A roster of rotten rogues and rascals
Rapscallions and self-righteous racketeers.
Wrapped themselves in the American Flag,
Like Wicked Witches of the West in drag.
Not a whit of statesmanship in the bunch.
Hearts as black as coal, I have a hunch.
If we go by behavior, the devil is alive;
Queen bees who hate the workers in the hive.


They started with genocide of all those here,
Native Americans before the whites drew near.
They kept it up by importing a million black folks
They owned and ***** and made up ugly jokes.
In time they treated Irish and Italians the same.
Let them come here and then played a sick game.
Promises to those, the non-Europeans, were not kept.
They heaped them with bias while good Christians slept.

It has been going on forever since antiquity.
They make our fine country a den of iniquity;
When not operating from a sense of disdain
They run their show on hatred, death and pain.
They claim they work for the people, but
Most of the people can tell what is really what.
Distressingly disgusting, diabolically divisive
They do their best when citizens are permissive.

In time they decided monopolies were great.
They let those with money put up the gates
And charge those with little to pass through
To get food, water, places to live. Not new.
Old country villainy was given a new face
And soon only a few creeps owned the place.
They cheated and swindled and laughed at those
Who starved, rebelled and fought and died.
Rich children splurged on geegaws far and wide.

Soon the list of enemies grew in the mansions,
They included over half of regular American citizens:
Blacks women and poor people were told shut up.
There was not enough nectar to put into their cups.
Gays, agnostics and atheists were treated as if
They were the living minions of the Christian devil
Liberals and objections to conservatives called evil.
Anyone who had issues to the gathering of massive wealth
Was treated as a criminal who wanted to steal their wealth.

The self-righteous racketeers bought newspapers and lies
All created to be swallowed whole by the lazy and unwise
Who could not see that they bought and sold more crooks
That got into office and wrote evil laws into the books.
This is not a new game, in this computerized info age.
This is an ancient costume covering up the old outrage.
It only takes for most of us to stand by and not protest
When leaders lie, and cheat and steal and call it a jest.

I know you are a liar
With a suitcase full of lies.
You’re a peddler of snake oil
To those who are unwise.
You only deal in falsehoods
No matter who you hurt.
To me you’re two feet lower
Than pocketful of dirt.

You’re a gold-plated tinhorn
Not really worth a hoot.
You’re like a old plow horse
Too miserable to even shoot.
Half-deaf and selectively blind
You’re an stremely unfunny joke
And not really good to anyone
Especially decent moral folk.

I’ve seen guys like you before
They make me want to hurl
I could tell you immediately
Not to leave you with any girl.
You are the kind of criminal
Only beloved by a nut.
Someone should take you aside
And kick you in your crooked ****.

Your evil twisted lying self
Make me lose my religion.
I hate it every time you make
More suckers into pigeons.
I can’t stand to see your face
Let alone to hear you speak
And I am sure your followers
Have minds that are weak.

They’ll find out in a year or two
All the stuff we have foretold
When fans as well as the rest of us
Are freezing out in the cold
And all his cronies are safe
In the corporate welfare he creates
While we honest people pay the bills
And starve at his penthouse gate.

I’ve seen guys like you before
They make me want to hurl
I could tell you immediately
Not to leave you with any girl.
You are the kind of criminal
Only beloved by a nut.
Someone should take you aside
And kick you in your crooked ****.

I could not wear pink shirts
I could not wear fuzzy sweaters
I could not talk in my normal voice.
I had to change genders
When talking about my dates.
I could not keep my boyfriend’s picture
On my desk like everyone else did
Around the cluttered desks of others.

I could not talk at work about home;
I could not use the word married
I had to use words like ‘partner’
Even after years of being married.
Close friends and family talked
About him as ‘my little friend’
Even though he was older and
Bigger than a football tight end.

I had to put single on all papers
Including my tax forms in spring.
Being part of a gay household
To institutions didn’t mean a thing.
The bragging rights for gay people
Didn’t exist for anything essential.
The underscript was that gay folks
Were something vile and pestilential.

There was no recompense from god
Because we were called abominations.
Onward Christian Soldiers was a theme
That authorized the invasion of nations.
So, how were we to manage liberation
And pride in who we were as gays?
Some of us were murdered for this
Most of us harassed in ugly ways.

Over the river
And through Grant Woods
Through Hallmark scenes we go.
Through colors of white
That are not quite right
Not even for ******-on snow.

If Currier and Ives
Tends to give you the hives
You really might not want to go.
By now we have cars
And thank your stars
No shoes for the horse to throw.

Old men in jeans
In bucolic scenes
From a hundred years ago.
Don’t be in a rush
As driving through slush
Can cause accidents, you know.

Turkey and dressing
And Parker rolls
May suit the day just fine,
But a warning here
I’ll make it clear
You might not like mulled wine.

When you have eaten
While women work
The men can go off and drink.
The men getting *******
A seasonal disgrace,
The gals keep their minds on the sink.

Later while driving back ,
The men passed out,
The women behind the wheel.
They women all try
To figure out why
They go through this yearly ordeal.

There’s something wrong with me
I’m broken somewhere inside.
And, I know it won’t be easily fixed
I know because I tried.
I’m all messed up and in pain
And nothing is going right.
I keep on trying to get better
But it’s an uphill fight.

I’m hurting and I want to cry.
I’m depressed and I know why.
I want things to change right now
But, I can’t fix it. I don’t know how.

I keep wishing it was tomorrow
And my heart didn’t hurt so much
For the feel of you in my arms
And the healing of your loving touch.
I’ve healed all I will ever heal
From drowning in my own tears.
But there is something wrong with me
Since you are no longer here.

I’m hurting and I want to cry.
I’m depressed and I know why.
I want things to change right now
But, I can’t fix it. I don’t know how.

There’s something wrong with me
I’m broken somewhere inside.
And, I know it won’t be easily fixed
I know because I tried.
I’m all messed up and in pain
And nothing is going right.
I keep on trying to get better
But it’s an uphill fight.

Over the passage of time
Things got slowly better.
I began to hold my head up;
Rejected that lavendar letter;
The big “F I had to wear.
It originally meant ‘fairy’.
Later it meant ******, but
They still called me ‘Mary”.

They called me ‘“******”
And hurtful words like “shim”
When they referred to me;
They said “her” and not “him”.
It was so widespread that
The jokes were ever-present.
Life for a guy like I was then
Was seldom rewarding or pleasant.

There was no place back then
For those who were different.
The kindest word for the media
Could only be 'diffident'.
The world could only see us
As clowns and comic relief
But socially we rated somewhere
Below baby ****** and a thief.

So. we started marching
And coming out to our friends.
Later we would come out at work
But the discrimination did not end.
I was told not to put the picture
Of my lover on my office desk.
And I had to agree or else I would
Put my meager salary at risk.

When lovers were sick in hospital
We were not allowed to decide
How they would be treated at all
Our access to them was denied.
Family members, even haters
Were allowed to make the choices
And we were brushed to one side
As if they couldn't hear our voices.

Meanwhile co-workers ranted
If we used words like “my husband”.
We were treated the same as if
We were some ditzy cousin
They kept in the attic or a home
For the terminally strange and sick.
No matter when we stood up
We got the ***** end of the stick.

Today things are a bit better,
But, we have seen the pendulum swing.
Strange fake Christians get control
And reason stops meaning anything.
Jesus, who preached love and peace
Is used as a seemingly holy excuse
And, still today, many decent people
Never see through this awful ruse.

Making excuses
With hundreds of uses
All kinds of ruses
To cover up abuses
By venal national leaders
Upscale liars and cheaters
And well-armed bush-beaters
Feeding the meat-eaters.

The uptight Right
With its narrow eyesight
Calls daytime night
And loves a grudge fight
So, they create enemies
With deceitful homilies
And live up to the parodies
That leave us on our knees.

They ignore the Constitution
And make new resolutions
To offer no real solutions.
To our national destitution.
All that matters is monetary
So, they bribe the constabulary;
Call civil rights revolutionary
And laugh at those they bury.

The point is, make no mistake
These reprobates always take
They never take a break.
They cut nobody a break.
They steal and call it rights
And love it when the poor fight.
And while we sleep at night
They steal even the street lights.

The Right believes it is right
And so by default we are left
To fight both day and night, bereft
Of the loving eye of Propriety.
Denied by those with single site
Those who once believed in divine right
Even though that was never right
Never really acceptable
Mostly reprehensible
Spouting their religious twaddle
They were always ready to fight
For what they were told was right.

The Right listens to entertainment
And claims they are news shows.
And regard the truth with amazement
But that is just the way it goes
When you are raised by dunderheads
Who think education is a waste.
Listening to people like that
Will always leave a horrible taste
For those who prefer research
And knowing what is going on.
But don’t expect the Right to see
Charlatans and say “Move on!”

The idea is to listen to the words
And find the ones you want to hear
And then parrot back the lies
Smiling broadly from ear to ear.
Every time you repeat untruths
They gain a bit more credibility
And it matters not one whit
That the words don’t mach reality.
So, the Right keeps up the fight
For anger and hatred to win.
And every time the truth arises
The Right will fight it once again.

Kinda lost, as a matter of fact
No kind of tricks I can use
To help me to recover from
The Watching The News Blues.
There is no way I seem to
Be able to pay enough dues
To help me avoid getting
The Watching The News Blues.

Politicians stuffing ballot boxes
Some senator ****** little boys
Big Pharma raising their prices
The Pentagon buying broken toys.
We fracked another state up
We are invading another country
We’re outlawing people’s rights
The KKK is gains popularity.

I’ve got that kind of blues
From my hairdo to my shoes.
No over-the-counter drugs
That are any good to use.
It does no good to complain.
Everyone just ignores the clues.
They prefer to let us all suffer
The Watching The News Blues.

Big Oil bought out Washington
And then made solar illegal
If you pay enough money, you
Get to shoot an American Eagle.
DC is selling our forests off
And sells arms to both sides
And the average American
Can’t afford a place to reside.

Kinda lost, as a matter of fact
No kind of tricks I can use
To help me to recover from
The Watching The News Blues.
There is no way I seem to
Be able to pay enough dues
To help me avoid getting
The Watching The News Blues.

Evil colluders,
Robbers and looters
Claiming they're patriots too.
Hiding from tax.
And Wielding their axe,
Chopping down people like you.

Nothing is out of bounds
Burn freedom to the ground.
Let it all rot
They all say “why not”?
They don’t think we’re people
Banks are their church steeple.

Decades of cheating
Leaving us bleeding
And then they laugh at us too
Put it together
And what have we got?
A rabbity, rascally crew.

Nothing is out of bounds
Burn freedom to the ground.
Let it all rot
They all say “why not”?
They don’t think we’re people
Banks are their church steeple.

Radical fools,
Political tools,
Legions of idiots too.
Put them together
And what have you got?
Republican dillweeds is who.

Nothing is out of bounds
Burn freedom to the ground.
Let it all rot
They all say “why not”?
They don’t think we’re people
Banks are their church steeple.

Southerners said “You’re white!”
They’re black, and that’s not all right,
But you’re okay because you’re white.”
But that’s not right because I’m not white.
I’m sort of a pasty pinkish beige
So, why is it the rage to say white?
And black? That is usually the wrong tack.
I know people that say they are black
And others yak about black folk
In hateful, racist jokes, but they too
Are not black. They’re color runs from
As light as a cup of milky tea
To the color of a kukui nut.

So what is this black and white crap?
It’s a trap for some who don’t know
What to call other people because
They’re trained to call other people
Some name besides just people.
It has to be what color people
Trained under school bell and steeple
To talk this way and veer away
From the point they are making,
The risk they are taking by seeing
Something else besides a human being.
Instead they focus on something unreal
And therefore manage not to feel.

It’s really so sad, and so demeaning
To zap so much meaning from someone
Who has a life, loves, joys and pain;
Let's remain aloof from giving names
And incorrectly worded colors to them.
Don't pretend that you are being kind
When you teach yourself to be blind
To the beauty and the joy of boys
And girls who are not from your race
And to replace love and opportunity
With fear, suspicion and enmity.
It is quite simply a common tragedy.

It's hard not to get angry
At the cricket in the closet
During repeated ratatats
Of the rain on the roof.
Relying on the radiator
Ramboing the reluctance
Resident in the rafters.
Warm winter wishes
For a will of the wisp winter
Waken to wisdom
Rather than rash reminiscence
And rootless resentment.

Bountiful blankets build
A buffer and bulwark
Against my acrimonious
Admonitions assailing
The ghastly gods of nature,
That get together and muster
A team of terrifying titans
That have twisted spring
Into a frozen thing
To, like last year, once again
Punish the thin-skinned.

I won’t leave my toes out,
My piggy toes or my snout
Where a breeze can tease
Or threaten to freeze
From nails to knees.
Oh, please. This one night
Do it right, heed my plight;
Some unspoken vow to keep,
To let a chilly soul sleep
Else I shall weep
In a winter this deep.

Look down.
Is your money slipping away
As if it never was?
And can you not figure out
What is the basic cause?
Look down.
Are you hands not quite beige
And are there calluses there?
Then your Trump Republicans
In Congress don’t really care.

Look down.
Are you a pregnant woman
Who has no sacks of gold?
Are you sick and poor now?
Are you broke and old?
Look down.
Do you have a few million
You can donate to the GOP
Then likely you are *******
And have suffered silently.

If you sit and let them do evil
And don’t stand and resist.
They’ll use your sacred words
To prove your rights don’t exist.

Look down.
Do you watch the television
And believe all you see?
Does the Christian right dictate
How your existence should be?
Look down.
Are you sick of war and hate
And can’t see it ever ending?
Just realize it’s Congressional villains
That our country is befriending.

Look down.
Are you living up to the goals
You set for yourself in life?
Or is your government killing us all
And handing you the knife?
Look down.
There is hope if we all act
And pull these criminals down.
It’s our fault they are even there.
They run the circus, don’t be a clown.

If you sit and let them do evil
And don’t stand and resist.
They’ll use your sacred words
To prove your rights don’t exist.

She was a little stick of a thing
More of a twig than a branch.
She had freckles instead of makeup
But man could that girl dance!
She wore a sack of a dress
With simple holes for her arms
But I was immediately captured
By her open-hearted charm.

It was an accidental meeting
And a charming mental greeting
Two strangers seeking seating
That did not end up as fleeting.

I didn’t own a crystal ball
So I could certainly not see
What this little bit of a girl
Would come to mean to me.
She had beautiful eyes
The color of aged whiskey
That could make a guy
Want to do something risky.

A lovely accidental meeting
And a charming mental greeting
Two strangers seeking seating
That did not end up as fleeting.

So I took her with me dancing
As a harmless thing to do
For two people who are strangers
To whom everything is new.
I expected it to be awkward
Could this beauty even dance?
How was I to know that this
Would be the start of romance?

A simple accidental meeting
And a charming mental greeting
Two strangers seeking seating
That did not end up as fleeting.

My girlfriend won’t canoodle.
I’M not sure what’s amiss.
She refuses to even cuddle
And slaps me when I kiss.
She pulls away from me when
I try to cradle her in my arm.
It’s like she thinks I am a creep
Who intends to cause her harm.

Once I thought she was shy
Because she avoided my eyes.
Now I think she it is because
She’d rather I didn’t try.
I'D catch a look on her face
That goes away almost never.
I can’t just keep buying her things
Well, at least, not forever.

When we go out together
She tends to hide her face.
I have noticed she walks fast
And I almost have to race
To manage to walk beside
And  not fall too far behind.
I think if I just went home
She really wouldn’t mind.

I may have started with her
With the wrong tactics.
It’s just that pretty women do
Tend to turn me into a fanatic.
So I let her have her way
Did everything she wanted,
As long as our relationship
Was never overtly flaunted.

I guess I am such a wimp
That takes too long to see
That what was wrong was her,
And was never really me.
I’ve never known what’s wrong
I’ve done everything I can.
I didn’t even break up with her
When I discovered she’s a man.

Whimsy plays too big of a part
In what we call normal life today.
All the Gods the snobs invent
Have these expensive feet of clay.

You can put a monkey in a cannon
But that don’t make it incendiary.
Anyone can smoke a camel, but
That doesn’t make it a dromedary.

We need to have a nursery rhyme
That warns us about politicians.
Specifically how to disarm them
And turn them into electricians.

You can’t roll a joint properly
While surfing on your Sea Doo.
You have to ask the questions
But the answers might mislead you.

Unlike an elephant who remembers
Who knows what the thing recalls?
Voters forget every fourth November,
The outcome far too often appalls.

Bringing popcorn to a media circus?
Plays too much like a bunch of selfies.
The humor there is out of service.
Leave that movie on the shelf, please.

You can sing a song of sixpence
But it doesn’t buy a flipping thing.
It’s hard to find an honest man
When artful liars get everything.

Ain’t no blacks going to heaven
And none of them Godless Jews.
Only real white folks are going.
Let me tell you the real news.
And them A-rabs, just forget it
That’s just not going to happen.
Shouldn’t line up on judgment day;
I’ll go down the line and slap ‘em.

It says right there in the Bible
How the good people are all white.
The rest are not really quite human
Heaven just ain’t for them, right?
You wouldn't you want your daughter
Or your son to breed with them?
You can tell just by looking
Intermarriage would be sin.

And we’re talking about looks
Sometimes that doesn’t work
Because some Godless whites are
some kind of non-Christian jerks.
And queers, let’s don’t forget them
With their disgusting abominable ways.
They will be left behind too
In those beautiful final days.

My Father is waiting in heaven
Where only the white and good go;
Gonna to be nobody but Christians
When Gabriel’s horn will blow.
Because My Father is God of Love
Of all creatures great and small
But he ain’t go no use for heathens
And no love for them at all.

And if some of you have children
That don’t get washed in the blood
Then all your praying and crying
Won’t do much of any good.
Sorry, but the rest of you lose
And it’s all quite out of my hands.
So, go ahead and pray to my Father
He’ll be sad, but he’ll understand.

She sits in her room
Beside her lonely loom
And dreams of times of grace
And suitors come to her place.
But no one has come here,
So she sings the songs
Of being alone too long.

None will come so near
That she needs to flirt.
Instead she gathers her hurt
And weaves it into tapestries
Of such stunning majesty
That only she will applaud,
Because there is no god
That will transform her to be
A lady of famous beauty.

She never has known why
She was born forbiddingly shy.
She fears to speak and convince,
Always she is prone to wince
Instead of smiling and inviting.
Her lovely pale face whitening
With dread she cannot speak
And that makes her feel weak.

The sun rises and it sets
She has nothing to regret
Or to remember gladly
But sadly she has grown
Comfortable being alone
Since  the pain is remembered
And she never delivered
From the roaring noise
Of life without love’s joys.

Let the poor youth fight and die.
Not my children, don’t even try.
You won’t subject them to ill health
Not as long as I’ve got my wealth.
Let the children of poverty bleed
We rich have the gold we need.
We were the guilty, and all that meant,
WE label poor children as “not innocent”.

Why not cheat and **** the weak and poor?
Isn’t that what the caste system is for?
We are the strong and the righteous ones.
Besides, ripping off people is so much fun.
We get to buy fancy suits and sleek cars.
If these are not meant for us, then what are?
We’re the ones smart enough to write
Sneakily worded laws that favor the right.

And we are bright enough to see right quick
The most of the populace is politically sick.
They vote for whomever we tell them to.
We just label the opposition commies or Jews.
We have convinced them all that we are real
And the liberals? Well, let them squeal.
We just take every thing they say about us
And say it was their doing, and let them cuss.

Half of the country was so incredibly ignorant
They had no idea what our promises meant.
So they let us put into place a crazy faker
Who put wealth in the hands of the takers.
He and his party was sure they could do it;
That the lazy populace would fail to pursue it.
So end the end, they could just stay as dumb
In the ensuing holocaust that was to come.

Wedding bells
The heart swells
A couple of people teary
Nobody here is leery
When it is two guys
Marrying after so many years.
Not an occasion for tears
They walk hand in hand
Toward a more grand
Joining together
Wedding each other
Now that some in society
See it is propriety;
Now that love is love
And over half the people
Know that couples
Are those who marry
And cease to carry
Their old angry baggage
Like stinking luggage
Into a loving occasion.

There is no reason.
Everyone here knows
That is how love goes.
It is between two hearts
No cart before the horse.
It’s a matter of course.
And, of course, family and friends
Not just kith, but kin
Are happy and celebrating
For the long awaited mating
Of two that fought the tides
And made it here where abides
That rosy day of knowing each other
Part of a couple officially;
Equally exciting and peacefully
Into a new morning of a new day.
What better way is there to say
I love you, a phrase not new
But this time said for two?
And certifiably, legally too.

I know I am a bad kid,
Things I did were awful
So I deserve every slap,
Every punch, every insult
Like “little *******” and
Sonofabitch. Everything.
Call me what I am as I
Have been appallingly bad
As a child, as an offspring,
An embarrassment to you.

Show me that ugly face
Of disappointment and hate
Because I was never a great
Reflection of your love,
Of your concern, your care.
After all, you feed me
You give me clothes and bed
And let me go to school.
I am a worthless fool.

I don’t deserve more,
And now, every smile hurts;
Not just desserts for crimes
Ones I committed all the time
Every day I now understand
Why your hand hit my jaw,
Slapped my face so often
I’m a disgrace, a shame
I don’t deserve your name
Or for you to look at me.

After all, look at me.
I’m horribly fat, look!
Those disgusting bulges
in my lower backside.
I disgust myself, completely
I look at myself and heave.
I wish I could leave and go,
Find someplace else
Where I can’t see myself.
So nobody else has to.

I can’t take back the wet beds
The expense you always said
Was too much, the touch
I craved back when I was young
The breath in even my lungs
Offending because I am bad.
I am a sad example of kids
And should be hid somewhere
So you never have to spare
Another moment on a bad kid.

You don’t matter at all,
You hardworking citizen,
You who toil at drudgery
To feed all your children.
When we need you to vote
We pay attention to you
But the rest of the time
We look right through you.

You don’t matter at all.
Only the rich are essential
The rest of you are not;
You’re interchangeable.
You’re just marks on a page;
On the bottom of a ledger
And it’s best if you just
Work silently altogether.

The one percent matters
But if you are not rich yet
That means you are too stupid
To reach out and get.
The rich are a better class
And a truly valuable human.
All you non-rich are good for
Is to support us by consuming.

You don’t matter at all
Since you only vote for POTUS.
The rest of the time you all
Let us rob and you don’t outvote us.
We write laws that give more
And soon all of wealth to us
And then we point at someone else
For you to fail to back and cuss.

You don’t matter at all,
Or haven’t you even noticed.
You didn’t see that we urge
You to dwell in a field of lotus
Called football beer and Fox,
The news that is not really news;
Just something to misdirect.
It helps us shape your views.

You don’t matter at all.
You prove it every single day
By being so ignorant and lazy
We give this country away
We sell off your birthright
To the rich of other lands
And you all just run your mouth
And sit there on your hands.

Contentment has a different kind of sound
To everyone who has ever witnessed it.
It fills the heart and settles the mind
And baffles those who have dismissed it.
Those canting people that cackled at us
Scowling, “Give up, it’ll never work.”
We smiled and continued our courtship
Not thinkng them a bunch of jerks.

We carried on, celebrating our successes
And learning from our many mistakes
And in time we began to see quite well
This is just what love and life takes.
We made our plans and changed them
When things didn’t go the right way.
And step by step, and inch by inch
We became who we are today.

Now we have sounds we make to each other
Less words, more loving noises we utter,
Salutations cobbled together over the years
Some remolded nicknames we often mutter
Glad we have walls around, roof above, and
Sounds made upon our leaving or returning,
And all is well here in our home of love
A message that the home fire is still burning.

A visitor might ask us, and have before
What did he say, or maybe, what did you?
I could explain the habits of our years
But no need. I heard and of course, I knew.
We often use the telescope of contentment
And look backward to where the sounds began
To watch them change through time and space
And become what they became over the span.

I’m still waiting for my Christmas present
The one you promised for so long.
Don’t keep me waiting like a poor peasant.
That would be rude and oh so wrong.
I’ve got my mind decorated for the season.
The mantel hung up with stockings
Please don’t make me wait for any reason.
Holding out on me would be shocking.

Holiday hotline
I’m making the call.
Ready for Christmas
The best time of all.
Holiday hotline
Too excited to dial.
I’ll wait a bit longer
But just for a while.

I don’t really need some kind of wish list.
There only one thing that I want.
You’ve got my heartstrings in your **** fist.
I’m fainting just to watch as you flaunt.
I’d write to Santa if it would do any good
But I am pretty sure he already knows.
Honey please, my heart’s not made of wood,
As you wave what I want near my nose.

Holiday hotline
I’m making the call.
Ready for Christmas
The best time of all.
Holiday hotline
Too excited to dial.
I’ll wait a bit longer
But just for a while.

I’m just like a little kid on Christmas eve.
I pretty sure I couldn’t really sleep.
You’ve got some great tricks up your sleeve.
I bet it wouldn’t help me to count sheep.
I want to start in unwrapping my present
I have little doubt I’ll like what’s inside.
The anticipation has been very pleasant.
Now is the finale to a **** yuletide.

Holiday hotline
I’m making the call.
Ready for Christmas
The best time of all.
Holiday hotline
Too excited to dial.
I’ll wait a bit longer
But just for a while.

Running with my pals
No thought of going home.
Anything is better than
Being there all alone.
Nobody cares back there
But with friends I’m someone.
We laugh and talk together
Nobody ranks on anyone.

We get a little bit drunk
Or ****** when we can
But mostly we just visit
And look out for the man.
The cops like to hassle us
Because we look like kids.
Not because of what we are
Or from something bad we did.

We sit around empty houses
Where people moved away
And party in growing numbers
Some have guitars to play.
We sing songs we all know
And some original tunes.
But if the weather is good enough
I like to walk under the moon.

The street can be a scary place
Or it can be an amusement park
If you are careful about things
And not afraid of the dark.
And, of course, when I go home
They never notice I was gone.
It won’t be too much longer
And I’ll be permanently moving on.

I’m the entertainer,
So nobody will touch me.
The truth be told
They don’t think much of me.
I’m paid to be here
Not like the shimmering guests.
They take their pay in champagne
And believe they’re better than the rest.

I perform for them, smiling,
I show them a happy face,
And do my very best to make
An evening they’ll never replace.
I make music and joy all night
And make sure to be grateful
If someone leaves a tip in the jar.
Maybe tonight will be fateful.

But probably I’ll go home
Alone and completely forgotten.
They’re a beautiful basket of fruit,
But too many have gone rotten.
It’s not that they are evil people,
It’s just that they don’t care.
I am the background music
Doing something, somewhere.

It makes perfect sense to me,
They didn’t come here for this;
To revel in the brilliance I will show.
They’ll never know what they miss.
They won’t even notice it
Unless there’s a song they really love.
It’s almost performing for myself
And letting my talent rise above.

So, I perform for them, smiling,
I show them a happy face,
And do my very best to make
An evening they’ll never replace.
I make music and joy all night
And make sure to be grateful
If someone leaves a tip in the jar.
Maybe tonight will be fateful.

No matter just how many times I told her
She couldn’t seem to keep it in her head;
While everyone enjoys the circus,
I do not enjoy it in my bed.

I made it clear at the beginning
That I was a quiet kind of guy
Still she insisted on the drama
And I never found out why.

Roxie Moxie, Queen of my heart,
When did all this energy start?
Were you born in a hurricane
Never slowed down again?
You’re taking my Richter scale
Off of the charts.

Was she raised in a hippie commune or
Maybe some kind of traveling show?
Though I asked her many times
I will probably never know.

There had to be drinks and some food
By the bedside when we retired.
Though I begged not to drink coffee
It seemed she was always wired.

Roxie Moxie, Queen of my heart,
When did all this energy start?
Were you born in a hurricane
Never slowed down again?
You’re taking my Richter scale
Off of the charts.

She wanted to stay up late each evening
And then she’d sleep in way past noon.
Of course I was gone to work by then
So, we’d meet at the rise of the moon.

At first it was very exciting for me
To have this rigorous loving game.
So, I guess I brought it on myself
And I am the only one to blame.

Roxie Moxie, Queen of my heart,
When did all this energy start?
Were you born in a hurricane
Never slowed down again?
You’re taking my Richter scale
Off of the charts.

ACTING OUT

Trackdown, smackdown
Hit them with the facts.
Showdown downtown.
Teach them how to act.
Outloud, outproud
Backing down no more.
Outloud our crowd
Now we know the score.

It used to be we had to
Keep quiet about it or lie.
They could even jail us
So we didn’t even try.
We changed the gender
Of lovers when we shared.
We could say we married.
Nobody even dared.

We made up these stories
About roommates we had
Wanting any more than that
Could only leave us sad.
So, we used euphemisms
Like confirmed bachelor
To create a smokescreen
For our nosy neighbors.

Trackdown, smackdown
Hit them with the facts.
Showdown downtown.
Teach them how to act.
Outloud, outproud
Backing down no more.
Outloud our crowd
Now we know the score.

Nineteen seventy
Came up suddenly
And a few million of us
Wanted to be free.
So, we hit the boulevards
And sang the marching songs.
Out of the closet, into the streets
And millions more came along.

Trackdown, smackdown
Hit them with the facts.
Showdown downtown.
Teach them how to act.
Outloud, outproud
Backing down no more.
Outloud our crowd
Now we know the score.

Brent Kincaid
6/3/2014

He’s an evil despot, tall and stout.
Call him a liar, watch him pout.
We want an impeachment to throw him out
Then we can line up and punch his snout.

He’s a changing despot, not much brains
He’d look better all trussed in chains
Then we could put Hillary in what remains
As she pulls all of us out of the drain.

Lying despot told us that he would make
Changes to drain the political lake.
Like most of his promises, it was fake
All he does is cheat and lie and take.

Lying pudgy despot claims he’s slim.
Not the last of the lies from him.
Feels he’s entitled to every greedy whim.
Every day in office it gets more grim.

Dizzy dippy teapot, lives for applause,
Just like a fat cat, he licks his paws.
Gobbling McDonalds bloats his jaws.
Millions of his minions support his cause.

Dumping Donnie Teapot a good solution
For a dangerous hater of the Constitution.
Let’s all get make a mid-year resolution
To run him off before there’s revolution.

You’ve never grown up
You’re just a big kid
But only big on the outside.
To you, life’s a game
And we’re all just the same
We’re along for your crazy ride.

No use in sighing
After all your lying
Don’t come crying to me.
It’s almost gotten
That you’re so rotten
It will be a lot of fun to see.

The way you play around
You’ve never left the playground
But you still steal the money and chalk.
You want things your way
And every single day
And if you don’t get it, you walk.

No use in sighing
After all your lying
Don’t come crying to me.
It’s almost gotten
That you’re so rotten
It will be a lot of fun to see.

Fix things for yourself
And lean on someone else
I have learned all about your rules.
You cheat and you steal
Because none of us is real
And you think all of us are fools.

I’m still stuck in the fairy tales
Of magic shoes and handsome prince,
Of servants of my own to boss
And I’m still at wash by hand and rinse.
My dreams of riches and luxury
Are still around and just as strong
But haven’t come true that much.
So I must be doing something wrong.

Zippity zappity, zoppity, zoom.
This is me begging at the moon.
Flaffity, naffity, raffity, roon.
My fairy godmother needs to come soon!

I’ve kissed so many **** frogs
My lips have become amphibious
But not one morphed into a prince
So, the solution must be obvious:
I am not holding my mouth right
Or kissing in the wrong phase of moon.
I am not going to be able to hold on
If this wish doesn’t come true soon.

Zippity zappity, zoppity, zoom.
This is me begging at the moon.
Flaffity, naffity, raffity, roon.
My fairy godmother needs to come soon!

I’ve bought magic seeds and amulets
To help the process on it’s magic way
But nothing seems to be working for me.
There must be better words to say.
Some kind of abracadabra mantra
That makes the real voodoo begin.
If I ever get this incantation right
II’m going to do it again and again.

Zippity zappity, zoppity, zoom.
This is me begging at the moon.
Flaffity, naffity, raffity, roon.
My fairy godmother needs to come soon!

Where were you when the good guys lost?
When only bad guys got to score?
What were you doing to help us win the fight
When we needed a few people more?
How did it happen that you were so busy
That you couldn’t come face them down,
And let the people who were elected to lead us
Be rascals crooks and scary clowns?

Were you locked up in a prison someplace
Or in some kind of conflict of your own?
Was there a monstrous family schism happening
That put all else into the Twilight Zone?
Were you unconscious in an ugly coma
Through something horrible done to you?
Were you lost in a desert for a year or more?
Was there some brain freeze you lived through?

What could have been so important to you
That you could let our country go to hell
And fall into a pattern of human oppression
That the **** party did so freaking well?
What kind of earthshaking civic duty did you see
That was more important than our freedom?
What kind of social and political madness was it
That took the place of your sense of reason?

Are you planning to blame other people later
When the country we love falls apart?
Will you point the fingers at the leaders you chose?
And how late will you let that start?
Will it be far too late to stop your chosen lawmakers
From blocking every effort you or I make?
Will you let them swindle, rob and imprison all of us
To keep from prosecuting those on the take?

Where will you be when we try to fix this mess?
Will you be off enjoying wine, women and song?
Will you be in a debauched fool’s paradise when
The last chance for democracy comes along?
Or will you finally do some reading and research
To find out where this country went astray?
You haven't been able to wake and smell the fear.
Maybe you can come to your senses today.

Go to the park with me
Lie in the grass on the ground.
Stay out until dark with me
And watch the sun go down.

Before the sun goes away
Let’s watch the clouds above
And look at them to see
Images of things we love.

Let’s be on the lookout for
Rainbows out of nowhere.
Let’s remember to cherish
All the glory that we share.

Go to the park with me
And let’s roll downhill.
Then watch all the birds
And listen for a whippoorwill.

Let’s take advantage of
This beautiful day we see.
Let’s count our blessings;
Let one of them be me.

I hope you feel as grateful to
Have a life of love and beauty.
Let’s look upon enjoying it
As a kind of welcome duty.

Go to the park with me
Like a loving Jack and Jill.
Let’s make our memories here
In this park, on this hill.

Three thousand children
That have no home.
Three thousand children
Are suffering alone.
Three thousand children
Whose parents suffer
Three thousand children
Missing their mothers.

How many children
Do we now have to feed
When the president said
They’re all bad seeds?
How did these babies
And these adolescent kids
Get accused of what they
Nor their parents ever did?

How can a country that
Brags it’s the land of the free
Perpetuate such a craven
Too ****-like villainy?
It squanders public funds
On bogus personal causes
Then hides it's thievery
Inside twisted legal clauses.

Three thousand babies
Locked up like animals
Inside pens like Dobermans;
And they are the criminals?
Their parents broke laws
That are just misdemeanors
So, they are beaten and then
They’re taken to the cleaners?

Meanwhile their children
Are kidnapped and hidden
By a Justice department that
Does the evil they are bidden.
That this kind of sick behavior
Exists in our country’s name
Is more than just our personal,
It’s also our national shame.

Some people see personality
I just see criminality
What some call statesmanship
To me is not so hip.
There must be a different definition
In your version of the Constitution
But mine says we all are free
And not just those D.C.
And not just those Caucasians
Should be entitled to rations
Of respect and equality.
But we’re victims of duality
Without causality
Because our voice is nixed
Nothing gets fixed.
Nobody cares about the crooks
Until something of theirs gets took
Then they want to throw the book
Without a second look
At who it hits. It’s totally tragic
That so many believe in magic
Like somebody waves a wand
And all the thugs will be gone
From our leadership.
It’s a ****** trip
And a total rip
That they think someone cares.
But, nothing makes rich people scared
Unless someone else takes
One third of everything they make
Then they scream like banshees.
Meanwhile, down on our knees
We cry right across the board
But we are the blighted horde;
We never really scored.
We were just here to buy junk
And not listen to the bunk
The one-percent hurls our faces;
We live with the disgraces
And wish we could do something.
Wish we could do anything
To break this eternal ring
Of money meaning purity.
Yes, it is a homily
But it is practically
All there is.
Talk to the Wiz.
He’ll tell you it is crap.
It’s just a trap.

Sometimes I just have to admit it.
Things are happening and I don’t get it.
What the hell is going on here?
Is an explanation from anyone near?
It makes a kind of sense, if you squint
But soon it caroms off on another bent.
I mean, it’s all in my native language, true,
But so much of it feels like visiting a zoo.

My life can turn into a monkey house
And without a decent kind of warning
And suddenly I’m dealing with issues
That weren’t there in the morning.
Some batch of politicians on the right
Are busily trying to steal my serenity
And maybe even trying to imprison me
And at least take away my dignity.

They say they are doing all of this
In the name of holy Jesus Christ
But it still works as a ripping off,
And an indecent but legal heist.
I may not be an attorney myself
But I was also not born last Tuesday.
These rotten scalawags in suits
Are trying to take my rights away.

It makes a kind of sense, if you squint
But soon it caroms off on another bent.
I mean, it’s all in my native language, true,
But so much of it feels like visiting a zoo.

It always amazes me that these jerks
Somehow manage to sleep at night
Because it’s plain enough to see
That what they do really isn’t right.
For example, for two hundred years
It was legal here to own negroes.
But that it was an sickening atrocity
Was as plain as their white nose.

But they held cotillions and soirees
And treated slaves like breeding stock
And sold off the black babies which
Seemed to happen around the clock
Because it made sense to these Christians
To ignore everything that Jesus said
And treat these people barbarically
From their birth until they were dead.

Sometimes I just have to admit it.
Things are happening and I don’t get it.
What the hell is going on here?
Is an explanation from anyone near?

There are plenty of modern references
Like treating immigrants as villains
When every white person in the USA
Were immigrants, most of them willing.
But rich people here are so upset
That these people are not the right kind
And that gives the rich white people
An excuse for them to be rude and unkind.

I could go on and on with this complaint
For pages and chapters without end.
I’m still waiting for someone to tell me
“Enough! We conservatives agree and say 'When!'”

Of course you know you are
One year older on this day.
But really, when you were younger
It was actually just one day away.
That’s why you don’t really feel
That you have gotten any older
And do not need anybody near
So you can cry on their shoulder.

Happy birthday, one day older
Happy birthday, one year too.
Cut the cake and share it baby.
Celebrate a year that is new.

You have no more hairs there
Upon your aging old head.
Everyone may be singing at you
But you are just one day ahead
Of who you were yesterday morn
When you woke up out of bed
And started on your daily journey
Following where fortune led.

Happy birthday, one day older
Happy birthday, one year too.
Cut the cake and share it baby.
Celebrate a year that is new.

But play along with tradition
And smile at the song and jokes.
Make a wish about tomorrow
As you blow out the candle smoke.
Though you’re only one day wiser
Things are more than they appear
Because the last time you did this
Was one amazing bygone year.

Happy birthday, one day older
Happy birthday, one year too.
Cut the cake and share it baby.
Celebrate a year that is new.

The leaves first healthy and green
Reaching up to eternity
Then turning red, then gold and rust
And falling, translucent in their glory
Only their veins showing, organic lace;
The tree's honest history.
Only their slightly different shape
Remains a mystery,
Remembered by those who might've seen
As if in a fog, mistily
With just the few days of it's life
Lived blissfully.

These are the children, the ephemera
Of our trees
Giving, sharing, growing, expanding
Repeating generously
To populate our world with breath
Suffering death constantly
Being reborn silently to us;
Sentinels of majesty.

These are benefactors of life
For all of you and me
Casting themselves up from dirt
To our reality
Whether we believe it or know it.
They give voicelessly,
And that is what it means to be a tree
If you are leaves set free.

Rooster has to crow in the morning
Cat has to prowl around at night.
I see a petty dictator ruining lives
I grab my pencil ready to fight.
We’re not in the dark ages anymore.
Nor are we still in the Old West.
We don’t slap on a pistol and go out
And put a bunch of lead into the pest.

So, I write down the words that I feel.
I call a snake-oil salesman what he is.
I carefully explain what a crook looks like
And show off the difference from a Wiz.
They may claim they’re an eagle today
If that is the delusion they are in.
But I will be quick to dispel such a lie
By pointing out the wattles on their chin.

Pigeons spread their droppings all over.
Dog likes to dig around in the dirt.
I have to point out the creeps in the world
Then take appropriate joy when they’re hurt.
My hope is the people that are fooled will see
They don’t have to sit and eat the lies.
They can stand up and ***** in the face
Of those who are criminals in disguise.

Tell any scoundrels exactly what they are
And let them know you are not fooled.
Don’t let them walk away feeling proud.
Make sure they’re appropriately schooled.
Knock any martinet off their pedestal.
Tell them you think they are a clown.
Don’t leave their ego in undented shape.
Then go on and kick them when they’re down.

MISE EN SCENE

Once, the long ago and far away me
Could attract the eye and heart.
But without my watching it be so
I did not see my good looks depart.
I did not see the wrinkles arrive,
Nor the spots appear on my skin.
I did not note the muscles loosen
And the arms and legs go so thin.

I watched the blonde become silver
And the dark become so very light
But, I did not mind the stooping posture
As tiredness made it feel just right.
I felt my diet changing because
Some things no longer tempted
Others took their places every time
As the younger favorites were exempted.

But now I have glasses everywhere
And I turn the television up too loud
That the neighbors squeal to the landlord
And that does not make me proud.
For most of my life, I read incessantly
But now, never can read at night
Because I have to have a strong lamp
Or the lighting is not quite right.

And, oh the pills I must take now.
Some for morning and some for night.
I must take them in order, counting
So I know I keep the dosage just right.
Some are supplements, but some are for
That age that I have now achieved.
Yes, I am that old, and accept it mostly
Even though I find it hard to believe.

Brent Kincaid
4/14/2019

Cars so close together
You can count their middle fingers,
Horns honking everywhere
Traffic is like an urban bomb scare.
People just don't know how to drive.
It's a wonder how they can survive.  

Tooting and beeping,
The human brain is sleeping,
It looks like, by and large
Lizard brains are in charge.
There are no cops around;
They’re in another part of town
Policing those who feel they need
To smoke that evil devil ****.

Meanwhile traffic does it's thing,
Increasing daily suffering.
It's part of what it means to be
Alive in today's society,
Driving hell bent like it matters
Leaving peace of mind in tatters.
Rush hour traffic is what is wrought
Like a bad cold the earth has caught.

You can’t avoid it altogether.
It’s like Twain said of weather.
You can talk about it every day
And do nothing about it either way.
So maybe not have everyone at once
Hitting the road like a silly dunce.
Couldn’t the employers take a clue;
Change their schedule an hour or two?

Maybe some would think it great
To start their journey hours late?
Some could go now and some then
And wait hours, then begin again,
The next batch could be on their way
And start out having a good mood day.
Or maybe we could all stay home
And leave the rest of the world alone

Big Donald Stuckup
Always such a **** up
When it comes to limelight
He’s totally a **** up.
Big Donald Stuckup
Wants everything his way.
Claims he’s a slim youth
He can’t tell the truth.

Big Donald Stuckup
As honest as his hair
Likes other people’s money
Doesn’t like to share.
Big Donald Stuckup
Can’t keep his mouth shut.
Goes on Twitter frequently
Babbles incoherently.

Big Donald Stuckup
He doesn’t understand
If you think lying is fun
Soon you’ll run off everyone.
Big Donald Stuckup
Has no class at all.
He thinks his golden *****
Make him look less shoddy.

For all my tales of braggery
I am the eloquent loser.
Out of thousands of choices
I will pick the ******,
The liar, the layabout or thief.
Then starts my florid tales
Designed to mask my grief.

I list the virtues of the guy,
The Prince Charming I caught
And talk about his attributes
None of which he has got.
I treat him like aristocracy
Even though he never works.
My friends wonder how I can
Align myself with such a ****.

So, that means more stories
To extoll his many talents
Even though he has so few
To brag about on balance.
I keep thinking my eloquence
Will overcome his character,
His many alluring facets
Or lack of which whatsoever.

It’s sad the lengths I have gone
Trying not to be so alone.
I have been accused of being
Like a dog with a favorite bone
In my attempts to justify
The awful choices I have taken.
But I don’t listen, I only talk
Any advice is all forsaken.

That’s how it goes with me
If I can explain things away,
Like Scarlett, I'll think about it
Maybe on some other day.
Maybe then I'll finally understand
Why I do what I always do.
But we eloquent losers don’t care
So very much what is true.

A long time ago, when we were young
My brother used to be a funny guy.
He could sometimes break me up a bit
Without really ever seeming to try.
So, one day, when he asked a favor;
I could tell because he wasn’t snarling
He batted his eyes like some movie star
And ended saying “Hunchy, lumpy, darling.”

Now all my brothers had Missouri drawls
And, it turns out, they never lost them.
No matter what I or teachers would say
They drawled no matter what it cost them.
They didn’t really have very much regard
Or use for the propriety of the King’s speech.
It’s almost like good grammar and prose
We just a bit too far out of their reach.

So, I wasn’t surprised I failed to understand
This strange request from my young brother.
After all he talked just like relatives, neighbors,
And most of all, sounded “Jess lack his mother”.
But this one time I had to stop and ask him
Would he please repeat what he asked me,
Because for all I was worth, at that moment
His meaning was blithely slipping past me.

His answer, you see, started me right off
On a hunger for rhyming, slang and puns.
My lifelong romance with games and wordplay
Had accidentally, but quite solidly begun.
Because Hunchy, lumpy, darlin’ it seemed
Was saying his way to me, “Honey Child,
Lambie Pie, Darling.” I got it and I screamed.

I laughed and rolled around on the couch
And took it instantly into my grabby brain.
That one little misheard bit of movie-talk fun
Hit me as hilarious and worth saying again.
I’m sure he picked it up from the TV;
Something from a forties comedy movie.
Thinking it was a bit glib, he purloined it
And he was right, I thought it was groovy.

Danny could be counted on
To run some kind of scam.
And usually the victim was
His older brother Sam.
But Jimmy liked pranks
And pulled quite a few.
Jumping out at passersby
Was a favorite thing to do.

One day I took them with
Mom’s express consent
To our favorite notions store,
Woolworth five and ten.
We looked and touched;
Added to our Christmas list.
And as we paid for candy
I was clueless what was amiss.

As we were walking home
Out on the street again
Suddenly, goggle eyed
I saw the show begin.
Out of each kid’s pocket
A trinket, a toy appeared.
This is precisely what
I had originally feared.

The little shoplifters stole!
The blame would befall me.
Their only thought was
They got all this for free.
I told them to take it back
But they just angrily said no.
I had other recourse, it seemed
Then to let our Mama know.

Mama went a bit frantic
Her voice went high and loud.
And of course, my brothers
Were no longer quite so proud.
Jimmy smacked Sammy
And Sammy started crying.
Mama smacked them all.
And Danny started lying.

Then Mama walked them
Every one of the three
Back to the five and dime
And they confessed tearfully.
Mama paid for the things
And told them no TV
And sent them to bed soon
After supper was history.

And all of them blamed me
But, Mama said I did well.
It wasn’t to please Mama.
I didn’t want them to go to hell.
And I was a bit P.O.ed;
They took advantage of me.
So, they could just grumble.
It made no difference to me.

That’s the way things went
With three regular brothers.
There were fights and fits.
They often miffed our mother.
Jimmy smacked Sammy
And Sammy started crying.
Mama smacked them all
And Danny started lying.

There are words you say
And they are like magic.
And words that hurt,
The outcome is tragic.
There are words that soothe
And words that calm
And words that hurt worse
Than the slap of a palm.

You wouldn’t think that
Words make you feel better.
After all, they’re just sounds
Just a bunch of letters
Strung together in a way
That convey a simple thought.
Not a woven net in which
Something can get caught.

Yet they can do that, too.
They can be used to lie
And get caught in doing so
In an ugly by and by
Or they can accomplish things
And build up a rapport.
It all depends so much on
What words are used for.

The thing to be aware of
Is verbal sleight-of-hand
Where artists in deception
Make you think you understand
When they really are lying
And making you agree
That what they are doing
Is not the purest larceny.

So, look at words as envoys
Of what other people say;
Watch to see if they mean it
The next day as today.
Gather to you good people
On whose words you can depend
And the dangers of wordplay
Will soon come to a fitting end.

I want to say things
About me and about you
That are beautiful words
But they really aren’t true.
The person I fell for
Was really a total stranger
And I let myself go too far
Into a love full of danger.

I was falling for looks
And the classy way you dress
And didn’t understand
That underneath was a mess.
Your charm was all surface
And your plans were unmade.
You were like the grasshopper
Lazing around in the shade.

Everything you wanted
Was on a short term basis.
You saw someone cute
And you were off to the races.
And I was the cute one
For just that little while.
Falling for the pretty words.
Swept off my feet by a smile.

Then suddenly we were
A couple for many years,
Through disappointments
And way too many tears.
Oh, I don’t blame you.
I was not being truthful.
I was going on the needs
Of the naïve and the youthful.

I think we were afraid to
Just let things fall apart.
Afraid we might be guilty
Of breaking the other’s heart.
But doing that we missed
The life we might have had
If we weren’t so afraid
To make each other mad.

We met standing in line at a store
To pay for our groceries and such.
I happened we both reached
At the same time and touched.
We set to talking about things
Like Jung and synchronicity.
We easily continued our talking
About quirks and idiosyncrasies.

He asked questions about me
And seemed suitably charmed.
I answered them thoughtlessly.
I was precisely that disarmed.
He never took his eyes off me
Staring into my eyes, polite.
It felt not only delightful and warm,
It felt perfectly, comfortably right.

I found myself catching my breath;
Was he possibly flirting with me?
I knew just how this usually went
And how disappointing it could be.
I cautioned myself not to jump;
Conclusions can be dangerously high.
What if he is just a nice fellow;
A polite and wildly handsome guy.

So, I continued in the same vein.
I asked questions of his life.
I wanted him to get it over with
And tell me all about his wife.
But he responded with wonderful stuff
About his hobby rappelling rocks.
Then he did something unexpected
That shocked me down to my socks.

He reached over, put his hand on mine
And asked me if I were promised;
Did I have some other guy in my life.
Suddenly, no longer Doubting Thomas
I told him I was single and free as a bird
He squeezed my hand and smiled
He turned my hand over and asked me
If we could go for a ride for a while.

I will cease this tiny story right here
Because the rest of the tale was hot
And while I had the fun of those days
You either had your own or not.
But let it suffice to say to you here
He make this guy deliriously glad
For the love, the heat and the memories
Like I had never before had.

As I sit here in my easy chair
Watching life pass me by
There are people in the world
Who do greater things than I.
There are great minds at work
Studying the world and space.
Not me, I’m afraid, I just sit,
Watch TV, a calm look on my face.

I have not written an opera
Or an awesome symphony.
I have not written great poems
To be read by more than me.
I have not waxed political
With rhetoric that will astound.
I have not created grand products
To be taken from the ground.

I did not engineer a vehicle
That will run on just ***** air.
And, yes, I painted for a while
But found few who would care.
All I seem to be able to do
Is to survive my horrendous past,
And I thank all the gods that be
That the horror did not last.

I answered, as a young fellow,
When people asked to my face,
“What do you want out of life?”
I quickly answered, “My own place.”
Now that I am adult and that
Has finally come to be a reality,
I can’t seem be anxious to comply
When life demands more of me.

Rickrack, got cataracts
My vision is so blurry.
Surgery done, not much fun
I wish healing would hurry.
Zip zop, roota zoot.
Hate backless hospital suits!
Clap clap, standing ovation.
For a successful operation.

Wave pompoms, ziss boom bah
For magic modern medicine
In just one day, as they say.
The right eye is all fixed again.
Go back in a few weeks
And have the left one done.
Huzzah hurrah and yippee kai yay
And the healing has begun.

Colors I never noticed before
Are now bright and shiny.
If I had known that before I
Woulda been petulant and whiny.
But, nothing noticed, nothing lost
I am looking forward to the day
When I can see completely better.
Harroo and blinking hurray!