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