After all these many carnivore years
You can call it guilt or you can call it fear
I've made up my mind to decide
I'm going vegan this November time

So I broke down hard and read some books
Heard some tapes on what it took
From veggies steamed to veggies raw
From beans of green to yellow squash

As my nightly dreams were all filled with meat
I pushed back hard with collard greens
But still had no clue of what to do
With a turkey substitute

And that is when a friend came in
Who Tofu's the line at turkey time
So I read more books and heard more tapes
On Tofu fried, boiled, broiled, and baked

Opening up my kitchen to fine cuisine
Minus the best part...that being meat
As I promised myself I can make this work
My Tofurkey would be the finest in edible art

I had bought  my Tofu by the pound
Lucky for me it is pliable
As I stretched and pulled and pulled and stretched
Until I had something that looked like a head

With my artistic abilities seriously in doubt
I'm pretty sure what I conjured was the head of a cow
So I pulled and stretched and stretched and pulled
No ones going to call me an abstract fool

As I bring to boil the "Rodin" juices in me
And baste at my skills repeatedly
Where I come up with a turkey, giblets and all
And just for good measure I gobble a turkey call

Of course cooking the thing is another road and
I sadly lost Tofurkey 1, 2, and 3 in the explosion
When 4 hit the score I invited my friends
Whose friendship with them will take time to mend

Just because a turkey looks like a turkey, don't mean that it is
I'm now learning all this while I clean up the mess
As forks went to the mouths at the very same time
So did the retching along with the crying

But in a month they'll forget this entire sordid ordeal
When they get the invites for my Christmas holiday meal
With my time in the books and tapes I will spend
Looking forward to Christmas and a delicious soy bean ham

We may all appear
To be perfect in health
But there's something about ourselves
We don't show and tell

With a spring in our steps
On our lips a song
We all move along
In a dead man's walk

Back and forth being torn
On the day that we're born
From the growing of up
To the growing of old

It's a trip that we take
On life's glamor runway
Modeling at the cost
Of this dead man's walk

Some take it slow
With others, good to go
All it in keeping
With this daily death row

Where comes the time
We walk down to a fault
Talking the talk
In this dead man's walk

These days I find
I struggle to breathe
Amongst the ruins
of humanity
Dust and Rubble
are about all I see
a simple life
so hard to conceive

These days we strive
but not for the best
It's all I, me, mine
forgetting the rest
One step forward
two steps back
With short memories
we've left what we had

Broken windows
glass in the streets
Deep in the hoping
barefoot we don't bleed
Here and abroad
sea to shining sea
But at what cost
to humanity

No one is digging
for the truth anymore
In need of mending
the tear is far worse
A hopeless ending
continually knocks on the door
Humanity in its bidding
has run out its course

I say y'all with a draw
And a slight nasal twang
I'm from the South is about
The best way to explain

To me it sounds quite normal
And to those I hang around
Ain't taking a back by my accent
As they too are from the South

It's clear here that life is slower
We take all that we're allowed
With no time to waste on an endless chase
For things that do not count

Down here we do it differently
Just take a look around
As it all blends quite perfectly
Down here in the South

It's not about the money
It's not about the fame
It has more to do with the friends that you
Make along the way

There's no need to read the daily news
To find out what it's all about
I'm telling you all need to do
Is down here in the south

we fuss over this
we fuss over that
who cares who is right or wrong
when it's feelings over facts

who gets to decide
who tells the biggest lies
a lie you find is still a lie
whether black or white

what if you don't know
a lie is what you're told
does it then make it innocent
if you pass it on

if it were up to me
if it were up to you
wouldn't we both want to be
ambassadors of truth

somewhere along the line
somewhere along the way
we can see we can't believe
a single word we say

i find it rather sad
diving headfirst into the deep
before we even check the facts
all based on our feelings

which has us fussing over this
fussing over that
not caring who is right or wrong
these feelings over facts

There are ghosts in-between us
Haunting all our thoughts
The joy we thought we'd found
The joy we know we've lost

They float themselves in and out
Of our well-worn heads
The mess we wish we could put to bed
Won't give it any rest

These ghosts that we don't want
That won't leave us alone
Everywhere we dare to care
Following us all home

Ghosts of the here and now
Ghosts of the haunted past
Reminding mist of what we're left with
And what we no longer have

Ghost we know that often float
Us like we're in a dream
Making this life hard to cope
Caught up in mid-scream

These ghosts that are in-between us
Haunting all our thoughts
The joy we thought we'd found
The joy we know we've lost

To the right or left of me
Maybe somewhere in-between
Is where I tend to find myself
Or could that be somebody else

I nod my head with the up and down
To the twist of it in the twirl of round
Doing my very best to keep
It all from spinning off of me

Sliding North and slipping South
Here and there and there about
Or am I still standing still
All of it against my will

Short and long, tall and small
More or less, less is more
Of this, I am almost sure
But don't ask me because I'm torn

Inside is where I find out
All my fingers are used to count
But only up to the number ten
Then I begin to count again

To the front and back of me
With chattering teeth and wobbly knees
I find that's where I stand my ground
In the here and there and there about

All that I want
Is to be left alone
Is that too much to ask
Is that too much to want

Solitary confinement
In my own mind when
I raise my hand then
I'm done with the crowds

Jump off the bandwagon
Stepping on toes with
Years of psychosis
Poured out in doubt

My only dream
Is they'd leave me be
Free to be me
How does that sound

Make my way clear
To disappear
I'm outta here
Bye, bye I'm gone

Cause all that I want
Is to be left alone
Is that too much to ask
Is that too much to want

winter springs forward
summer falls back
cold as forever
hot desert sand
take it in season
till there's nothing left
who needs a reason
taking what little is left

passing out numbers
to those waiting in line
is it any wonder
they chose #9, #9, #9
you can surely bet
some will lose their heads
all the more reason
taking what little is left

as the leaves brown
then fall to the ground
ever so gently
without a sound
much like a life
pays its last respects
in its goodbyes
taking what little is left

I'd like to write a simple poem

Simplify my life along

With the words that make their way

Onto this blank white simple page

Try my best to relax a bit

And with that said, get over it

Whatever is stringing me along

Keeping me from this simple poem

Lifted up and then put down

Far too many times to count

A simple rhyme before too late

The right words needed to say

To open wide the flood gates

And simplify my life away

Is that too much to ask, too much to want

A simple life, a simple poem

How many times have I said goodbye
Only to return
So many times I wonder why
You take me back with open arms

A lesson earned this lesson learned
As I keep shifting gears
Unconcerned with bridges burned
Where the smoke has yet to clear

A wanting heart with false starts
Rusty from the tears
Although it's dark there's still that spark
That shows the way back here

Where I find I said goodbye
Only to return
So many times I wonder why
You take me back with open arms

I once had an Elephant
That kept all his junk inside of his trunk

From colorful maps of the Far East
To recipes of food, he loved to eat

His collection of Roller Derby star cards
A hot pink Leisure suit from the 70's he wore

A hamster wheel he feels he may one day need
If he happens to run into a hampster family

A Checker flag in case he makes it to the races
A bottle of water, if in the Desert without an Oasis

Plans for building the worlds tallest skyscraper
Peanut butter and a box of Vanilla wafers

At least 2 colorful metal Kazoos  
Cause when you Kazoo, you need a friend with you

And last but not least believe you me
A picture of the herd he calls family

The only problem that he keeps repeating
Are his bouts of constant sneezing

Which blows all the junk from out of his trunk
And he spends most his time picking it up

Which really isn't all that much fun
Which is why I say I had an Elephant once

I might say I know the way
But is it the way I take

I might say I'll love today
But will it be a love I fake

I might say I have the time
But do I spend it wise

I might say I'll give in kind
But on who's hard earned dime

I might say a lot of things
But are they things I mean

I might say you have my word
But how true does that word ring

I might say I'm here to help
But what all does that entail

I might say above all else
I mainly only think of self

we're much like
a flock of squawking birds
ruffled feathers
angry words
repeating what
others say
lately early
early late

like a flock
of squawking birds
all caged up
in a crazy world
the door's wide open
so we think we're free
who's wrong we're hoping
it's you and not me

like a flock
of squawking birds
running mouths so loud
we're hardly heard
high on a wire
still talking dirt
much like a flock
of squawking birds

We are all losers here
All losers you will find
Whether library books or our good looks
We all lose things over time

When we're tiny we lose our teeth
Then again when we get old
Some memory, others sanity
But with those aren't you always the last one to know

Some lose their sense of direction
Some their sense of time
Some just lose their sense
Which gets back to that memory and sanity line

And what about your sense of humor
Can you lose that or does it just get odd
Ask my friends and their friends family
I'm sure they'll all agree with a Bobble-Head nod

The older you get, loss of the eyesight you had
Helps to hide the ugly in life
As the hair on your head loses the grip that it had
When into the shower drain it does a high dive

So my guess is yes we're all losers in life
From beginning to the end
Then when all that is left is a date with death
We'll be losers once again

I sat down to write another poem
Spill out a slew of rhyme
Sat down to write another poem
Jot down a mess of lines
Conjure up a new idea
Knock loose my noggin in finding it
I sat down to write another poem
But nothing comes to mind

I sat down to write another poem
Not too lame, not too deep
Sat down to write another poem
To entertain both you and me
Climb rhymes tree to the furthest limb
The one with the swing to take a swim
I sat down to write another poem
But can't seem to take the leap

I sat down to write another poem
Of all  I have to say
Sat down to write another poem
But this blank wall is in my way
With inspiration everywhere
But it's over there and I'm stuck over here
I sat down to write another poem
Perhaps today is not the day

Who has control over you
Who do you bow down to
Giving it the righteous nod
Who to you is the lastest god

Pray today you don't skip a beat
To the saving grace of technology
Gaze away at the trip and fall
The latest craze, your wailing wall

Is it faith or blinded trust
You love to hate and hate to love
What you have is personable
Leaving all the others out

Shallow out on the cracked surface
Bow down to the screen for purpose
In the end, will it all be worth it
In the afterlife of market

Who do you toss prayers to
What new device is your guru
Giving it the righteous nod
Who to you is the latest god

homogenized people
soft-spoken and plain
look through the peephole
appear the same

in the way that they walk
talk their point of view
sticking together
dried Elmers glue

homogenized people
sneeze pasty white
life in a puddle
side with the tide

without a paddle
without a clue
of where they are going
of what they should do

homogenized people
slip-sliding away
vanilla icing
covers white cake

on the same path
early or late
homogenized people
never do stray

I have this Portable Pocket Giraffe
Who kindly came with the name of Ed
I just happen to know of this
Because that's what Ed's name tag says

Ed loves to play with pocket lint
Rolls it into fur ***** and tosses it
From pocket right to pocket left
It's easy to entertain a Pocket Giraffe

He loves the warmth in which he's kept
Inside my corduroy Winter pants
The loose change he finds he loves to spend
On bubble gum and Polo mints

When not doing that he loves to snack
On Oreo's and licorice
Double stuffed and of course black
Says that only the black is real licorice

(But then again we knew that)

If you get the chance I recommend
Getting you one too my friend
There's nothing more fun in life to have
Than your very own Portable Pocket Giraffe

the people in congress
say that they're for us
but honesty bleeds
short on memory

here to help us they tell us
while they up and sell us
play us for fools
knee-deep in their greed

then there's the senate
right smake dab in it
pants on fire liers
without skipping a beat

here to undo you
it's just what they do
power that leads to
a game played for keeps

there's a call for our government
and they need to answer it
from you and me
to leave us be

it's hard to remember when
with all these shenanigans
as honesty bleeds
short on memory

Do you feel the pangs of hunger
Do you feel the driving need
From one place to another
And all points in between

The music that we play today
Is slightly out of tune
But it's okay, we'll find our way
As we're all just passing through

You could complain about your circumstance
And the life that you've been thrown
Gaze around when you get the chance
In this you're not alone

Most times you can make a choice
In what you choose to do
So hold on tight and run the course
As we're all just passing through

You can press ******* the throttle
And watch it quickly pass you by
Fill your rear view mirror with sorrow
Speeding through this life

Or you could sit back and relax
Enjoy it all on cruise
Did you hear the fact when I said that
We're all just passing through

we're the conductors
the engineers
the ones in charge
of what we have here

at its very best
it's anyone's guess
yes
this is our train-wreck

so all aboard
for this wild ride
pack em tight
no cutting line

we'll crisscross like a boss
on rusty tracks
no turning back
from this train-wreck

and when we come
to this one ride done
we'll start again
on another one

so all aboard
there's little time left
to lose our heads
on this train-wreck

I wake up each day
With the best of intentions
So get out of my way
Because I'm a Christian
The first thing I do
Is pray of course
And with that out of the way
I check off the box

Head down to the kitchen
To put coffee on
Search for my Bible
Now where could it have gone
I find it, I dust it
Read chapter and verse
I then close it up
And I check off the box

Get myself dressed
In my best conservativness
Making sure not to forget
The cross around my neck
Wanting the world to know
I'm saved and not lost
In case my actions don't show
As I check off the box

I step out the door
All about the Lord's business
Looking for unsuspecting souls
To which I can witness
It's what I've got to do
Like it or not
And as soon as I'm through
I check off the box

I pray before meals
Thankful what's set before me
And thankful for not
Being like the sinners I see
With their salvation plan
I wish them good luck
Not like they haven't been warned
As I checked off the box

With another satisfying Day
Under my belt
Along the way I heard someone say
They had Jesus in their heart
Which got me to thinking
A lot of meaningful thoughts
But in the meantime
I'll just check off the box

They're fighting over here
We're fighting over there
We say that we're concerned
But do we really care
About what all goes on
"Just leave me alone"

Riots in the streets
What's that got to do with me
Waving signs about
Could you keep the noises down
Watch where those rocks are thrown
"Just leave me alone"

Too many now to count
Of people going to Hell
My attitude in that is...
Oh well
It's not like they were not warned
"Just leave me alone"

Babies in the womb
Too often rhymes with tomb
What do you want from me
What am I supposed to do
When I'm warm and safe at home
"Just leave me alone"

People on the streets
With no food to eat
Nowhere to lay their heads
No place to wash their feet
I turn my head and move along
"Just leave me alone"

Just leave me alone
I'm fine by myself
You do what you want
It's not my place to help
How many sing this song
"Just leave me alone"

Watching ants
Reminds me of man
Scurrying in a hurry
Wandering in plans

Acting like
It's all do or die
Running for their lives
Pants on fire

Finding themselves
Worn for worse
Running the course
The back and forth

Time being spent
Building this and that
Deadlines to be met
Having heart attacks

Slip sliding in the sand
Both man and ants
Pouring into this
Pouring out of that

Watching ants
Reminds me of man
In the hear and now
With no future plans

you say that you are sorry
are you sorry you said that
can't you think of anything
or is that all you have

sorry you got caught
sorry that you lied
sorry for the circumstance
in which somebody died

sorry is a word
we too often lend
take it back so we can have
it to use again

sorry for your problems
sorry for my mistakes
sorry that i didn't say
sorry on that day

sorry's for all occasions
be it early, be it late
be it clear or insincere
it's a word we often say

sorry but i didn't know
sorry that i did
sorry i didn't speak up sooner
but who am i trying to kid

take these words for all they're worth  
hold them tight or set them free
if you don't agree with me
then i am sorry

Can I raise my hand saying I've done all I can
Despite my circumstance
Did I choose to do all I set out to
That being no more and no less

Did I find my nitch, make the best of it
Taking it as it comes
Grab the baton in the wind on the run
Whether I lost or won

Who besides me would not change a thing
Would still own up to all of the wrongs
Knowing for sure they were part of the course
Life lessons that help you grow strong

If death came today how many would say
I did the very best I could
Lived as I learned through every junket in turn
Mostly in the name of love

Not trying to leave behind some magical line
Written down for history
Just doing my best at my own bequest
While trying to just be me

How do you know if you can or you can't
If you never give it a try

How do you know if you'll sink or you'll swim
If you never take the dive

How do you know if you will or you won't
If you never give it a thought

How do you know to sing along
If you never choose a song

How do you know the cost of it all
If you're not willing to spend the dime

How do you know to learn from the fall
If you never dare to climb

How do you know how fast love will grow
If you first don't plant the seed

How do you know to come in from the cold
If you never feel the heat

How do you know that now is the time
If you don't keep a watch

How do you know where to find the light
If you're always in the dark

How do you know the jest of it all
If you never care to laugh

How do you know to give it a try
If you never say can but can't

You might not be an astronaut
Never be a king or queen
Never meant to be the president
Or walk the red carpet scene

Won't win the Noble Peace Prize
In science or literature
May never find that mountain to climb
Or discover the colds elusive cure

You may never make it famous
In the circles that you move
But you can always count on the one thing
You are good at being you

You may not step into a room
To the roaring of applause
Or have the Paparazzi follow you
Taking pictures of all they saw

You may not be a rock star
Filling stadiums at night
Among these and other things
You may never do in life

While the above for others
May all soundly come true
You can always rely on the best part in life
And that is in being you

You may take some things for granted
Seeing green on the other side
Wish that you had made it
Much further in this life

You can take it all to the bank
With holdings firm in your belief
That where your ship has landed
Isn't at all where you should be

But when your lot is filled with haven't got
All you can do in life is lose
Just stick with the plan that is at hand
And do the best at being you

5:09 in the morning
I slap the alarm a second time
Guess I best be going
If I plan to catch the 6:09

That's all I seem to do these days
Is travel the salesman's life
But what else can one man do
With three kids and a wife

I hate the life I'm living
Of never being home
I know they love and cherish me
But I still feel so all alone

With the T.V. as my only companion
In this dreary hotel room
Each time I leave a part of me
Knowing I'll be back real soon

The life of a traveling salesman
Is nothing if it's not hard
Most days they barely look at me
As they hold their hand out for my card

I still must brave the days ahead
For the little ones and wife back home
To give to them a better life
Than the one in which I roam

5:09 in the morning
I slap the alarm a second time
Guess I best be going
If I plan to catch the 6:09

early on
in this run
i jumped off the train of thought

the clickity-clack
of rusty tracks
trying to find my way back

an old hobo
out in the cold
weary in and without soul

that brings me to
this lasting truth
if i knew what i would lose

when early on
in this run
i jumped off the train of thought

Poetry pulls me over
With screaming siren and blue lights
Knocks me to my knees slaps the cuffs on me
Forcing me into rhyme

Why can't it mind its own business
And stop giving me such a hard time
Leave me alone to do other things that I want
I ask you, is that really a crime

Behind bars, hard labor forced
Pen and paper in hand
Writing off my time in this do it or die
All at the judges demand

Guess they have me a poetry thief with a need
Serving time between the lines
Of this poetry that has control over me
With its insatiable need to rhyme

Here in this life doing hard time...

There's a lesson to be had
In every lesson that you get
When it's your turn up to bat
Whether swinging right or left
If you're young and dumb
Or if you're dumb and old
Don't take ahold of nothing
If you're not willing to let it go

Life can be an issue
So keep tissues at hand
The sands of time keep blowing
Blasting their demands
You might not see it coming
So keep this in the know
Don't take ahold of nothing
If you're not willing to let it go

Be it material possessions
Or matters of the heart
Don't let that thing define you
Make you into who you are
Be it in the heat of the moment
Or the brittle bitter cold
Don't take ahold of nothing
If you're not willing to let it go

We we want it, you know it
We want it all now
A generation Jonesin
For the golden cow

Amazon craving
Easy to Prime
No hassle, no waiting
No standing in line

They make it, we okay it
The latest of ism's
We are the children
Of materialism

They tell us, they sell us
The latest in trends
To make us and break us
Bend to their whims

With tantalizing advertising
We're deer in headlights
As we run over each other
To be first in line

I have been a student
Of all that really matters
Sitting at the desk of life's demands
Reading books and raising hands

A child from the beginning
And will be till the end
Placed faith inside the meaning
Which means I'll do it all again

I've been a teacher of those who'll listen
In hopes they understand
Seeing all they're missing
And what they're missing is all they have

A soldier in this lone army
Fighting wars within myself
As no one else would have me
And I would have no one else

I've been a poet in the giving
Where words refused to rhyme
When knowledge knew no limit
All this once upon a time

If you need any proof that I'm funny
I come to you with a laugh track
You can borrow from me till you're red in the knee
Then after the laugh you can give it back

Because the jokes that I tell are quite funny
Well at least they are in my head
Swirling behind my eyes trying to find the punchline
Till they spill out with the last laugh

Say have you heard that I'm funny
By now I'm The Talk of the Town
To make it more simple just call me Comedy Central
As I continue to wipe tears from this clown

You do a lot of things I don't
I do a lot of things you won't
But hey, here's a novel thought
Why can't we all just get along

I do things you do not like
You do things I would never try
In the Great by-and-by
Why don't we all try to be kind

You don't like the things I say
I don't like the way you behave
But what better day than today
To stop and say that it's okay

I'm just trying to make a point
We all call heads on this two-sided coin
In this I'm sure I'm not alone
Why can't we all just get along

It's not the cough that has you off
Lay back relax you'll soon be seen
The fever you've fought
has to do with your thoughts
In today's realities

If you're looking for the cure de jour
He's got just the thing
As you slip into bed
he slides into your head
A visit from Dr. Dream

His prescriptions don't come in a bottle
For a pharmacy, there is no need
The only pop em if you've got em
to bring you back from rock bottom
Comes to you in your sleep

Stick out your tongue saying ahh sawing logs
While the good doctor takes a peek
In the back of your mind
where nightmares spend their time
Examined by Dr. Dream

As you toss and you turn in your never-ending search
Hoping one day to be free
From the thoughts in your head
that are best left unsaid
Spreading like some dreaded disease

You spend the night looking for answers
Hoping to find some relief
While the good doctors' bedside manners
increase the chances
A visit from Dr. Dream

If you're looking for answers
To your many questions
Needing direction in what you should do

If you're undecided
On which side is lying
What you are buying is your choice to choose

When one side says my way
The other says no way
And which side is okay you haven't a clue

If one side says turn left
The other says right at
And what you are left with is more than confused

When wild windy deflection
Keeps leaving you guessing
With many more questions than bean lovers toot

You might want to think twice
Before you ask advice
Wouldn't it be nice if all said was true

Instead of listening to others
And their drooling druthers
Your ears you should cover and just listen to you

Modern Technology confuses me
Especially when I'm alone
Without some 6-year-old kid to show me it
Which only helps to prove that I'm old

You'd think over the years I'd have earned my keep
But instead, I'm left out in the cold
Perhaps someone 2 might better suit
It all being gibberish to me

Modern Technology has it out for me
I'm thinking it thinks it's real cute
With its drummer and me on two different beats
Which throws everything else out of tune

I sit and stare bug-eyed at the glare
Be it computer, smartphone, or...is this even a watch?!
I'd take the dive but I'm not that deep
It's my mind this time, not my feet that keep tripping me

Modern Technology is mocking me
Thinks it's Big Man on Campus
Gets all the high grades or at least appears that way
Of course, the mistakes may be coming from me

I wonder who is the master and who is the slave
And who's the holder of the secret key
And had we all known these cows ain't coming home
Would we have dipped our toes into
this stream of Modern Technology

Some days are better than the rest
Some days will put you to the test
Some days are fat while others lean
Some strike a match with gasoline

Some days are easier to find
Some days will make you lose your mind
Some days you want to save the date
Some you can't wait to give away

Some days are there for all they're worth
Some days laugh, some days curse
Some days always show up late
Blending into other days

Some days come from the crayon box
Some days a lead pencil is all you've got
Some days are black with others blue
Those are the days that beat up on you

Some days you stand, some days you fall
Some days you wonder at it all
Some days you pay, some days are loaned
Yet through it all, you carry on

What once kept us warm
We seem to have run from
Which makes me think the gig is up
Put a fork in us, I think we're done

What used to be all smiles
Is overloaded now with frowns
We picked it up only to put it down
Whatever happened to "Happy Town"

Slicing and dicing mincing words
Letting our mouths run off course
Nothing sadder than this soup de jour
Being spoon-fed with pitchforks

We often dream but wake to doubt
In black and white, we find this out
One eighty in our turn around
Whatever happened to "Happy Town"

When did our plans all fall through
Out of our hands, we let them loose
We lost the gander and the goose
******* in knots with a noose

Is it so hard to figure out
All we have is heading south
In line at the slaughterhouse
Whatever happened to "Happy Town"

Turn the key on my back
Wind me up for the attack
Making sure to wind it tight
Springs are sprung for a fight

Cranky gears and rusty veins
Enough to drive this toy insane
I wish I may I wish I might
Not always be wound up so tight

They find what works on these nerves
Pull my strings to runs its course
Spinning head, Stomping feet
Losing not a single beat

Wound up tight for the attack
Strings and keys upon my back
Pushing me close to the edge
Stomping feet, spinning head