Demanding

To maximize your medium
at times can just be tedium
but oh, the exultation
when they crave your creation.

Conclusion

There are ways to do things
and there are ways to get things done
you don’t need matching shoestrings
to get the distance run
or silver void of tarnish
to take a hearty bite
nor selfishness to garnish
your portion of delight—
though you must release the moorings
to get the trip begun
there are ways to do things
and there are ways to get things done.

Mindshift

I’ve mucked in mediocrity for many maudlin years
fettered by the ferrous chains of fundamental fears
but now a nascent noumenon is gnawing with a need
to break the bonds that keep the collars blue among my breed.

Terms

When I thought what I said mattered
there was so much to relay
a brand new page was spattered
with purpose every day
but margins can grow tattered
getting battered by the fray
till confidence is shattered
and there’s nothing new to say.

When I wished what I said mattered
there was plenty to parley
and though those hopes have scattered
I keep bargaining away.

Comeuppance

A happy thought
cannot be bought
it can’t be taught
to those distraught
but sometimes stray ones
can be caught
the moment they’re
no longer sought.

Mourning Personality

The phoniness is freely feigned
her mindless mask so well maintained
reciting every word prepared
as though she genuinely cared
about the hurting and debris
of televised humanity.

Later Gator

You came with every chopper bared
and caused a big commotion
you chomped and stomped
all through the swamp
without a single notion

of your intended purpose there
aside from the attention
but now somehow
they disavow
the need for your retention.

Rider

He blankly goes to work each day
and says the words he has to say
while watching all his silly dreams slowly fade away
it’s true that time does not exist
although he wears it on his wrist
to monitor the misery that grinds him in the grist

but sometimes in among the chaff
he finds a morsel worth a laugh
and savors it just like a drunkard handed a carafe—
contentment is a carousel
that spins the other way as well
condemning everyone to find their own clause out of hell.

Whet

We congregate
to consecrate
the rituals that don’t relate
yet soothe the strife
that dulls the knife
throughout the abattoir of life.

Reduction

Approaching the perimeter of subatomic realms
as mechanized misanthropy completely overwhelms
consumers catatonic from the data overloads
oblivious to how much their humanity erodes.

Drones

In unison they swing
these little flowers roused by spring
releasing scents upon the breeze
with blushing unpretentious ease
attracting adolescent bees
who’d love to land one righteous sting

for summer will adjourn
and winter’s biting rime will burn
away the chance to sow
to nurture, and robustly grow
substantial fruit in every row
to feed the hive condemned to churn.

Fallow

No sense to fret
if gross or net
a pound’s a pound
of pure regret

when spent affairs
convert your wares
to empty ground
and tawdry tares.

Speculation

City in the cloud
above the grimy crowd
a lusty throng
that plods along
appropriately cowed.

Towers tend to fall
when they get too tall
and those below
are sure to know
for they will catch it all.

Collective Cans

The search for reason can make you insane
The warmest season can limit the grain
The brightest light can mask what you seek
The sleekest words can cripple the meek
The weight of knowing can stifle your rise
The need for truth can spark bigger lies
The loudest voice can fade to a buzz
The oddest occurrence can alter what was.

Chip

Could any bland automaton
effectively expound upon
expressions of humanity
without the code to spur it on?

As CPUs are brusquely built
who defines remorse or guilt,
the boundaries of sanity,
when simulated tears are spilt?

Emotions set our race apart
they churn in ways you cannot chart
but someday our profanity
may spawn a breed devoid of heart,

compelling art and steamy sex
despite mechanics so complex
they emulate our vanity
with infinitely tighter specs.