Day's End

into the boat the water washes

not salty at all

as some would say it is...

perhaps,

it is my location or a wrong reading

on the compass stowed below,

perhaps,

it is the gods who have sent us thusly

to explore our destiny

or someone else's yet to be discovered.

it is a strange dialect that

surrounds me now...

these heavens seem to be closing in,

making the world smaller

more finite,

less encompassing than when

first, we sailed these waters,

low and behold

the sun guides our reckoning...

we are at day's end.

March 25, 2025

A Mental Pond

 

gently
blows the morning breeze,
briskly
my heart flutters openly,
factually
a cat-like creature sits upon my shoulder
poised to pounce on unsuspecting prey,
recklessly
my eyes search the surrounding area,
reluctantly
the whiteness of her emerges - an assumed gender
why else alone?
intrigued by the reflections and shadows
emersed in solitude
pensive and practical,
delayed interpretation of reality - exposure
trepidations in tentative turmoil...
why else here?
for my beauty - my sight - my fantasies delayed
could it be?
a harmony emerges
well within my range...
honestly
I'm glad I came here today.

March 25, 2025

Egos

 
moments pass slowly
days overly age
skies belabor the point
no one wants to know,
drifting alone
absence of mind
wondering
but thoughtless
a vacuum of expression
no one hears
no one sees
no one understands
the dilemma ahead...
behind hope's left
gone or stolen
it matters not,
we end what began
beginning what ended
long ago...
we seek and
find nothing,
sharing not what we
don't have or want,
your conclusions
my tomorrows
my futures are
your only past.

March 24, 2025

Easy Pickins

we grip the threads of success
maybe once or twice
if we are lucky - none at all
is the typical way it goes...
some of us, spin gold just as
easily as sipping a cup of tea
in the afternoon gardens
of our neighbor's desires...
we were destined to be wealthy
or poor - no in-between...
not just yet anyway - we will
know more tomorrow we believe,
nocturnal fences we build then
destroy as our needs progress,
and we stumble over currencies
lying around on the floor...
as if it dropped off of trees
we planted the other day...
it comes easy to some of us
others not so much but we get it
all the same, sharing it with those
who need it less and less...
a graveyard of new ideas
a river to float them on
bored navigators sitting on docks
waiting to toss out the line...
the wealthy never get greedy
they just get wealthier
never hesitating to keep it close.

March 22, 2025

Wisdom Chasing

along the road to wisdom
we take many other paths
that look most promising
only to find they were
detours...  taking us away
from the road on which
we needed to be...  we are
alarmed by our inability to
make correct decisions,
our inability to make
correct judgements until
fully experiencing the
wrong turns we took along
the way...  but the way was
never marked - there were
no signs to guide or to
directed our movements...
we were left forsaken,
abandoned, left to perish
in the vast wilderness of
life - a life of which we 
knew very little...  not at
all like we had imagined,
where it was gifted and
wrapped with a bow...
spoiled and infatuated, we
stumbled our way through
life, carrying what we could
in our pockets like the coins
of the ancients...  a mess of
life we made, until wisdom
informed us in no uncertain
terms - it no longer mattered.

March 22, 2025

Longboats Arriving

longboats row to shore unevenly
an uncertain metaphor plays out
grandma sits on the back porch
stitching up the holes in her
son's theoretical theories...
grandpa sits on the front porch
hoping the black coal will turn
white soon from this morning,
Elanor's vacation plans have 
suffered minute changes since
toxic cargoes been offloaded,
june bugs await their arrival
in empty coffee cans formerly
used for fishing worms...
rain scrubs all backyard plans
until further notice as morning
flowers wish to get saturated...
desperate critters roam the yard
looking for kindness and a place
to spend the night - washing their
teeth in the falling rain...  we see
the ends before the means and
have no justification at all...
morning brings the longboats
to our shores without considering
the rituals disturbed by their
inevitable presence and daring. 

March 19, 2025

Vacation Somewhere

east to west - north to south
we venture forward each year
as wandering tourists looking
for the ideal location...
waves and rides and sunning
tours, history, and meals
sometimes adventure and a
little hiking to get there,
sometimes air travel or a
seat on a high-speed train,
it is different each year for some
others like the routine of similar,
we know not what the year
will bring or take away, but we
do know we will not miss one
of our annual vacations...
unless too sick or too dead
we shelter in place and hope
for a quick passing until the next,
when plans are put into place
and actions taken, money spent,
it matters not where we go
as long as we go somewhere.

March 19, 2025

Life Predicted

by the rules we live for some
others use their wealth to
arrange right or wrong
truth or lies...  wanting 
just to prevail if convenient,
judges manipulated by politics
contributions made for favors
no one is honest or above the
unless almighty dollar prevails,
we seek our justice like our
fathers want and predicted as
the best route forward until
greed intervened, skewing
the results of life for those
who seem to have it all
against those who do not...
we are greater and bolder
than imagined, larger than
life itself - telling others how
to live and when to die as if
we became the creator of all
things real and imagined.

March 19, 2025

Lost Creek

 
shadows on the left
light on the right
cut out of rocks it runs
parallel to life
and then some, it says
on the brochure
lying on the ground...
water flows under
over and around,
bouncing wherever
between the trees 
and grasses, coming
from nowhere...
no origins, no endings
just flowing freely in the
midst of life - both sides it
dwells wherever, depending
upon nothing and having
litte affect surroundng
what it seems to care least for
or so it is, maybe not but
it streams onware and 
forward nonetheless bound
for its conclusions out there.

March 18, 2025

The Unexpected

cool air replaces warm
warmer comes back around
cool persists to remain...
spring arrives robustly
winter dragged along behind,
fears turn to tears as twisters
tear up in between us,
hiding in the celars
most of the night listening
to the wicked howls of
the northeastern winds
feeling their way through
the valley in which so many
of us currently live...
mindful of what not to care for
is gone for good while those
that were precious are safe,
lucky in life favors frew
when the time arrives that
you are the least important.

March 17, 2025