Limits

Her hair was white
her beetle was green
and I was seeing red
until that right
allowed my machine
to actually move instead.

Acceptance

Their melancholic framework sags
in filthy threadbare rags
and on their dirty cracking feet
are plastic shopping bags,

they scrounge through trash for scraps to eat
for precious spoiled meat
but on most days they only find
a banquet of defeat

but that's ok, they seldom mind
they're quietly resigned
to living like a leper might
ignored by their own kind

as though they don't exist despite
the amplitude of plight
that you can ease with just a smile
when they are in your sight.

Counteragent

I can see it in his somber eyes:
he didn't get his way and had to face
that life's one giant compromise,
a never ending exercise of grace.
He can't quite understand it yet
but knows without a doubt it's so
for he's found out (to his regret)
the price of telling Mommy no.
My heart just aches to see him sad
and though I know he has to learn
it's hard to watch him struggle through
the maze of knowing good from bad,
but every disappointing turn
is nothing Grampa can't undo.

Take That

It seems my evil scheme has got
a chance of being real,
was pride the impetus to plot?
The wounded fight with zeal!

Fly by Night

The frantic crows
are in the throes
of freedom now that night has come
they swoop and dive
content to thrive
in darkness where they journey from

why must we fear
this time of year
we rule the world (or so we think)
but all those caws
will make you pause
to wonder if we're on the brink.

Mishegaas

The moon looks like a sleepy eye
whose lid is half descended
I'm betting much the same as I
do now that day has ended

I'll go home as I always do
and crawl beneath the covers
to dream of dances in the dew
between forbidden lovers

but since I am a dreamer's son
whose grip is slowly slipping
I hope one day to greet the sun
and find my feet still dripping.

Fecundity

You don't need to be verbose
to say a lot
or think your dreams are close
to take a shot
no measured tune's required
to sing a song
you'll always be inspired
if faith is strong.

Disembodied

The firmament's polluted
from more than one good blast
my foibles firmly rooted
in the fallout of the past

I felt like ore that someone mined
then dropped into a smelter
too dense I guess, and unrefined
to seek sufficient shelter

my veins exposed completely
to be neatly stripped away
then drained most indiscreetly
leaving emptiness today

which makes it truly hard to feel
remorse for lost production
a ghost that haunts the twisted steel
remaining post-destruction.

Indulge

Are you thankful for food
because it fills up your gut
or for those that attend to be fed
a banquet gets chewed
and you're satisfied but
you hunger for hugging instead.

Stolid

And so it goes…
as interest peaks
it also slows

it’s just a fact
that which speaks
will soon retract.

Why get cross?
Return critiques
are no big loss.

Making Bucks

Beneath fluorescent flicker
we banter and we bicker
supporting our survival
through slavery's revival.

Enguard

Unless you learn to deny you'll die
a bit more every dusk
but if you boldly dare to care
you may wind up a husk

for people are so fake and take
until there's nothing left
that wearing your own mask's a task
at which you must be deft.

Moral

The churches are where
the people repair
to pray for some type of salvation
but once it`s begun
there`s nowhere to run
to escape the intense tribulation
if any survive
there`s a chance they can thrive
by finding a new habitation
away from the lies
that caused the demise
of a decadent civilization.

Impression

The slightest sliver of a moon
has clipped the clouds nearby
a giant rosy-barbed harpoon
impales the twilit sky
to cause a wound inopportune
and soon the day will die
while wondering if it left any kind of mark
before, at last, succumbing to the dark.

Substantive

I'm lost within the words
that frame asylum in my mind
away from hapless herds
that are gelatinously spined,

I tumble through the lexicon
of terms akin to 'free'
as marginals impinge upon
a poorly plotted plea--

the subject has to find a way
beyond the structured norm
to still relay what it must say
but never quite conform.

Wanderings

I cried for Jan today
a friend that I have never met
but cherished anyway
a poet on the internet
whose heart was on display
and I'm filled with some regret
that I never got to say
what no existing alphabet
could possibly convey
how admiration lingers yet
as he goes on his way.

Keeping it Clean

Everytime I talk I brush my lip
with bristly hair that needs a proper snip
I wish that grooming wasn't such a chore
but it's better than a beard that sweeps the floor.

Hangups

My smart phone knows more than me
and seems better connected too
perhaps I should just let it live my life
but there are problems
for though it's billed as such
it isn't very mobile
and nowadays we still need
to somewhat get around
and it's also very sensitive
just a bit too touchy
to not get hurt by someone's
calloused digits.

Solitary

You're always quick to smile
though inside not so glib
it took you quite a while
to perfect the perfect fib
so you can feign with style

you view the world with scorn
that few will ever see
rejecting kinship borne
while nodding pleasantly
for fewer deaths to mourn

is less to care about
allowing you your room
without the need to pout
exacerbating gloom
you tow but never tout.

Duty

Please watch your back, you're going to war
there's no politician that's worth dying for
so always be ready for any attack
you're going to war, please watch your back

be stealthy and swift, be ever alert
we pray you will make it without getting hurt
and wend your way here on the first open lift
be ever alert, be stealthy and swift

your sons can't wait to be with their dad
the most important mission you've ever had
so hurry on home, don't hesitate
to be with their dad, your sons can't wait

On The Rocks

Indeed, those trying times were tough
dividing single portions thrice
but we always seemed to have enough

acquiring contentment on the cuff
we never thought about the price
indeed those trying times were tough

for folks that didn't have much stuff
depending on their spirits to suffice
but we always seemed to have enough

to make it through when things were rough
and spurn the tempting wink of vice
indeed those trying times were tough

when living was a constant scuff
and future prospects weren't so nice
but we always seemed to have enough.

When Dad departed grim and gruff
your love turned as cold as your vodka on ice,
indeed those trying times were tough
but we always seemed to have enough.

Can It

It seems the psycho spammer from hell
has pegged me as the prey
and though I don't take stalking well
I guess I have to play

but apparently they're not aware
that Blogger has an app
which keeps the comments people share
devoid of pesky crap.

Fallacious

This season is good for the sneaky
the doors and the floors are less creaky
when summer's humid atmosphere
evaporates for another year
and those that like to lurk then pounce get cheeky.

Bad Taste?

There once was a cook full of hate
for those that liked hash on their plate
and once he was bloated with scorn
The Hash Slingin' Slasher was born.

He didn't mind bacon or ham
and sausage was easy to slam
but hash took him longer to mind
and that always put him behind

The tickets would rapidly build
from people that longed to be filled
while he tried his best to complete
one order for someone to eat

it happened one challenging day
when every seat filled right away
a room full of hash lovers binged
and this is what made him unhinged

He flew from the kitchen enraged
like a beast that refused to be caged
his favorite knife flashed through the air
creating fillets everywhere

which he was reluctant to waste
so he got out his grinder post haste
and made a new special to chew
a mish-mash called Mystery Stew.

Drove

If voting made any difference they wouldn't let us do it - Mark Twain


We're steered there, proud
invoking our voice
(like we get a choice)
constituents cowed

by hoggers of hay
with matching suits
and snotty snoots
that openly prey

on lambs that flock
to polls of straw
the butcher's saw
we meekly stock.

Washed Up

I really hate to be bleak
but I repulsively reek
from fumes of failure and fear
the odious stench of the weak--

I continue to caustically cope
while harboring half-hearted hope
to somehow garnish my gear
with more assertive soap

Estimation

What's worth more:
a mansion on the shore
or pallets of the poor?

The loss of either one means pain
to those that wonder why in vain
for sentiments can't stop the rain

that starts to pour
as we debate galore
what's worth more.

Armistice

I struggle to find the arrangement
of words that could hope to reveal
my shame at the constant estrangement
I seem to be destined to feel
an honest and humble exchange meant
to peacefully end this ordeal
a truce of sorts at last achieved
so all involved can be relieved

and thus I pen this declaration
that details my plan to pursue
a culture of cohabitation
and mutual amity too
without all the intoleration
that hinders respectfulness due
to every creature everywhere
contingent on the choice to care

but the battle deciding this conflict
is not on some far away front
it's deep down inside of this convict
whose sentence is bearing the brunt
of stringent esteems that are so strict
they've steadily managed to stunt
a heart that never quite attained
the strength to keep concern sustained

Original

The first and foremost thing you need?
A fertile plot that you can seed
but do be careful when you sow
to give each object room to grow

for certain species can exceed
the first and foremost thing you need
with gangly offshoots crowding out
the spots where future growth could sprout

and don't get careless with a hoe
you've got to know how far to go
the first and foremost thing you need
would be a truly spotless deed

which grants an uncontested right
to try and nurture something bright
that validates a trademark breed
the first and foremost thing you need.

Dark Wing Radicals

November brings a bonus
besides the threat of snows
that omnipresent onus
the caucus of the crows

allow a rodent access
and it begins to gnaw
while somewhere in the blackness
a murder makes the law

proclaiming without malice
the unforeseen demise
of those that guard the palace
who thought they were so wise.