Lately I’ve come to realize my definition of love
Is not about joy and completion and belonging,
But more about loss and longing
A sense of grief for what once was
But never will be again.
I don’t think this makes me unique
But probably not in the majority either.
I think of all this today
The one year anniversary
Of Charlie Kirk’s assassination
Because the shock of that loss
To all of US is still so raw,
A wound just beneath the surface
That may never fully heal.
This recognition of love
Bound up inextricably with loss and grief
Makes me wonder if I am still in the minority.
I pray I’m not, as I wish the best for this nation
And this world, but I fear I am wrong,
And the callous heart that celebrates hate
Is still on the ascendant and not decline.
What will it take for America and the world
To have a change of heart?
I do not know.
Maybe it’ll start with the sacrifice Charlie made,
But it still has so far to go.
(9/10/26)
My Charlie cat, many long years ago
would use a pet door to come in and go.
But at times he gave way
let a neighborhood stray
sneak in, eat his food, pretend not to know.
Only rarely does someone stand up, rise up
And draw the multitudes in
Into the sacred space
That includes us all
And yet somehow eludes so many.
Such is the nature of free will,
We can all screw up, again and again and again.
What did Charlie do to deserve
To be assassinated? Nothing.
What did he do to bring it on nonetheless?
He met people as equals wherever they were,
He tried to raise everyone up,
And he did more to get out the conservative vote
Than anyone in generations, if ever.
Apparently, treating others as equals
And getting out the vote for your side
Is enough to get you killed
Because, I guess not everyone wants to be equal
Some want to be “special”,
With all the special rights that implies
And not everyone wants a level playing field
When it comes to politics and campaigns and elections.
What those people want
Is special privilege and advantage
And dead opponents.
So it is, and so it may be
But, if that’s the game you want to play
Be prepared to die a martyr
To a useless, meaningless, nihilistic cause.
It’s called a self-fulfilling prophesy.
(8/7/26)
Charlie, a Christmas elf found his bulb at a quarter to two
The rest of the elves kept working, they were not through
Get off your duff and help us, his brother Jim said irritated.
Charlie was fearful of losing his bulb, so he procrastinated.
At the end of the tree trimming, he tried to take the bulb with him.
Who told Santa on him? Of course it was his brother Jim.
There was a man named Chaplin,
early films he did make happen.
To the world it was just right
that his bum was black and white!
Kirk is a rooster in a suit,
yelling “freedom”
while polishing his boots
so no mud ever touches him.
He’s all mouth,
no fight,
selling rage like it’s champagne.
Vance skulks in the corner,
smokes his own shame,
pretends he’s the last honest man
while sniffing nostalgia
and blaming everyone
for everything he hates.
Kirk’s dreams are neat,
Vance’s are crooked,
both lie like toothless gamblers
pretending their debts don’t exist.
Kirk waves banners,
Vance waves ghosts—
same emptiness,
different dress code.
They think they’re fighting wars.
They’re not.
They’re clipping feathers
off each other’s parrots
while the world burns
and nobody remembers their names
tomorrow.
Politics?
It’s just theater for men
who smell like fear and whiskey,
and both of them—
roosters or ghosts—
stumble drunk
on the same cracked stage.
TURNING POINT AT WAR
FIGHTING EACH OTHER AND MORE
HATRED AT THE CORE
No one ever thinks about the inventor of the toilet
but we use it every day
no one thinks about the thought process put into that invention
I bet it took a long time to design
to me the toilet looks like a spaceship from Star trek
it would be neat if when I pulled the handle
It'd blast me into outer space
Although I would probably feel a little embarrassed with my pants down.
Do you know that song
"You're so vain
you probably think this song is about you"?
Well it was about him or her
So does that really make them vain?
Emptiness is a feeling
I just can’t adjust to
Since you left
My life is so hollow without you.
I wonder why I wake now
Without you by my side
I am so saddened and low
I just want to runaway and hide.
You, and only you knew me inside out,
I hope you know you taught me what life is all about.
More than anything now I just need you to be here
I just want to stroke your fur and stop living in fear.
Charlie, my soul cat
The heart of our home
We miss you, oh so much
I feel constantly alone….
my cockapoo pup
brings me happiness each day
fuzzy curly hair
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There once was a crazy squirrel named Charlie
Whose furry paws were unusually teensy-weensy
With his chainsaw well-greased and quite small
(Can you believe it? It was just two inches tall!)
With it, he secretly carved pumpkins with great savvy.
His masterpiece? An orange, gourd-grinning fright!
With bat-wings, witches, and such for Halloween night.
The owl, most perplexed, said "That pumpkin’s absurd!"
Charlie snarled, "I’m an artist. Haven't you heard?”
Creativity and power tools make my jack-o'-lanterns outta sight!”
Today CJK would have turned 32.
I remember turning 32…
I thought my life was going well
Even at a peak
When in fact it was in turmoil
And within the year would collapse
To be reborn again, anew and refreshed,
And open to the peaks to come.
Charlie’s life was obviously so different
Having been consistent and on track
And going from strength to strength
Apparently the whole time!
He seemed like a normal person
To other normal people
When in fact he was remarkable
And so has left a remarkable legacy.
Like many I think I will leave a normal legacy
When I eventually go, and
It will effect those few family and friends who love me,
But it won’t change a thing.
And I’m okay with that.
Charlie on the other hand
Has deeply effected hundreds of millions
And has thus changed the world.
I’m sure that would have made him proud
Humbled and awed.
And so today let us proudly
Don a red hat and celebrate
What we may have individually lost,
But the world gained.
(10/14/25)
Call it the Charlie Kirk effect
But for not being a Christian, recently
I’ve been hearing a lot of Bible quotes,
Quotes which I can easily take to heart,
Like the parable of the wheat ripening
In the field
While the weeds also ripened
All around.
It’s not a matter of just wanting one and not the other
And getting our wishes as if they had that power.
It’s a matter of recognizing both,
The difference in the seeds and their causes,
And appreciating how both the crop and the weeds
Are part of our nature, and both will be abundant
When we reach a crisis point of fullness,
Internally as spiritual beings as we struggle
To live the truth within our conflicted nature,
And externally as material beings as this conflict
Plays out in wars, domestic and foreign,
As both sides struggle for survival and dominance.
It’s easy to know which side will prevail
Since one side is of Life
And the other of death.
We might be self-deluded which side we’re actually on
But in the end it will be crystal clear.
Life and death after all
Cannot be confused.
(10/12/25)
sandy wooden slats
coconut covered lights
dried out palms
an assortment of bottles
lively bartender who knows my name
I spend Saturday nights here
meeting friends who aren’t really
pretending excitement that I do not feel
I am a bit of a lush,
here is Charlie now
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