Undeniable Relentlessness

unknown destinations
loom on the horizon,
un-encounters and
explorations...
tree-top locations,
mountain caves,
seaside adventures;
risk-takers we become
death seekers some,
jumping and diving
like it was meant to be,
insurance claims filed
subsequently denied;
think, plan, and create,
Michelangelo mindset,
filtered by the audience
and expectations...
just perform some say
without cognition or
dampened spirits,
thrills seeking thrills
addiction, craving, and
rehabilitation pursued;
boundless energy even
the aged participate...
keenly are we eyed out
sought and procured
bringing to the market
undeniable relentlessness.

June 25, 2025

Silver Silence Instead

silence claws its way 
through my head
deep breathing exercises
willful and with intent
premeditative malice
snagging a consciousness
from the banks of memory
along its pathways...
penetrating and probing
at first blush or first glance
it matters not as it drills
down into the decayed
tooth, wanting extraction.
proof of ownerships is
always required leaving
everyone standing at the
corner for the next bus.
silence takes the elevator
down to the next level,
hoping reason and logic
await its arrival...
mercy stands on the shore
of remorse, believing
talking is required before
defoliation and the drug that
always plays well with
sixties memories...
silence craves endorsements
and remarks on the limited
edition print mean nothing
if one is not familiar with
the mindset of an artist.

June 24, 2025

Summertime

heat waves off the pavement rise
weather dome overhead
outside workers stay beware
your time comes and goes too soon,
babies stay inside this week
too weak to leave outside
mothers prepare iced cold drinks
that keep their youngsters alive,
medicines from the cabinets
don't ward off the oppressing heat
cool rooms and ceiling fans
are now all on automatic...
temperatures soar into the hundreds
beach goers remain inside water,
umbrellas without a gentle breeze
are no match for mother nature...
old folks sitting on the porch
remarking of the olden days have
no idea of the danger created
by their unofficial protesting,
remaining because they're covered,
shades pulled down in back
curtain closed together in front
whirlies on sides of both walls
grandma in the middle...
summer bends its will early and we
learn how to take shelter...
no one casts doubt over the warning.

June 23, 2025

Enemies Within

screams emitted from the pores
of our soul reverberate through
night's essence, subtle and
somewhat endearing, crisscrossing
through Pandora's box, motivated
by an incessant desire, mission
critical noise, largely ignored...
perils of Pauline resurface,
discovering doctor Who and
the realms of possibilities...
hidden in the vaults of time are
the secrets desperately desire
by the creations once divine,
we serve loyalty not subservience 
or cluster communities of false
empathy for the less possessed.
children indoctrinated on crime
freely roam of streets of failure
looking to score the next hit,
encouraged by grandparents who
want them out of the house...
associations of a similar kind
flock to empty rooms, seeking
justice for their thoughts that
reverberate throughout the valley
like some weather phenomenon.
fearful of our past, we cling onto
a tentative future that covers more
holes than an auditorium when the
tickets are reasonably priced.
we fuel our rocket desires with
Viagra substitutes, preying on those
who did not make the sports team
while negotiating treaties with the
enemies of all our recent enemies.

June 22, 2025

Peaceful Harmonies

light's umbrella encompasses silently
overhanging trees interlocking branches
nests of birds safely situated aloft
squirrels at the base rest carefully
bullfrogs adopt an abandoned pond
resting on lily pads for the Koi,
flat rock paths form boundaries
around and through water flows
fresh water recirculated daily
shadows in the trees attract the
artist's eyes in watercolors
framed and hanging on walls...
chairs and tables line the perimeter,
in the heat of the day occupied,
random are the cooling breezes 
penetrating the landscape
as if taking it own ownership
renting to neighborhood visitors 
paying homage to it calm beauty,
resting in its abstract isolations
are the soldiers who had sustained
a life of quiet restraint and mental
solidarity with their survivor blues.

June 21, 2025

Hidden Souls

mornings live on the outskirts of darkness

just out of reach until called upon,

moving rapidly to intervene with us...

nightfall lives inside the town squares

of our minds. surreptitiously waiting

for us to drift into slumber once again...

both are joined and disjoined

as if destined to be Siamese twins

living on the horizons of thoughts...

light cannot exist without darkness

true is the reverse as well

not knowing which to rely on more...

destiny is the bastard child of planning

of which we do little, preferring to live

like those addicted - one day at a time...

normalcy invades our thoughts when

reaching for hope on the top shelf,

few can do so unassisted - small stools

no longer manufactured in the South.

we curse the brevity of life

praise those who believe falsely

condemn everyone who is different

believing darkness hides our souls.

June 17, 2025

Dangling Entanglements

around us on all sides
a universe lives
alternate sometimes
with multiple dimensions,
we choose to ignore
obvious reflections,
we being miniscule,
insignificant...
not in our own minds.
traveling the mind
through spacetime
looping through time
like rocks on a pond
sliding along...
connected we are
in front and back
admitting not the rare
associations we have
to life and its abundance
of freedom...
taken everywhere we go
but never for granted.
we see what we feel
feel what we see
acknowledging the very
fabric of our uniqueness
with poems and songs
celebrating what it is
that we think we have.
we squirm over the terms
of our expectancies
singing ourselves to sleep
when comforting loneliness

June 17, 2025

Dawn's Crack

dirty down dawn breaks through
night's pissy black darkness,
humiliating laid back owls,
howling like wolves at some
imaginary creature deported
out of heaven for a crime that
only human can ever commit.
an elusive dawn creeps through
the willows of forgotten souls
like rats through a maze with
no solution is sight...  still they
scramble around like soldiers
seeking a safe place to defecate,
shells whizzing by overhead...
indian songs of pacification
dart here and there looking
for the targets to which they
had been assigned, suffering
indignation if not found...
sea monsters awaken from 
shallow graves hoping to
disappoint the tourists who
have gathered at the pier for
weekly fireworks...  dawn came
too early this week, forcing 
many to return home early.
Nancy Drew came down to 
check for reality only to find
Chan got there first, selling his
story to reporters knowing it
would be different when published.
just another day in paradise,
just another group of illegals
crossing over for coffee and tea.

June 16, 2025

Changing Mentalities

lines are crossed, seasons lost
peril follows us all,
woven weaves unwind
unraveling our dreams
sadistic crowds mock each other
in the streets of Los Angeles,
tubes of lava flow underground
bringing in new species
only realized in nightmares...
victims of leisure crowd the beaches
looking to take home the sun
enduring the sand and water
to be bronzed all over
shedding their whiteness forever.
jubilant warriors dance and die
on the battlefield, rejoicing
in their deaths, leaving behind
a life in which they no longer
had the same beliefs with which
they had been born...
mustached tax collectors roam
the streets of our communities
looking for donations
finding empty souls and pocket,
the cradle of life now destroyed
replaced by artificialities,
remakes and deep fakes,
leaving us wondering about reality.

June 15, 2025

Night Madness

on the streets of battle
dead bodies lie,
gang soldiers and civilians,
mothers and fathers
brothers and sisters
no one spared
only violence served,
raids in the nights
or early morning,
difference still unknown,
leaders on their knees
learning how to pray,
slaves of labor
steered the wrong way,
gossip flows quickly
down abandoned alleys
fearing the worst
trying to rest assured
nothing calmed or sedated
except the thoughts
of who is next...
who lives - who dies
who tells the story of
all this night madness?

June 14, 2025