Twilight has arrived , driving South into Clayton , Georgia from a day in the mountains of North Carolina . Driving through Cherokee , Soco Falls and Maggie Valley , rolling hills , peaks and valleys , like time itself , but just as beautiful as ever , and as I glance over at you , I treasure our days together for the Sun is setting fast indeed ,  for you and I .............

Precious commodity on the planet , envied by young and old , the very signature of the affluent , a blue diamond in the night , a personal star awarded the few , pirouettes beneath the midday Sun , starlight awarded all the colors of the rainbow ! Her hours numbered , the sacrificial cool ambiance bestowed upon rightful delegate , her name is Ice ! Mans only hope in the ever expanding desert ! The ozone nearly depleted , temperatures at the Equator exceed one hundred seventy degrees , Winter in Nome , Alaska , fifty degree low temps , Florida has become a coral reef , Valdosta , Georgia , Dothan , Alabama are port cities with white sand beaches ! We are a nocturnal people , the high risk of melanoma , more than the current human body can take , Winter has become the time for vacations and family gatherings , schools run from two a.m. till nine a.m. , fresh water is under government control , unlawful storage of potable water or contamination of river , stream or creek is now a capital offense ! Bicycles are the number one mode of transportation for people headed to their place of work at Dusk ! A third of the Earths human population was lost during the initial fifty year period of the climate catastrophe , World Environmental Police are granted the power of Judge , Jury and Executioner , the world now focused on ozone replacement , a green planet now barren , brown with infrequent cloud cover , one hundred degree nighttime temps in the middle of Winter !

Monday Night Football will be shown , no announcement on the morning news , women became mothers , fast food will be available , there will be traffic this morning , quiet desperation ,  familiar stories , solitude , joy and grief to others ...Homeless men and women will die today. Affairs of the state will continue and someone will get their " fifteen minutes" ! Ambivalence....Continuity.....

Birdhouses and farm bell gone ,  garden spot now a tangled field of grass and small trees . Farmhouse , empty and dying from top to bottom , flower gardens missing , iron kettle hanging by rusted chain . Clothes line , henhouse and both red barns are at the ready, but sadly , empty as well . Logging chains , bale hooks , pitchfork and weathervane ,  put away forever most likely along with lifetime memories , good and bad.

For the forgotten and the sold
The ***** , societies lepers , the commanded
Refugee and combatant
Slaughtered in the name of -
words , the Kurds , the Armenians ,
American Indian an Syrian
Chocolate bunnies , HUMVEE's , dinner
at Nana's , tied to a tree , saturating
fire into encampments , jelly beans
Death courtesy of Jew , Christian , Muslim , Hindu ,
Agnostic
Mother of all bombs
Two million warriors on call* ..

A season of hope ! Brown , curious , engaging eyes that sparkled now fatigued ! A curt , weathered reflection . Gun metal gray skies encircle my shop window image , sunbeams reflect amidst the city sidewalks ! A boisterous romantic , religiously travelled , graciously relegated to the comfort of familiar streets ! Times mechanism , Hades cheated with each tick , a conundrum cloaked in temerity courtesy of advanced years !

The crackle of autumn leaves ,
golden forest canopies , apple cider dreams-
and cinnamon sticks drawing stick figures-
on frosted windows ..
Brush strokes of moonshine spinning-
nightfall portraits into life..
Cold glass portals of magic and desire ..

Our finches carry on without government
Robins are free , song filled and independent
The autumn trees ne'er proclaim a 'leader'
A catbird tends to it's affairs without a throng
of 'believers'
The homing pigeons squawk at my propensity for guitar , pen and paper , raw penchant for melody , song and fable
My friends are a shut door , a curtain pulled closed , a light switch clicked to off , a compulsion for sweet silence , a star in the western horizon
Blazed and glazed at night am I
Getting right with Randolph at twilight* ..

She was a stray spot of Sun in a Winter garden
Snow clinging to life in the shaded April -
woodland , a precocious Sparrow that chortled -
in the Spring morning mist , a naked hardwood -
awakened to the curious mountain wind , then
disappeared*....

The choice of an angry 'Smokey' or a Honey Locust tree would create a vexed farmer at the crossroads indeed .....

If I were member of the infamous Donner Party I would know not my volition anymore than what the future has in store for even one iota , Or universe held by fingers ? .. Have no recollection nor proof , faith , benevolent God or Goddess as I witness numerous horror , afflictions, malfeasance of King and governed be it Man , Woman or Child ?
I wholeheartedly refrain slander , judgement upon societies forgotten , betrayed by countryman and Much speaks , forgotten soldiers , tortured mind , aging flesh with mania that lay abandoned upon the very dirt they committed under oath to protect ?

I would gladly record my emotions onto granite with -
my fingernails if paper was nowhere to be found ..

Big Delta airliner racing overhead , I pray all her
occupants have safe travel this gorgeous Spring day
A passenger from Atlanta scoring a big business deal ,
an elder , excited Grandma on the way to see kids in
Bakersfield
Young soldiers headed home for much needed leave ,
a blues picker leaving Nashville bound for New Orleans
Students headed back to Texas Tech , Notre Dame and
Villanova
Newlyweds on their honeymoon to San Diego , an Engineer with a meeting in Guadalajara , a family reunion in Texarkana* ...

I once was under the care of a would be "physician" whose cure for depression was to beat it into submission ..
Periods of sadness were excuses for laziness which were corrected with a razor strap across my tender back in most cases ..
Rapid mood swings were addressed with soap in my mouth or an empty stomach at bedtime followed by a Bible verse to "get me right !"
Wetting the bed , spoiling my pants at age ten , clawing my legs until they bled , contemplating death on terrible days ..
Mortified at the grocery store , panic stricken days at school , laughed at by fellow classmates that were o ' so very cruel , teachers holding their hands up in disbelief like I was some kind of fool ..
Time heals nothing .. All is forgotten makes no sense at all .. Spare the rod and spoil the child ? Did you ever see the devil in my tearful eyes ?
Did Beelzebub speak to you when I cried ?

December , tripping on mushrooms , locked on a dragonfly after my easy heart . Songbird fantasia , on stage against the background of suburbia , singing melancholy ballads , each chorus more beautiful than the last ..
Lady Killdeer , I'm in touch with your spin on the world , Mother Ocean , I'm your witness at the edge of the Earth ..
Winter in anguish with the Gulf breeze , two lovers doomed to repeat the same offense .. Reprieve from wicked mornings by oneself , for Pisces , she's inconsolable again in the house of Sagittarius ..

People are like paint chips
Art quietly fading away
Collecting along the bottom
of earths temporary canvass
Devoid of recognition* ....

Amoeba swimming upstream on a petri dish , uncomfortable in artificial medium , frightened , stunned animal lying motionless in tall grass , by a busy intersection....Kudzu taking over a highway , running rampant in every direction , young art prodigy painting with watercolors on construction paper in kindergarten ... First cool wind of Winter filtering through pine forest , water trapped on city streets seeking path of least resistance .. Sand collecting at the bottom of a hill for fifty two plus years , contrail of a jet liner fading fast from right to left , condensation on a window pane waiting for the Sun to appear ....................

I've found far more solace in a German Chocolate Cake than any religion
I can think of to date ....

I missed a society where cyborgs walked the city streets
Half human , half animal slaves laboring at their masters feet
I missed Valdosta becoming a jewel by the sea
Pieces of New Orleans occasionally washing up on the
beach
We tapped , we whistled an made ourselves known
Our superiors landed , captured and farmed us then left for -
their galactic home
I missed the raindrops sizzling on melted roads
A neglected portion of the population sentenced to
forever roam
I missed kudzu devouring the small towns
The stench of once mighty rivers
A succession of killing arrows from Earths -
angered quiver ...

Airborne life circling , the pan flutes of thick
cover , gully and granite precipice awash in song
Magenta dusk towers the white pine treetops , crows
portend the birth of the moon , herons wallow in
six o'clock shadows , river dancers cross the mirrored
narrows  
Dove ballads echo for miles , gulf breezes crackle parched
canopies , a piedmont landscape offering me hope , reason
and sanity* ..

One drop of blood from the occasional briar ,
A sprinkle of late morning dew mingled with foraging sweat , a touch of sunburn mixed with one hundred percent desire for a summer treat that's heaven sent* ...

Expectations are doorways girded
with iron
Explore your passion with a free , open mind
Material wealth is environed in the chains of hearsay
and speculation
Behold , thy destination , among nations of red
and blue stars
A unique tone within the galactic concerto
Touring at allegro tempo* ...

On vulnerable days of anguish , frequently addressing the quilt
of blessings drawn at each window ...
Panes of glass , promising patterns hemmed with creative , understanding hands , the patchwork color of my isolation from the outside world , encased in the promise of light , viewed from the opaque clench of desperation ..

No cry for help as your slowly pulled to the red ground ,
as your fate is publicly pronounced
None but the wind and raven utter a sound* .....

Blackberry cobbler , pecan and minced meat pie , country ham and cathead biscuits , our breakfast staple grits ....Nana's stove had the power to hold a sometimes fragile family together and I pray her recipes, good nature an pure love for her children will continue on for generations to come ....

I was watering the vegetable garden , a rainbow appeared where the stream divided , a thousand individual prisms colorfully disseminated , fell to the ground
The humidity screamed for absolution on a calm , cloudless Dog Day of Summer ,  the supplication , denied ! Falling upon deaf ears ..
Front porch rocking chairs , ceiling fans strain under the fiery siege of August, fly strips gently sway beneath their mediocre output ..
Popsicle sticks and Orange Crush bottles are covered in ants , Guinea wasp light upon the window screens , children laugh in the distance
Jonesboro was under fire , continuous cloud to ground lightning
Stockbridge laid under the gun , preparing for the onslaught , clothes lines in need of attention , garbage cans , hanging baskets and welcome mats brought indoors !
If it's raining over my house , it's most assuredly raining all over the world .
The steam poured off the blacktop later that night , a future storm over someone else tomorrow ? The burden of streetlight apparent , consumed in the difficulty of night , I am in recognition of such plight !
My star struggles to find its place , tears recycle into storm drains , transpire , flood defenseless habitats such as mine !
Five o'clock in the morning , ceiling fans work their magic for now !
Crepuscular wildlife , a chemically afflicted depressive replays his familiar lot in life ...

Listening  and worshiping the big ******* eyeball ,  beaming into our children's eyes , conditioned to violence , accustomed to
smear **** on canvas , daring me to have a negative opinion ,
Throwing bigot and race like feeding pigeons , fist fights turned into automatic rifle fire , can't marry him , can't marry her , explosive people have no fuse , twelve year olds in their third trimester , an American ******* free for all , educational lotteries , churches picketing funerals ,
corporate hero worship designed to sell god ****** hamburgers , killing forest , killing farms , taxing polluted air I breathe , stabbed in the back by government freaks , burning the truth in effigy !

Doorways are things of beauty
An obstruction to conquer
A necessary tool for the poet
to explore and prosper* ...

Across a looking glass pond -
facing zephyr music revelry
Atop paint-by-number artworks , leaves
in brotherhood with perfect rainbows ,
shine on midday tall 'Lantern of God' ,
ruminations of a change in season , of
eventide convocations with the North Star
and frosted narrows , October operas of
wind carillon and songbird , golden bottom
land misty coming of nightfall , the sconce
of The Little Dipper and Orion , of woodland
diapason , timely Whipporwill and Thrush* ...

Autumn millet whirling in the dove days
On September morns the prize will graze
Sharp black powder and rolling earth
Family and friendship
Afternoon revelry and mirth ...

Paw Wilson clutched his dressed Auburn Market hare waiting on a trolley
His Friday night reward from a long week of barbering
Fifty cent haircuts to keep his family from starving
Paw cleaned his dress socks in the kitchen sink
Ironed his shirt an slacks while he sipped a drink
He would fall asleep drunk at the kitchen table
Paw Wilson woke up at five bells with the music of Jimmy Rodgers , whistling , ready , well groomed and able* ..

Brake lights , running a red light , pair of white lights , the reflection in Gods eyes , beaming across the blacktop , shattered glass fell from a crepuscular blue morning sky , now covering the parkway , North and South ! Critical victims lie beside the deceased in makeshift triage , birds fly in at treetop level , gather en masse ! Sirens wail , blue , red , yellow flashing lights send them on their way ! Blackbirds gather at behest of Satan , monitor heavenly host walking amongst them ! The certain sign of Angels in our presence , blessing the wounded , gathering the chosen ! Morning fog burns from West to East , sunbeam reflects off of a hosed down street . Glass , metal , plastic and rubber now burnt offerings upon a mechanical pyre , a monument to inattentive diving , speed in battle with common sense . Reason , atonement in a car crash , chalk outlines , photographs . Yaw marks , brake lights and eye witnesses , security cameras from nearby shops that pan across the intersection ? A twenty second piece on the evening news !

A day when the Sun made the monuments come to life as a lone ray lit the center of town from an Autumn cloud
Skyscrapers floated in reflection , young couples bound for Olympic Parks direction
Flags skillfully wrought by Northern breezes
Urban glass-steel giants secured a lone patch of Piedmont greenery
Leaves ran with wild freedom
Laughter , confections , security
Human connections and recognition
Smiling , Saturday people with unrehearsed moves
Every tall tree , songbird , vendor and playful child made special
For one perfect hour love briefly appeared to rule

A Tawny Owl in peerless voice , resonating within lonely , hazy Moorland .. The very breath of Scotland whispers , drawn upon Highland reserves , her intrepid Moon tints a solitary Rise , painted by the hand of St. Gabriel , under the protection of Heavens dominion ..

These Brogans have walked many trails ,
carved the red clay , tracked through the summer-
hay , laid impressions on many a shore ,
climbed barbed wire , kicked tractor tires
stomped out backyard fires , walked the property
line , ten years service with ne'er a shine .

These blessed overalls have staved the cold on frosty
morns
Many a pocket filled to the brim , Goody powders ,
nails and screws , guitar picks & Red Man chew ,
fence pliers , shotgun shells , a #2 hook and a catfish bell ....

Wrapped up in January weather , the metaphysical snow disfiguring the ground , prudence , creativity ... I don't know about God , but I'm praying anyhow , with one eye on the candied , cocoanut flake yard* ...

Ink runs on the page of another -
rainy , paper day
A poet's keen thought yearning for publicity , -
left to wash away*...

The key to deliverance is lying in a drawer , beside a deck of playing cards and a cigarette lighter . A courageous solution , split second decision devoid of thought , arcane reasoning , the battle lost ? Catch a kiss , throw it to the ground , mingled with brain matter , blood and bone . Close red eyes , ride the light , in a parallel universe your at peace and alive ! Enlightened and immune to the demons of the mind , in tune with your surroundings , a second chance . Replaying the past , alternate roads , a Prince among men finding shelter in the storm ! Returned to the epilogue in the theater of the mind , changing the script , sickness resigned ....

So many awed eyes engaged with the stars ,
unaware of the miracles at their feet ...

A May Evening ...

Every critical Summer nuance , crayfish and mossy thicket in utter congruence , peach , marigold waning sunlight in tune with her thick , olive riverside confluence
Famished Rock Bass break the surface calm as -
thoughts of boyhood balm and resolve
Blue darters skim the Pine shadowed eddies
Alpha starlight sending eventide messages

Dry ,  gnarled arms and hands , dandruff in this old mans beard would be akin to wind carved mountain rocks . Our physicality doomed , slowly disappearing one grain at a time , to be wiped off the furniture a hundred years from now by a meticulous housekeeper ..

My wraith stands at the wood line .. Hone the Carpenter's chisel with wet stone , quarried from the banks of my childhood's keeper ..Record my days within Shangri-La into a Hickory towering these very waters , return a dreamers ashen remains to mingle with her bountiful fauna .. I will return everlasting appreciation and salutation with the many flowers of Spring that cover her embankments ...

Gunshots split the silence over some forgotten ghetto as the bottle rockets explode over Palmetto
Sparklers dance in the night just as -
a Veteran gives up the fight
The sound of a cannon roars as fireworks -
illuminate abandoned streets , cracked sidewalks -
an abandoned stores
The air is filled with the aroma of hot dogs , hamburgers -
and beer
Townsfolk cheer as each projectile showers the -
sky
The sound of automatic rifle fire from the left and the -
right
The false echoes of battle o'er a small town
The cry of another American gunned down ...

The days inaugural sunshine signals the young ocean
to enchant the dreamer , to touch the
romantic with tales of Atlantis , with tales of wailing mermaid's and sea monsters , with stories of weathered sailors on clippers riding diamond waters* ....

School day mittens with checkerboard frilly scarf , candy apple cheeks and glowing brown eyes , gathering with schoolmates for the morning bus ride ..
Snow boots leave glistening , wet impressions on late Winter frost , arms full with lunchbox and violin , waving cheerful goodbyes to proud Mother once again .. Cold gravel cracks beneath the yellow carriage , red brake lights at each farmhouse , further away with each stop , over the hill and gone ....

Our footsteps are audible in morning snow
We struggle Berry Hill in the predawn timid glow
Protecting a treasure that continues to grow
To catch a view of white narrows , crusted-
evergreens and chimney fires
Inspiring a love that will never die* ...

To rest beside wild spearmint -
on a mild winter's eve
With Hickory and Oak alive in sun and shadow , between puffs of cool crept patchwork red , gold leaves
A stick of grass to chew
Songbirds to view
Something positive , something alluring ,
Something new* ...

You know my emotional flight well , now run away into night ..
We're better left in hiding than among penny ante friends that know
nothing of our plight ...

Our soul , taken by Earths magnetic field , converted to complicated tones and delivered across the Universe ...True music which cannot be duplicated nor understood , untethered by traditional theory ... Contact amongst our Universal brethren seemingly impossible !.. Recognition ,  perception and harmony from our very first score on this planet... Yet to be transcribed ...