Stashed

These structures lend me fortitude
a base on which to lean
and though at times it seems they're skewed
I try my best to keep lines clean

predictability aside
each construct helps me build
a fine retreat in which to hide
until the drive is stilled.

Remains

There's nothing we can do or say
to make the anguish go away
it feels that even time won't mend
the ache that seems to never end
when looking at the photographs
remembering the precious laughs
which only hurts your heart anew
for now their time on earth is through
but if you hold their memory dear
it's almost like they're still right here
a part of you down to the core
until you're in their arms once more.

Conflicted

Anxiously ambivalent
is how I spend each day
confused and sad that I have spent
my time in such a way

anxiously ambivalent
describes me to a tee
too uncertain to repent
and too removed to be.

Whack

I'm constantly slapped in the face
by the artifice of our race
until I remember that I
deny my dying with dye.

Dim

Our expectations blind us
our weaknesses remind us
how little we can see

we grope in desperation
until illumination
reveals how close we be.

Vestiges

Just stroll beneath the trees in bloom
on a warm spring night in May
and you'll smell bittersweet perfume
as petals wilt away

their fullness is as fleeting
as the swollen silver moon
that dominates the sky above the grove
as cycles keep repeating
I long to furlough June
and save these precious pearls within my trove.

Craggy

What does it take to care
to vanquish your despair
and show you're there?

Where must one look to see
a way to truly be
among the we?

How can one start to feel
without a sappy spiel
and know it's real?

Why are some immune
to urges to commune
from what stone are they hewn?

Knee Slapper

These clarion blasts of clarity
are such a precious rarity
I share them with sincerity
despite the sheer hilarity

of one with the audacity
to simulate sagacity
with nothing but tenacity
and variable veracity.

Egg-istentialism

The funny thing about yolks:
some will sink and some will float
it's much the same with folks
some can swim, some need a boat.

Tolerance

Why do those in power choose
to make their way 'obey or bruise'?
If only the elected could
perform their duties as they should
perhaps there'd be a lot less strife
and we could all get on with life
or am I being too naive
when I wholeheartedly believe
that our best course is to forgive
and simply let each other live
before we go beyond the line
and jeopardize the whole design.

Perpetuity

Ideological odds it seems we're always at
result in altercations that deny the diplomat
and lead to vicious wars in defense of distant gods
it seems we're always at ideological odds.

Follow Through

It's a natural reaction
to raise above your head
your fists in satisfaction
when all your foes have fled

but don't get too elated
because the bad guys bled
you can be eliminated
unless they are instead.

Prelims

A shadow approaches
and rudely encroaches
reducing my portion of sun
but damn it, that dimness
won't fill me with grimness
for nothing by no means is done

Travel Tips

So many ways to go
such little time to show
the route you think you know
could be deceiving

just give the brakes a tap
wherever there's a radar trap
and find not every map
is worth believing.

Knowing Best

'Remarkably unremarkable'
my father always said
'Remarkably unremarkable
that's life, then you're dead.'

'Remarkably unremarkable
so much of life the same,
remarkably unremarkable
that is, until you came.'

Remarkably unremarkable
I've learned to sing this hymn
life's been remarkably unremarkable
since the day we lost him.


***This isn't autobiographical, just sounded better in first person***