I don't recall year one of life,
But I'm here now,
So they got it right.
Yet I remember being one,
On a mattress, in the sun,
The smell of bacon and farm odors,
Were part of me as I grew older.

But I never asked to grow up.

I walked first steps
In my father's shoes,
Blathered blissfully when I was two.

By the time I turned three,
I was sure youth suited me.

I could reach the outside door,
When I grew to the age of four.
Now the world's mine to explore.

But I never asked to grow older.

Then by five I tried to hide
From the travails of an older child;
The digging, weeding, painting, work:
My escape to school was my re-birth.

But I never asked to grow older.

I didn't ask to turn six,
Seven, eight, nine or ten;
I shuddered at our  portends,
I didn't like how my world ends,
I finished fishing with Amens.

But I never asked to grow older.

I made twenty years ago,
When decades moved ever so slow;
Thirty came, forty gone,
And fifty didn't last that long.

But I never asked to grow older.

Since I must,
Please remember,
Dip my soother in Irish whiskey,
Include me if you solve the mystery,
And reference me and my life's history.

I chronicle in rhythm and rhyme,
Scribbling, jotting, imaging the times:
I dug down to Lucy,
And China's Great Wall,
Compared Viking raids with personal tirades;
Asked God questions, questioned Jeff Sessions,
And all of that where-with-all.
I've called wrong out, and written about
Our scandals, all fancy or true;
I've offered you solace,
Even opened my wallet,
And grieved when it was due.
I've been self-righteous,
And sometimes right selfless,
When parsing my love for you.
But now it should end,
I've less left to send,
And so love I bid, Adieu.

I'm aware of two certainties;
Certainly taxes isn't either one.

The hood won't be the same,
We're out standing in the rain,
To encourage sprouts as we once did our children;
For down the road you see it's as legal,
As a Timmy 'n cream-cheese bagel,
We're good to grow the free green grass at home.

On this side of our border,
Starting this October,
We'll bake it, vape it, roll and bowl to take it;
Down the road you see it's now legal,
The price of home grown's dropped to zero,
We're good to grow the free green grass at home.

Yes we're all on board to greet it,
Some inhale and some will eat it;
We're good to grow the free green grass at home.

I'm awake and it astounds me,
My four plants that surround me;
We've realized what we've long been dreaming;
For there's a store now where we can cop some,
Come this fall fresh buds will blossom,
We're good to grow our free green grass at home.

Yes we're all on board to greet it,
Some inhale, and some will eat it,
We're good to grow our free green grass at home.

The hood won't be the same,
We're out standing in the rain,
To encourage sprouts as we once did our children;
For down the road you see it's as legal,
As a Timmy's and a cream-cheese bagel,
We're good to grow the free green grass at home.

On this side of our border,
Starting this October,
We'll bake it, vape it, roll and bowl to take it;
Down the road you see it's now legal,
The price of home grown's dropped to zero,
We're good to grow the free green grass at home.

Yes we're all on board to greet it,
Some inhale and some will eat it;
We're good to grow the free green grass at home.

I'm awake and it astounds me,
My four plants that surround me;
We've realized what we've long been dreaming;
For there's a store where we can cop some,
Come the fall fresh buds will blossom,
We're good to grow our free green grass at home.

Yes we're all on board to greet it,
Some inhale, and some will eat it,
We're good to grow our free green grass at home.

This is it I hear her scream
As I weep and dream sweet dreams
I've had it with your whiny ways
Listen up now or else you'll pay
I can not hear her nor do I try
I just curl up and try and hide
If you don't come out I'll tan your hide
Keep this up and your going to die
Still I conceal myself
Cornered in this shadowy shelf
Praying that the sun will come
Before I have to go on the run
She searches through each room
And as each moment pass I feel my doom
Edging closer and closer by the minute
If death was a boat I'd jump right in it
Still I hide weep and cry
And in these shadows I pray to die
Better to feel nothing at all
Then her fist crunched in a ball

No time to judge
when you are in pain,
I just bring you
open arms again.

Hug you up
into the air,
till you can
barely hear
all the anguish
that has been
beating on you
like a drummer’s
stick.

Squeeze you
so tight
that all that darkness
just pours out
and all the
light I have
is yours to absorb,

and as an added bonus
I open both ears up
to hear all that stuff
you need to unload.

The sun strays
as its ray
fall *******
the yard that
is long gone,
mud dried
to the point of dust,
green grass
a thing of the past.

No one remembers
what a lawn chair was,
or when
the summer went
so slow
as the old folks
sat in the yard
and yacked on
about some thing
us younglings
didn’t have
any interest in.

The flower bed
is long dead,
stone blocks
now play border
to a wasteland
of forgotten
garden dreams.

The old occupants
have long since
passed
and all that is left
are memories
and even they
will not last.

Desire is the thief of
a pleasant present moment.