sure the light is fortified...
in the morning no white tower is
seen standing nor any remnants at all,
as if nothing on that piece of land
ever existed there, neither the old man.

May 25, 2025

Hummingbirds

plastic owls tied to iron rods
guard the entrance haphazardly,
all who desires...  enters...
deck boards pale with age
dismiss recent construction.
carpenter bees find new places
at which to bore their holes,
old one filled in with mesh.
overhanging trees from a
neighbor's yard invade
disturbing the careful balance
on feng shui, casting chaos
on a tranquil environment.
lighthearted gestures conveyed
barriers between us widen,
lifting out the noise, leaving
us with blessed silence...
a fence of closely planted shrubs
works best of all, allowing
only nature's little one to
move freely about - rabbits,
squirrels, chipmunks and a
plethora of squawking birds...
only the hummingbirds have
failed to return this year.

May 24, 2025

Pillars of Frankness

to remember is to forget

selective are our memories

bold and imaginative

not reality but what we recall

as if our thoughts rewrite

all past tragedies,

successes and indifference

adjusted by our temperaments

and self-incriminations...

along with facts poorly recorded

and lives lost who might

remember it differently...

we criticize the imprecise

yet that is what we are or

have become when recollecting,

pillars of frankness gone awry.

May 23, 2025

Sans Souci

in circles my thoughts wander
without purpose or direction
aimlessly they thread themselves
in and around my actions as
would be the behavior of a snake
if one were here...  doubting
my own analogies, I step from
one metaphor to another,
not sure what to find or not,
although something must
bear the fruits of my labors
otherwise, all is for naught.
in lock step my dreams wrap
themselves around the nearest
convenience, hoping for some
kind of balance to this life, we
have been cast into like bees.
hearts and souls long for a
little restitution but receive not
the slightest raised eyebrow.
we are without purpose or any
meaning yet we strive because
that is all we know to do here.

May 22, 2025

Madness

corners of rooms shed no light
to those sitting in them,
walls move endlessly back and forth
closing in when the time is right
backing off with the light,
ceilings lower to meet the floor
the floor disappears in confusion,
strobing white lights pulsate
with the fancy tunes from outer space,
violating the inner space
in which I spend my days...
meals on wheels roll by without
to hear my request, forcing me to
eat the air that surrounds me.
desolate and destitute are we
who live in this environment,
wearing clothes from the wrong
tailor, sleeping with Pinocchio and
all his minions like fish in a
large pond that shrunk overnight...
we look into the heavens and see
the devil and into hell we stare and
see all the glorious angels who
have finally come to save us,
taking us home where we belong.

May 21, 2025

Nature's Awakened

 

morning fills the frame

of one's imagination...

blue sky and fluffy clouds

a rising sun and soaring birds

overlapping mountain ranges

light to darker in hues,

trees of all shapes and sizes

illuminating flowers creating

the perfect depth of field...

a dream of dreams

seemingly random in appearance

not the same without sun

perhaps a full moon will see,

nature's magnificence

seen everyday here abouts.

May 20, 2025

A Passing Reflection

a transparent mist covers all

except the chilly feeling

coursing through my veins as if

heated blood had been overlooked,

muted colors of yellows and reds

seen in the mirrored lake,

reflections of a few still standing

although most have gone bare.

uncertain is the vision...  that...

which side is the real reflection

and am I standing here like normal

or have somehow been flipped upside down?

a curious scene to say the least

if I do say so...  but even more so

regarding what is going on with me.

nature's glasses have been provided me

more than once - each time refused,

lots have been casted by those around

as to who is actually standing on whom.

all the same to me...  it is...  since nature

is the one creating this scene and we

are just passersby and only observing.

May 19, 2025

Golden Pond

layered mountains in the distance
faded colors of browns and greys
pines with vibrant greens layered
in the foreground of vision...
heavy fog weaves its way through
pocket valleys down in-between
what was... and, what is...
orange clouds meet a blue horizon
darker ones squeeze inside, letting
us know rain might be coming.
early morning or early evening
the view is always the same,
more or less locals presume,
casting doubts on northerners
thinking they know a thing or two.
atop a ridgeline, we sit, not with
a camera or a phone - this is our
home and has been that way pretty
much near all our lives, except
for the times not remembered,
relying on those to tell us so...
yonder we live, in the second
valley, just a few miles off the
two lane, where the road forks
twice and the willow guards the
entrance to the golden pond.

May 19, 2025

Fort Walton, Florida Series

Day 5 #2

restless waves approach

hard to track until close

forming white caps

not too tall - waist high perhaps

dark blue on the horizon

pale green up close

reflection of a different sort

always presumed...

gulf coast gulls sleep in

arriving late afternoon

still a nuisance here...

walking and begging for crumbs.

wind blows underneath umbrellas

cooling off squatters sitting

seldom leaving chairs except

to walk against the wind

and back again...   just to 

have something to do.

watch and observe, we do

mentally recording what's seen,

talking about it later

not really criticizing but

wondering why

they do what they do here.

May 16, 2025

Fort Walton, Florida Series

 
Day 5

first days - last days
are the best
they say - quotes researched
who's to say, except
those experiencing...
wonder this or
wonder that,
it is all the same
one way or another,
bring back the memories
those thoughts restrained
when days were long
nights were longer,
endless dreams and fantasies
accumulated by age
decades later emerge
too fit to notice
too naive not to,
learning who was who
who was not,
forming changing opinions
remembering all the same,
those first and last days,
returning and forgetting
wondering and determining
what life must have been like.

May 16, 2025

Fort Walton, Florida Series

 Day 4

consistently, it blows
nor 'easterly, it pushes
sweeping away humidity
vacating the heat,
white sands seldom shift
flapping umbrellas wave
rectangular shades billow
shadows reflect a gentle touch,
greyish blue surrounds
like a cap on a beach head,
ugly waters charge forward
as if on some kind of assault,
darken horizon line seen
tourists without shirts walk
endlessly up and down a 
seemingly endless shoreline,
broken chairs replaced as
futile observations continue,
spring in Florida gains traction
spirits of winter declined
eight-hour trips not uncommon
origins of sickness abandoned
salty pungent odors waffle
through a pleasant atmosphere
memories of last year no more.

May 15, 2025

Fort Walton, Florida Series

Day 3

umbrellas lined up like soldiers
waiting to be inspected,
strangers sitting next to strangers
from nine to five daily
without fussing or complaining,
man with binoculars looks
out at nothing except water,
hoping to see what?
renting umbrellas and chairs
saves time but not expense,
guards patrol east to west on
four wheelers with gear strapped
to the sides, they never use.
pillars of clouds float across
an imagined horizon as the belt
of division is no longer visible.
fishermen fish - diggers dig
walkers walk and sitters sit...
it is all part of it...  vacations...
narrow minds narrowly fit into
baseball caps worn to hide baldness
but strut nonetheless down the 
shoreline hoping to be noticed.
we watchers watch it all expecting
someone else is watching us.

May 14, 2025

Fort Walton, Florida Series

 Day 2

foaming waves beat
against the shoreline

in a vain attempt to

reach as far inland as

possible - sexual

implication of nature

being in charge...

dawn on the gulf coast

is brisk and somewhat

chilly - the horizon holds

the sun briefly...  still,

the pale sky contrasts

against the dark blue water,

seemingly flat aa a lake,

its distance appearance,

closer is sickly army green

predominates the same...

a sandy white beach extends

as far as the eyes can see

in both directions,

east and west like the sun,

tracing patterns to follow,

experience teaches perspectives

and depth of fields as our

perceptions change with age

but this morning we are just

content with a little relaxing.

May 13, 2025

Fort Walton, Florida Series

Day 1
green umbrellas complement the
brown seaweed strewn on white
sand from last night's high tides,
a precursor for today's light rains,
early morning before sunrise
winds along the gulf's coastline
moves with the land's curvatures
keeping it cool, even when sunny,
behind cumulous clouds raked
together like fallen fall leaves,
the sun pokes out occasionally
reminding us of seasonal changes,
northern tourists flock to white sands
as if they were bees to honey...
cats to catnip or mosquitos to pale skin,
and when the day unfolds to noon
into the rooms the oiled bodies flow
for nourishments and pit stops, breaking
from reality just a little while making
sure, ritualistic routines continue.

May 12, 2025

Travelers

through four states they came arriving
florida, alabama, Georgia, tennessee
cars, buses, trains, airplanes
luggage together in one tandem line
searching and reporting all they saw
keeping notes in journals frequently
clothes rolled and folded in bundles
tied with twine to lock in freshness
roping the moment with their thoughts
stepping across the line most often
saving their stamps in green cards
buying it all in bulk saving money
wandering nomads, they once were
carrying wooden chips on shoulders
not as narrow as their petty minds,
fugitives they once were, now are
favorite sons and captive daughters,
remembering little from the vision
save the memories taken with them.

May 11, 2025

Alpha Omega

from beginning to end we are
birth and death - to us all occurs
some lives better than others
as might be expected but not
all are the same, even when in
the same jurisdictions...
blessed are the lives of some
while others not so much,
we all experience doubts,
concerns and petty grievances
learning our accommodations.
we struggle with the one
as well as the other - nowhere
is there a record of beliefs that
we blindly follow except to 
breathe, eat, and defecate...
one people are we not, never
will be no matter how hard
we beg for assistance - leadership
is individual, never group owned,
as was originally intended...
from womb to tomb we live for
as long as we've been given,
hoping for long rather than brief,
wondering all along if there is
any kind of point to this madness.

May 10, 2025

Early Warning

a blueish green haze lays on me
each morning when I rise
casting spells and making
prognostications about the
future in front of me...
a blueish grey sky forecasted
around me, lets those who
would be in fear, gentle down,
for tomorrow will be sunny...
an orange red sun sinks down
behind the mountains, casting
doubts on the evening which
kindled so much of our fears,
a desperate eulogy is spoken
for the dead have reawakened,
roaming the streets of our youth
as if we were still around...
a brown haze has come to replace
the one I wear before the day
descends into chaos and I am
summoned by the courts to pay
all my outstanding warrants.

May 9, 2025

A Designated Mind

morning drizzles in 
not too far fetched
as the evening's forecast
of a doomsday scenario,
kidney beans and rice
is the staple by which
we mend our lives
and nourish the soul
to continue its struggles.
morning drizzles in
as was intended here
in the valley of surrender
and complacency...
living in the codes by
which we were raised,
morning drizzles in
replacing the night
whose darknesses kept
us separated from truth
and the realities around
which our lived have
been formatted - we are
creations of science and
those who manipulated
the rules to create us...
we are the life intended
for others who had yet
another destiny in mind.

May 9, 2025

The Light Within

lights shine in the eyes of every newborn

that decline as we grow older,

darkness replaces the light as we replace

ourselves in natural transitions...

a forgiving sun rises on the horizon

providing the way as best as it can

giving the circumstances of its inauguration,

and those who cast not their opinions...

rising tides along the coastlines give

warning to sailors who fail to heed the call,

soon finding themselves drowning

in pools of bureaucratic nonsense tossed

out for our relative but unnatural safety...

lights shine down on the unworthy and

those who know not who they are,

even after years of therapy reveal 

they are who they were meant to be.

May 8, 2025

Marked Days

days are marked with samples of

forgotten journeys, people we

never met and expectations

never realized since accountability

fluctuates with the weather...

days marked with confusion

replaced those days marked by

the reality of another's dreams

oftentimes filled with the pomp 

and ceremony of death...

days marked with joyful wisdom

came once or twice a year, are

now scheduled by decades if

and when numbered evenly and

and not the sodomizing odd ones...

days are now randomly occurring

offering consolation prizes to those

who stayed all week, regardless of

life's temptations and its alter ego

that seems to enjoy everything.

May 7, 2025

A Few Windows

green leaves through the window seen

waving at me surreptitiously

standing fast are trees in obeyance

tied down by the roots projected

learning and unlearning the useless

protocols of life guiding us...

wound and re-wound are our minds

save the parts already sold...

eyes, through the window glares

like birds of prey flying low

seeing with tunnel vision only that

which they are fixed upon,

nothing else matters,

nothing else is of concern...

drifting and grifting in flight,

are we that simple minded, say?

flights of life delayed without prey

resumed when faintly seen...

through the windows are too many

for one person to understand

the natural reason for families

dissipating into the wind like everything.

May 6, 2025

Season Change Us

we stood united but no more
no interlocking of arms
no sharing of the minds
we are independent
self-sufficient and alone
a surviving species without support
of our own kind...  a travesty
some might say, others not
opinions differ, so do tastes
we care not for one
yet do for another...
no longing trying - just accept
words fly by like birds
flying south in the winter,
leave behind - don't look back
you are no longer a part of me
nor I of you - go separately
young man or not - just go...
no longer welcome in this here land
moving on as best we can
a new season has come at last
and we be on it pretty damn fast.

May 4, 2025

This Here Dirt Road

this here dirt road leads to the hard surface road
the hard surface road takes you to the two lane
the two lane takes you to the four lane
the four lane take you anywhere you want to go
its all about roads and destinations
directions and time - stopping along the way
the freedom of mobility - the mobility of freedom
acting and reacting upon each other like jealous twins
trying to garner the attention of their creators
even roads east and west - odd roads north and south
we can travel anywhere with these roads
are we blessed or cursed, I wonder?
progress defines the road, the road defines the progress
we plan where to go, when to go, and how to get there
but not where to build the roads or how
manual labor and machines side by side
working together as if it were meant to be
if only it were that simple - progress or not
we never know until it is done
until we need to travel somewhere and must use roads
not there for our convenience but our responsibility
a responsibility to the future not to our past
roads don't care about the past
roads were intended to take us forward
we travel them as if we cannot wait to get there.

May 3, 2025

Sounds

We came into this world crying

a commonality for us all

regardless or wealth or faith,

we heard the voices of our parents

mother's words the first...

then encouragement and warnings

questions and answers

the language of teaching and learning

coaching us along if willing

lessons learned through pain or joy

built out personalities,

the lyrics of music and dancing

drinking and fornication

homes in the country or city, depending

the loneliness of nothing except

a refrigerator or fan or alarm clock

the monotonous routine of work

failed relationships and friendship

loss of trust and anxieties target the

darkness of feelings and emotions,

a pond in the country, we recall

crickets and frogs in harmony

bird feathers flocking together

swoop down to investigate 

we are too busy listening to notice.

May 3, 2025

Time Strings

down from the heavens it falls without gracefulness

sparsely at first, soon like a waterfall it pours down,

hiding ourselves in cabins and caves

huddling together against the chill

comforting those younger than us, 

teaching them the ways of the wheel

spinning the strings of time, it does,

testing the fate of the tellers whose prognostications

maybe result in nothing more than a false rumor,

a tale woven by fools, spun by those in doubt,

pushing forth a false narrative of power;

the wheel turns for everyone

all creatures great and small

only a few are fortunate to wear the weave

made of the truth of the correct foretelling,

many futures are woven - a few will unfold,

we have no knowledge of the source

who set all life into motion or began the

the first turn of the wheel - yet so it began...

and now the heavens drop water down on us

left to wonder if this omen be good or evil.

May 2, 2025

Not Just Darkness

flashes of light flow through the mind

lightning pierces the body

frozen rain falls on the graves of the dead

we bury and move one as this is

what our ancestors taught us to do,

we believed in their truth

we believed in their ways

even though they made no sense to us,

origins of life from the source it came

out of the skies like thunder

we obeyed the rules and the laws

until they too made no sense.

children of the light faced the

elders of the darkness, stealing their

justice and hiding their rules in the

cradles of the new dawn...

the beginning of new enlightenment

of our long-forsaken salvation,

promised but never delivered,

taken from them but never surrendered.

May 1, 2025

Outside Spring

KWA...  KWA...   KWA...  kwa...   kwa...  kwa...
sounds of some kind of bird and my sight
others try to imitate, longer but not the same
perched in a tree in front of me
other trees on either side
filled with noisy birds a well
silence broken - silence disturbed
new growth from a Crepe Mrytle
cut down last fall...
humming cars moving sides
distant barking, mixed with howls
pleasant morning exposures
for a country boy - formerly the city,
fours meters of grass in front of me
mowed two days again needs trimming
rain expected almost every day
too wet to mow this early...
neighbors hidden by leafy tree limbs
on my flanks and sixes seen...
no one knows the true meaning of Christmas
in the summertime,,,  does it matter?
hanging limbs need cutting
too high for the grab and pull,
coffee is getting cold but there is a cure;
too much to notice in one sitting
knowing it will not go away
humbled by it beauty, amazed by its persistence,
mornings outside before the sun brings humidity
are the days winter prepares us for
except in the city - the reason for leaving.

April 30, 2025

Under a Faded Red Umbrella

a hollow metal pole sits in front of me
a glass table around it on which my
laptop has been placed, along with
my pale red metal coffee cup...
cool breezes move the leaves of trees
whose limbs scurry silver squirrels,
a well fed brown rabbit jumps from
one side of the yard to the other,
passing my position without the
slightest apprehension as it does
every morning, I sit out here...
a large faded red umbrella is raised
to block out the sun, under which I sit,
since spring adorned us with its presence,
morning coffee better outside than in,
listening to the squawking of birds
and the passing of cars on the four lane,
my chair is comfortable for a while
about as long as my laptop's battery,
then inside I will go for a welcomed
breakfast of grits and honey and maybe
a vege sausage or two and a refill...
until then, I massage my arthritic knee
casting my eyes out into nature and
the over-abundance of pleasure she
provides me by being out here, a 
willing participant in her daily laughter.

April 29, 2025

Lost and Found

 

Black is the color of my mind

Red is the color of its thoughts

No longer are they separate

No longer are they divorced

Faces in the shadows seen

A nose and two eyes

Or a mouth and beard

Front legs of an animal

maybe the hind quarters of a deer,

Trees and limbs brushed up

against each other in a storm,

perhaps a wheel or time string

connecting what we hold dear,

mockingbirds taunt the living

as well as the dead - no respect

have they ever been given

nor have they offered either,

depths of despair filter through

our subconsciousness like the rain

falls through the skies

leaving nothing in it wake except

those who want to be found.

April 28, 2025

Daisey Lover

daisy's highlight the blue

or vice versa

no one really knows for sure,

those who like one or

prefer the other...

it matters not to some bot to

to others it is grounds

for deal breaking...

we know no other way this

day or another as we

are lovers of one but not

the other...  as was the case

for my birth mother...

she was a daisy lover from

the very beginning

from the getgo as we say...

there was no other way,

not today nor tomorrow,

daises engraved on her tombstone

and on her obituary

for all to read and see and

understand she was a daisy lover

no other flower ever for her.

April 27, 2025

The Unknown

 

everyday

    every hour

        every minute

we encounter that which 

is unknown to us,

that which has not been seen,

or witnessed

participated in or

observed...

we are not the enemy

but we are strangers 

to the unknown...

we understand not what

we cannot see...

yet, we experience throughout life

in unforgiving ways,

mannerism don't lie or betray

conflicting doubts

do not explain...

we fly into trees like birds

we have been there before,

seen and delivered

the promise given to us,

we are creatures our inner souls

beckoning to be saved

from constant turmoil and

so many misunderstandings.

April 26, 2025