Indivisible

Who would’ve figured
We’d wind up here
Everyone’s triggered
High on fear

The world’s become violent
But let’s all pretend
It’s fine and stay silent
Don’t offend

Expecting toleration
Will get us even less
Let’s make a stronger nation
Not a mess.

Indebted

The branches hang low
And sway to and fro
On a fragrant spring breeze
While I sigh, at ease
And thankful inside
To those who have died.

Transient

He was adamant
That he’d pay rent
With every cent
Already spent

Assisting those
With deeper woes
Then packed his clothes
So love goes.

Relations

So, you stand with those of stone,
Denying flesh and bone?
Prepare to be alone,

That which you discard
(Shake off like a shard)
Is gone. It can be hard

At times upon your mood
To stay subdued
But that’s your brood.

Senseless

I used to be able to see
Beyond the lie that we’re free
And now I can only perceive
That which I want to believe

In those days I could hear
The pulse of deceit without peer
Today I ostensibly strain
To be roused by a refrain

With nostrils clenched I’d smell
The stench that wouldn’t dispel
While seeking the mythic bouquet
Of truth, ever wafting away

Then BANG – we’re all forced to feel
Is any of this even real?
Despite my attempts to stay numb
I pray for redemption to come.

Climate

They say the earth is warming up
You know the way to train a pup
Repeat until that’s all it knows
Get ready for some record lows.

Conviction

I know that I can change
He reasoned in his head
Aware that he must rearrange
His life or he’ll be dead

Determination did the trick
He felt he’d be okay
Then he heard the handcuffs click
And he was led away.

Hobbled

The problem with having a spine
Is sometimes it gets out of line
And then there’s no way to coerce
This rebel to try and reverse

To ease the uncomfortable strain
Of walking hunched over in pain
A backbone is stubborn you see
Take it from crooked old me.

Bubbly

Emma Shmelzer
Loves her seltzer
She just smiles and slurps
Dear old Em
Is such a gem
(That is until she burps).

Feed

I was walking my beast
Enjoying a feast
Of cool morning still
With pleasure, until

Belligerent birds
Began to have words
In a tree down the street—
Talk about mean tweets.

Sloucher

Sometimes my back really hurts
And I can be a grump
It seems to be my just deserts
For a lazy lifetime slump.

Finished

There’s nothing more lame
Than losers that claim
The contest was never worth winning
Don’t even compete
If you can’t take defeat
Believe me, the world will keep spinning.

Mounting

It’s tough being ridden all day
It really starts hurting your back
Regardless how much they weigh
You can hear your bones start to crack
So you find yourself saying nay
As they come strutting up with the tack
But as your problems grow it’s safe to say
You know you won’t be getting any slack.

Heap

If you were as smart as you think you are
I admit – I’d be impressed
But your brain is more like a smart car
It’s very small, and frankly, a mess.

Ultimatum

 Those with set minds

Won’t peek through the blinds

They’d rather not see

The actual degree

To which they’ve been fooled

They like being ruled

 

I want you to know

I wish it wasn’t so

It took time to accept

The truth when it leapt

Before sleepy eyes

And I had to face lies

 

But together we must

Realize that trust

In each other is key

To show them that we

Know what’s legit

So kindly cut the shit!

Bite?

The metallic screech of a train going by
Is echoing up my street
As the moon above in a midnight sky
Is looking incomplete

A shadow creeps across it’s face
From bottom left to right
It looks as though some giant race
Has taken a big bite

When suddenly it blushes red
And earth begins to shake
But wait a sec, belay your dread
That last little bit is fake.

Hoodwinked

If you stop questioning lies
The truth will cease to be
Refuse to use your eyes
You’ll lose the sense to see

Ignore the strident cries
Of victims, lose your ears
Believe what they devise
You’re fooled by fears.

OK

Knot and knit both start with a K
But not the nit that won’t go away
Perhaps they would be keener to go
If they were offered a quick KO.

Flexible

 

Count your blessings

Not the blips

Of pointless stressing

Before life slips

Away

 

Nothing matters

In the end

Our essence scatters

So learn to bend

And sway.

Buzzing

 

I'm hammered on the hum

Of a thousand wings that thrum

As others pass by numb

How jaded we’ve become.

Full of It

Your gluttonous rapture aside
There’s nothing more filling than pride
But based on the banquet you’re due
You may be less likely to chew

Though demons denied will devour
Your soul while you grimace and glower
You still hold your plate out for more
And everyone stares at the floor.

Characteristic

A poet's pen preempts your Es
(You’re forced to think when comfort flees)
Occasionally it gives you Qs
Or quality quips that you can use
At times it makes you mutter Gs
And gives you goosebumps like the breeze
It really rings with lyric Rs
Reminding us – Reach for the Stars!

Reparations

The past you run from
Can sometimes become
A future you’d never expect
Keep checking your back
The truth has a knack
For stalking those prone to neglect

The blessing to face
A former disgrace
And try to make things somewhat right
Should never be blown
The proof that you’ve grown
Is more than just feeling contrite.

You Never Know

You never know when love will find you
And get deep down in your soul
Or the little things that can bind you
To the one that makes you whole

You never know where love will take you
Or if you’re ready for the trip
But when your allies all forsake you
You’ll still have a hand to grip

You never know if love will change you
But if you’re lucky you will feel
A greater purpose, and it’s strange too
When your heartache starts to heal

⚠️

Apocalyptic skies
Herald our demise
With many seeking solace
In the most outrageous lies

It’s time to heed the signs
The old prophetic lines
And seek a shred of mercy
Our defiance undermines.

Overbite

I chomped my cheek
And really cringed
I shouldn’t speak
With jaw unhinged.

Better

The anchor kept choking
I raised the remote
Those lies keep on poking
The sides of his throat

To halt the transmission
Of words that aren’t true
You don’t need permission
Just *click* and they’re through.

Last Course

A year at the grill?
I’ve had my fill
But still I keep cooking these meals

I need lots of green
To feed the machine
That seems to be losing it’s wheels

Well done or rare
I really don’t care
You get what you order my friend

The menu is lite
So take a big bite
It isn’t that long till the end.

Regimen

Duplicity disfigures me
In ways that only I can see
Unless I choose to fool myself
Denying what I know to be
But that would just exacerbate
The depth of the deformity
So I decide to exercise
And diet on transparency
In order to initiate
A somewhat healthier me.

Making Tracks

Like claw marks in the concrete
From steel-taloned feet
The grooves were deep and ran parallel
There’s no way I could know
The whole scenario
But it looks like someone really gave it hell.

Aubade

At night a bird can sound forlorn
That is, until the morn
When they get to see the sun reborn
Anew

For then a major change takes place
In every note, detect a trace
An interval of lilting grace
Ensues.