Morning Ritual

morning sunlight peers into the

sunroom of my mind as sleeping

animals curl up on cat trees

placed in the corners of the room,

mental shadows walk the streets

of thoughts that meander their

way around historical artifacts

sometimes called memories in

lieu of making new ones...

fantasies linger in the shadows

watching for movement and

any indication that their time

is about to happen...  rolls of

discourse lay on the porcelain

floor like seashells on a beach

waiting to be snatched up by

throngs of tourists down from

their northern perches of blank

superiority...  a morning cough

alerts us to the day and we begin

to clean up our latent appearance.

September 25, 2023

Tree of Many Colors

a tree of many branches

and many colors grows

alone atop a mountain,

it offers life to those who

stop and admire its beauty,

and death to those who

ignore its presence...

it is the tree of power and

greed and has too many

followers for it to serve

them all - picking and

choosing only those who

are deserving...  it is a

tree of life and death as

is sworn to by those who

worship its abilities and

those who have perished

when trying to cut it down,

it is a monster tree of life

that gives more than it takes

hoping that one day, it will

have a chance to die and no

longer be life's interpreter.

September 24, 2023

Devil's Darkness

darkness lays down in the valley

like periwinkle, invading and

creeping around sleeping souls

in a vain attempt to influence

their dreams...  magical fingers

play the darkness like a well-tuned

Stratovarius, lonely melodious

sounds stream out through the

dank, dark air winding and

intertwining with the devil's

enbibed a few hours before...

demons on crutches hobble

around like drunken sailors

in search of those who failed

to leave early...  magpies howl

at the harvest moon, forcing

an illuminated darkness that

stifles all hidden persuasions as

the morning lays claim on all

who believed in its returning.

September 24, 2023

Behind the Eyes

tired eyes close softly
thumb and fore finger
gently rub the bottom
against the cheek bone,
eyes close tighter
three finger push in
ever so tenderly...
a dark pattern emerges
separated by strand of
a golden color that
changes a dark purple
with red and white
lines jutting across in
irregular motion and
as the eyes try to focus
on the designs they
disappear and black
immediately fills the
void...  fingers pull
back and try again,
the colors reappear
but this time they 
are shades of blues
and green with silver
lines juxtaposed all
around like a spider
web that is trying to
reconstruct itself...
the artist inside my
mind wants to capture
these images on 
canvas as they are
different than anything 
seen and would surely
draw one's attention.

September 23, 2023

Carefree

Carefree
is the fall morning,
a pleasant coolness in the air
not cold at all
but soothing nonetheless,
a change from the sultry humid
heat of a dying summer
that lingered longer...

Carefree
is the recliner in which I
sit this morning,
counting blessings instead
of failures...

Carefree 
are the moments spent my
three cats,
even though they are a constant
nuisance sometimes,
they are comforting and
reassuring when the body and
the mind wind down...

Carefree
is my retired life, no worries
or concerns with what
was previous or may unfold 
since it matters not in
the least to me anymore...

Carefree
is this new morning that offers
me another day of life,
another day of enjoyment
and being enjoyed
by those who have stood by me
this entire time.

September 23, 2023

The Sunroom

a stuffed black and white animal with
a red nose sits atop a well-used cat tree
in the corner of the sunroom, sheltered
from the rays of sunlight flooding the
room with warmth...  a wicker couch
covered in a protective blanket with
pare pillows stretches across the fall
wall for visitors that may soon arrive
but never do...  feet rests are available
for their pleasure just in case...  two
wicker rockers sit along the adjacent
wall on either side of a portable unit
that provide heat and cold when called
into action by pressing a button on top
of its casing - two hoses connect it to
the window for intake and outflow
purposes not fully understood...  a
comfortable cloth rocker sits in the
other corner that was purchased from
the previous owners provides a nice
addition to the room while offering
its occupants a variety of positions...
there is nothing impersonal about
this room other than its lack of use.

September 23, 2023

Seasonal Transformation

dark light dark are the colors
with which I am presented
when gazing outside my window
early in the morning...  shades
of greens belonging to the
leaves of trees and various
hues of browns from light to
dark from the trees on which
these leaves are connected...
a morning slash of colors
brought to me by the sun,
no clouds in the sky to 
distort my vision or mental
understandings of how nature
tends to her own, even when
the seasons change and these
leaves turn to oranges and reds
and fall to the ground...  it is
not a mystery but a seasonal
transformation of which I'm a
lifelong participant observing the
beauty of the changing seasons.

September 23, 2023

Forgotten Forever

tentatively,
eyes open
head is raised
surroundings surveyed
in own bed
in own house
after midnight...
sleepless and
wide awake,
no sleep in sight
restless with
aimless visions
abandoned dreams
inability to focus...
steroids inside again
preventing sleep
preventing dreams with
loaned out fantasies
stored in the mind's
deep recesses that are
better off forgotten...
reflected darkness from
the outside enters
my eyes pierce its
unusual loneliness
trying to gain my confidence
rumors beget rumors
I forget my past
at least temporarily...
barren thoughts lead to
depression and despair,
I help myself 
out of bed so I
can write down these
memories before they
are forgotten forever.

September 23, 2023

A Wooded Forest and Creek

a mountain stream winds it way down

the side like a snake in Eden, turning

into a creek filled with tadpoles and 

frogs once it reaches the valley proper,

fawns, squirrels, chipmunks and a few

rabbits drink from its brackish waters

early in the morning when they have

nothing but silence to comfort them,

hawks, buzzards, and a few crows

venture to the creekside during the

day when the sun is hidden by trees

and foliage of ferns and ground covers

that typically roam where moss lives,

dead leaves from previous years and

fallen dead branches lay on the ground

like a quilted comforter decaying and

providing homes for insects...  dogwoods,

evergreens, birch, maple, and oak have

their roots firmly planted into the dirt

that is dark and rich but filled with ants,

a black bear occasionally walks by the

creek on its way to new hunting since he

no longer sleeps in his mountain cave,

not sure if it is spring or fall, those who

live nearby it will be cold or hot soon

their outside lives will end abruptly,

they will need to adapt like before.

September 22, 2023

By Your Service

a skirt-like guard surround the lightbulb

its reflection on the wall altered by it,

on then off the lightbulb flashes, its

original position does not change...

counter measures are formed by 

circumstance, and are unlike the

lightbulb yet they appear and they

disappear at will...  we honor those 

who have served with light and those

who have not with darkness...  and, it

is the darkness they prefer, not wanting

to risk their lives for those who don't

care...  discounts are given appropriately

to those who have stepped up but 

unlike the lightbulb they never shine

or cast illumination on the life that is

all around them...  they are creatures of

the night even though they have been

given light, wasting not the utilities

it would take to operate...  they are a

strange breed these lightbulb receivers

as they have nowhere else to go now.

September 22, 2023