Her Face

A word to the wise:
Don't just look at the smile,
Look at the eyes...

Turn It Off

It's amazing
How little you
Actually lose,
By not watching
The daily news...

Middle Kingdom

China's New Year is on a different day,
In a different month, than in the West,
China in its own time, on its own way...

Land Of Opportunity

The entitled and connected
Go to Ivy League, then land
Jobs well-paid and respected,

The rest put on a vector
Into the middle, lower, and
Jobs in the service sector...

Attention Walmart Shoppers

There only being so bloody much
A day in retail can contain,
You grimly watch the clock,
Hands, which slowly maintain,
A progression, towards the
End, of a working day's pain...

Country Road

Drive! -- and what all lies ahead
Is unlimited, out to the vanishing
Point, speed and motion instead
Of slower options, on this road
Your fate is paved and spread...

(Photo by Geoffrey M. Hamilton, 1955-2011)

The Reaper

Brother Death, dressed in black,
Walks across the cold white snow,
Which has already killed the green,
Now all brown and frozen below,
Death seeks those whose time has
Come, all gone before they know...

BFF

What our hearts and
Feelings endeavor
To forge into a lasting
Bond, which will never
Diminish or fade:
Best friends forever...

J.J. Cale (RIP, 2013)

After midnight, we're gonna let it all hang out,
And then the dawn comes, as anticipated,
Cocaine and Crazy Mama, and let's shout
The blues energy, what pulsed through your
Rock-n-roll veins, is what it's all about...

Big, Invisible, And In The Room

When, in proximity, to an elephant,
An important thing to keep in mind,
Is to be aware of digestive realities,
Avoid  what drops, from its behind...        

Please Vote For Me

Politicians like power and attention,
Unbridled egos spiral into corrupted
Places, too sad and dark to mention,
Politicians promise anything, until
The impending electoral convention,
Actual results and accomplishment
Less relevant than who got what,
And where the favors really went...

Marital Spat

Words, like bullets shot from a gun,
Can't necessarily be taken back,
Where they hit, the damage is done...

Riff On Wallace Stevens' Snow Man

I suppose I have been there,
To see, or feel, the nothing,
In the white and frozen air,
Above the fresh-fallen snow
Which beckons no one, which
Is nothing I can ever know,
Absent me to hear or see,
The frigid field exists like
Imagined ghosts, implicitly...

Thought On An MLK Day

Me and time, taking time off,
From work, or time taking me
For a different kind of ride,
Minutes disappearing steadily
In these hours of my vacation,
Each minute like cars pulled
By a train departing the station,
Can time be taken off? Or is it
All mirrors and imagination...

Realism?

Peace is illusive,
For humans kill,
Because some can,
Because some will.

Goodness prevails
Until things turn worse,
It is our fate,
It is our curse.

Love and happiness
Conquer all,
Until things break,
Or scatter, or fall...

Friday Morning Commute

Among the naked apes, walking,
All bundled up against the cold,
Fingering smart phones, talking,
Out on our way, to another day...

Can You See It?

Gazing a butterfly's wing,
I sense the miracle of nature,
Mystery of life, everything...

January Moon

Looking at the crescent moon, I see
Not just the light but the dark back
Side, usually hidden completely,
Except in tonight's cold clear sky,
It is a sphere floating steadily, eerily,
Facing the Sun, like the Earth, from
Which it was torn and broken free,
Our orbiting orphan reflecting softened
Silvered sun light, so quietly, eternally...

Cost Of Doing Business

A cynical cosmic joker ensures that
Problems and pitfalls are placed,
Like land mines, to maximize the
The emotional energy we waste
To manage, shape, and solve them,
Leaving our happiness displaced.

Wednesday Beer Buzz

Morning sun light shines into the room
As comedians in bug suits compete
In a jumping contest, on a winter's
Day, viewed from my vacation seat...

Lies Of Global Warming

Fooled by a warm winter,
Plants turn on the green
And launch hopeful sprouts,
Only to get caught between
A false interlude of spring,
And the killing cold the next
December day will bring...    

Revelation

Imagine the surprise,
When a scene,
From a dream,
Materializes
Before your eyes...

The Morning After

With wine we drowned our bad
Memories on New Year's eve,
Did a good job of it, as I recall,
But now I badly need reprieve
From the banging in my head,
Last year's pain has yet to leave...