You glimpse the magazine
It stands out on the display
Seniors posing on the cover
They look joyful, all at play
Gleaming smiles and white hair
They had professionally styled
Retirement years are meant
To look appealing, fun and wild
Then you see the smaller print
For 50 years plus
*** you’re in the club already
Now don’t you make a fuss
Go book yourself a ******
And maybe Botox too
Get some extra slimming pants
They’ll take some years off you
Stock up on pricey lotions
Try gravity defying creams
Just be sure to read the label
Pretend to know what it all means
There must be some kind of useful
Ingredient for that price
And if it ultimately fails
At least you end up smelling nice
Now ignore those magazines
That make life look like plain sailing
Wearing a smile will help you through
When your creams and pants are failing
And after all this daily effort
As life puts you to the test
You can surely put your feet up
And enjoy a well earned rest
Apr 19, 2023
Apr 19, 2023 at 10:50 AM UTC
It was never spoken
I never heard it as a child
I wouldn’t say it myself
That couldn’t be reconciled
With how we felt we were
Unworthy of such things
Although we shared a bond
That our experience brings
But now the thought has come
That one day I might lose
The opportunity to say it
I will not get to choose
So as I say goodbye
I feel it fighting to break through
Years of inhibition
I want to tell you I love you
Dec 11, 2022
Dec 11, 2022 at 12:01 PM UTC
You changed my life quickly, in the blink of an eye
And I’ll always be wondering, exactly how and why
I used to be so confident, but not anymore
Now I can’t do things that I used to do before
Like walk around this town without this knot of fear
Not knowing if you or anyone who knows is even here
Does anyone remember or can tell me what I did?
I so want to know, but reopen wounds with every bid
To find out what happened, it’s what I have to do
But what if all the answers then lead right back to you?
You took away my power, memory, control
But you couldn’t touch who I am deep in my soul
Did you get what you wanted? I really hope you didn’t
I long for some kind of justice but every day there isn’t
It tears me up to think you could be doing the same
To somebody else out there, like it’s some kind of game
It’s too much to hope that you even care or think
About what you’re doing when you spike someone’s drink
May 5, 2022
May 5, 2022 at 8:20 PM UTC
We’re on it.
The curse is out there
And it will find you
Because it knows
As well as you do
What you did.
You took something
That you had no right
To take away
In the dead of night
We’re on it.
The curse is out there
Each day refreshed anew
Don’t expect anyone
To have sympathy for you
Sep 20, 2021
Sep 20, 2021 at 8:14 PM UTC
“Don’t put it up inside the house..
It’s bad luck”
He looks at me, his thumb on the button
Then bam it’s up, it’s out in all its glory
You can probably guess the story
I get mad, “I told you not to..
And you did!”
He looks at me, not understanding
Why it’s so important anyway
I bite my tongue in an effort not to say
All those irrational fears
But they’re there
In my head, as he raises his voice
To scold me for raising mine
I apologize and say it’s fine
He says he just wanted to see what
It looked like
As I ponder endless consequences
As inevitable as the tide
For opening an umbrella inside.
Aug 23, 2021
Aug 23, 2021 at 1:49 AM UTC
We’ve stopped paying attention
And how hard it is to train the brain
To do something that it hasn’t for years
To listen, it’s always a strain
To switch off the music on repeat
To tune out the vehicular drone
To walk slowly on our own two feet
And switch off the ubiquitous phone
We’ve stopped hearing the song of life
The scratchings and pitter patter
Of feet that are not our own
As if ours are the only ones that matter
Jul 5, 2021
Jul 5, 2021 at 10:00 PM UTC
It’s a less beautiful world without you
Sure, the landscape seems the same
And the sky looks just as blue
But there’s a lack of comfort from the sun
As shadows lengthen too
The world still turns through every test
But how can it ever be the same
From sun rise east to sun set west
All joy slipped through our fingers
When we laid you to rest
Apr 22, 2021
Apr 22, 2021 at 10:36 AM UTC
You have the power
You do it because you can
To grow more money
Through exploitation
The price is paid
By another
The cost is something
They can’t recover
I know it doesn’t
Matter to you
That I’m here
Begging too
You’ve heard it before
And it falls
On deaf ears
Like the bird calls
Another cut
Is made
And more lives
Are taken in trade
For the ancients
There’s no coming back
As they are laid
Stack by stack
And carted off
Down the blasted road
They should stand tall
Not be dead and towed
Once they’re gone
And none are left
Will you too then
Stand bereft?
You’ll have to find
A new way to make a living
Knowing from history
That you learned nothing
You can’t undo
This kind of mistake
But what do you care?
You take take take
I did so want to reach out
To those giants and see
Unbroken uncut untouched
Forests with tree after tree after tree
Apr 1, 2021
Apr 1, 2021 at 10:33 PM UTC
My boy has gone
My wonderful beautiful boy
He was my world,
My life, my everything, my joy
The house is empty now
An all encompassing emptiness
It swallows what is left
And leaves a crushing loneliness
It grabs me round the neck
And chokes the sobs out strangling
I’m so tired and worn out
I can’t talk or think of anything
But my boy is gone
Mar 24, 2021
Mar 24, 2021 at 2:04 AM UTC
An absence
Of what was going to be
Now gone with barely a trace
You can see it
It looks like the tears on her face
You can hear it
It sounds like the break in her voice
But you can’t touch it
It’s hers to nurse or ignore, her choice
You can feel it
But it’s too late to fix now, it’s there
What’s done is done
Maybe it will fade in time, with care
Perhaps it will flare to anger
Watch the repercussions grow
Can anything soften that hurt?
Only she can know.
Feb 6, 2021
Feb 6, 2021 at 3:45 PM UTC