Round and round
Descending spiral of insults
I can see
That’s where you want to go
I hope I have the good sense
To climb

It wasn’t aimed at me
I had nothing to do with it, really
But also, I did
Because I saw myself
In your casual insult
Aimed at someone else.
I’m sure I’ve done this before
To someone who needed more
Understanding
Turn about is fair play
And I forgive  
And it is forgotten
Who is this about, anyway?

You and I are alike
Maybe we all are
Innately human
Whatever that is
For good or ill
Humans have
Demons
We are alike in our demons
However different they may be

I am the opposite of you
You use twenty words
When only ten would do
Free donut off the cart?
You will take two
Throw one in the trash uneaten
That’s what you like to do
You’d rather take too much
Than risk having just enough
Wasteful habits feel a lot like
Wealth to a show off
All your stuff
If you don’t need it
It is a luxury
But really, you’re just wasteful
And it’s something we all see

You’re **** and perfect and beautiful
Unfortunately
It’s plain to see
You’re surrounded by layers of
Admirers
Why would you notice me?

Your birthday passed about
Two months ago
And I’m just only now
Remembering it

Now
We’re just repeating ourselves
The grudges and gripes
The praises and hypes
Over-eager types
Finding something to back
The club that has something they lack

I suppose if I talked about suicide
Maybe someone would listen
But it’s not so dramatic
As that
At least all at once
Ongoing drama
Unexpressed
And unending
Is no less of an end
Just played out
Not sure which is sadder

Can you tell when I bow to the crowd?
Cheesy crap I said out loud
Just to say something
With nothing to say
I musta needed attention that day
I see them now
And cringe inside
Though the crowd seems to love it
I suppose from myself
I cannot hide
Nor can I rise above it

A day
Like yesterday
And the day before
It’s probably not fair to complain
I wish there was something more
Some days
There is

Geese love to announce themselves
Repeatedly
The hopeful honking
A gaggle of geese

Anger
Built up
Toxic
Spreading unchecked
Fire inside
Each team
The rich are poor losers
Or so it would seem

I wish I had it in me
To be great
And to shine
And create something memorable
On purpose
And to know it
The creation of something memorable
Recognized
By memorable people
And what that feels like
But I don’t have it in me
The ability to bear the weight
Of being great

The luxury of boredom
Like anything else
Can become too much of a good thing

I avoided your social media
For obvious reasons
It was pretty easy
We don't share any friends
A year went by
And then two
I finally ventured a peek at you
I don't know what I once saw
But it is no longer there
You used to be perfect
When I wasn't aware

I’m older than the internet
Older than cell phones
Air bags,
I got a few years on Mrs. Pac Man, too
I’m older than My Little Pony
And He Man; he’s just a youth
Easy Bake Oven, younger than me
So are VCRs and DVD
No ATMs present
Till I was a teen
And microwaves
Didn’t exist either
I’m thinking about
All the things we went without
But why did it seem so much easier?

It took the pain away
You said
I suppose it did
Cuz now you’re dead

I fell for the guy you used to be
Before you knew
You had a piece of me

Keep to the right
You know the way
Lonely night
Long day
When right is sometimes
The solitary way

All is fine
Let’s pretend
Not much of a stretch
But still
Stretched
Someday maybe
Almost fine ends
But at the same time
Almost fine
Is better than
Not good

I want to write you a poem
But I'm not up to the task
I can't come up with perfection
Just cuz I asked
You’re so amazing
You deserve nothing less
But
I can't give perfection
Only my best
The world should know
About your valiant soul
Your gentle nature
Yet down to roll
Loyalty, and honest too
I can trust it
If it came from you

Boy
I say boy,
That chick is a fox

Desperation dripping
Something is crippling
Obvious to see
We may not know what they are
But issues a-plenty
You can choose to ignore them
You still look good in a
Bikini

What is it
That causes my mind
To occasionally wander
Towards you
After years of no contact?
What kind of magic
Was created in the collision of us
The cursed blessing
Temporary
Yet not

Happy poetry
Cannot be
What you don’t wanna see

Finally back in my own stable home
Where everything has it’s place
And remains where I left it
I know where the light switches are
Even in the dark
And I can flush the toilet
Anytime
Without waking anyone up
My neighbors are still having their loud
Nightly ***
I’m glad they’re still going at it
When everything changes
It’s the things that stay the sameses
That help me keep my saneness

How can it possibly
Be
That you are so **** beautiful to look at
Yet so uninteresting to watch?
You ride in the middle of the road
Every direction you go
Takes you nowhere but coasting
All downhill for you
Which is probably why
You have not much to contribute
It’s enough, though to sail
The fair winds forever
Most of us wish we could
Uninteresting it may be
A life that is too easy
Would certainly be
The choice of me

A brittle thread
Holds you to me
Not at all
What it used to be
The more I look
The more I see
Most of it is
Imaginary

Rest is so much better after a busy day.

There is no requirement
Of a tortured soul
In poetry
Just because it works for you
It doesn't work for me
And my poetry's not any less
Because I am happy

We ended without an end
Which makes it hard for me
To let go of what could have been
So much possibility
I'll work on accepting
And I'll work on me, too
First thing I should accept
Is that you will not work on you

Dear stranger *****
Sitting in some lonely room
Typing away on your keyboard
Spreading dirt and gloom
You think you're hurting feelings
And causing so much strife
But I think you're just demonstrating
You've got a lonely, miserable life
The rest of us will gladly forget you
As soon as the thread is done
But you're still stuck with yourself
A single,  desperate one

I stated my peace
Which brought only conflict

I can’t wait until
I’m popular enough
To attract the haters
Who come along
And downvote
Every compliment

I didn’t write this poem for you
I wrote this poem for me
But in every poem I write
Someone, somewhere
Will see
A part of themself
In what I saw in me

I watch you two
Bicker back and forth
Can’t remember the last time
I saw you flirting
With each other
Or anyone else
You share a mutual
Pattern of nuisance
And you seem to want it that way
I hope it’s temporary grievances
But I think they’re here to stay

You have set me on fire
Peacefully and blissfully
Yet it burns no less hot
Songs I’ve known for years
Are suddenly new
Days just seem more peaceful
And so does the view
Tingles, butterflies
Excitement brews
Mind frolicking
Thinking about you

The new mint chocolate chip tile
On words with friends
Only $9.99
Of real money
For that imaginary thing

I hope I never don’t want to go
Barefoot on grass
When the option is there
I hope I always choose to dance
Over sitting in a chair
I hope little kids always wear me out
And get me out of breath
I hope I live so **** hard
When I go
There’s nothing left

The age old questions
Upon which nobody can agree
Most always seem so simple to me
And probably everybody
It seems so obvious
That those who can’t see
Seem to be ignorant willfully
But they probably think
The same about me

You walked in
The room got smaller
You fill up every corner
Presence
You might as well have been wearing
A cowboy hat
With all that swagger
No high horse in sight
But a noble steed
Indeed

It was a set up
Really
Engineered by me
Unintentionally
But the way it turned out
So perfectly
Must have had something to do
With the Almighty
Smiling down upon me

Hanging out with the grandkids today
Yay oh yay!  
Now they’re here
Time to play!
Spilled your drink
No big deal
I’ll just use the same towel
From when you dropped
Your meal
Paw Patrol again
Again and again
They musta been making this show
Since I don’t know when
Now there’s a war
Over control of the bubble wand
The battle is vigorous
And seems to rage on
Lots of screaming and swatting
But only plastic guns drawn
Now I’ve cooked dinner
Lasagna for three!
But the kids have determined
They only want candy
Alright kids
I guess you’ll be hungry
Ten minutes later
“We’re STARVING to death.
But lasagna is on the list of things
That can’t possibly save us
From starving to death”.
“Well, I guess you’ll starve to death.”
And that’s where we’re at
The last time I checked

You jumped to conclusions
And landed in delusions
And there you stay
Sinking in deep
I don’t think you’ve even
Accepted the **** your standing in
You don’t look before
Or after
You leap

Yelling out to the void
Even the crickets are paying attention to
Something else
Especially the crickets
Yet here I am
Paying attention to them

Jump to conclusions
Jitterbug and tap dance
So concerned over
Who I let in my pants
You think it defines me
And maybe that’s true
But your obsessive interest
Says more about you

Repeating five times
“Please don’t do that again”
Might as well be begging
A breeze from gale wind
The storm in the middle
Is where you choose to stay
Knowing that you
Should get out of the way

There is no such thing as
Bringing a relationship
Back from the dead
Attempts at resuscitation
Will only result
In more frustration
Holding on
Hoping for change
According to Einstein
Makes you deranged
And he was pretty smart

Empty
Just another word for
Clean slate
Full of possibilities
Regardless
Of how it got
Wiped
Clear and clean
Might be the cleanest slate
I ever seen

Sometimes
The dust never settles