Retry

I'm playing to gain
every point I can shave
so I can attain
the level I crave

the boss is a bitch
and I can't seem to get
past this one glitch:
there's no sure bet

Return

The opposite of a people person
I guess that's what I am
weather, office, politics
I just don't give a damn

but if you'd like to talk about
the things we'll never know
an increment of interest
just may begin to show.

Busybody

Some are so bent
to learn your intent
they'll bend over backwards to hear
whatever you say
so they can relay
it to anyone else who is near.

Dash for the Stash

He streaks across the wire
a flash of white and gray
avoids accumulation
with such coordination
along with every tire
and any hungry stray

he's looking for a snack
to calm a growling gut
the winter has been grueling
and he is through with dueling
hunger, and now is racing back
to where he hid his nut.

Color Commentary

The weatherman said
before we went to bed
that mounds of snow would fall throughout the night
this morning instead
his face is quite red
because there's not a single speck of white.

Abysmal

I felt in need of something
but nothing would avail
my spirit shed the sadness
that joy could not curtail

a melancholy deeper
than the vast unfathomed sea
and infinitely darker
than the depths could ever be

a place so cold and distant
it sees the sun no more
and I the lonely traveler
that roams the vacant shore.

Footing

A person's charity can drain their shares
but cheerfully they float another round,
as long as they are buying no one cares;

in fact, you'll find there are no empty chairs
whenever someone generous is found.
A person's charity can drain their shares

and make their credit rating need repairs
while everybody else's ills are drowned,
as long as they are buying no on cares

about a benefactor's vexed affairs
with endless foamy glasses neatly downed;
a person's charity can drain their shares

and ruin their good name (there are no spares)
but moochers aren't concerned if someone's sound,
as long as they are buying no one cares

if detrimental deficit impairs
another's chance to pay their fleshy pound;
a person's charity can drain their shares,
as long as they are buying no one cares.

Pep

If you have to start anew
there's not much you can do
but roll up your sleeves
and give a few heaves
to make sure you pull through

and when life seems unjust
just knock away the dust
forego the frown
for though you're down
it only gets better from bust.

Recipe for Frustration

A cook is cursed to care
about another's fare
despite the hunger they are forced to bear
ignoring every pang
while serving with a clang
contentment that's as fleeting as the bell they roughly rang.

Internal Affairs

How many innocent children must die
how many grieving families must cry
how many times must we pray to our God
while laying another lost babe in the sod
aware that we'll never receive a reply
despite how much we prod.

The change we seek is not divine
it must be by our own design
that we resolve to foster love
and not the need to push or shove
while blaming anything malign
on forces from above.


***Dedicated to all the poor victims of child abuse.***

Bankrupt

The wheel spins
the victor grins
the loser wishes for some wins
as clues are sought
the puzzle fraught
with paradox adeptly wrought
but is it wise
to jeopardize
one's innocence to earn a prize?

Not Feeling It

It's hard to caress the air
to run your fingers through some hair
when no one's there

or brush your burning lips
against a bust that ever slips
right through your grips.

Leeway

Does life force ebb
as we run out of Web,
the sprawling silken skein
too fragile to maintain?

Every strand we weave
becomes another span
reminding us to leave
connections when we can

but bonds are prone to break
where stresses interact
unless we learn to make
a more forgiving pact.

New Day

Another chance to love and learn
to grit my teeth and try
within my heart begins to burn
like fire in the sky.

Tradeoff

I find it hard to say
I advocate the melee
but feel a love-fest would be
anathema to me
and so I spend each day
recalcitrant but free.

Tetrad

Your distant coldness
and stony silence
underscore the sky
with brilliant observations
(unless you're feeling shy
and cloak yourself in shadow
that we readily supply)
but soon you will turn bloody
when we happen to align
a sign we can't deny
of judgment from on high.

Folding

I'm drifting in and out of coherency
the disconnect almost complete
while cursing compulsive transparency
for telling my abject defeat

I've never been much of a masochist
life can be painful enough
but the problem with being a pacifist
is building a betable bluff.

Flower Power

The crystal blooms borne
this merciless morn
encumber the limb
much more than adorn

the sun is so dim
that chances are slim
we won't be forlorn
as winter turns grim

and though I feel worn
I will not be torn
from visions that brim
with lilacs reborn.

On the Go

The creek is slowing to a crawl
and clinging to the rocky wall
the frigid air can crystallize
aquatic skin before your eyes

but underneath it still moves forth
despite this salvo from the north
as we must also move each day
although we seldom know the way.

Turncoat

There is no cure
for the self-saboteur
so save your precious breath
they'll undermine
their own design
and naysay it to death

Unplug

The room of broken devices
is littered with debris
obtained at cut throat prices
to satisfy a spree

perversity in plastic
the world can ill afford
it's time for something drastic--
rebirth by cutting cord.

Elbow Room

Those we trust
are those who bust
our bubbles with the greatest lust
so live each day
with less dismay
by keeping them a nudge away.

Transitory

I try my best to reconcile
my need to commune
and aversion to guile

determining quite soon
in order to smile
my path must be strewn

for at least a good mile
with those like the moon
that fade after a while.

Extenuation

A massive swirling gyre of birds ascends
the ominously darkened winter sky
as though perhaps today's the day it ends
but we must suffer more before we die
and so I trudge away forgetting why
I even care about the startled birds
unless I move there won't be time to try
today's attempt to find the proper words
that help define my legacy (as such)
instead of just a way to pass the time
while waiting for that final judgment day
and yes I do admit I'm out of touch
denying my detachment as a crime
but sadly I don't get the final say.

Curiouser

There have been troubled times in life when I thought I'd like to leave
until I realized how well self pity can deceive
so now when things look bleak I do my best to make amends
besides I'm truly dying to find out the way it ends

On a Wing and a Prayer

It seems a crow
with a broken wing
traversed the snow
the poor hurt thing
I track the string
of prints and lo
it let me bring
relief from woe.

It cocked it's head
and onyx eye
I offered bread
(nice tasty rye)
it had a try
and ate, then fled
while hapless I
prayed in its stead.

Reject

The fabric of truth's made of fiber
distorted by those prone to stretch
but I've never been a subscriber
to wrinkled remains of a wretch
as the ginger would-be-king gets reamed
by those who pilfered as they beamed.

Orbital

Can lesser beings be content?
Perhaps someday I'll see
for no one's less significant
than microscopic me

but how can one so miniscule
have any type of need
that doesn't merit ridicule
by bruisers of our breed

it all depends upon the sphere
in which we operate
if we'll have a ball while here
or share a noble fate.

Revision

If the subject's filled with rage
will the sentence still be served
when the structure is a cage
for a period observed
as one modifies the page?

Roadblock

I always go the old way
despite the shorter route
that progress may establish
and then I curse about

the younger ones that pass me
because they're quick enough
to grasp when something's better
unlike this aging duff.

Dip

I'm a miserable drunk
that's why I don't drink
I can be a skunk
but don't like to stink
I've recently sunk
then swam to the brink
just jettisoned junk
that was making me sink
and now I must dunk
my pen in more ink.