For anyone who needs to hear it
For anyone who cries at night
For anyone who who dries their tears
On saying "I'm alright"

For anyone who's in their head
And thinks they're not enough
Who worries about their body size
And ever finding love

The world is going to beat you down
To teach you to stand back up
But just because the world is cruel
It doesn't mean give up

You're so much more than your struggles
You're stronger than your grief
You're more beautiful than you'll ever know
So stand up... Use your feet

Walk right through that fire
Stand so you'll be seen
The world needs to see you glow
But just in case bring burn cream

Hello, whom I'll never meet,
Never hear, never forget,
Never loose and never find,
Never spot and never mind.

Hello, who'll turn up in my dreams,
Who'll never let me to taste the pain,
Who'll never betray and never lie,
Who'll never depart without goodbye.

I take leave of you, my unknown one,
My unsearchable and remarked for none,
My unnamed and mythic for last,
But so endlessly and sweetly loved.

Three yellow birds
have died in a cage
Canaries in the coal mine
kept miners from their wage
“Got to get down there
I’ve got a family to feed
That’s more important to me
than the air that I need
I don’t care about the danger
It’s too late for me
In another year
I won’t be around to see
more birds dying
on account of me
Just open up the mine
and let me be”



And put Vincent’s drawings
where all can see

Some folks are afraid to use
The f-word; I am certainly not.
If YOU are, then think about
What's happening, and give it a shot.

Assaults on democratic rule
In America we must deplore.
This has never happened here
To such an extent ever before.

The f-word here is "fascism."
Just watch as it undermines
Our rights and freedoms in frightening ways.
Be aware of the tell-tale signs:

A ruler who wants total power
All to himself and stifles dissent,
And one who expects loyalty
From ALL, or he is never content;

A ruler who constantly lies and expects
Close supporters to spread his lies;
Who acts like a powerful despot whom
Folks are afraid to criticize;

A country where many people fear
Going to work, to stores, or to school
Because the government hunts them down
In ways that are unfair and cruel;

A ruler who supports the practice
Of scapegoating and demonization,
And gives extremist groups the right
To justify discrimination;

A place where freedoms are threatened by
A far-right governing apparatus,
And where the ruler is elevated
To practically a god-like status;

A ruler who uses violence
To help him achieve political goals
And always insists he's right, though all
His arguments are full of holes;

A dictatorial ruler who wants
Total control of the higher courts
And tries to force the media
To hide the truth in news reports;

And one who pits the people against
One another and has his squads
Who carry out his reign of terror--
Many of whom are thugs or frauds.

People will always say, "No way!
Fascism couldn't happen here!"
And live their lives ignoring the signs
As rights continue to disappear.

“The hell it can’t!” is what I say.
Look at the signs; learn from the past.
The once-so vivid colors of
Democracy are fading fast.

-by Bob B (7-1-25)

I have forgotten what my mind was like
before I met you.
You are the first thought—
and the last.
Who was I before?
Did I write?
Did I laugh?
Maybe.
Maybe my life was simpler—
a quiet loop,
a routine with a predictable rhythm.
Maybe I woke up sad.
I can’t remember anymore.
I looked for her—
the girl I was—
in the books I swore I loved more than you.
In the moon,
but it never looks the same now.
Not since you.
Your words haunt me.
They live in the corners of things.
They ruin songs.
They ruin sleep.
But it’s okay.
I let them.
I look for you in other bodies.
I tell the same jokes.
Nobody laughs the way you did.
I get new answers I didn’t ask for.
It’s silly.
Stupid.
Obsessive, even.
I spent more time missing you
than holding you.

A familiar longing haunts me,
for a face I've never seen,
a body I've never held
and a mind I've never known.