Yes I Do -- (Not)

Diamond and platinum wedding rings,
Lined up in rows, shiny, sparkling,
Symbols of joy and hopeful things,

Now each jewel tells of happiness
Which never came to pass,
From broken vows, they now lie
Under the pawnshop counter glass...

Helmand Province

War erupts again in Afghanistan,
Just because it can,
Just because it must,
Tribal machismo, revenge,
Mountains, blood, and dust...

冬至 Month of Running Priests

The Shiwasu Sky is
Deep blue and clear
Hot bath with citrons
Shortest day of the year

Lost Memorial

The war is remembered
But still not understood
The boys who fought it
All now gone for good
Their names carved into
A cold granite wall
Did their sacrifices
Mean anything at all...

Solstice Scene

Leaves fallen, soon to become mulch,
The dead brown grass is melancholy,
Under holiday lights on the tree
Which blink a season to be jolly,
We scheme to summon happiness,
Through presents, Poinsettias, and holly...

One's Choice

You can go out and deal with
Meteorological force,
Its cold and cutting winds,
Or just stay in, of course...

Neolithic

Beckoned by our Druid priest,
We gather by the big stones,
On a morning, facing to the east,
We sense things immense,
Lights, and god signs, released...

Innocence

School is out, and with not a care,
In the world, we dance along with
Tumbling leaves, in the Autumn air,
Our sidewalk journey full of a
Happiness we don't even know is there...

Relativity

Truth and reality
Can be either
Black or white
Or neither...

Social Security

What a scary funky thrill is life
It can offer you scarlet sunsets
Or come at your throat with a knife

Weekend Consumed

Sunday afternoon slides into
Night with little warning,
The next thing you know,
It's a Monday morning,
A Happy Friday's hope
Quickly disbursed and spent
Over a lost weekend,
Who knows where it went...

What, Me Worry?

What can't be controlled,
Is OK for one to ignore,
Go to sleep, it will keep,
Hug your pillow and snore...

Lost Frontier

There was a time before pop-up ads
When Internet websites were free,
Before corporate fence lines were
Erected on the electronic prairie,
Gradually, mercilessly, inexorably,
Business models and bottom lines
Validating our collective hunch,
That control would prevail and stifle,
There's no such thing as a free lunch...

Rodent Precedence

The squirrels descend, in numbers,
From thicket and tree to feed,
On store-bought sunflower seed,
And in the bush, off to the side,
The hungry displaced sparrows
Watch from where they hide...

NFL Is Entertainment

Let us celebrate harvest,
The American way,
Feast on dumb-bird meat,
Then watch football all day...

Fire Pit

On a cold night, under an autumn moon,
Old friends, gathered around a fire,
Warm their hands and memories,
Linger, laugh, until the coals expire...

Sentient

Existential nausea,
As things fall apart,
Condemned to be free,
By Jean Paul Sartre,
Understanding,
More or less,
Life is being,
Amidst nothingness...

A Mind's Keyboard

A poet paints a picture with words,
Letters and sounds revealing,
What he's feeling...

Basement View

Seen from below, the wooden planks
Holding up the floor of the room
Where we eat, argue, give thanks,
Make me think of the green tall trees
They once were, alive in the breeze,
Before being felled, thereafter cut
Planed and processed into lumber,
And then nailed into a place of
Static tree bones slumber.

A Matter Of Taste

Sharp-shinned hawk, on the branch,
Scanning for something to eat,
Ignoring the fat squirrel feeding
Below, opts for different meat...

Pilgrims' Legacy

Family relations as cool
As the living room is warm
Hostages to cooked turkey
On a day of gray winter storm

Morpheus

The old cat pads with measured steps,
Slowly, smoothly, climbs onto my lap,
Pauses, thinking old cat thoughts, then
Purring, circles, curls up for a nap...

Gobble Gobble

A turkey's fate,
Eat, strut, grow fat,
Then served-up on a plate.

Pre-Black Friday

Shopping for Thanksgiving, back to the market,
A second time, buying the things I missed,
When I ventured to the market initially,
With good intention, but without the list...

The Queen

Behold! I am Mantis,
I hunt, and copulate,
Then I eat my mate...