Thomas P Owens Sr

Thomas P Owens Sr 7d

where the hell am I
I don't recognize this place
we are led like cows to slaughter
blind to this disgrace
we take their poisons with a grin
while they get filthy rich
they play us like a lab of rats
then kick us to the ditch
our taxes buy their mansions
the market is their bank
they wallow in their sick perversions
their eyes are dark and blank
this is the final scene
where we proceed or wave the towels
do we let these ******* get away
or feed them to the cows

fed up

#secrets #elites

Thomas P Owens Sr Apr 28

the saddest part

the saddest part of dying
is what you forgot to do
the ideas born in lucid dreams
that vanished in the hue
the mountains never seen
the oceans never crossed
the poems written on scraps of paper
a lover's smile now lost
the tears you held inside
the chances never taken
the landscape of your life
an oasis now forsaken

#old #older #reflections #undone

Thomas P Owens Sr Apr 3

Soliloquy echoes in a Western sky

the town had just come into view
as the western sky turned a brilliant blue
he pulled up alongside a prickly pear
lit up a stogie and rested his mare

how long will this beauty last
he'd wonder
the calm was hushed by distant thunder
no time to doddle
as the blue went gray
it's rollin' in fast
best be on our way

the echoes roll in the western sky
farmer's plea answered
by the Lord on high
let's pray for peace and the end of change
Our Heaven on earth
this open range

the title came to me in a dream

#vision #peace #beauty #nature

Thomas P Owens Sr Mar 23

Hollow Man (repost)

I searched the face of the hollow man
as I drove the dagger through his empty heart
drained by love given
but not replaced
he cried to me
conceiving his defeat
to shield his soul from the pangs of living
the blood of fleeing life
and the tears of anguish
fell in drops
to the time-worn floor of the dismal room

a light breeze eased the curtain aside
a blinking hotel sign
revealed a dead man
lying beneath a mirror
smeared with blood
dried to the image of a stretched palm
many hours later

I posted this in 2018, but I wrote it in 1974...and read it in front of the Creative Writing class. I got very strange looks afterwards. I was a very quiet teenager and this was unexpected I'm sure. The faces when I was done reading in that classroom are etched in my memory

#depression #suicide

Thomas P Owens Sr Mar 15

I notice them (revised)

the slight movement of a Santa doll
in the corner of my eye
flickering light as I begin to doze
then a whisper or a sigh

a kitchen ceiling bulb cover
seven years without a peep
decides to loosen and shatter
as I lay fast asleep

heard the voice of a young man....Arthur
when I botched the last name at his stone
'my name is not Stickler, it's Strickler!'
he said in a mild mannered tone

He spoke a second time one year later
during a recording session in my den
clearly said my name...'Thomas'
as he flew left to right
and back again

I notice them when they visit
there-in lay the key
they notice when I notice them
the grateful dead
and me

true

#spirits #ghosts #friends #real

Thomas P Owens Sr Mar 8

a poet's dream

the poet made his way through
the fog of memory
trying to find refuge in a phrase
that hides from him each day
each waking hour
and now
he has found it in his dreams
it reveals hazy clues
in glimpses of his past
life unfolding through back room windows
familiar faces that he met briefly
or perhaps just shared a smile
it lives within us all
and begs for our attention
the past is the sum of what we are
keep it close
allow it space
and your dreams will write the poem for you

this one wrote itself

#dreams #past

Thomas P Owens Sr Feb 27

the day has come

this is the day I begin to feel old
the back is always sore
the knees are shot
the shoulder aches
my real teeth are down to four

a bout with cancer has taken its toll
but they caught it early so I shouldn't moan
what little strength that had remained
has left with my testosterone

my feet and toes are turning numb
my eyes are fading fast
it takes an act of congress now
to exercise my wrinkled ***

my memory now is headed south
it wasn't good to start
the only things I do more often
is eat, sleep and ****

but I'll be 70 come July
I really shouldn't *****
I've seen and done some crazy things
and I've yet to lose that itch!

getting old

#older #meaner #gripier #age