Americans

united we are but one

divided we are many
the needs of the many
outweigh the needs of
the few or the one...
divided we are crushed
by our enemies but
united they are no match
for us on land, air, sea;
we are divided in our
philosophies and in our
beliefs and in the way
we want to be governed,
but in a natural disaster
we unite as only one...
we are different generations
different levels of education,
we are male or female or
somewhere in between but
we don't accept that which
is closest to us since we
believe it is only about us,
we take more than we give
from those who press no
charges against us, thinking
we were oh so clever in 
how we manipulated them,
and nature smiles back at us
knowing we all must die.

November 20, 2023

Pejorative

eagles dance in the sky when the
sun comes out to play and craps
on the heads of its watchers when
the sun decides to stay inside...
neighbors blows their leaves on
our side of the property line and
make explanations that it was
not their intent to deceive...
congress fails to pass laws for
the people that elected them
while making sure of timely
results on their pay raises...
we insert our heads up our butts
only after we convince ourselves
was not due to ignorance or
simply being a little naive...
advertisers spit on our opinions
when we don't purchase the
goods and services they want us to
because it is their livelihoods...
cops step on necks and claim that
they are innocent of wrongdoings
when juries of their peers send
them to jail for twenty years...
drugs and crime plague our cities
and we blame the black and they
blame us for their laziness and
both sides spend time in jail...
electric vehicles are the rage
among the wealthy who cannot
understand why the poor do not
want to even own one now...
boys are girls and girls are boys
and marriages are no longer what
they were but dating has become
exciting for those who experiment.

November 18, 2023

Afternoon Naps

shadows on the trees confirm suspicions
backlight yields a 3-D appearance
leaves that have not fallen say
tomorrow is the day they will arrive,
weather bands tumble into the sixties
as senior citizens cool off with sprinklers
thanksgiving has come and gone and
we are none the wiser for it...
windows to the world open up in my sunroom
birds fly by looking like fish in an aquarium
cats sit in their trees quietly expecting lunch
fueled by misconceptions that is was 
only a linger shadow in the trees...
a month from now, maybe two or three
we will be unwinding the memories that
we took today, hoping the light captured
all that we wanted to see, not caring 
about what we thought we heard...
I wonder if I could wonder about the past
without the memories I have stored
inside my head when my mind no longer
sees the white line on the highways...
we are only the children of our age
since life we heard is to be ever-lasting.

November 18, 2023

Sleeplessness

sleep eludes me
over and over I turn
this way and that,
rearranging my body
adjusting my legs
keeping knees apart
and still no sleep...
an afternoon nap
I took today
not realizing its
implications...
tired I was from
an early morning
but no nap should
I have taken...
the darkness moves
through me like an
evening prowler,
I see faces in the
shadows and shadows
in the faces that lurk
behind the trees
peeking out at me,
my eyes grow tired
and red and feel a
little itchy from the
dust that fills the
air at night when the
cats ran through 
our hallways...
we are subdued by
the darkness and
its eerie connotations
before the light
returns and I can once
again afternoon nap.

November 17, 2023

Thankful

once again, the end 

of November has arrived

in the valley, we are 

thankful for so much that
we cannot think of it all...
we have survived a heart attack
and are cancer survivors,
we got through covid without
any false accusations...
affording the meds that 

keep us alive,
affording the food that 

nourishes our bodies,
limited are we with our income yet
we always seem to have enough...
family and friends 

gather at our table
our cup overflows with goodness,
we are as humbled as we are 

proud and as forgiving as we

are filled with
an abundance of gratitude...
we have no mission or purpose 

except to be the best we can, 

rolling with the flow of life as 

it takes us up and down the 

path in front of us...
we live for another day and 

are thankful for all with 

which we have been blessed.

November 17, 2023

I am You

light pours in around the darkness
of my soul,
surrounding my evil natures,
I wonder the streets of despair,
eat yesterday's food that was
thrown out as scraps,
I clothed myself in the shadows
of the day,
watching the innocent frolic in
the streets without a care,
I am the lone wolf,
the bastard child,
the retarded no one wants...
I linger inside your heart
confusing your thoughts
causing action 
where there should be none,
inaction when
something should be...
I am the movie clip of your
failures, causing you
to lose patience with yourself
and those close to you,
I am the hate you tried to ignore
and the love you could not
hold onto...
if I were the devil you would
run away and hide but
I am only you inside it all.

November 15, 2023

Lesser Minds Prevail

life bends around our desires
some fulfilled, others not,
we seek shelter in the mind
wants and needs around it
seem to flow through and
around as if trying to shape
and mold our futures...
we are not children as we
once were, grown adults is
what we are now, looking
before we cross the road
to our past, dredging up
we had long forgotten, seeing
faces we hoped we would not
see again, pawing and scraping
to enter the fantasies...  we are
manipulated by the best or so
we tell ourselves, realizing
it is just the new generation
wishing we would leave...
normalcy rules passion and
passion controls our souls,
we are within it all when we
are outside and above it all
when inside...   the law no
long applies to those who are
lost in their own oblivion.

November 21, 2023

On the Wall

five paintings divided

now in different shapes and sizes

a white moon in the middle

drifts into either side,

red tree leaves on the left

black leaves on the right

an island in the middle

floats through the white moon,

on the wall it hangs

alone in its own solitude,

birds fly south in the winter

but not through these,

a house off in the distance marks

a time when life was there

and we can imagine the

frivolity of children running

about undisturbed...

water emerges at the bottom as

it stretches all across and if

you look closely, one can see

faint reflections...

its stair stepped configuration

attracts attention and that's

the point but one wonders if its

colors blend in with all the rest.

November 12, 2023

Age

age comes in many sizes
sometimes small
sometimes tall
sometimes wise
sometimes oblivious,
but never as a number
is it perceived unless
a number is what you
need it to be...
not as strong is age
not as fast
not as smooth and
loving long never lasts,
age lives outside just as
well as inside and often
is perceived will never be
in our lifetime...
days move by as if they
were minutes and then
as if seconds and the next
time around we are no
longer there to worry about
our age nor our limitations
that other point to ever so
frequently...   age lives on the
doorstep of time and seldom
comes in unless invited.

November 12, 2023

Theorizing

wars and rumors of wars

guide our daily thoughts,

foolishly we prepare for peace

knowing it will never be,

condemning those who fight,

we referee their conflicts

by threatening to fight ourselves,

not realizing our foolishness,

we have no skills of leadership

no skills to unite our enemies

only threatening words

and bombs we claim will use

if they heed not our words,

we are no leaders as we bully

those who bully others and

claim we are the righteous ones,

we are delusional and misguided

our words falling on deaf ears

including our own...

we have not what it takes to be

our own god, even though we

perceive technology will take us there,

we are neanderthal in our minds

and our consciousness is displayed

on the floor like a bearskin rug.

November 10, 2023