Every man fears the psychiatrist’s ****** cigar.
That fraudulent Freudian slip.  What freak-fantastic dribble.

Destruction of society imaged in a dream.
The apocalypse is light in comparison to his judgments.

Superlative pish.
Let this be a sockdologer.

My knight rides out seeking me to greet
I run to him as though on winged feet

The bright morning mist gathers
As we in each other's arms shelter

Though day begins to burn away
Let time weld us together, pray

And our love eternal will stay
That never should it fade

To remain embraced forever
From this very day, and stay this way

To remain embraced forever
And stay this way from this very day

Everything points to a brighter future.
What fuels our world’s beauty, forests, fields, and gardens?

Is it not decay, the litter-layer, scrap & waste, the uncultivated?
Reclaimed?  New life springs from deadwood, from the effluvia.

Superfluous matter feeds life and produces the crown
This the natural world wears on her weary head.

As they say of one man’s trash or animal regarding that matter . . .
Our systems are breaking down, thankfully though painful;

Giving hope of a bright new world springing forth.

A fragrant memory among those left behind,
Memories of you are like a walk in a blooming garden.

One stops to take in the perfume of each flower,
And says, "Yes, I remember this one."

Life is bound up in,
As Shakespeare wrote,
A "mortal coil"
- Eternal energy
Loosely bound
Like some cosmic spiral,
Atoms of the ages.

With the changing of sunlight into moonlight
Supple dappling of changing shades dance on every surface
And rays quiver in and out of existence.
Another day is dying an exquisite death.

Sweetly you I remember
And with deep gratitude
Sweet, sweet, and true
You and your tune
Indebted memory
Trembling am I each time
Like the quiver of a bow
Memory, and I have come
To know that I
Must keep myself
In this precious refrain
Until impulses pass
To hold you once again
Though try as I might I,
Memories to constrain
I am unable to keep myself
From sweet remembering
You, again and again.

Here is the book that you may choose words from
It is a limited fare
Nine out of ten mythomaniacs are happy with it
For those like you, it'll do

In the stiff northern breeze
Leaves are blowing from the trees
And gathering at our feet.

-A lovely time of the year.

Hot chocolate in hand we climb
A pile nearby to sit and enjoy our treat.
I recite my wintery rhymes.

-A cozy scene with you.

You say they are "so sweet."
A dagger to the heart of a poet.
Oh, happy dagger your pain?  I know it.

-Reality's brutal strike!

But sitting there with you,
Even for the moment, life feels complete.
Even if you are not truly bright.

-It takes a poet to understand a poet.

“I am thinking about the road.”

“Why? Is the road good?”

“Yes, very good.”

“Let us go, then.”

What lovely sound
The thunder-drums
Which beat across
My horizons

And the gentle sounds
Of pattering rains
Echo through all seasons
And I'm grateful for the reasons

As the gutters overflow
And rushing fill up holes
With nowhere else to go
Spill into ditches and drains

Onward to the sea it slows
So that all can drink and so
On and on the cycle goes
And all earth should know

The reason for love shown

The day is under way,
So, here, just let me say,

Good morning moon
And good morning you!
Good morning sunrise, too.

Good morning skies above,
Good morning flowers that bloom.
Good morning to all that is loved,

All that is true. So, gratefully I say
Good morning to you.

You are not above the truth,

You cannot wrap it up in lies!
Your lizard brain blisters inside
And you will split and peel soon.

It will be soon too late for you to hid
You’ve fooled yourself to your demise
And almost took us down, too, dude.

But your fools will be there, too,
To keep your insane self company
In da prison 4 da criminally insane.

beyond hippocampus'
strong connections
representing behaviors
so well-practiced they require
almost no thought at all
grooves etched into grey matter
tendrils on neurons
transmit messages,
wrapping themselves into knots
that sounds a lot like
love and life and reason

I should have been listening to the news
Instead, I am reading poetry on the internet
Forever looking to eke out the essence of you

Who decides what beauty is?
A trend-setting, shallow puff of smoke?
Here today, gone tomorrow narrow thinking?
Taking with them what ideal supposedly is
As volumes of Truth go unread by the self-appointed.

Judges are too often bought, paid for by industries.

Each ones true beauty is purposely hidden.
For corruption is a filthy film over minds,
While truth is purity, bright and honest.
Rub fists into blighted spheres to clean them, then
Go, let your mind's eye begin to see more clearly.

If there is a word
Glory in miniature
A contagion's caught

Dear Bigot,
Best check what DNA
Has to say.

Many of us have
A little wink-wink
In our background.

Besides being horrid
You might condemn
Yourself!

Taste the lily pond
The eye holds volumes of tears
Strange looking mixture

I am fresh out of love for you,
You who have crushed it from me.
You pecked a hole in my heart
Until my soul all drained away.
I am fresh out of love.

Good morning moon
You Saturday moon
In the sky hanging low
Waiting for sunrise
Above ribbons of color
We'll wait together

As all the lovely birds fly by, and
I am held, breathless, in this moment
Transfixed to the beauty of time and space
And the continuum of time and times and tides;
Across a sky lit by the morning sunrise.
I am caught in the thought, "What is a sunrise?"
It is a sight out the window of life, yes.  Thus,
As the earth slowly turns we get to watch it go by
Ever so slowly and we think we are seeing the sun "rise."
And thus "the world turns" imperceivable in its orbit,
A blue orb in a graceful dance with a bright orange orb.
All the lovely birds have since flown into the morning;
While standing here still I am wondering,
"What is a sunrise, really?

As I age my imperfections no longer
slap me in the face,
Now they only pat my bottom.

Life is kinder, gentler.
Why is that so?
Because I don't have to care

Unless I really want to.

Light, perfect light,
You cannot scoop it up,
Get a sponge to absorb,
Collect it in jars.

Beautiful, just right
Light, it is ethereal
And cannot be captured
Nor contained.

But be assured that
With each new day
It will glow again
In its perfection

Across the morning sky.

Untangle my thoughts,
Ease my troubled mind.
Caress me gently, tenderly,
So that, perhaps I may find
A gentler friend where I had not.

I look into your eyes to see
The comfort to what worries me -
Just caress me ever tenderly.
To reality let me continue blind,
Untangled in these thoughts.

There are no lizard people who walk our streets
Living in the country, living in the cities, or suburbia.
There are only lizard brains.

People in this country are not eating cats and dogs
Not in the country, not in the cities, not in suburbia.
There are only those with cannibalized brains.

Ask yourself: Who has the brain worm?
Who is in mental decline?
Who among us really is Mr. & Mrs. Kook-Among-Us?

Alabama “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Alaska “Feel It Still” by Portugal. The Man
American Samoa “Edge of Glory” by Lady Gaga
Arizona “Edge of Seventeen” by Stevie Nicks
Arkansas “Don’t Stop” by Fleetwood Mac
California “California Love” by Tupac and “They Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar
Colorado “September” by Earth, Wind Fire
Connecticut “Signed Sealed, Delivered” by Stevie Wonder
Delaware “Higher Love” by Whitney Houston and Kygo
Democrats Abroad “Love Train” by The O’Jays
District of Columbia “Let Me Clear My Throat” by DJ Kool
Florida “Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty
Georgia “Turn Down for What” by Lil’ Jon
Guam “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter
Hawaii “24K Magic” by Bruno Mars
Idaho “Private Idaho” by The B-52s
Illinois “Sirius” by The Alan Parsons Project
Indiana “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” by Michael Jackson
Iowa “Celebrate” by Kool & the Gang
Kansas “Carry on Wayward Son” by Kansas
Kentucky “First Class” by Jack Harlow
Louisiana “All I Do Is Win” by DJ Khaled
Maine “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon
Maryland “Respect” by Aretha Franklin
Massachusetts “I’m Shipping up to Boston” by Dropkick Murphys
Michigan “Lose Yourself” by Eminem
Minnesota “Kiss” and “1999” by Prince
Mississippi “Twisting the Night Away” by Sam Cooke
Missouri “Good Luck, Babe” by Chappell Roan
Montana “American Woman” by Lenny Kravitz
Nebraska “Firework” by Katy Perry
Nevada “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers
New Hampshire “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey
New Jersey “Born in the USA” by Bruce Springsteen
New Mexico “Confident” by Demi Lovato
New York “Empire State of Mind” by Jay Z and Alicia Keys
North Carolina “Raise Up” by Petey Pablo
North Dakota “******* Fire” by Alicia Keys
Ohio “Green Light” by John Legend
Oklahoma “Ain’t Goin Down” by Garth Brooks
Oregon “Float On” by Modest Mouse
Pennsylvania “Black and Yellow” by Wiz Khalifa and “Motownphilly” by Boyz II Men
Puerto Rico “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee
Rhode Island “Shake it Off” by Taylor Swift
South Carolina “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) *** Machine” by James Brown
South Dakota “What I Like About You” by The Romantics
Tennessee “9 To 5” by Dolly Parton
Texas “Texas Hold ‘Em” by Beyonce
Utah “Animal” by Neon Trees
Vermont “Stick Season” by Noah Kahan
Virginia “The Way I Are” by Timbaland
Washington “Can’t Hold Us” by Macklemore
West Virginia “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver
Wisconsin “Jump Around” by House of Pain
Wyoming “I Gotta Feeling” by Black Eyed Peas
****** Islands “VI to the Bone” by Mic Love

As summer pants its hot last breath
Autumn comes to give her rest.

And winter looks for spring to green;
Then summer once again ​we see.

Within the turning of each new season
Our hopes and dreams are given reason.

“Often the Muse will not respond to direct and logical requests.
She must be lured in with the playful and gentle.” – Jill Badonsky

Step one: the lure

O, muse, love so true,
You Precursor,
You appear as prelude
In all that I do.

Where are you now?
Why have you flew
To unknown places,
Strangers you never knew?

Do you, come back, live here!
Remain, here, forever friend.
I will create a safe place for you
And it will be just you and me.

Fleeting moments which cannot be captured,
Never really possessing true permanence.
Those Haiku-like moments that can only  
Be experienced but never touched by hands
But remembered within the poetry of a mind.

Even as an orange fog ascends across the land
The blossom of a precious rose continues to bloom
A bright spot growing, its scent is prophetic

"But as these things start to occur, stand up straight and
lift up your heads, because your deliverance is getting near.”
Luke 21:28

You are the bright new future
Sparkling like a dime lying in the dust of an imploded building
Waiting to be picked up, pocketed, and saved for goods much
           needed.
Spend wisely young one.

The union of the sun and moon
Brief embrace, a kiss, departing too soon

A coming together, energy exchanged
Infusing us all, causing eloquent reframes

A phenomenal show eclipsing us all

I see your sunlight
Through clouds
Before I see a sun

I smell your rain
Before I see it
Falling on flowers

I see the greening
Of leaves and grass
As you bloom, and

I wonder, what else
Do you hold out
In wonder for me

There are always haters
With solid deep seated hate
Willing to step up to use their hate

Inside, without true origin, it resides
It is a hate for the sake of hate

Make no mistake it is on both sides
It is that type of hate that now drives
And haters desire to get on the ride

The night has fled
The sun is up, but
I watch a hole in the clouds
And wonder as it slowly slips by,

"When it reaches where
I know the sun to be,
Will it allow a shaft of light?"
And make my day bright?

I marvel at just how
And just why I
Get so sky-high
From watching clouds
Go by.

When you crawl into a bed of roses
you get up close and personal
with the lovely flowers and their smell,
but you also get scratched, bloodied and torn
by the thorns. It cannot be avoided.
We must let love apply the medicine
and help us heal.

We have had our full share of ridicule
From the self-assured.
And the contempt of the arrogant
Is motivated by “their own desires.
How can we safeguard ourselves
From following that futile course?
Through love, of course!

Had I been older
And you younger
I would have fallen
For you like bricks
Tumbling into the heart

Moaning, aching, memory
Exquisitely painful to touch.
Why do I reach for that place?
Cease, hear my command
O, ears open! Tormented mind!
Comfort I seek but do not find
Each time.

Hazy thoughts
Like smoke dissipating

Clung to
Yet too soon fleeting

Like one of your cigarettes
Snubbed out

Whiskey breath
The scents are all I have left

I cannot hear your name
Without an apparent melancholy, and yet
I am indifferent to everything but your name.
You see my predicament,

I, causing my own stab to the heart, say
It over and over again.

You had completely satisfied all that my heart
And affections had hoped for or even wished.
“Baraye,” is a word meaning “for”
Or “because of” in Farsi.

The homeless man
Across the way
Is going to wake up
Dead one of these days.

Then like a worm in my brain
It will begin to eat away.
And I will tell everyone
I saw him day by day lay

And rarely move.

The earth sighs, we breathe in
A common breath.
Breathe, exhale. Breath in,
Exhaled.

Humanity sighs, we fear
A common breath.
Vapor floats, spreads out,
Breathed.

We hold our common breath -

You woke me up
Tugging on my mind,
Swimming around.
I saw your eddies,
Before I fell asleep,
But you refused to bite.
So, now here we are,
Hook line and sinker,
You, 'idea fish' circling.
If I dangle the bait
Will I catch you,
You stinker?

Steel your spines,
For the days ahead.
Much damage will
Be inflicted.

For those enchanted hours,
We traveled farther than
Anyone ever could.

Steel your spine,
For the journey is impeded,
It has only slowed.
Life and love will go on.

Wings spread
Wonder flies
Into eyes
Across faces
Into hearts
Minds explode

Swallows soar
Insects hurry
Into beaks
Savored flavor
Swallows swallow
Each Sustained

Roethke said
That deep in the roots of flowers
Sunlight is kept. It is their sweet secret.
Truly we will reap what we sow, thus
Make your garden filled with light & love.

A little ditty

From sun-up to sunset
I love you the very best!
You're more special than the rest
Because you love me, too

My history stretches
For miles and miles before me
Across time and memory.
The young man drove
His souped-up blue Nova
With the blue tinted windows.
Racing up and down my street,
More of a country lane, really.

A black-topped shortcut
Leading into our small town.
My daddy would rush out
Wave fists, then call the sheriff.
A couple years went by,
The Vietnam war raged,
The souped-up Nova
Ceased to drive my street.

Daddy was relieved.
Mom and Dad grew to love
That young speed demon,
Though they didn't know
He'd been racing through time,
Racing towards me
And our life together.
Love, a home, children.

All while carrying his war-burdens.