Saw a friend for lunch; we meet
To talk of health and aging.
A cozy booth; we schmooze and eat,
Our changes up for gauging.
The negatives of age contrast
With pics of a vacation
So beautiful that they surpassed
Our senior state fixation.
Until at last, we split the bill,
The credit cards extended.
We signed our names and knew the drill;
Our lovely meal had ended.
I folded my receipt in two
And in the bag I carry,
I stuffed it, like I always do,
So very ordinary.
We said goodbye and headed out,
Where home for us both beckoned.
About the check, I had a doubt;
I’ll look at home, I reckoned.
An hour later, no receipt
Appeared, despite my searching.
I sadly must admit defeat,
A getting old besmirching.
How would it be
if all the versions of your imperfect self,
you did not abandon,
but kept out of compassion and love
of all tapped-out mutts.
They are faithful in their own sketchy way
and you, not wanting yet
to put them down; nurse them along.
For now you take yourself for a walk
with your assorted menagerie
hang tough, while gauging
all those most necessary steps
away from your former
beastly being.
My bones are old, so I’ve been told;
It’s osteoporosis.
Accepting that if I go splat
I’m done – that’s the prognosis.
So when it’s cold, I’m not so bold
To walk if streets are icy.
One little slip may crack my hip;
To chance it might be dicey.
And so today, I had to weigh
Conditions ‘fore my journey
Or I’d go whoosh, land on my tush
And end up on a gurney.
My normal route I was astute
Enough to see could trip me
So I took stock and ‘round the block
I walked and I was slip-free.
When I was young, I must have clung
To thoughts of never aging
But now, alas, I watch my ass
And every step I’m gauging.
When amidst broken equals, we approved,
Ere a freed grain of nomadic sand slipped,
Melancholic surrendered, whole reproved,
Monitor the saved life single and stripped.
Two separate paths once joined normally,
One courses happiness, opposite naught,
Depraved, unprincipled, lived lukewarmly,
Blossomed languishes, internally fraught.
Provocative commencement surefire fade,
Arrangements, invites, sent cancellations,
Heartbreaking embattles a soul betrayed,
Evoke mother's "time out", do causations.
Solely talks like being ere his gravestone,
Passersby ask he says, "Gauging my own."
Bridge Engaging Across Sea Raging
long bridge engaging
across sea which is raging
distance am gauging
Jim Horn
Fluttery eyes
Shallow deep breathe
Darkness bedding
Midnight nighttime
Passions end marveled lonely quench
Thought of sunset
Flung temporary
Evening never skying
Sun is falling out of view
Stepped a night-vision skyline
Where’s the sun going
Don’t GO
Sleepy tho!
And the dark never investigating
Fluttery eyes
Shallow deep breathe
Darkness bedding
Midnight nighttime
An d the dark never investigating
Don’t GO
Sleepy tho!
The silent sky summarizing
I crave the silent, somnolence skies
I heard a daytime, moonlit stroking
The temporary test timing
I crave the slumber less, suspense sunset
Horizontal yawning
Skies falling
upon a midnight nighttime
Deep into that darkness reviewing
The stroboscopic sleep scrutinizing
Deep into that darkness evaluating
I threw my celestial equator upon the floor
Deep into that darkness gauging more
where has the light gone
Time for sleep as the moon says you jest
I guess
Must be twilight NO, just
Sunset
2/27/20
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr.2020©
Black beak pointing direction Sky
Tail gauging air
Wings fluttering on high
It's got prize in its eyes
From take off to arrive
Fly little Birdie
Ride the winds of your heart's desire
Black Beak focusing freedom’s alive
Chart a Course of survival
One day we'll shall die
Smell the scent of the World
Watch nature unfold
Fly little Birdie
Go humming from Flower to Soul
Other poets write of love
Or beauty, anguish, death;
Of yearning, angst or pity
Tangled up in every breath.
Other poets use their words
As weapons or as shields,
Gauging by reactions
All the power writing yields.
Other poets elevate
Their subjects way up high,
Seeking truth or explanations,
Answers to their aching “Why?”
I, though, on the other hand,
Just write what I observe –
The daily challenges in life
We do or don’t deserve.
Other poets’ lofty thoughts
May, more than mine, be read,
But I’ll continue rhyming
Like I always do, instead.
As I stare at this blank canvas
I wonder what to create
Should I write what I feel
I ponder if anyone can relate
Art in the form of words
There is no canvas that goes unheard
As I reach deep inside my mind
Gauging what's my biggest crime
I would have to say it's art
Now follow closely because this will get dark
Don't get lost in the shadow of my arch
There is no sun where the sun don't shine
I hope you listening close because that was a punch line
Art comes in many forms
I try to create outside of the norm
I was pronounced different from the day I was born
Now don't get torn
This is not sympathetic art
This is real raw lay out your heart
I make a puzzle out of my words
I like using synonyms antonyms and verbs
Not a shattered illusion
But a microbial infusion
Tell me can you follow
A canvas so hollow
Bruised at its outer edge
Heart still beating
But inside it's dead
Yet you can't help but stare
Would you buy it?
I bet you won't .. I dare
Economics will innately horde the conscience of us all.
Does a statistician serf not to fall?
Gauging the dawn they plod.
Searching for that convivial moment within the sod.
Gleefully giving homage to that eternal overcast.
Those compulsive appetites, will not allow the indigestion to pass.
A paradox does exist for the savant during these somber times.
Crowned with apathy they do vista us being waned.
Who is arid when the apex bends, or the deftest, for us to send?
This is not an infinite condition to deride.
Find that demagogue to gild the veil that hides.
Who is endowed to bring about a boon?
Must we be cynical, with sycophant tunes?
Who can obliterate the self consciousness of this business?
Will we be waxed, as if hereditary?
The truth is troublesome, and few are merry.
She talks to blackness
Madness running in the night
I follow her trial through
Field and wood
My trigger finger heavy, good
Pshow the twenty two fires
Blawo blawo the shot gun calls
I can hear her breath
Collapse, revive, collapse
Revive running for her life
Shoeless, naked
Her bare flesh ripped by brush
The hunt is on
The hunt is good
I fire into the darkness
Gauging her distance
I begin to circle. Circle
I cut her with my hatchet
Right in her throat
She wants to scream
But only bubbles belay her bereavement
Blood drips from the hatchet
Like the wax drippings coagulated
My pet is dead!
Calls the madness from the darkness
The urge is calling
Already pecking for me to bleed them
Hiding in the darkness
It consumes me, coughing
Collectively choking my breathing
What madness is this?
Down on one knee
Chocking on the blackness
My love is gone! So what is life?
Meaningless.
I’m persistent on being consistent magnified 20 times still isn’t enough, though I get turnt up in an instant.
Let quality qualify it ain’t easy but the truth never lies...down
Ask me where I’ll be and you’re important to me so more than just “around”
I’m right here asking you questions
Gauging your sigh
If you get overwhelmed
Don’t hold it in
Scream!
Cry!
I’m that guy
I have your back always
Let anyone say it’s for show
Persistently consistent
I maybe short but I learned to allow
To let every reason grow
I love you more than you could ever know
And every second of each day
I’ll remind you in different ways
The things that I get done
I do for you
And that incredibly smart little one too
I was never below average
And not all the time “above”
Still “New” just not “brand new”
We aren’t any species of canine
So nope this isn’t puppy love.
YTP
Yep That Part
Yankee Tango Papa
we all need something to die for
what is this shell in an ocean
ghosts with fleshy hosts
a divine strike across the anvil
the expression of something bigger
finally understanding yet realizing
we are laying on the bathroom floor
this pin hole in the blanket of intellect
the gross unfathomable leering with a smirk
here there and ever after
who will narrate
we all want to live forever
until life's meaning was still a blank space
left void for the next scab to work our lines
the temple built on backs
energy dispersed unlike a ripple
tendrils of smoke dance upward
sea snakes looking for a breath
croaking near a pond
crickets on a warm evening
the chirping of the cherubs
sitting on the sofa sending
thoughts into the future
grace cannot alone
hold our hands and carry our weight
we didnt start this walking upright
swimming in a bubble
not sure which way looking
two sided mirrors
my child form still an inspiration
my hands worth more than silver
limits part of perception
the gauging of our life spans
we all need something to die for
Was this the apple,then,your mother's breast,
Which father thought was his to oft caress?
And when ,in deprived rage,you bit to test
In return he vowed to ever you harass.
At this you learned that you could hate as well,
For punishment struck blows to your small heart.
Your memory, when wordless,could not ,tell;
Though pain and anguish made your soft skin smart.
As unknown as the journey to your birth.
As shocking as the grief of unmeant wrong..
As frightening as the gauging of your worth
As sudden as the ending of a song.
Impossible to foretell or to prepare,
The dangers to our breaking hearts lie there.
I’ve become so numb
To smothering norms
Once thrusted upon me
Jolted on the carousel
Awoken by madness
I lazily fall out of bed
Then stroll empty streets
Full of vacant faces
Consumed by consumption
Going everywhere
Yet arriving nowhere
Too much hustle
Not enough chuckles
Too many watches
Nagging redundantly
Sacrificing our smiles
To meet deadlines
Sacrificing our love
To sustain the facade
Chronic carousel spins
Tangling us inside
Creating our desires
Gauging our smiles
Abruptly booted off
I’m merely an observer
I walk the empty streets
Full of people acting out
A scene I refuse to feel
So I’ve become numb
To ways of living to exist
Instead of existing to live.
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