Now you're just spitting out
Hollow air
Useless words
Nothing there
You were genius
Before people started noticing
How good you were
And suddenly
You're putting out nonsense
And ****** content
Unfinished,
And not meant
To make it past the drafts
But you were brilliant once
And you can rest on your past

Women can sometimes be kinda daft
We call disloyal men “dogs”
I’m not sure if we do so because we don’t
Know men
Or maybe we don’t know dogs
We don’t know pigs, either
Snakes, though…
Snakes we understand

The man in the moon is no pretty boy
He’s a pock-marked
Grown man
Stuck in his
Reclusive teenage habits
Relying on his Mother Earth to keep
Him around
Which she does

At arm’s length

He didn't break you
You were already broken
He just played with you
Indelicately
It will be him
To whom the blame switches
For all your failures and faults
In order to avoid blaming yourself
Your mind does somersaults

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

Sometimes
I feel tingly and on top
Others
Itchy and on bottom
Fluctuation
Plurally
Sometimes
Is otherwise
Almost always
Numb and in middle

The drama queen is long and lean
Always frets about her fat
Sighing in the mirror
From this angle and that
She looks for a reason
So she can take offense
And can't stop pestering you
When you're hanging with other friends
She likes to show her body
And believes the big response
Hundreds of fellas
All of those tellas
Thumbs up, compliment
Making her feel heaven sent
Because they acknowledge
And attention from strangers
Feels like love to her

I’m gonna have to pause and reflect
He obviously sees me with my neck
Chopping block ready
He’s holding the axe
And instead of giving it a good whack
He’s waiting for something
I don’t know what
Apparently for me to make my own cut
He’s got no plans to feed this chicken
And he ain’t gonna eat me, either
I’m just a self-teaser
Thinking the thoughts
Saying the words
Being ignored, instead of heard
It ain’t his fault
It’s all my own
I went to town
Like a clown
Wondering why he’s not coming around
Silly fool me
I showed up naked
For the costume party
And thought I could see
A really great guy maybe looking at me
Wondering if he could like what he sees
And deciding it’s not worth….

Any effort at all
He’s gonna let me run into that wall

Her bio said she was from
Uranus
And that’s all we need to know
To make the easy decision to scroll

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

We got something, we both know it
We don’t talk too much about it
Ain’t no real big secret all the same
Somehow we get around it
Listen; it don’t really matter to me, baby
You believe what you want to believe
You see, you don’t have to live like a refugee
Baby, we ain’t the first
I’m sure a lot of other lovers been burned
Right now this seems real to you
But it’s one of those things
You got to feel to be true
Somewhere, somehow, somebody
Must have kicked you around some
Who knows, maybe you were kidnapped
*******, taken away, and held for ransom
Honey, it don’t really matter to me
Everybody’s had to fight to be free
You don’t have to live like a refugee

Back in the day
When the biggest drama I saw on tv
Was  Bobby Brady scared to climb a tree
And of course
It ended splendidly
When he lost his parakeet
And found it up there
Somewhere high
And Bobby Brady was no longer
Height shy
And saved his beloved parakeet
And got over his fear of climbing trees
Oh to be back in the seventies
When that was the biggest drama
I saw on tv
Although, as much as Bobby seemed to love it
We never again saw that parakeet

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

She is growing tomato plants in the back yard
I have named one Greta and one Nelson
She remembers
And calls them by name
Greta and Nelson
Tomato plants
Loved by somebody

Timmy the tick
On a high blade of grass
Spied a delicious looking
Furry thing
Sleeping
Near the back path
At sunrise he started
Making his way
Getting all through the yard
Took the entire day!  
Timmy made it
And got all the way there
Only to find
A furry teddy bear

I just sent my grandkids
A video montage
Of heroic dogs saving the life of their
Owners
And told them if they want a dog
They should show it to their mum
If those kids ever need an alibi
I’d surely give them one
The next video I sent to them
Was of a prank
Feeding seagulls at the beach
French fries mixed with laxatives
On a busy, sunny day
If it ever comes about
The seagull huge **** spout
Don’t ask me who did it
I’ll never say

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

We just met
And I don’t know if it’s stalking
Or kismet
However
It is
That you know me so well
Is it beautiful
Or terrifying?
I cannot tell

Money talks
But it don't sing and dance and it don't walk
And long as I can have you here with me
I'd much rather be forever in blue jeans
Honey's sweet
But it ain't nothin' next to baby's treat
And if you'd pardon me, I'd like to say
We'd do okay forever in blue jeans
Maybe tonight
Maybe tonight, by the fire
All alone, you and I
Nothing around but the sound
Of my heart and your sighs
Money talks
But it can't sing and dance and it can't walk
And long as I can have you here with me
I'd much rather be forever in blue jeans, babe
And honey's sweet
But it ain't nothin' next to baby's treat
And if you'll pardon me, I'd like to say
We'd do okay, forever in blue jeans
Maybe tonight
Maybe tonight, by the fire
All alone, you and I
Nothing around but the sound
Of my heart and your sighs

Just a good old boys
Never meanin' no harm
Beats all you never saw
Been in trouble with the law since the day they was born
Straightening the curves, yeah
Flattenin' the hills
Someday the mountain might get 'em, but the law never will
Makin' their way the only way they know how
That's just a little bit more than the law will allow

Some poets take you on a journey
Exquisitely planned
Mapped out to the letter
Sunset safari soufflé
Other poets
Present snapshots
Balanced and in full color
Hit ya with the short and sweet
Both ways to get there
I guess
I wish I had more
Sunset in me

It will most likely be
You never will see
The value of me
It’s not blindness on your part
But inundation of gorgeous art
I cannot expect you to notice me
When you’re surrounded by so much
Beauty
It must be everywhere you
Peek
Someone displaying the best they got
For you to see
Then, there’s me
Amidst adoring faces sea
And in that boat in which you be
There’s so much beauty
Within a few feet
To bother with what’s in the faraway sea
Where I be
Making little waves
Adoringly

Heard it from a friend who
Heard it from a friend who
Heard it from another you been messin' around
They say you got a boyfriend
You're out late every weekend
They're talkin' about you and it's bringin' me down
But I know the neighborhood
And talk is cheaper when the story is good
And the tales grow taller on down the line
But I'm telling you, babe
That I don't think it's true, babe
And even if it is, keep this in mind
You take it on the run, baby
If that's the way you want it, baby
Then I don't want you around
I don't believe it
Not for a minute
You're under the gun
So you take it on the run
You're thinking up your white lies
You're putting on your bedroom eyes
You say you're coming home, but you won't say when
But I can feel it coming
If you leave tonight, keep running
And you need never look back again
You take it on the run, baby
If that's the way you want it, baby
Then I don't want you around
I don't believe it
Not for a minute
You're under the gun
So you take it on the run
Take it on the run, baby
If that's the way you want it, baby
Then I don't want you around
I don't believe it
Not for a minute
You're under the gun
So you take it on the run
Take it on the run, baby
If that's the way you want it, baby
Then I don't want you around
I don't believe it
Not for a minute
You're under the gun
So you take it on the run
Heard it from a friend who
Heard it from a friend who
Heard it from another you been messin' around

I think you’re an insensitive ****
And also a hypocrite
Too
You should also get over yourself
If you assume this poem is about you

My grandson might grow up to be a lawyer
He had a day that is bad
I said to him “why are you so angry?”
He replied, “I’m not angry, I’m just only mad”

I put words in lines
And some of them rhyme
The illusion of poignancy
From one lame thought
Spread out
And about
To make something invisible
That someone can clearly see
Give the formless a body
The miracle of poetry

I wish to be the water that meanders down his chest and into his *****
I wish to be the oil in his bones
Deep in the grooves
Part of the system’s sustain
I wish to be the fire
That makes him laugh in the rain
Massage out his aches and pain
I think he thinks I overestimate him
But I think just as much of myself
And I know I’m not overestimating myself
He is lucky
Because of me
Whether or not it be
Something he ever sees

A male chipmunk is referred to as a
BUCK
I find this iron-uck
Men must have chosen the word “male”
Without really thinking it through
If men of today were naming their gender
They’d be stallions or eagles or sharks
And chipmunks would be out of luck
They’d be referred to as
Penny instead of buck

I'm wishing you could be with me
I suppose that makes me a ****
How can you say you care about someone
And hope their marraige doesn't work?

Stop saying you are pushing him away
Because you care too much
And you don’t want to break his heart
Liar
You push him away
Because you want him to beg you
To let him stay

“Hit the road, Jack”
Just might be the most
Poignant line
In all of music

I came here looking for you
You’re not here
Amused myself with something newer
On my way to something new
My attention span is nonexistent
But I stay around the edges
You’ll be back here soon

It’s not about you
Until you see yourself in it
Then it’s ALL about you
And also
Somebody else
Poetry never runs out of
All of itself
To give
In solitary
And so receives
The one it must be meant to be
Sometimes that someone is me

The heartbreaking part
Was the person that drug
Made you to be
Still so fun to be around
But such dishonesty
You became a thief
And a liar, too
I couldn’t stay long
Near the drugs and you
I have anger
For things you did under the influence
Or more usually trying to get under the
Influence
I got out pretty easily
I left that time I took you somewhere
And you stole from my friends
Of course, you say it wasn’t you
But you know I saw you were in that room
The heart breaking part
Was the loss of that absolute wonderful guy
On account of you skeezing to chase that high

Progress is near impossible
Stuck in the
Poor me
Big bogs
Buggy bug big bogs
Over-filled with frogs
Croaking painfully
With sore throats
Pooaaaoooaaaeeeeaaaaaooooor meeeeeeee!

This is your virtual
Mind massage
I can tell you need to put down your heavy
Thoughts
I am at your temples
Gentle circles
And then directing the vibes up and out
My palm across your forehead
An eraser on a blackboard
Thoughts out the top
Relaxed
Breathing
Steady and full
Your neck
So tight at first
Takes a little work
Feel my fingers gentle coaxing
Spine align
And knot forgot
Shoulders
Released of their load
Kneading out the memories
Of what you’ve been carrying
Blades and middles
Lowers and hips
Rubbed and oiled
Kissed with my lips
I hear you moan
I cannot stop
I’m taking you through bliss
I can tell you’ve never been
In it quite like this

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

He is rain.  He is wet and bubbly and refreshing to my thirst
He knows who he is
When I talk about rain
He who is ocean died a few years ago
Unreliability and even dishonesty
That was how he who is ocean
Turned out to be
Another is earth
Fertile and full of life
Yet gritty with dirt
Ancient earth worshippers in his stock
I am still waiting to meet he who is rock

I could make it seem like such toil
And claim I bleed for my poetry
But it is not at all work
It is a joy for me
Elation of creation
And then I set it free
But I can’t really let it go
It’s still a part of me

There it was
The Word
Undeniably unpopular
But true
Sorry the burden to say it
Had to fall on you

Being remembered by millions of people is no more impressive than being known and loved by tens of people.

We fell apart quickly
After falling together
Real slow
Don't really want it that way
But it's the only way it can go

I don’t respect you
Or any of your views
You’re a ******* of the highest order
But your poetry is brilliant
Which messes with my mental border
How can I possibly
Love poetry
Saying such ******* things?
But you’ve got some kinda magic
In the play of your words
The ring of your chords
Which make the absurd
Rhyme
Just this one time

I enjoyed so much about you
But it wasn't enough for you
You needed to be seen as perfect
To judge my heart be true
You can't be perfect
And unwilling to take criticism
Perfect people
Know how to listen.

I ache for you
And the hole you will someday fill
Hopefully, one day
If Fate be what she will
Perhaps it's fate to never meet
And ache all my life through
But I can't settle for a substitute
I'd rather wait for you
Whoever you may be
Whatever you may do
I hope when you finally show up
I will recognize you

Boy, the way Glenn Miller played
songs that made the hit parade
Guys like me we had it made
Those were the days
Didn't need no welfare state
ev'rybody pulled his weight
gee our old LaSalle ran great
Those were the days
And you knew who you were then
girls were girls and men were men
Mister we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again
People seemed to be content
fifty dollars paid the rent
freaks were in a circus tent
Those were the days
Take a little Sunday spin
go to watch the Dodgers win
Have yourself a dandy day
that cost you under a fin
Hair was short and skirts were long
Kate Smith really sold a song
I don't know just what went wrong
those were the days

One day
Maybe
It will be forgotten
I hope
You take for granted
You never figure
One day it won't

Take away my inhibitions
Take away my solitude
Fire me up with your resistance
Put me in the mood
Storm the walls around this prison
Leave the inmates, free the guards
Deal me up another future
From some brand new deck of cards
Take the chip off of my shoulder
Smooth out all the lines
Take me out among the rustling pines
Til it shines
Til it shines
Like an echo down a canyon
Never coming back as clear
Lately, I just judge the distance
Not the words I hear
I’ve been too long on these islands
I’ve been far too long alone
I’ve been too long without summer
In this winter home
Still, if we can make the effort
If we take the time
Maybe we can leave this much behind
Til it shines
Til it shines

I am an insignificant
Frail and faulted human being
So when it comes to questioning
The powers that be
It is extremely presumptuous of me
But I can’t help but wonder
When it comes to armpit and ***** hair
“**** it, Mother Nature;
Was that really necessary?”

I see you suffering
Behind the mask
Of smiles
That never reach your eyes
I’ve met your kind before
You would rather pretend to ignore
I do not push
I pretend too
I hope that is the best thing
To do for you