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

Green Leaves Outside My Window

 

green leaves outside my window

brown branches peek through

a blue sky behind, more imagined than seen,

small forests of trees separate

separates house and homes

from mindless invasions by those

who understand not why we are here,

reporters scurry for their stories

the latest scoop to promote their careers,

no one cares for the victims since

they are always in the wrong place

and coincidences favor the prepared,

we undermine ourselves unknowingly

believing in our courage and determination

rarely ever giving rise to hindsight

forcing us to perhaps apologize...

we are the people of a creator whose

guidance is no longer present,

we have learned nothing from the past

except we have not yet been caught.

April 25, 2025

Loneliness Chills

misty mornings reflections

tears slide down the lenses

eyes narrowly focused

chills burn through the layers

kayaks pierce the pond silently,

pink skies bring more

a sailors tale come true,

solitude hides in the cold

in lands no one wants to 

venture into more than once,

we are shaken by its mysteries

enamored by its beauty

smothered by its loneliness,

photos do no justice.

April 24, 2025

Always Too Late

conspicuously,

we walk these lands

as did those before us,

boldly,

we built our fortunes

as if no one else 

around us mattered,

gradually,

we taught others what

had been taught to us,

unusually,

we blew smoke into the sky

to warn others of us,

ironically,

we shared our lands with

those who hated us,

tearfully,

we remembered all that

we needed to forget,

faithfully,

we lowered our bodies

in graves, made for us

by our children.

April 23, 2025

Sojourn

 

high goes the low

standing in its way,

low goes the high

too late to comply,

paths become the journey

journeys are destiny

without the need to

surrender the faith, it is

no one in particular...

blue sky lives on the

other side unnoticed,

in disarray - we become

the journey we were here

to take - one direction,

either it takes us there

or it does not...   we need

to follow anyway...

trees block the evil from

our interviews - we see casually

in that one direction, not 

knowing truth or the lie...

we go there anyway today.

April 22, 2025

Making Preparations

emptiness encapsulates the mind

a hollowness prevails

homeless and abandoned

have our thoughts become here,

a hopelessness guides our vision

what we see is darkness

both inside and outside as we

mark our time with reflections...

memories no longer seem real,

we are nowhere in space or time

caught in between the two like some

bizarre animal in a trap...

no longer free to doubt or imagine

the life taken away or the substitutes

forged in our minds no different

than cooking steaks on a grill.

April 21, 2025

The Omen

 

perfectly poised

light in darkness

cradled in the arms of

monument mountains,

fresh and firm

silky tenderness

an umbrella of love

underneath standing,

forever enthralled by its

divine beauty,

not given easily

in this environment

yet survives...

it is not for us to own

or possess or hide from the

sight of others,

it is to admire

and seen as grace.

April 20, 2025

Vagabond Seas

on the starboard side it lies

just opposite the port,

bow line between for reference

but has no jurisdiction,

it holds us down and captured

unable this way or that

can we move to see the sun

or the moon or the stars that we

so often have neglected.

its links are formidable, stronger

than our sacred souls that seem to

have perished in the sea,

an animal spine it can be for some

clever one whose poetic eyes

see another way, another tune...

when all alone we are and left to

mental fabrications of it all,

we sec security or imprisonment

nothing else fits or has the reason of

the rhyme that's been unleashed

upon our vagabond seas this day.

April 19, 2025

Through the Lense

 

we see the world cold and harsh

serene and gentle - it can be...

all that and more, we know,

it is cruel, fair, and revealing

for some of us - others take it

as it is offered, no changes,

what it was and nothing more is it?

we never know for sure...  trying 

to capture it as we do...   why we

ask ourselves and for what purpose?

messages are sent out to all the

wrong people - come see...  imagine,

together we share a laugh or two,

insincere in our commitments

yet always fully documented,

since we are gate keepers of truth,

and lies intermeshed with reality,

for those who argue thusly so.

April 18, 2025

Enchanted Green

 

between two trees the vision goes

greenery in all directions,

tall and thin - short and fat

we are obliged to count them all,

a grey background has no shadows

no streaks of sun rays here and there,

a blue grey sky sells the illusion

of a time before living creatures

roamed around disturbing silence,

beauty has never surrendered

to the likes of men and never will

as we see in all its simplicities,

darks and lights cast depth in the

visual emotions felt...  nowhere

is a virus seen brought by those

who trampled nearby - we are

the healthiest of them all...

by design it was - not by chance,

an innocence rest all around

the ground trembles in surprise

as it no longer is what it was

nor is it what we want it to be...

it is its own system of circulation

and growth unchecked as it will

replace all that it has lost some day.

April 17, 2025

Narcissistic

 

screams dance around inside like

hollow memories forgotten,

silent and serene they were,

hundreds attended the first show

more for the second and third,

top of the world - nothing better,

a time to be remembered

a time to be heard and seen...

glorious it all was - then and now,

look to the beginning - not the end.

screams dance around inside like

mixed metaphors trying to move

to the same melodies not formulated,

not known or created - not on board

with the tenors and selling saxes,

understanding little about the process

building up expectations that soon

will be of diminished returns no

different from sunsets or sunrises...

we heard not but we saw and knew

and in a flash, we knew...  looking

to put on our fred astaire shoes.

screams dance around inside like

yesterday's news found in bathrooms

of all the ritzy hotels or those on the

wrong side of the tracks - we were told

before we started of this occurrence,

no one knew or saw it coming but ran

with the bulls anyway through the 

streets of pamplona...  we are no longer

satisfied with but have gratitude now.

April 16, 2025

Bending Trees

leaves on the ground

fallen

once alive they were

trust me - I know,

bending trees

perched above us,

no one knows...

them...  like I do...

brown, grey bark

were they born with

like those of us

who are different,

we spend time

wondering

from whence they

arrived...

shelter they provide

for some,

others present a threat,

we are known for generosity

like the bending trees are

known for shade

with their leaves now falling

like the rain

messing up the soil

for we live

underneath it all.

April 14, 2025

What Time Is It?

 

down through the opening it falls

those grains of sand,

time marking time marking time,

nobody knows the time,

no body cares for the time,

yet it marks our passage

we are told when to start and stop,

neither point is ever our choice,

we are the heories of time

and the losers of time because

we have not learned to control it,

it passes us by regardless of of cares

listens not to our memories or

the stories they have told to generations,

time moves forward relentlessly,

we could care less about its passage

or the time that it keeps about us;

is the time known by anyone?

our sons and daughters

family and friends and some

oof our neighbors wonder what

we are doing with the time we have

as we spend it carelessly and

without consideration for its brevity,

we measure everything by time

it never stands still for reflection

and we never care what it does

other than it consistently passes.

April 13, 2015

Perspective Reflective

 

into the mirror we look

nothing special

just passing through,

no beginning to the end

nor end to the beginning,

it just continues

as if it has purpose

and imagination...

lights reflect lights reflect lights

no end in sight,

on the walls they hang

like so many bugs tying

to find a home In desolation,

orbs shiny reflective notions of

a time before and after when

all we could see was ourselves.

April 12, 2025

Nature of it

 

monet's lilies cluster together like cluods

before a summer rain shower,

offering solidarity to those of a similar nature,

a weeping willow stands guard ovr

the pond's dominion as the koi hide

in the illusive shadows that darts along

its fashionable perimeters, only to be

contained by shape and size...

small frogs on the pads sit looking

for a ride to shore - nearby turtles ignore

their request because of the noisy

morning they've had to endure...

the nature of life lives at the bottom

of all thoughts and actions especially

when the restless owls fly to northern

climates to avoid august humidity...

darling deer, one by one, come looking

for does who have washed ther legs

in these stagnant waters, hiding from

all their responsibilities - the pond offers

its memories to those with interest

to those who might be curious but not

to those who respect not the nature of it.

April 11, 2025

Light's Darkness

 

the heavens opened - out poured light

a crazy distance in between the dark

clouds rolled in to mask it all

saints danced along the edge of the universe

colums of life rose up to resist

spacetime manufactured its beginning

fish in ponds swam to the bottom

away from the cries and thunder...

a state of flux and upheaval,

no one had planned for discourse

bushes mocked themselves so close

to the water's edge they were,

hiding the footprints of travelers

destined not to arrive for one thousand years,

the energy of darkness promotes well being

the energy of life destroy light

we wonder who and what will become

we perceive the timeline long and narrow

points decaying as new ones form,

dedicated dreams dance like fairies

in and around the cosmos consciousness.

Apri 10, 2025

The Path

 

obscure

out of reach

left of center

nothingness

in its place,

reach for the stars

or higher, just

don't forget

the path through

which you walked

between the dark

trees and elf's

that wanted you

to remain inside,

the path that

brought you

out of the darkness

and into the light,

the path you took

when others

refused to help...

the path you

forged to gain

your own

mental awareness

the path you used

to escape the

void life offered.

April 9, 2025

From the Top

 

out through the window, 

my gaze passes

out into the world below,

where fantasy meets reality

when destiny looks beyond

hopeful expectations,

a place of moon beans

and joyous dreams

fountains of luxury jsut

waiting for the right time

to be released...

a time when wonders

outpace those who belong

and those who journey

in the mind, wrestle with

the logic of who's next,

the sum total of life

wrapped around a simple

view from the very top.

April 8, 2025

Path Taken

 

 beside the stream it is built

in between the guarding trees

down from the rocks that

protect its foundations

open to all who dare to walk

across its wooden issues...

each step marks a passage

of time that cannot be

taken back or exchanged,

koi watch you cross over

each section daring you to

become their food...

with each on passed, you

join the elders who walked

before you, leaving behind

old knowledge in seach of

new you find along the way.

April 7, 2025

Loneliness Seemed

beyond the simplicity of life

hidden in the realm of possibilities

driven by the urge visualize

we live in a world of ourselves

destined to remain obscure

selflessly alone -  away from it all

decorating the spaces of our

mental caves with thoughts of

who is more alone than those

who self-impose the loneliness;

we sees the discrepancies

in our lives -  those of others,

we weep for ourselves and those

who carry similar burdens, living life

as if it belongs to another

as if it is shared with everyone

when no one cares - no one listens

we live in exclusions of life not with

we see possibilities unfulfilled

like the plant never panted

or the sheep never sheered

or the love never found,

wondering why me, not another.

April 6, 2025

Unknowns

red clay from the foothills

thown in a  day and fired

makes the pot in which

these flowers rest...

unknown to the maker 

just as these flowers are

unknown to the grower;

juxtaposed they are perfect,

unknown too are the origins 

of the fruit and table, were

they purchased or in the

case of the latter, made?

known or unknown or is

it just a little guessing?

the nature of questions

derails our understandng

and focus on the art...

we are guests in our own

silly mental imaginings.

April 5, 2025

Enchanted

 

first one then another
shuffling in between
eyes rotating three hundred and sixty
behind, in front, and all around
one leg moves then the other
step this way then that
wondering who is watchin
guiding my path forward
while holding me behind,
layers of misgivings mount up
along both shoulders as
as through this wooded area I pass
formidable tree grow tall around me
blossoming bushes with dark leaves
eerie sounds whistle inbetween
darting here and there
ahead and behind...
these figures seen dancing by
at random intervals
mental chaos created in place calm
serene images upon first entering,
longing for the end but always
following the what path before me.

April 4, 2025

All Along

 

red, read, runaway, routine rediscovered

smoke sifts silently somewhere else

we are the patters of our memory's 

our thought just seem to sort themselves our

wicked are the reasons we devour each other

under the pretentense of survival love,

crawling along the sands of the glass

moving from top to bottom as if

it were designed for our space...

walking incognito through time and space

altering dimensions in our wake

underlying is what we do when we do it

not caring what is around our tables,

we are your imagination and your fantasy

like it or not, we exist for your pleasure

and for those you try to pleasure...

we are what's been in you all along.

April 3, 2025

River Bend

 

still and quiet the water flows

between the banks

on which the trees reside

reaching out to touch each other

someday soon they will.

reflected in the mirror waters

they are, along with the bules

of the sky moving outward from

the strokes of the paddle

gently touching and moving

it all behind...  darks and lights

all float together silently,

elegantly in the picturesque views

provided - captured from the day before

when the journey started and we

all the life around us - what it was

that brought ut back again...

this river...  this beloved river.

April 2, 2025