Fervid

Adversity can often be endured
if there's the slightest chance we'll see our dreams
come true, our febrile longing finally cured
regardless how improbable it seems,
we'll take repeated blows defiantly
or scrounge for every crumb in times of need
as long as we're convinced we just may see
that wish arrive for which we kneel and plead.
There's nothing more important to our race
than finding something positive to ply
a noble cause beyond our base concerns,
like vying for a modicum of grace
(although the cosmos seldom do comply)
and still that awful fever fiercely burns.

Pagan

I've defiled the temple in ways
that would make a centurion blush
and plundered the pillars of praise
to savor a ritual rush
while setting the altars ablaze
my flippant ego flush
with pride, the greatest sin of all
and soon the structure's bound to fall.

Steep

You’re perched upon a precipice
juxtaposed by genesis
of feelings that are not as high
as where you sit and cast your eye
above your so called nemesis;

extending your extremities
in pantomimes of pleasantries
reveals much more than you may think
as well worn gears discreetly clink
ensuring your indemnities

are fully reimbursable,
your sentiment submersible
beneath the pungent oolong tea
whose steamy tendrils set you free
with calmness truly merciful.

Hanger

He fumbled and fussed
compulsively cussed
his matted down mane was mightily mussed,
he fought not to fold
or cave to the cold
that made his assistant much harder to hold
and leaned to the left
so baldly bereft
of any dexterity making him deft
that with a great wheeze
he sank to his knees
and called up a locksmith to bust out his keys.

Craps

We live in the frailest of structures
we dwell in the darkest of dens
uncertain why we’re born to suffer
allured by the lie of the lens,

the fault of our fear is a schism
dividing the heart from the soul,
expecting the next cataclysm
relinquishes needed control—

it’s all about dealing with pressure
stability comes at a price
which no one can truthfully measure
without first defying the dice.

Teaser

A single solar cycle spun
there's not much more I could've done
with different subjects every day
and new conversions won

so what is left for me to say
just what compels me to display
this wordy work that I've begun
to find out you must stay.


***Well this is officially one full year of posting without missing one day. It may not sound like much but believe me it's not so easy. But I'm determined to keep it going as long as I can so sit back and ready yourself for more metered musings on the minutiae of mediocrity - are you reading me?***

Culpable

Greed and fear is all it takes
to help you make your worst mistakes
so take the time to think things through
with drastic odds confronting you
or some of your most chronic aches
will be from unrelenting rue

love and hope are all we need
to overcome that fearful greed
before it ever can inflict
atrocities that will restrict
the duties of this dying breed
that's so damn derelict.

Recognition

I can just see it now:
I'll be a doddering old fool
confusion etched upon my brow
my chin awash in drool

throughout the meal I'll curse and cough
"This should have been pureed!"
and then I'll sit there nodding off
as charming toasts are made

they'll ask me to approach the stage
to give some prize away
while I inquire, daft with age
"So I wrote poems you say?"

Influx

The lay of the land allured my eye
where rounded bales of hay
looked much like marbles left to lie
once God grew tired of play,

then as the burning sun retired
the sky began to blush
and this reflection was inspired
in one big breathless rush.



***Thanks to Promising Poets Parking Lot for the award and I nominate Sunshine of the Moon for perfect poet. Also thanks for all your hard work promoting people like me and giving us a place to post our stuff, you guys rock!!***

Spinning

Wherever you can stretch a line
those wily weavers will design
a matrix of the finest silk
produced by craftsmen of their ilk
that sparkles like the brightest gem
in any royal diadem
when golden sunlight filters through
prismatic drops of morning dew
adorning every wispy strand
that’s interlaced across the land
comprising this careening sphere
to which we now adhere.

Driven

She did yoga so she could stay loose
for focus she practiced tai chi
she grew her own fruit to make juice
but never had time left for me

she volunteered helping the poor
while getting a master’s degree
with passion she faced every chore
except building intimacy

she’s the kind that will never be stopped
accepting new lessons with glee
but will she learn why love has flopped
or even care where I might be?

Patchouli Man

There's this guy around our little town
whose fragrance makes your nostrils clench
he drives a convertible with the top always down
guess he can't even take his own stench.

Rambling

So how did we get here today?
The artifacts don’t always say
but we dig and we scrape
in search of the ape
that forces detractors to sway.

Where are we going from here?
The target is not always clear
with too many trails
and unproven tales
we can’t decide which way to veer.

Aurorean

It's getting dimmer
and growing grimmer
the chance for sunlight slightly slimmer
because we're tilted
the leaves turn wilted
like so many fragile lovers jilted,
the stalks are stricken
they slowly sicken
from cold that makes their juices thicken
until rotation
assists creation
to begin another incarnation--
it's getting dimmer
but there's a glimmer
of burning hope we must always simmer.

Vacancy

He watched her walk away
so long ago it seems
from living here today
to wallow in her dreams

so long ago it seems
she cared, but then preferred
to wallow in her dreams
though she often reassured

she cared, but then preferred
to spend her time alone
though she often reassured
her dazed detachment shone

she spent her time alone
not living here today
her dazed detachment shone
he watched her walk away.

Sweetening

A ruby red dragonfly
alighted on the fence nearby
its iridescent wings aglow
but can I touch it -- nope too slow,

as autumn apples coyly blush
we join the gently jostled crush
that longs to share the harvest yield
before the chance to reap's repealed,

some cider donuts hot and fresh
the sweet-tart zing of crispy flesh
beneath a sky so deeply blue
transcends by adding one thing -- you.

Fortitude

Words mean naught sans deeds
make a move instead
nurture others needs
better done than said

life means much you’ll see
eyes sustained by heart
probe the truths that be
play a helpful part

find the strength to go
past what’s good enough
fight against the flow
brave a bully’s bluff.

Good Thing

It may be worth the dues
you pay for priceless fun
but now your body rues
that frolic in the sun
it's stiffer than a two by four
your knotted back all creaky-sore

each foot feels like a ton
or is that just your shoes
the days of youth are done
as entropy ensues
thank God that freakin' fair is here
for only seven days a year.

Gamesmanship

The moon cupped a star
in the cradle of its glow
like someone playing jai alai in the sky
the goal's just so far
we'll never really know
if we've won, though we dubiously try.

Unscripted

There once was a gnome with a nose
much bigger than you may suppose
it was such a gargantuan snout
he could only get words to come out
by clearing his mouth of his beak
an embarrassing way (so to speak)
of making himself understood
so he wandered away through the wood
to spend his existence alone
while fashioning pens out of bone
to scribble his thoughts down in verse
before they could simply disperse.

One day as he worked on a sheaf
the wind blew one page like a leaf
that flew all the way back to town
getting stuck in the hem of a gown
being worn by the loveliest lass
who sat in a clearing of grass
to read the mysterious lines
and was wooed by their wondrous designs,
deciding that she should be wed
to the author commanding the head
from which this enchantment was wrought
she suddenly turned quite distraught—

the page wasn’t signed with a name
so how could she find her new flame
she followed the breeze and then soon
was hailed by a sparrow’s bright tune
which meant that the forest was near
but she wasn’t stymied by fear
she marched right ahead through the trees
ignoring the shake in her knees
determined to hunt down the hand
of the person whose words were so grand
they made her go slightly insane
with a longing she couldn’t explain.

As she came to the edge of a glade
she stayed in the sheltering shade
and watched a peculiar young gnome
(whose nose almost hung to the loam)
examining papers he held
while frustrated sighs were expelled
and she knew right away he had penned
the page that had forced her to wend
her way through the harrowing dark
pursuing this literal lark
so she rose (all pretty and slim)
to return the page back to him.

She startled the gnome and he ran
so she yelled “Please come back if you can
I found your words blowing about
and I love them, so please, come out!”
the silence was deep and profound
until she could make out the sound
of feet coming back and she smiled
for feedback most writers are wild
and this one seemed anxious to know
if she thought it was good or so-so
then he sheepishly popped from the brush
uncertain of what she may gush

but she simply proceeded to thank
him until her caring eyes drank
in his piteous, retiring form
and then her heart started to warm
with a love that she couldn’t control
exploding from the depths of her soul.
He wrote endless pages of prose
forgetting his corpulent nose
content for the first time in life
he asked her to be his first wife
and the two were soon properly hitched
then his debut booklet was pitched.

Upbringing

There's nothing like a child's embrace
to remind you how lucky you are
their face pressed against your face
no hint of deception to mar

the most beautiful feeling you'll know
a complete and unquestioning trust
that like them, will hopefully grow
as unselfish love surely must.

Lofty

The mist upon the bay cannot delay
a golden beast from rising in the east
to start the day by eating up the gray
that seems at least to be a filling feast,
for it's too plump to ever try to jump
and somehow slip our mother's clingy grip,
but soon the grump is more than just a bump
it clears the tip, a smirk across its lip
because it's bright enough to know its stuff
has all the pull it needs and supercedes
the force of any other place in this small space;
at night we blindly bluff a cool rebuff,
while darker deeds abound our promise feeds
on hopes the brute will always grace our race.

August Moon

The slats allow your luster in
my window's one big silver grin
reflecting your aloof disdain
for subjects that revolt in vain
you rule the sky from dusk till dawn
and while sometimes you look withdrawn
tonight you are robust and full
exerting your magnetic pull
on poets seeking fodder for
creations that the throngs adore
or at least a decent line or two
before your cobalt clout is through.

Ages

Today I watched a leaf's descent
it slowly wafted to the ground
while mother's limbs, all gnarled and bent
were shuddering with discontent
because the fiend called time had browned
her blustered brood without repent.

It's darker in the morning now
and night, it seems, comes sooner too
despite how much I disavow
the growing shadow on my brow
we all await the cycle to renew
what generation temperance may allow.

Good Faith

The separation of church and state
really isn’t all that great
when those that make the laws are swayed
by those with whom they’ve staunchly prayed.

Priceless

We tilted and whirled
we laughed and screamed
and as we twirled
I broadly beamed
a man once more become a boy
through simple rites of carefree joy.

He held my hand
we strolled the grounds
awash in grand
events and sounds
"See the King of Rats!" a barker cried
we giggled and jumped on another ride.

The summer sun
had begun to drop
and I knew the fun
would have to stop
when darkness finally ended the fair
but at that moment I didn't care

I spent my youth
in that very same place
each contest and booth
a tangible trace
of the timeless truth
I saw on his face
that someday hence he'll pass along
an heirloom there amidst that throng.

Exit

The river rolled as I inhaled
a happy meal ‘bout halfway staled
and morning sunlight slowly paled
behind a cloud of gray,

while miles away the thruway thrummed
with those that hadn’t yet succumbed
like old guitars that can’t be strummed
despite how well you play;

there’s got to be a better path
around this road of rigid wrath
the culprit known as concrete hath
attempted to convey.

Compensation

The worst crime against working people is a company which fails to operate at a profit – Samuel Gompers

They give us a day in September
in hopes that we'll fail to remember
how much we would love to forget
the dues we must pay with our sweat,
resentment that burns like an ember

reminds us with every new statement
annoyance will feel no abatement
till granted financial respect
and then we can calmly reflect
where all of the worthless hate went.

Utter

All I could ask of tomorrow
is to spend my last day with you
to slip the assailment of sorrow
if just for a moment or two

to borrow my breath from your beauty
that constantly steals it away
so it can perform one more duty
and aid me to tenderly say

how smitten I've been by your spirit
and blessed by the love that you gave
then once you have told me you hear it
I'll peacefully go to my grave.

Derelict

Every drip is like a knife
that penetrates my brain
reminding me my stab at life
was clumsily in vain
a poorly botched fiasco rife
with rivulets of rain
that seep through a neglected roof
and pool in puddles of reproof

If only pennies could be shaved
to make required repairs
perhaps this structure could be saved
and prove somebody cares
so further worries might be waived
at least in terms of lairs
but as for other ailing forms
there's still a chance of future storms.