23 April 2018, Toronto, Canada

When a fragile, invisible
Line is crossed,
And altruism,
Self control, is lost,
Freedom as chaos
Tallies a bloody cost...

He stomps on the gas pedal
And what follows are the
Sounds of bones hit by metal...

Post-Frozen Burrito

Unable to meditate
Let alone concentrate
Declare defeat
It must've been something I ate...

Closing Distance

A thing of fear
Seemed so distant
Never near
But things move on
And now it's here...

Alternative

Unlike for commuters
Rushed and stressed
Monday is my
Day of rest

Gerontology 101

It is a little something,
A lesson, one learns,
About the flow of time,
And diminishing returns...

Along With Death

Tax payments sent
Into the mail today
Feels like part of
Me bitten away...

Kneeled In Springtime

Peace and sweat in the
Garden, attacking weeds,
Is all the meaning of
Life he really needs...

Temporary Solution

Finally done dealing
With a busy day’s mess
The third cold beer
Numbing the stress
And it’s all good for
Now, more or less...

Diet Logic

Release the thin
Person who’s
Trapped within

AEON Mall Courtyard

Breath in, breath out,
Stay calm in the midst
Of everything about

Breath out, breath in,
Balance while
The others spin

Seated and still
Wait until
Something will...

Gift

What she got
Was what could
Not be bought

It Happens

Rain falls
Wind blows
Mind wanders
I suppose
Light fades
Time flows
Can’t remember
So it goes
Tomorrow
Never knows...

End Of March

Spring breeze
White pink petal snow
Falling from cherry trees

Sweden’s Curse

How much do I hate shopping,
Let me count the ways,
Foot tired and trapped
In the IKEA maze...

Early In March

Late winter Yokosuka
A green bush abides
Down among its stalks
A Daffodil hides

AM

Slumber harbor
Four thirty AM null
Wake up
Cries the gull

Ungiven Gift

Waiting on the holy thing we’ve
Worshiped from years ago,
Nothing has been sent, but
When it comes we will know...

Hard To Ignore

Worry never disappears because
It pushes a button in the brain
Marked: "Buzz"

Calendar Magic?

Way back when, some genius thought
To give each day a name,
Labeling the revolutions which
Seemed too much the same,
Too anonymous, ephemeral,
And so in those times of old,
The names were assigned to
Harness what can't be controlled...

Fleeting Glory

Game-ending minutes

Feeling excited and tense

But it will all evaporate

A few hours hence

Veterans Hospital

Old, fat, in peace,
He thinks back on the war
Knows that things haven’t changed,
Wonders what it was for,
All that desperate bloody
Effort holds no meaning anymore...

Driving In Low Gear

The under-appreciated joy of
Being deliberately lazy,
Gliding through a slow day’s
Minutes, unfocused and hazy,
No need for drugs,
It’s just a natural high
Being able to love
Each moment which goes by...

Somewhere North Of Damascus

Refugee center destroyed during
Government forces advance
Lost souls whisper “We had no
Choice, we never had a chance”
Ghosts in the rubble where the
Toxic war flames dance...

Agincourt

Unhorsed, shot with arrows,
I lie in the mud and bleed,
Curse the English, and watch
The crows descend to feed...

Glittering knights, the glory
Of France, lie broken in piles,
Mud-metal, gore, and noble names
On the list the Reaper files...

In The Shadows

Wait until the dark
Arrives where light has been
That’s when the special
Things can begin...