Gray Matter

From where comes the

Instinct to flee or fight,

Or the urge to create,

To paint, to write,

All of it comes from

Somewhere deep inside,

Our uncharted brains.

Where gods reside...

Theater

I get the feeling, sometimes,

That my life is like a show,

Whether it's high drama, or dark

Comedy, I do not know...

Grandpa's Leg

Small grandchild hugging

My leg, looks above,

At me, with happy eyes,

Unconditional love...

So precious, such

Small innocent trust,

But evanescent,

For change it must,

As I can only 

Protect so long,

And the child must

Turn hard and strong...

TMI

The hell with this crap,

Turn the thing off,

Go take a nap...

Destabilization

Something's off, confused

Unsettled air,

Of which she's only

Slightly, dimly aware,

Her mind in a state

Of mild disrepair...

Brew

First gulp of cold beer

Refreshes, always does,

Those thereafter diminish,

But enjoy the buzz...

Modern Society

The priceless luxury

Of being alive,

And not having to

Struggle to survive,

Lucky to dwell

In a welfare state,

While others face

A more dismal fate...

Our Gift

A compassionate curse

The creator gods sent,

By making us

Man apes sentient...

Counter-culture

Hippie wisdom's legacy,

Drop out and vegetate,

Merge with music, in a

Chemically altered state,

Always feed the munchies,

And medicate...

春近よる

Rain and bluster,

South winds bring,

Winter receding,

Arrival of Spring...

Inconsolable

Old mother grieving over

Her son, lately slain,

Refuses to accept it was

Wrong or in vain,

Her son, lost while

Obeying the command,

To baselessly attack

A neighboring land,

She will neither regret

Nor understand...

Bleariness

Sleep, like a finicky ghost,

Sometimes spirits away,

When you need it the most,

And you're left in a

Wrack, insomniac,

Until mysteriously, the

Ghost comes back...

IT's Blessing

No one here, all alone,

But converse with the universe

Through my phone...

Survival

Hardly making a sound,

Solitary starling pecks

At crumbs  on the ground...

Storytelling

Our ongoing, baffling,

Streaming affliction,

Subsumed by, and stressed

Over works of fiction,

Enchanted, engrossed by

The tales they weave,

Forgetting the fact they

Are just make believe...

Checklist

Get ready for a new day,

Check off mental action list,

Wondering which, this

Time, I will have missed,

Different, I suppose, than

The omission before,

As I hurry to prepare

To go out the door...

Invisible Force

Oh, to be free,

Of the pull,

Of gravity,

To which we,

Succumb,

Eventually...

Expulsion

Being one of them,

No longer one of us,

I'm handcuffed and

Riding on a bus,

Being transported,

By executive order,

To another side

Of a border...

Off The Leash?

Dogs, leashed by lonely ones,

Meet others, doing a walk,

The dogs sniff introductions,

While the owners sit and talk,

Dogs, calm, surrender to the

Instinct of the packs,

Only to get excited when

An owner offers snacks…

Ebb Tide

Small waves ripple and whisper,

As they expire on the pier,

A calm ocean, blue turning

Aquamarine, is nothing to fear,

Rather gasp at its beauty,

All calm, now and here…

The Great Plains

Prairie, oceans of grass,

Over which buffalo herds

And prancing antelope pass...

Changed slowly, inexorably,

By the foreigners' arrival,

And the plowing under

To ensure their survival...

Self Destruction

In retrospect,

Internal combustion engines

Produced an effect,

Disastrous, but impossible

To deflect...

Mobility's illusion

Of being happy, free,

Masking a more

Toxic reality...

Nightfall

Cold cleansing rain

In the middle of the night,

Falls unheeded,

Falls out of sight,

Leaves a glistening

For the morning light...

Park Bench

The pigeon jerky-struts

Towards the piece of bread,

But a quick moving sparrow,

Takes it away instead...

To Write A Poem

Inhale, exhale,

Then dig deep,

Down to where

Miracles sleep,

Where burning

Feelings keep, 

Down to the

Mystic fire,

Where words,

Ideas, inspire...