If tired we sleep,
If bored we fiddle,
When excited we dance,
If in love we tell riddles.

My eyes both are closed,
My hands are quite busy,
My toe taps a beat,
Your smile makes me dizzy.

So what has a beginning and no end?

You are everything to me.
Everything.

Twitter tag and Insta-push,
Facebookish posts and text ambush

I know how to message you
To tap and touch, to maybe view.

I love the way you message back,
LOL and all of that.

Poetry by emoji... maybe
Except Eliot, he thinks I'm crazy

First I wake my ears, then eyes,
My poor man's nose its first surprise,
Sunshine or clouds, a beggar's choice,
I live your laugh, your lover's voice.

But then a whispered prayer's soft sell,
Your magic touch, a celestial tell,
I rise and rose, though leave I must,
Tonight, my love, sweet patient lust.

Odd place for  funeral, She said, as she took her seat on the merry-go- round.

Life is a carousel, He replied, and sat down beside her.

The seasons and the wheels go round and round, She smiled.

And in the end we send in the clowns, He remarked and leaned over to kiss her gently on the lips.

We ate apples until midnight.

Carrie bought a gadget.

It hollows out the core,
While at the same time
Infusing the castrated fruit
With up to 4 ounces of
The liquid of our choice.

*****.

After two apples each,
We lay down side by side.

On the lawn chairs
That were parallel parked at the far end of the screened-in porch.

Turned off all the lights,
And felt sad.
Drunk sad.

I told Carrie I was glad my mother was dead.
I was. I am.

Carrie told me she stole five thousand from her aunt.
The woman who raised her after her mother
Abandoned her,
In a Goodwill stroller
Outside the bakery.
The waft of fresh baked bread is still her favourite smell.

It was all the money she had. The aunt.


How do we atone for all this evil **** we do,
Carrie asked me just before dawn.

We'd smoked a joint.
And the sizzle came quick
The wind died a sudden death,
The trees went hush quiet
And it was if God himself was waiting to hear the answer.

Do the next right thing, I said,
And closed my eyes

The Frozen philosophy, Carrie replied. She smiled.


Carrie put her hands behind her head and
I kissed her.
We teased,
*** or sleep, drunk or ******.
I felt her up a bit.

Eventually our arms padlocked around each other.
Puzzle pieces joined together,
Until the crows objected
And started to bark.

The morning sun slapped us
Adding assault to insult,
The heat had a punch,
The temperature rose straight up and mean.

Finally the hornets
Morning fresh, buzzed out of their nest,
And wigged through the air,
Like tiny drones
And chased us indoors.

I went to the doctor.
She said my obsession with *** was killing me.

How so, I asked,
And thought about yesterday.

The drugs you take to get *****, get high and get hard,
Eventually your artifice
Will burst your boldness, she said

To die of a balloon burst heart,
In the slingshot of ******,
To exit while rocketing into Nietzsche's abyss,
My eyes clenched,
Ten billion endorphins,
An ****** inferno,
This fusion of soul and pleasure,
God's great whisper tickling my ear,
A lover's last kiss,
The tautological tango of two wet tongues,
A soft breast,
An alert ******,
The slick and slippery slide into madness,
All of this as the one memory I will reclaim for all eternity,
How could I not demand that death follow, I said.

To each his own, she said
I would rather die dancing.

Determinism. It's scientific.

At the moment of the big bang,
Every particle in the universe,
Began its journey.

Each on a predictable path.
Physics.

That means the future is set.
We cannot change it.

And the past is the only past that could have ever been.

You are not to blame.
You cannot change things.

But you have to act as if you can.

Your past is not your fault.

Consciousness.
We are in this together.

Enjoy.

The tip,your taste on tempted tongue,
The haste, the hover, the hungry one.
I live, I last, I love, lament,
I walk and wonder where our love went.

In hearts, love's gentle,
Binds souls with a timeless grace,
Eternal embrace

Dance lessons began at six p.m.

Martha said she would come,
And then,
At the last second
She bailed…
And sent her friend,
The soprano who lives above her,
The wild one with the parrot,
Who sunbathes in her underwear,
As her replacement.

My name is Alexandra the friend said
And offered me her hand to kiss.

Then I will expect great things from you, I replied,
And drew her body close to me
In a nose to nose, cha-cha embrace.

Are you always so obvious,
She asked me,
Especially in this day and age.

I am a defiant breed I replied,
A man who truly loves to dance.

I am yes alone,
With cold wandering cage eyes,
My time has ended.
Remember my best moment,
Hold my hand as I smile tears.

We love to fight, our favourite thing,
**** and slaughter, God save the King,
War is when we do our best,
Medals pinned on each brave chest.

Will it ever end, our anger gone,
Can we ever say we all belong.
I think, I dream, be still no more,
Make love,be kind, say no to war.

Each day a brighter setting sun,
A full moon's promise, Spring's begun,
Dawn is destined, new life has spun,
I sleep well knowing, love has won.

Karla called me at 2 a.m.
Define love, she said without preamble,
Or introduction,
And in her vox humilus morning coffee voice.

Well I'd love to sleep right through the night, I replied,
And waited,
Hopelessly,disappointingly
For the snort.

Karla,
A woman who howls  at knock knock jokes,
Can absorb sarcasm like a coral reef sponge,
Consume it, digest it,
And spit it out like tobacco juice,
Held her breath and counted to ten.

Give me a one sentence definition , she demanded,
Try and convince me, she said.

Well love is when we take responsibility for the
Happiness of another, I said,
And searched my darkened bedside table,
For what I knew was a nearly full
Bottle of beer,
Which I, of course,
Lifted to my lips,
Despite the fly floating on its back.

Karla was silent.
Not unusual.
'Conversation is not a contest' is stenciled
On her Sunday T-shirt and
She never cries.
Out-loud.

So love is pain, she finally replied.

Did she die, I asked her feather soft.

Yes, minutes ago,she replied.

Come by, I said,
We will take a bath,
Drink from the bottle,
And reminisce with the lights off,
For as long as it takes.

I want to die happy.

So the next time I feel unrelenting joy

I will **** myself.

I think I'm safe for awhile.

The best way to prepare a man for life,
Is to deny him all love and acceptance.

Only then, will he spend every waking moment,
Asking why.

I was sitting slingback on a bench,
Imagining the velvet taste,
And remembering the ritual
Of morning coffee with her,

When a hatch of warm sun arrived,
An eight minute escape,
Rush racing ninety-three million miles,
To find and flavour this essence of me.

Such harmony with the breeze,
These two friends called wind and warmth,
One shines, one shivers, both coaxing me to sleep,
Where once again we kiss, we cry,
Tease gently with our softest eyes,
And memories make minutes last forever.

I used to have a cause.
But now it's a because.

You know that way you look at me,
With your seductious, come hither, taylor eyes.

Well, I experience a kind of reverse nostalgia,
When you lust and oggle,

And I realize that this is the moment,
The exact moment,
That one day,
I will yearn for,
As I stare out and through an uncurtained window.

What is time,
Where does it flow,
Your kiss was here
Only moments ago.

Your laugh, your love,
Assigned to the past,
Your smile a ghost
Leaves me aghast.

What trick is time,
A one way *****,
Climb up, not down,
Harsh misanthrope.

Gone now this one
Who made me whole,
Time's rude gift,
A hollowed soul.

Listen.
Or more appropriately I'm listening.

I know you aren't happy
And you are unsure of what to do,
And no matter how many times you try
It always comes back to money,

I get it.

This weird concept of trading our time for tokens

But the best advice I can give you
Is to not follow your dreams,
Ignore your passions,
Stop worshiping Disney.

Join forces with others if you can
And make money.
Its the only way to get free,
To reclaim your life,
To do something that matters.

You are soon dead.
That's the only sure thing.
Money will liberate you from fear.

That's as good as it gets

Will the Aliens save us.

The answer is not a yes or no.

It's a why.

Why would they.

There are no saviors.
No heaven or hell.
It will be up to us to figure it out.

And you wonder if your life has meaning or purpose.

You make a difference. A huge difference..

Set goals. Build hope. Immerse in optimism.

Resiliency, resilient, resilience.

I will not give up. Ever

They ate supper in her bed.
After they ******.
After he'd come. And she'd come. And then he came again.

She could do that to him.
Make him rise to the occasion.
All it took was a slip of the tongue,
A soft palm and a true story
Told in a calm voice.

It was love, yes it was, pure and private,
And a warm dinner
Served on mismatched blue china plates,
Cozy kiln fired coffee mugs,
Filled with lemon water and a single ice cube,
*** toy cluttered night stand,
A massive rubber **** suction-cupped to the bedside table,
The perfect *******, eternal and soft-hard.

No one can look away from a hard ****, she said,
A large half empty bottle of Swiss Navy,
The slick residue still
Slim on their hands and slip-n-slide
Between the cheeks of her ***.

Naked knees fused together,
A limp ***** asleep like a pet,
Weather vane *******,
Her **** in obvious disagreement,
The counterfeit independence of twins
And pointing in different directions,


Their concentration for the moment was
On their food,
As a knife and fork Morse Code,
Replaced their unusual banter,
And playful conversation.

Pillows littered the bedroom floor
Her  three cats languished,
Imperial, marble eyed and  yawning
Like ill mannered, bored and arrogant guests,
Impervious to time and place,
Hang-arounds too impolite to acknowledge
The party was over,
Say goodnight
And go.

I forgot to tie my shoes
On a Tuesday afternoon.
And I stumbled out the door,
On my way to Saskatoon.

I banged my knee and ankle
And cursed the lord in vain.
Life has so many bright spots
I really can't complain.

Who would you be if you could not be,
A reflection of yourself.

You'd look in the mirror, maybe get nearer,
And **** you're a cute little elf.

Or maybe its hazy and you're feeling crazy,
So you snap your fingers out loud.

And before you know it,you don't want to blow it,
You're a witch with her head in a shroud.

The thing that you can't be, the thing that is unfree,
You'll never guess how many have tried,

Is the you that you were, your past you defer,
There's no going back, it's denied.

Maja wanted to party.
Pachanga and rage,
Yodel see oooma and tunnel sing.

No alcohol she said,
A stupid juice, no switchin' lanes.

We dance tonight, she said, macarena, gigging,
A grind fest, dry ******* on a stanky leg,
Be ****** and true.

The word spread.
By 11 p.m. a thousand isadoras from Devon,
Mud sharks and ****,
Everybody smigglin' and dimplin' out.

We only have this day, Maja said,
So we bustamove and shuffle.
Tonight. All night.
And we rallied.

We need touch.
Skin to skin contact with others.

Oddly when we touch someone else, it tells us we are real.
Touch is our most powerful form of self awareness.

Weird huh.

Why do we bother, where is the win,
Can we ever be happy, is pleasure a sin.

I'm sorry, not sorry to strangers and kin,
My battle is fierce and always within.

Soon we are gone and eternity wins,
A scarecrow, a lion, a man made of tin.

When you cease to fear death,
Nothing will ever scare you.

Start there.

How trivial my needs and wants,
I'll spend an hour choosing fonts,
I'll whine and whimper woe is me,
Life is tough my friends agree.

Others wait in line for water,
Weeping losing sons and daughters,
Violence daily, a well known stranger,
Living lives of total danger.

Forgive me all my selfish thoughts
A first world man who's tied in knots,
I barely think to lift a finger,
As children shiver and death lingers

Fear not, the end of mortal quest,
Death is but a midterm test,
There is no judgment, no re-frame,
A simple sleep and wake again.

I don't want to be happy,
It's a selfish pursuit,
I'd rather be helpful,
Like a firm fitting boot.

Stable and caring,
With a sole that endures,
Laced up and ready,
A steadfast that assures.

I haven't told a man in a Santa Claus suit to *******.

Yet.

I haven't kissed a marmot on the lips.

Yet.

I haven't ridden a horse over a mountain while smoking a cigar.

Yet.

I haven't made love only speaking French.

Yet.

I haven't waded in a swamp full of alligators.

Yet.

I haven't freed someone I know from jail.

Yet


I haven't watched anyone I know breathe their last breath.

Yet.

I haven't given up on lottery tickets.

Yet.

I haven't stolen a car and raced down a country road.

Yet

I haven't stopped trying to knit.

Yet.

I haven't forgotten about making love to you in a cave.

Yet.

I haven't found any money in a ditch.

Yet

I haven't asked for help from a nun.

Yet.

I have not jumped into the sea from a tall cliff.

Yet.

I have not told you that I memorized all the poems you wrote.

Yet

What is the purpose of life, he asked.

To create meaning where there is none, she answered.

So there is no God, he asked

Not yet, she answered.

Life's about choices and soft spoken voices,
Whispered wise thoughts and a few maybe- nots,
We take a chance one day and then go the other way,
The world let's us wander and wants us to ponder.

You can change up your mind and be angry or kind,
We're not just machines, with their push button dreams,
If you don't like your path, then just do the math,
And take new directions, to new intersections,

Because time is a trick that goes by very quick,
Death's single reward is you'll never be bored.

We fell in love on an elevator,
Headed straight to the stars,
Our first kiss,
At my nephew's briss
Everyone smoking cigars.

Life is ever a circus
Elephants in every room.
I"ll hold hands
Till we make plans
Your smile in forever bloom.

Tease me with your metaphor
Your kitten's purr, our lion's roar,
Alliterate your love for me,
****, sensual, sets me free.

A simile might make me smile,
Like Cheshire cats in sly profile,
But allegory comes first and last,
Our love a winter's snowy path.

How fortunate to have failed young,
To have lost my way and early stung.

At twenty we still think in grey,
Not too afraid to have lost our way.

Still, one life lesson and it is brilliant
Lose everything but your resilience.

If I make a donation,
I get a standing ovation,
Yet scrimp and be stingy
And I'm treated as cringey.

Or maybe I'm lost,
And my work just gets tossed,
A lost poet who pouts,
For sure on his way outs.

A man walked into a bar,

'Ouch' he said, 'who put that there."

A woman was watching and snapped her fingers.

'It's time to raise the bar,' she said,

And forty swordsmen on pure white horses appeared.

'More', she shouted as loud as she could.

And forty pistol packing mamas on motorcycles appeared.

'I need a drink', the man said

'Let's belly up to the bar," the woman said.

And that's the story of two people being called to the bar.

The moment you begin to feel sorry for someone,
Is the exact moment you begin
To under estimate them.

How come
Watching you get dressed,
The shake, shake shimmy
Of slipping things on,

Is more arousing
Than the tease.

Do I lust more
For the things
I cannot have.

I like a girl who orders pie at noon.
Deep dish apple,warm with a macaroon,
Strong coffee with one fork,one spoon,
No rush today take the afternoon,
Of course the finish was delicious
And over way too soon.

Doubts are dreams we all cast aside,
Wishes are friends we invite inside,
Regrets are moments frozen in time,
Joy is a collection of pennies and dimes.

Love is a hat, worn smart with a tilt,
Fear is bite of anger and guilt,
Sorrow is a song, sung all alone,
Grief is wound from a very sharp stone.

Our marriage vows,
Said we had to answer honestly,
With a yes or  a no
Only one question each day.
There were no restrictions.

At dawn my eternity asked me
If I had ever killed anyone.
I said yes.

I asked her if she
Wanted anyone killed.
She said yes.

We ate our breakfast silently.

Pick me.

Pic me.

From Boomer to Millennial

If you cry, no one will see your tears.

If you wail, no one will hear your scream.

If you fear, no one will smell your sweat.

If you pray, no one will listen to your heart.

You are alone.

In a universe of a billion worlds.

You are all alone.

Bold, big and bountiful, beautiful and blue,
Morning madness mix and match, masks become milieu,
Doleful day delusions deft, distraught and due,
Sad and salty subplots, salvo, shill and spew.

In the cold of space and time,
There exists the state of superposition.

This means particles can be two things at once.
A particle can spin in both directions at the same time.

Reality is a mix, a measure, a melt.
And we have so much to discover.
We are just one tiny piece.

When I kissed you,
With open eyes,
I was not expecting,
Such a pleasant surprise.

Soft lips, plump pout,
**** sounds when you breathe out,
Bodies press, ******* flatten,
Buttons yield, belts unfasten.

It isn't love,
Such a mystery tour,
But so divine,
Love's first lure.