Average Poet

Poised

2009-11-07T18:54:00.000-08:00

Each day as dusk descends
a motley murder wends
its way across the sky from west to east,
with eager ebon wings
these crassly cawing things
look greedily for scraps on which to feast;

we scurry through the rain
ignoring constant pain
unsettled by the hungry heckling call,
I’ve had my share of grief
don’t need to see a leaf
to know we’re at the apex of the fall.

Oddity

2009-11-04T09:29:00.001-08:00

I’m a curious kind of guy
I love the question – Why?
investigating mysteries
can get me kind of high.

I’m a curious kind of guy
too stubborn to comply
with any other theories
on kind of getting by.

At times I’m kind of shy
and others in your eye
awash in inconsistencies
I’m a curious kind of guy.

Inevitability

2009-11-02T09:37:00.001-08:00

Diluted resolve
begins to dissolve
deluged on this rock
condemned to revolve

until an event
of epic extent
delivers a shock
we cannot prevent.

Poll Dance

2009-10-29T09:39:00.000-07:00

Misguided Miley
thought she was wily
just like the big fraud she portrays
but most folk are smarter
than peacocks that barter
their essence to be the next craze.

Keepsake

2009-10-28T05:08:00.000-07:00

A colorful cardboard picture
in a modest wooden frame
of the classic stunning sunset
at a beach without a name
is all that I could salvage
from an unforgiving flame—
the only proper symbol
the inferno didn’t claim.

It shows a tree that’s leaning
toward a distant setting sun
as though in need of comfort
from a world it sought to shun
a lonely, brooding being
that had wearily begun
to humbly reach for heaven
before the day was done.

Our purpose is unfathomed
as is much of what we see
which makes belief an exercise
in forging your own key;
I know she’s out there somewhere
with the angels being free
and hope she’s found the solace
that this image brings to me.

***Well, it's been a year since my Mother's tragic and senseless death. I don't know why it happened and am still not over it, but have been slapped in the face with reality enough to know when it's time to just accept and move on (which is most of the time).

I've thought about everything, especially why I write, and have come to realize part of it was a secret inner dream that I could write something good enough to snap Mom out of her addictive spiral into oblivion, or maybe score big and have enough to send her to Betty Ford or someplace where she could truly heal. She loved books and always had her nose buried in one.

Alas, such just wasn't meant to be, and now it is quite pointless to dream thusly. Where ever you are, I love you Mom, RIP. ***

Clinical

2009-10-27T10:48:00.000-07:00

He stares at the slide
where cultures have grown
they struggled, then died
while he sat alone

observing their lot
and how they evolved—
he’ll plaintively jot
but won’t get involved.

Bereavement

2009-10-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

A year is just a sum
a fear we learn to face
a drear continuum
a mere expanse of space
austere as any come
that veer away from grace
a period so glum
no teardrop will erase.

Pegged

2009-10-23T08:01:00.001-07:00

A square by any other name
is still condemned to be a frame
for rules that constitute the norm
including how to swallow shame
and forcibly conform.

Twisted

2009-10-22T05:16:00.000-07:00

Just look at what we’ve wrought…

a world where any creature comfort can be bought
though all I see smeared cross the road
are hapless creatures caught
beneath the spinning wheels
of a jaded juggernaut.

Just look at what we’ve wrought…

a flimsy funhouse infinitely fraught
with clattering contrivances
designed to keep one taut
in order to forget the fact
it crumbles down to naught,

Just look at what we’ve wrought…

Leave

2009-10-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

The green recruits are weathered now
emboldened by the brawl
they weren’t informed but know somehow
tomorrow comes the fall

a brisker breeze begins to blow
as daylight slowly wanes
these telling omens tend to show
how little time remains

resplendent in their vibrant gear
they feel no fear at all
relieved to leave their torment here
tomorrow comes the fall.

Deduction

2009-10-15T09:54:00.000-07:00

I’ll stalk the boss’s dime all day
but seldom mind my own
I guess that’s why I’m doomed to stay
forever paycheck prone.

Equidistant

2009-10-13T11:32:00.001-07:00

The concept of infinity
is endless incongruity
inhabiting no single plane
with any uniformity,
exploring the enormity
that others shun in vain
an angle from which I can see
that nothing gets too close to me.

Rattling

2009-10-12T06:36:00.000-07:00

Antiquity will often choose
the truth of those that didn’t lose,
the spin that vanity commands
will shift as much as falling sands,
but bones beneath uncharted tracts
can ferret out forsaken facts.

Branded

2009-10-10T15:25:00.000-07:00

intelligent
People
Obviously
Distracted
senseless

Flagellation

2009-10-07T10:41:00.000-07:00

Whenever war is meant to be
I find the foe is usually me—
there is no banner white enough
to soothe this never ending scuff.

Dawn

2009-10-06T06:51:00.000-07:00

In the stillness of the morn
I can feel my faith reborn
protecting me from those that prey
upon my mind with scorn.

At the onset of the day
the darkness goes away
revealing crystal cobalt skies
devoid of any gray.

As the sun begins to rise
illumination helps my eyes
to recognize when truth is shorn
by endless compromise.

I choose to live not mourn
no longer am I torn
apart by doubts that fade within
the stillness of the morn.

Bewildered

2009-10-06T06:45:00.000-07:00

Hi all, well it's been a while since I've shared one of my personal asides. Life has been terribly hectic as usual but I also just haven't had the drive to create lately. I was greeted with an unexpected email this morning which really made me smile though, and hope to get this blog rolling with more regular posting again. I must thank Ms. Amber Johnson for including my lowly blog in a list of 100 Great Web Sites for Poetry Lovers. Who knew?

Split

2009-09-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

I live a double life
that no one would believe
existing on a knife
which logic says must cleave
the wispy thread of sanity
that tethers my humanity—

it’s difficult for one
to bear the weight of two
and no, it isn’t fun
but still I try to do
my best despite delirium
to foster equilibrium.

Scrap

2009-09-11T05:07:00.000-07:00

As summer starts to swiftly leave
beyond all hope of spring’s reprieve
an autumn shudder lends a hint
of winter’s unforgiving stint—

auspicious omens can’t predict
what deviation will be picked
to flourish for another blink
while former failures face the brink.

The epochs come then glumly go,
stagnation tends to settle slow,
the seasons change, but just in name
the struggle always stays the same.

Zoning

2009-09-08T04:55:00.000-07:00

The spiral down is quicker
with a shot or two of liquor
and things won’t seem so rough
once you’ve had a little puff—

don’t wallow in confusion
just accept the big illusion
and if you’ve had your fill
take another happy pill.

Perpendicular

2009-08-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

I’ve wallowed in filth the pretentious can’t bear
and swallowed the shit no elitist would dare
I’m one with the creature that crouches within
who’s done what he must, though they label it sin.

I’ve curbed my ambition – for what is the use?
Disturbed by the angle of those more obtuse
I’ll lurk in the corner where everything’s right
a smirk on my face more bemusement than spite.

Continuum?

2009-08-14T08:35:00.000-07:00

I really hate
to calculate
the distance that’s between us
there seems to be
a galaxy
dividing Mars and Venus
and no degree
of astronomy
will cancel out compunction
so two stray spheres
can cross light years
and once more form conjunction.

Clearing

2009-08-13T11:36:00.001-07:00

The only bond I seek
is with the world I tread
a haven for the weak
that huddle up in dread
when those in ‘power’ speak—

I’d rather run instead
through fields beside a creek
where no one else has fled
or voiced their mindless shriek
to soothe my aching head

and maybe try to eke
a living less misled
beneath a soaring peak
existing on the bread
that’s poison to the meek.

Seasons

2009-08-05T05:37:00.000-07:00

The thyme has withered away
the leaves are limp and gray
there is no hint of fragrant spice
embellishing today

nor zest enough to entice
acceptance of the price
required to enjoy a taste
of fabled paradise,

instead we’re gluttons for haste
our dreams can be replaced
just stack them there, out of the way
with all the other waste.

It’s saddening to say
but silence won’t delay
the barrenness of every plot
when time has withered away.

Interpretation

2009-07-31T10:54:00.000-07:00

It means whatever you want it to mean
it says whatever you need it to say
there are no messages in between
the cognitive quandaries I try to convey,

so glean whatever you want to glean
and weigh whatever you need to weigh
my sentiments seldom conform to the mean
so take them however you may.