without anchor all ships
sail and without passenger
no captain exists to guide
the dispossessed. Only remains
of Peaceful Assembly can
be glimpsed in the association
of favoritism. A favoritism
of familiarity deflecting contempt
by means of ineptitude.
Never say never, they say
What about forever, can I afford
To stay exactly the same today
As yesterday and before?
Or was it the other day
With exactly the same you
We were walking along the bay
That was the best we could do
And a few days back, when the sun
Was dazzling over the shore
I thought now my life seems done
It can’t be this good anymore
Never say never, why not?
What does it change, when said?
Anyway the weather from boiling hot
Will turn to the soaking wet.
the man’s fallacious reasoning could not be shaken
He returned every fact and argument with an alternative fact.
There are no alternative facts, only alternative opinions, she said.
His face changed and he was instantly angry.
She did not waste any more time with him.
Brainwashing for him was obviously complete.
Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie,
kissed the girls and made them cry,
when the boys came out to play
Georgie Porgie turned to gay.
I slowly awake to a place that seems
out of this world where nothing clicks
or matches with anything familiar
I find myself walking on clouds
while above me trees grow upside down
along with grasses and flowering plants
I looked around finding that animals
were keeping me company grazing
on clouds or just floating long sides
there were birds singing sweetly
So peaceful, no jarring sounds
it seemed I was inside looking out
perhaps I had woken up in paradise
It is an alternative fact, she says.
Interpretation: It is a lie.
Walter Cronkite would be horrified.
That she used that term on national television.
There are no alternative facts, only facts.
An alternative fact is a lie, a fib, a misinterpretation.
Unfortunately, as long as any station can use the word NEWS
Without checking accuracy or facts, this inane idiocy might continue.
Imagine a world that
Could have been
A little more rural
Of forest and green
Steam is the power
Coal is still king
And they rely a lot
On the clockwrk spring.
A much slower world
As Shires pull loads
Along its network of
Near empty roads.
Canals are still busy
Towpaths are still clear
Though it’s more likely
Steam barges will appear..
Eyes closed to imagine
Let your brain give birth
To that concept of
My alternative Earth.
If you are now ready
To accept that scene
Then I’ll tell you my stories
Of what might have been.
Those Bikes
See the goth heavy metal custom motorcycle
Ride past with a long haired rider
Dressed how they should be dressed
Black jeans t shirt denim leather
Low rider chopper as it should be
With twin coffin saddle bags
What a ride to the other side
Give him Devil fingers\M/!
Then there was a classic looking bike
Parked up alone
And I saw two racing bikes
One with a fairing the other naked
Heard his engine as he passed
A man asked me on the bridge
Where am I going?
Planet Mars on a custom bike
With my chick and loud tunes
Fear of taking risks
keeps me circling
on auto pilot
continuously going nowhere
I wonder,
if remaining in obscurity
is a better alternative
to landing on reality's runway
• The moon is not white but red,
• King Charles doesn't own a bed,
• It takes three days for a letter to Fax,
• I did not love my ex.
• A day has twelve hours,
• Someone sent me flowers,
• It's safe to own a Fox,
• I did not love my ex.
• The President never lies,
• A politician is wise,
• I'll never pay a tax,
• I did not love my ex.
• Love doesn't cost a cent,
• It's cheap to pay a rent,
• Slap me I'll never vex,
• I do not love my ex.
“Did you understand The Narrative?”
And I answered in The Affirmative.
But it was a lot sugared and inventive,
What should’ve been kept and left ‘Native’
For a society still Helplessly Conservative
With her applause for stories of The Summative …
“And did you enjoy The Narrative?”
I made sure I said ‘Delicious’ in a voice penetrative
But in my mind had A Crying Alternative
I thought worth treating as Imperative
For our Youths in the eye stared by The Formative
And often dying to appear assertive …
The Understood and Enjoyed Narrative
I knew I wouldn’t delay its purgative,
All these while answering to an ear please
And clogged nostrils deny a sneeze.
today i tried reiki
and a woman with warm hands
washed energy from my head to my feet
with arms moving in figure eights.
i lay on the table like a woman about to be cut in half
and she ran up my spine in vertical lines
no one ever cured someone by pushing air around
but she seems so serious i can’t help but respect her.
i close my eyes and feel still
i can hear dogs–or are they coyotes?
i want to be the breath behind their teeth
i want to be the stone she holds between her palms.
she tells me to sleep with amethyst under my pillow
i tell her thank you
she knew my knees were bothering me
they hurt when they are straight.
i wanted her to tell me what was wrong with my mind
but i guess my knees are a start
and amethyst can’t hurt, anyway
what else can you do when you’re this desperate?
Alternative hell with its multi headed gatekeeper so tall
Is a secret most do not dare whisper or speak of at all
We have nightmares about being torn up by the li-dragon.
Whose fierceness is like being torn by dogs with tails not wagg’n.
Alternative hell is for people who did not know they were bad.
Who were ignorant and silly, and hurt people daily, making them sad.
The ones who did not murder or rape or hurt children or kill.
But the ones who have to be taught a lesson, a talent, or a better skill.
Li-dragon stands at the gate, making sure the murderers don’t get in.
Have their own place, where they will no longer smirk, smile or grin.
Alternative is for those who impulsively throw out mean kind of words.
Who show their ignorance of other’s feelings, masters of the absurd.
We once saw the Li-dragon tear a soul up and spit it down the hill.
Did not know it could be done, but that soul was almost a kill.
The Li-dragon cannot be fooled, cajoled, reasoned with or joked with.
If you think this is possible, you had best run off, forthwith.
The Alternative
In just twenty minutes,
The kids are all grown,
From cradle to college,
With kids of their own.
Still -
It beats the alternative.
Gray hair and wrinkles,
And routine inspections,
More aches and pains,
And pills and injections.
Still -
It beats the alternative.
You're given the news,
To your great dismay,
Another old friend,
Has just passed away.
Still -
It beats the alternative.
May ne'er come the day,
When the pain is so terrible,
That day-to-day life,
Is completely unbearable.
Then -
I'll take the alternative.
I once knew a teen on Shannon Street
Who spent lots of time beating his meat
Until he met a genteel girl,
Who took him out for little whirl
And he found out what she did was neat.
written September 27, 2021
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