Cyber Wilderness

lost in a cloud wilderness
found in another,
cyber tricks played on
unsuspecting users... 
criminals hide in underground
caverns - theie hunters take
time out for lunch...
best wishes are sent out 
via email or texts as
we plan our protests in
online chat rooms,
where no one, that we know,
is listening in like they
were at home...
males swing from the tops
of trees like monkeys
to break and enter into
the dwellings they want
check out for purchase...
facts flow freely in the minds
of the accused as they have
their attorneys bribe the
judge with inaguaration tickets.

January 4, 2025

Damaged Souls

far from the crowd

far from those who care
far from the edge
too close to the other side.
not beside or not within,
between this or that
in rapid succession,
delve into it with me
or not, it matters litte
what you do or think,
when we are the wrong side
no one listens to our pleas
or our concerns...
we are the forgotten
the over-looked
the scraps of lunch 
discarded out back doors
as if dogs to feed
and little more...
we are what you were
what you left behind
what you refused to admit
you once were and more
and in the end
we perished along with
your destroyed soul.

January 3, 2025

Birthday

Age brings us wisdom
as faculties fade
moving less freely
like we did before
hearing and seeing
each day’s beauty…

Age brings us memories
of times remembered
births and birthdays
special events
and summer vacations…

Age brings us peace of mind
fairy tale days without
the worries of places to be
and people to meet
or errands to run…

Age brings us confidence
where we are who we are
and birthdays as just
another reminder of how
fortunate we have been.


January 3, 2025

Blinded Leaders

mellow minds we have not

hate is the flavor of the day,
we pride ourselves on intelligence
but fail to engage in compromise,
wealthy leaders tell us when
and how to act, preventing us
from becoming like them,
hoping we do not notice
and plan a quiet rebellion...
our days are numbered
so they say these scholars
why try to teach us well
but their methods are somewhat
distorted when politically
influenced by their beliefs...
nowhere is it written that our
society must band together
and unite yet it seems only
logical it is our only choice.

January 1, 2025

Windy Wednesday

Tennessee pines swing like
Florida palms in the wind
that blows through the valley,
trash cans roll down beside homes
harmless critters sift remains,
birds flock to secret hideaways 
carpenter bees squirm deeper
into the holes they made...
a polar wave will arrive someday
maybe two or three they say
swooping down through the
like an attacking Canadian
scrambling for recognition...
teetering on the edge, we stay
in our log cabins like Davy Crockett
before journeying to Texas to
defend a part of Americana...
grasping at straws we drink our
sweet teas from inside, looking out
out at nature having a little fun.

December 31, 2024 

My Better Half

morning crisis lies ahead when

there is no coffee made;
I stand firm in this conviction.
so, much so that coffee
is made the night before
and in a carafe placed...
next day morning arrives
and in a cup is poured,
place in a microwave
heated for a minute or two;
viola...  there it is...
my warm coffee smell
soon to be tasted
and crisis is averted...
until my better half points out
it took just as long to reheat
as it took to make now
that pods are on the scene.
back in crisis mood I go
trying to decide direction...
wondering why I ever
wanted a better half.

December 30, 2024

Timeless

 
along the wet sand I walk
a quiet escape from life around me
shells scrap the bottoms of my feet
and in my state of calm the
touch is hardly noticed...
no seagulls fly overhead
my thoughts and I are alone,
no animals on a leash do I tend
no a wife with whom to hold hands,
a chorus of ideas pass through
imitating the wind that is obviously absent,
the last light of day warms my body's
left side as the right is wet with spray,
small waves crash near me
a constant reminder that the oceans
never fade away like our lives.

December 29,2024

Bored

warrants lay on the desk unserved
soldiers stand at parade rest
toddlers play in the sand with shovels
parents sit under umbrellas reading
yesterday's news without regrets
cats sit on fence rails howling
at some unseen menace they
know is around there somewhere
and I sit on the couch with my
laptop drinking tomorrow's coffee.
chiefs of police postpone their duties
soldiers fantasize about the weekend
toddlers reach out for love and affection
parents reminisce when it was just them
cats no longer prowl in daylight and I
leave the couch to change the channel
nothing changes from one day to the other
I wonder what it is like not to be bored.

December 28, 2024

Thoughts in Flight

a flurry of thoughts passes through me
like a chilly winter morning on the coast,
the banks on the outer rim of the mind
are great for fishing this time of year,
or so I have been told once or twice.
before you I stand, instead of sitting
a man of my word I have become
listening to you complain every time
my headlights are turned on and
you are caught without a license.
each thought is a memory
each memory has a story
each story is painful
except the ones I forget to share.
in the dark my mind hangs like
a scarf around my neck that grows
tighter and tighter with age.
I fail to grasp the importance of the
nightly excursions into my past
where life is always recalled differently
and mornings arrive without sleep,
afternoon naps nurse my sanity
until another light bulb bursts.

December 28, 2024

In the Zone

stand in the light
let the warmth
wash over you,
feel the resurgence
of life coarse
through your body
into your veins
down to your feet.
don't lose sight
of yourself as
you bask beside
the window of
your sunroom,
feeling the heat,
feeling the tensions
just dissolve away,
like the life of the
fly you just swatted.

December 28, 2024