"Dune Reference?" (P.o.t.D. 4/30/15, no rev)

Fear - the mind killer -
Leads us to ill-thought actions
With later regrets.

"Bemoaning Work" (P.o.t.D. 4/29/15, no rev)

Stocking groceries
Took longer than expected,
Left time constricted.

"Talking About the Weather" (P.o.t.D. 4/28/15, no rev)

A damp chill crept into town, late last night,
Riding forth on the backs of slate grey clouds -
Casting grave portents of much rain, today
To bless the fields and their flowering crowds.

"What the Nose Knows" (P.o.t.D. 4/27/15, rev 4/27/17)

The pungent smell
Of dirt, sweat, and toilet
Tells the poors' tale
Of living on the street,
When, sharing city bus,
Did we happen to meet.

"Ten Year Chip" (P.o.t.D. 4/26/15, no rev)

The brass medallion holds a bit of weight,
Engraved with an "X" for ten sober years -
Some quite happy, and others not so great -
Earned today after much laughter and tears.

"Exhausted" (P.o.t.D. 4/25/15, no rev)

It's one of those days,
When I'm wore out from my job
And writing is tough.

"Threshold" (P.o.t.D. 4/24/15, no rev)

A desire to describe dreams deferred
When writing is now a wrangling of each word -
How then will my hopeless heart be heard?
Be still, my soul, to soar like the black bird...

"Thursday Morn" (P.o.t.D. 4/23/15, rev ???)

I come to, after a long nap, barely listening
To "Henry V" playing on the radio at 5 a.m.

Realizing the game on my phone needs attention,
I putter around there for two and a half hours,
Burning former alliance members, to train more troops.
I don't know when I'll commit to a war.

I go in to my room, to get dressed for the day,
When the end table between the beds collapses,
Startling my new room mate awake.
I take five minutes to reassemble it all from the wreckage.

I make my way to a long-forgotten AA meeting,
Where I'm greeted with hugs and hellos all around.
Ten years ago, I committed to fight this inner war;
And I've reassembled my life from quite a wreckage...
Not on my own power, though,
But with the aid of quite a community,
And powers unforeseen, well outside of my control.

Now, I'm home again,
To eat, do laundry, shower, clean,
And perform various other chores and commitments,
That I may find myself in a better place,
To awaken again, to stirring words and undampened courage.

defeating the purpose?

coffee stirs my mind up,
when it wants to wind down -
now watch my resentments
spin wildly, round and round...

"Global Warming Haiku" (P.o.t.D. 4/22/15, no rev)

Stewing in our filth,
Heat creeps up, slowly, deadly -
Cockroaches rejoice!

"Finding My Boyhood Kindness..." (P.o.t.D. 4/20/15, no rev)

Why does the crawling cockroach scare me so?

The hairs on my skin bristle at the thought
Of that bug touching me with prickly legs!
So I would end its brief life's crawl without
Second thoughts, claiming, "Oh! But it lays eggs!"

As a young boy, I would embrace bugs, frogs,
Snakes, and other non-mammals with such glee!
Did I grow wiser, as I aged, because
Bites and stings can cause pain - that I now see?

Yet I've grown softer now, and show respect
For all the many lives beyond my own.
Show them to the great outdoors, to infect
Some other boy, with new wonders he's shown.

"Pity Party" (P.o.t.D. 4/19/17)

My lonely heart, pining away...
Feelings fester, drive me to say,
"None will come close to me, today..."

"Casting Words" (P.o.t.D. 4/19/17)

What words will you wield,
While wearing ones, once whispered
With such bitter stings?

"Questioning Leisure" (P.o.t.D. 4/19/15, no rev)

Is it time wasted,
To play games, and write these poems,
When those give me joy?

"Pollen sucks." (P.o.t.D. 4/18/15, no rev)

Look! Pretty flowers -
"Ack! Ack! Thbbt..." (They're killing me,
These damn allergens...)

rantin, before midnight....

there's this low level anxiety
just eating away at my sanity

worried the president will trigger a world war
while he gleefullly cuts and slashes
his way through decades of regulations,
some good some out of date
god damn it, though, i think
they all want to reinvent the wheel
under some guise of one moral code?

i want environmental regulations,
yet i'm indifferent to sex conduct
and i hate to watch education
being sold to the cheapest dollar

i know not about finances
or immigrants despised
or little old ladies
losing money to live their lives

well, i know what internet memes
shout at every corner of the web,
all the fester, when not tied to... facts?

i despair, i lose hope,
i wallow in misery
because i can not see
how i can change the world:
does a phone call, or a march,
have any real impact -
do i have the energy to join in,
or is it just protesting too much?

so, there's that -
frustrations abound your government..
not mine! I voted for the Democrats.
...and i'm sure there's those out there
who would strip me five ways to Sunday
for playing in to the two-party system.

bringing it back to my hula hoop -
i want to be loved, cherished, and respected...?

i want to spend my evenings with friends,
telling about our days' adventures...

I want to date an elegant lady,
who doesn't write me off, for living in poverty...

I want to weigh 180..160..140..?
whatever weight eliminates this belly...

yet again, i feel imprisoned
by my present -
afraid to flirt,
because I don't want to harass;
yet feeling I will be overlooked,
never approached,
because i'm trying wo live outside the old mold
"a common refrain, going back to the 80's"

i can see it now,
being chastised and chided,
by some of my closest friends:
"Why don't you take the initiative?"
...and as I sink into a deep, dark oubliette,
my parting thought is still,
"No lady will reach out, directly,
Because they're fighting polite society..."

Oh, and because i'm fat,
And rather insane, more days than not,
And old and poor
and beating up on myself
for all the unattractive qualities
i'm weighing myself down with...

i'm this geek,
who was pushed into the stoner circle,
because he cut off a cop at a light
after deinking a 6-pack in 30 minutes...
I often think that my drinking and drugging arc
was cut short, way before I thought it was a problem

...and i'm a geek..
i like to play D&D and Euro games,
I enjoy reading in the sciences
and using public media
and i seem to miss the cues
that make conversation so effortless for y'all.

i'm told i don't need to base my happiness
on other people's opinions,
and i twist that up in my mind,
thinking I've just been told to be a hermit
(...and i wonder why friends and family never call...)
[perhaps because i'm lost in my electronics]

"Separation Anxiety..?" (P.o.t.D. 4/17/15, no rev)

Seasons roll on, in this cycle of life.
Despite our clinging to those brief moments,
The Reaper will swing wide his razor scythe
And separate us from our sharp torments.

"Personal ad?" (P.o.t.D. 4/13/15, no rev)

Seeking some good words
To entertain all my friends
In my daily poems.

"'Alone!', he wails..." (P.o.t.D. 4/13/08, rev 6/24/17)

Restrain tongue and pen, in work and in play --
Emotions checked, yet lusty obsessions
Simmer, seeking to have their ugly say.
Public, private perspectives, perceptions
Entwined, interwoven, in tangled skein.
Confusing courage with cries of caution,
Tangled I am found, again and again -
I am lost in deontic ties that bind.
Now... do I cross antiquated fences,
Gaining insight, facing fears, in my mind?

Before, I would "sit in solemn silence",
Overcome my feelings, yet... highstrung... tense -
Untold wreckage building upon my soul,
Never once did I feel complete and whole.
Dwelling in a pure ivory tower,
And discontent... alone... each midnight hour.
Reason only took me farther - too far -
Inside self, loves buried in aching heart,
Encamped, enclosed, entrapped, entombed "in a
Steel cage" - a lean role sans sensual sin.

Inhibitions: respect? ... or overcome?
Note, then, the true fears from among the sum.

Look... Listen... Love... and the world unfolds!
Infinite nuances will be revealed,
From which billions of stories can be told -
Experiences that can truly heal.

Everyone has a story to tell;
Stories so deep, they cause my heart to swell!
Pensive, I will miss their insights around
Even though, like armies, do they surround.
Circled by artisans, artists, arsons;
Igniting passions, felt by all senses.
Around my prison of independence
Lay self-centered lies from self-sufficience;
Leading me to forget growth from "my mind,
Your mind, learning when we are intertwined".

Ignoring others, I find I become
Narcistic, pessimistic... my thoughts, numb.

Life is too short to live in a ship's hold;
Overcome, I must, these imagined seals!
Voyeuer, no more - engage others, be bold -
Enrich my life, sharing others' ordeals!

"International TableTop Day" (P.o.t.D. 4/11/15, no rev)

Ah! To play today
Many games of luck and skill -
The planet plans it!

"Testing Dilemna" (P.o.t.D. 4/10/15, no rev)

Teachers face testing
That drains their students of hope -
What else is out there?

untitled (P.o.t.D.4/8/15, no rev)

Roses are in bloom -
Blushing pink and scarlet reds
To wilt away soon.

untitled (P.o.t.D. 4/7/15, no rev)

Memories laid bare
As I wrestle with the words,
Trying to write poems.

"Seeking the Sweetness" (P.o.t.D. 4/6/15, no rev)

Peeling the hours away from this sweet day
To get to the juicy fruit of a dream -
Not remembered, drinking at the cafe,
A draught of coffee, with sugar and cream.

"Can you spare a liver?" (P.o.t.D. 4/5/17)

I would love to share
My life with the world! Organ
Donations, perhaps?

"To Cleanse.." (P.o.t.D. 4/5/15, rev ???)

Step into shower
Where warm water washes 'way
Worries of the day.

"Haikus to explain?" (P.o.t.D. 4/4/17)

As I dredge eight years
Of my Facebook feed, pulling
Poems poignant? Or Pouts?

Like pulling my teeth,
As I scramble with my time...
Left half-finished moons:

The delicate rib,
Or bowl upon horizon,
Or midnight madness...

Leaves left, ink long dry -
Beg for edits, telling why
So sad...? So depressed...?

No wine, let me whine,
Upon my shoddy sorrows,
I force you to dine!

I don't want to be
Trite, and yet, depression
Seems like all I write!!

Spring is upon us -
The plants are blooming flowers,
Leaves noses' sorrows..

"Worried over water" (P.o.t.D. 4/4/15, no rev)

'Tis but a fine mist,
Yet they predict drenching rain -
Stay inside, stay dry.

"Write-offs" (P.o.t.D. 4/1/15, no rev)

Sandwiches, brownies -
Surviving on last night's trash...
Still, thankful for them...