I'm way out of touch
so far out of sync
stuck in this camp
and wow do I stink!

Out of my mind
were rhyming a crime
I'd be heavily fined
and then gone with a blink!

For I'd rather be eighty
a seasoned old lady
who has something worth saying
besides corny stuff

It's my campy old fluff
and I'd leave it behind
if only you'd find
that enough is enough

See I popped out this corn
in what felt like a second
but seasoned for hours
for better words beckon

Come camping awhile
and you'll pick up my style
as we sit popping poems
like old cornballs, I reckon

Minding our own
barely making it rhyme,
it's all coming out
there's dust in the drought
but the rain comes in time.

Nothing held back
I've got nothing to say,
let it roll off my shoulders
puts less your mind
and it's better that way.

And isn't this nice?
you like hot tea on ice
thank you, yes, I can follow directions
so please don't think twice.
And isn't this great?
we can stay out real late
watching millions of sparkling stars
while you're lickin' that plate?

I said nothing at all
it's that horse in the stall
my foot fell asleep but I'm not gonna weep
I can drag it or crawl.

Now the wind's in the trees
and your hand's on my knees
and the warmth of your breath on my neck
puts my tired mind at ease.

All I wanted
      porch
                    swing
            rhythm
 ­   back
              and
        forth
        with you babe
                         All I needed
                          porch
                 swing
        rhythm
back
       and
                  forth
                with you.

Minding our own
barely making it rhyme,
it's all coming out
and there's dust in the drought
but the rain comes in time
Distracted, it's true
idle chatter won't do
Better nothing to say
put the music on play
and be quiet
with you.

For any time the urge to wring
an autumn gourd, this one's the thing
Smashing pumpkins, not so nice
but Butternut Squash, an honest vice

Long and beige, hard and smooth
you'd never guess it's power to sooth
that underneath the toughest skin
is meat like pumpkin, seeds within

A steamy bisque for autumn's chill,
peel and chop them as you will
Dump them into four cups broth*
add apple, pear, or applesauce

a cup or two will do just fine
and while you stand there, have some wine!
sautee onions, a cup and a half
dump them in and cry or laugh

and now to add your seasoning stuff
cumin, curry, nutmeg, Fluff
hold the Fluff, that ain't the truth
best to pull that old sweet tooth

Bisque is savory, better than sweet
warms the cockles, heart to feet
save your sweets for pumpkin pie
the after-apple of your eye

Back to seasonings, see above
a quarter teaspoon, more with love
I add pepper and take a gander
some folks call for coriander

heat the whole thing to a boil
for me, my crock ***'s always loyal
crock at high, about four hours
or low for six, and bring some flowers!

And now I'll play a little game
change my words to mean the same
if cook is butter and ****** is squash
then butter dat ****** and ****** dat gnosh

when you're hungry, under the wudder
ain't nuttin' better 'en butternut chudder
add some cream and squash your mash
mash your squash and whip your pash

I used a blender to make it creamy
cooked it down, so thick and steamy
add some butter, parsley's fine
butternut bisque with bread and wine!

Ahhhh!!!!!

*chicken broth

My sheeple perish
what to do
they see the boundaries
run right through
they take the shield
and throw it down
the thorny brush
my painful crown
The garden bed
they trampled on
and now not fed
they linger on
and turn against
their only hope
the One to cleanse
their wounds like soap
The hand which wipes
away their tears
was stained with blood
two thousand years
before  you saw the
light of day
He died for you
and come what may
He calls to heart
which turns again
to filthy place, the darkest sin
Messiah knows
He leaves the rest
to find you in the
another mess
He draws you back
to quietness
restores your soul
to joyfulness
and washes clean
and sets you free
to live again
in harmony.

Caught a glimmer of joy in your eyes, 'twas so cold
as I left on that bus, you were smiling,
though the memory's quite old and the shimmer has dulled,
it's a full-color framed, out of filing.

Sepia pictures more often I hold
old negatives covered in grime
it's a shame, though foretold, that we're all growing old
with limited space and less time.

Despite all the charm which my countenance exudes,
these tattered old blinds can't conceal
soft light filters truth from my cheap platitudes
and the good from the dark stuff I feel.

and just when I've found that my heart's been around
and left beaten, embittered and cold
here's Walter Mitty, no *** in the city
self pity is making me old.

Over there in the closet, a huge bank deposit
I'm saving for something worthwile
been trusting the Lord yet can never afford
that 'single and lovin it' smile.

The clock on wall tells me just where I stand
and it's chime brings the heartache of doom
as the seconds tick by, I can't help but cry
all alone in my heart's old dark room.

Watching my step, I tread deep within
without the desire to save face
I gaze at a skin, done by guilt of that sin
in the light of God's love and sweet grace.

Though my heart is your home I've n'er let You roam
through the passages marked 'Do Not Enter'
they lead to the room where the waft meets the loom
forming poems wherein I am the center.

The fabric you see in that heap seems to weep
burdened down with my aches and my pains
I've asked that you'd heal all this stuff while I sleep
but I wake and the damage remains

Your Spirit reminds me, at home in my heart
how you've taken my sin to the grave
it's your pleasure to clean up, yet I must forgive
and let go of the garbage I save.

Afraid now to look any further for fear
we'll discover the worst yet to come
You tell me to follow, for You hold me dear
since we're no longer two now but one.

Beginning to see how I'd lost all my hope
when I left on that bus in the rain
I forgive him for not being able to cope
without love and the will to sustain.

You Lord, my comfort have been here within
you know how my heart is in shambles
You've rolled back the stone, I'm no longer my own
and you smile though my poetry rambles.

So welcome, my friend, yes it's been quite a while
since we've bathed in the sun and run free
got a mind for preserving your beautiful smile
in my state of the heart gallery!

Something struck me out of the blue
and cut my dorsal fin
worst pain I'll say I ever knew
guess it's due for mess I'm in

Thankfully, I am just fine
next time I'll be more careful
to watch out for the fisherman's line
and try to be more prayerful

This one's not that into fish
though fish he did one night
caught me hanging out beside
his boat, to my delight.

He spoke to me as if I were
the chicken of the sea
and said some things I won't repeat
but took as flattery.

So play we did and had a ball
that fisherman and I,
I must say though, along the way
the man, he caught my eye.

He shared a couple of tales there
that I could scarce believe
'bout a women who had landed
that old heart upon on his sleeve.

Before the sun had set
I felt a certain sting of pain
he said, " if you were not a fish
I'd take you out again".

"I do appreciate the thought"
as I entertained the notion,
"so put me in some salt water here
or jump in to my ocean."

"I got a funny feeling",
said the fisherman, said he
"that if I were to take you out
you'd be too much for me."

It was then I got his number
I knew that line, you see
Been hooked perhaps a dozen times
and thrown back in the sea.

"The sunset's sweet and lures you, man,
I love that sugar stupor
but you're just a fast food ******
and will never ******* grouper."