New World

Your spectral essence coruscates,
a brand new constellation
whose steadfast glow facilitates
uncharted navigation;
my heading never deviates
to lose your emanation.
I seek the shore where bounty waits—
that fabled destination.

Stock

Why must I come and bear the stone,
corroded links and pointless drone
of Rorschach statements well designed
to motivate my feeble mind?

All I want to do is create.

I sacrifice the specimen
as mindless measures steal my pen;
all contributions written off
as quickly as the rolls they doff.

Will my menial onus abate?

I struggle, every effort spent
to revel in accomplishment
which benefits my own desire—
no greater motive could inspire.

Doomed to sharing the paper’s fate!

Sketchy

They say that lead is stronger than steel
but my pencil can’t begin to scratch
the stony pride of Roman zeal
some ancient chisel seemed to catch;
I strive to get the look just right—
through shadow play we see the light.

Lover's Almanac

No fiercer blaze was ever seen than in
your eyes, which sparkled brightly that cold night,
their sultry power made my insides spin
with somersaults of unabashed delight.

The tingly touch of frosted lips undid
my last reserve, I stretched a playful tongue
to taste your fragile falling form, which slid
beyond my throat to quell those words that stung

much worse than any wound I’d felt before,
and all was still once more. A distant howl
reminded us how storms can help restore
the calm that gets upended by their scowl.

An extra glint of sunshine seemed to bring
a hint that we would see an early spring.

Home Sick

Exhausted by this foreign clime,
relentless sand awaits my spade
beneath these stars as old as time.

What secrets lie below the dunes,
perhaps a shard of glass inlaid
with strangely wrought exotic runes?

How did this race procure its end,
were fatal flaws indeed parlayed
to bring about extinctions trend?

I sift for clues with growing dread.
Will my report at last be made
to another planet cold and dead?

Corporate Alchemy

I know what I said
but that’s not what I meant—
when swimming in red
no quarter is spent
so get through your head
my final intent
to thoroughly shred
and then reinvent.

Clan Concentric

Within the circle life begins

A pristine soul created

Then loving arms will gently close

So fears can be abated

And as our bright blue cradle spins

New hope is cultivated

Around again, the circle grows

Fresh segments integrated

With every turn our hearts construct

New bridges that betoken

A burning need to find the place

Where only truth is spoken

Horizons limned in growing light

Will greet those just awoken

While revolutions endlessly

Continue on unbroken.

To Arms!

You can blah blah blah blah talk all day
but it’s what you do, not what you say
that will swing momentum either way—
now gird your loins and join the fray!

Family Tradition

So many dreams
so little ambition,
my lack of assurance
a family tradition—
can I outgrow
this predisposition?
historical data
refutes the transition.

Struggling to change
my inherent condition,
the heart of desire
pumps raw red sedition,
inciting my spirit
to toe the convention
of positive exploit
supporting intention.

Overload

Much nobler minds have contemplated
that which whispers on the fringe
of my poor brain inundated
with enough turmoil to unhinge.
Such fatal thoughts are too extreme
problems are seldom as bad as they seem.

When rampant confusion reigns inside
perspective becomes questionable,
trivial woes are magnified,
careless words wax detestable—
defenses tend to over react
as the bonds of misery slowly contract.

Locked in a cell of apprehension
prisoner of futility,
the best way to handle undue tension
is just to let the small things be;
mishaps occur, surely no crime
handle your life one task at a time.

No Deposit

Someone once told me
you can’t bottle love’s
essence of burning devotion,
nor can you grant
overwhelming desire
by concocting a magical potion,
but I’m lining up
these empty containers
pursuing my own crazy notion
that somehow, someday
I’ll find a way
to hold this elusive emotion.

The Skinny

Temptation is a tasty fruit
until the flesh is bitten
releasing the acidic juice
that heretofore was hidden;
indulgence can be dangerous
and cause the stomach damage
your standard fare should be enough—
Low-Carb has its advantage.

Acoustic Retreat

On a melodic quest through the cacophonous maw of humanity
the medicated and malcontents accost my waning sanity;
overwrought compositions of doubt and arrogance
swell to a crescendo of egocentric dissonance
conducting me to seek harmonious resonance—
timber with the pleasing timbre of creativity.

I need to feel each sonic pulse race along the vibrant grain
like shivers of expression much too potent to contain,
lightning bolts of inspiration course down my spine
radiating through my soul with messages divine.
Daily I must visit my hollow-bodied shrine
or without question, I will surely go insane.

Send a Poet

What level-headed technobot will be,
with plastic suit and focused eyes alight
the first to face some distant galaxy,
what jargon will articulate this sight?
The drone of an empiric devotee
just can’t convey the awe of gods in flight;
if only Shakespeare were alive today
and felt an urge to skim the Milky Way.

Big Sky Country

Nestled in this creaky wicker
gazing at a distant flicker
wondering why people bicker
when there’s so much to explore:

iridescent galaxies call—
enigmatic moons enthrall—
mysteries both big and small—
who could call this life a bore?

Bit Part

The station break was really through
when jokes made sense on MASH,
I learned the code and duly threw
my feelings in a stash—
deep channels of maturity
rewrote the pull of gravity.

Throughout the sitcom’s middling run
I’ve tried to stay on-cue
and downplay scenes that weren’t too fun
with antics tried and true;
the audience, I have no doubt,
won’t cry when I am written out.

Career Change?

Limerick Challenge

There once was a man from Nantucket
who’d wiggle his ears for a ducat
when asked if his purse
was better or worse
he’d moan, “Not one single buck yet!”

Writing in Water

Though saddled with woe
I won’t pull a Poe,
preferring to wait for the fates to say go;
I hope some disease
won’t buckle my knees
to suffer like Keats, passing quick as a breeze.
I may be resigned
to losing my mind
and follow the Plath other bards left behind;
but my biggest aim
is to conquer and tame
the demons that hold my intent to the flame.

Finesse

Every teacher has a master
all good students say a prayer
to drink in that much faster
the vintage truth will share—
a novice must keep thirst at bay
to savor the complex bouquet.

Nil Desperandum

If nothing else I’ve come to grips
with just how truly fleeting
the reservoir from which time sips
will stand renewed depleting;
I’ll ration till those last few drips
fall swiftly towards the meeting
of my severely weathered lips
and drought there is no cheating.

Elevate

I’ve labored in asymmetry
for much too long it seems
and now my flawed telemetry
falls well short of my dreams.

Helping Hand

Darkly determined to celebrate justified,
crushing the bones of the vanquished so viciously,
righteous infernos of covetous homicide
hungrily swallow with little discrepancy
hovels and harvests of all who are misallied
scorching exemption with tongues of democracy—
orderly thoughts can be hell to initiate
people require a nudge to cooperate.

Find Your Way by Moonlight

Silvery silent lunar beams
flit across prismatic spires
in the land of crystal dreams
igniting bursts of brilliant fire.

On this blessed eventide
jealous stars remain subdued
as nighttime splendor is supplied
by a sparkling fairy’s interlude.

Visions due the secret mind
borne on lucid wings’ bright thrust
momentarily part the blinds,
then we blink them back to dust.

Condemned

Each time I vow anew to write
with ink that’s toxin-free
carcinogens of excess fright
pollute my amity
then slowly cloud inspired sight
to taint the muse’s plea.

No matter how I try to purge
this poison from my veins
it always seems to roughly surge
and drown what hope remains,
then flood me with a sickly urge
to scrub these inner stains.

Abrasive solvents start to eat
away my weak protection
which causes a resigned retreat
from further introspection;
the true extent of my defeat
revealed by vivisection.

As organs hit the waiting scale
a tape machine should start,
didactic tones would then regale
with tales of every part,
imagine how their skin will pale
when they remove my heart—

a darkly shriveled lifeless lump
destroyed by foul abuse
of all the pain that life could dump,
wrung dry of vital juice,
denying me just one more pump
convinced there was no use.

Fickle Indeed

The fundamental paradox, a question without end:
who gets picked to fill the box and who goes on to wend
their way toward chosen destiny, a few more breaths to spare,
expressions of humanity apparently left to share.

All Uphill

I spent year forty digging out
but only slid down deeper
each day I vow to never pout
then play the whiny weeper
a clue to what it’s all about
would surely be a keeper
the unrelenting pull of doubt
just makes my incline steeper.

Exogesis

I’m programmed not to comprehend
whatever thoughts you may intend
so I’ll misread and then amend
the different view your words portend.

Born on the Wrong Side of the Universe

Just another revolution
will we find the big solution,
or hurtle on past destiny
through a cosmos of confusion.

Arbitrary happenstance,
lonely mishaps born from chance,
cursed to wonder endlessly
about our own significance.

Answers seldom explicate
those convinced of cosmic fate;
ego lined veils of nescience
truth can never penetrate.

Attitudes diverge and vary
embracing theories quite contrary,
if only we could all accept that
ignorance is hereditary.

Happy New Year!

Hi everyone! Hope it was a good night last night for everyone. I played my first gig with a new band and it was a blast! That's me way over in the corner under the balloon. The place was packed and everyone had a great time. Don't let the tiaras fool you, these guys really rock and roll! As you can see, we all got 'leied'. Ohhh, sorry, a little new year pun. I have a lot of hope for a new year and a new project filled with creativity and harmony. I just want to thank anyone who has read my blog so far and hope you stop back as I continue to share my creative efforts over the next year. I truly wish anyone who reads this a prosperous and fun new year, Take Care!!!

Bob