day cold as indifference
needing warmest apparel
booming business at coffee houses
long-forgotten thick coats out one more time
but see this steely stranger
barefoot like Sage Mutabaruka
and ******* clad in this rabid weather
smile like summer sunshine on a tropical beach
wants nothing and asks for nothing
his warmth is inside
where passions are generated
hypothermia has no chance with him

nothing is new in this old world
though everything is indeed new

we experience what others have
but never get a sense of deja vu

we are new to everything as it is to us

Of all known phenomena
Birth is the most wondrous
And the most miraculous
In the assortment of life’s stunners
So you always are a miracle
One readily celebrated each year
As the sparkle of your smile
Dazzles the world
Like sunshine after a dark tunnel
And the fire in your eyes is a smelter
To melt iced hearts and smelt rock faces
So dance maestro dance
And never once forget the choreography
Of the poetry in your fervent heart
Where hopes and dreams are a lovely duet
Happy birthday mover of the spirit
You who creates joy in moments of magic
When configurations of rainbow futures coax your heart
To beat intricate rhythms from life’s score sheet
Happy birthday to you, child from eternal vistas
Let your dreams carry you forward to fruition
Till life is oozing and dripping with honeyed dew
And each early morning walk is capped with shower bliss
And that promise of tomorrow and the day after the feat
Of never giving up on the business of living, no matter what
Happy birthday  to you; you of stardust and moon glow

grilled stamina spiced with arrogance
marinated egos in bitter gall source
a touch of pickled common pride
a suggestion of mashed personality
served generously with indifference
on a platter of wonderful ignominy
going like hot cakes in these sad days
of lies emblazoned against night skies
hurry my man while stocks last
and before the merchants of doom
begin their desperate auctions of ethics
done with cynical glee and callousness
held together by a spread of mediocrity

words quite often lie
but actions are mostly true
now let me this trend defy
though i have no clue
how to start a new fad
i have soiled my purity
with this accursed oddity
in me that assails my schemes
and now i pay the sore price
of fixations and obsessions
so hard the comeuppance

it was a bitter day, early morning
and he'd just come out of moaning
the day after the weepy mourning
occasioned by a rather soft dismissal
of his peculiarly bad circumstances
leading to that unexpected acquittal
in the courts of street common sense
where they said he was not aggrieved
that he was too well-groomed to qualify
for the title of most distinguished destitute
and that he'd never been guilty of being adrift
and the bitter tears welled in his smarting eyes
he rather liked the elevated status of depraved excellency

your words are like soft pattering rain
falling upon multiple consciences
on the day after nasty weather
and the predicted heat wave

your words drip from invisible funnels
and sweeten the air that we breathe
verily  verily you're the voice of doom
lulling our beings into a deep slumber

there will be pangs and passions galore
in this world of moneyed automatons
who smack their pale but avaricious lips
that spew stale drivel from dead hearts

lo and behold the bell tolls indeed
and we stagger forth in compliant unison
and wait for the confessions of the age
words about how we slid into turmoil

swallowed in an abyss of sticky froth in bubbles
and a cacophony of dismal largo choruses
that say it's time for another thorough round-up
as the skies darken and the rain comes down in sheets

forever a curse and a blessing unavoidably certain
so friend and brother from another place and another time
let's do this thing together and crush this flea that won't flee
generous givers are beckoning frantically from the horizon