along a brown dirt path free of leaves
well worn and travelled
many a vagabond straggler
and homeless waif
or ne'er do well
has walked before
into the valley
of not death but woe be me
I crawled at times
got weary wasted sore kneed
and thirsty
until sick sad and lonely
I bedded underneath
the nearest kind looking tree
for a bit of nap
and upon awakening
found my last ten cents was in
my pocket then
went missing
later I discovered I had fallen
blindly into dreaming
under what I call a money tree
which to my thoughts and reasoning meant
it was bountiful
and reaped great rewards for
the soul
to my surprise it means  it's limbs will reach
down
while you dream
finger your pocket and take
your last cent
then stand  there
bark brown still
and grin green or  russet red orange a grin
as you search for footsteps
and fingerprints

come crashing down
through darkness
into sight
a permanent marker
sharpie stuck in your eye
black all you see
negatives hung on the walls
charcoal reliefs
of those you knew
paragraphs of sadness
posted to your wall in pencil
on sheets of paper

ashtrays filled with ashes
trash cans with beer cans
and the day begins
thinking of when it will end
making breath and striving
just to make it
until
you see the moon beckons again

time spent glad I survived
just out on this side
of a bad rhyme
a bad seasoning taste
a slimy oyster day
tough as an idiot
blind
foreshortened
heart breakening silences
tough as porcelain
cement  caked on sore
fingertips
torn things
a walk ahead long

I keep banging my sore finger against the table
trying to pet the kitty
just another way to stay awake
alive
bang my head against the
ceiling trying to get high
enough to just be
able to see above the darkness
get on my knees sore as they are
everyday trying to make a living
wake up before I want to
go to sleep sooner
but bills are something concrete

Cold,
Hungry, Afraid of the other children stealing my lone possession,
My blanket,
My only protection from the bitter nights,

Another sleepless night,
Another oat in my empty stomach,
A man and woman walk in with a plate of food,
They search for a child to love,

I run with my weak legs towards them,
I face the children yelling,
“NO, NO” Scared of the children changing the adult’s minds,

I stop the other children from stealing my only hope, belief, future.
They laugh, thinking I’m cute,
The nuns take me out of the room away from the other children,

I sit with the adults in a white strange room,
All of my efforts of defense pay off as I am given the plate of food,
I have never tasted anything so warm, filling, replenishing,

They watch me shovel the food,
Thinking, pondering, whispering to one another,
They nod, smile at me
I never went back to that filthy room with the children,

I get lost in my reveries
The biscuits are all ruined
Burned to a blackened crisp
I keep forgetting what I’m doing.
I don’t scold myself that much
I have gotten used to this state.
I’ve been this way ever since
I discover *** was so great.

Too soon ******
Too late wise.
It seems like I can’t
Believe my own eyes.
Living in a fantasy
I avoid using a knife.
It can mean catastrophe
When up against real life.

It shuts up all the voices in me
That tell me what a ****** I am.
It makes a wonderful movie of
What used to be a lifelong scam,
Where I once had not been worthy
Suddenly I was a loquacious stud.
Cannabis took me to the mountain
And out of the ordinary mud.

Too soon ******
Too late wise.
It seems like I can’t
Believe my own eyes.
Living in a fantasy
I avoid using a knife.
It can mean catastrophe
When up against real life.

But somebody should have warned
That soon it takes over your life.
It makes you forget work and bills
The chores and even the wife.
A forty something thirteen year-old
Is mostly what I have now become.
Parts of what I knew as my mind
Have become deaf, blind and dumb.

Too soon ******
Too late wise.
It seems like I can’t
Believe my own eyes.
Living in a fantasy
I avoid using a knife.
It can mean catastrophe
When up against real life.

We are the ones who
Engineered golden rice for
Those who needed food

We are the ones who
Are starting to plan trips to
The iron planet

We are the ones who
Make earthquake proof matresses,
Buildings, and cities

We are the ones who
Are stopping malaria
With DNA's help

We are the ones who
Are actually learning
About mental health

We are the ones who
Saw racism and started
Black lives matter groups

We are the ones who
Push for equal treatments of
All ****** types

We are the ones who
Spread news from the source with just
A phone and a cause

We are the ones who
Are making changes, my friends
We are the future