(“Something or Nothing”, 2024, original encaustic)
You can be my liquid lady
I will be your solid man
We can live a life of pleasure
Or at least the best we can.
Seize the day the poets tell us
Somehow that will make us whole
But the truth it lies within us
There reveals our sacred soul.
(9/21/25)
I hear back up warning sounds from some kind of truck
rare to hear this in the country
I struggle to hear more
nothing but silence
unless you count the lawnmower next door
or my dog’s toenails
which are clicking against the porch
as he turns in a circle, trying to bite his tail
I was almost happy.
Happy,
like a cup of tea
in the months of snow and family.
Happy,
like I used to be.
Used to be,
as a child,
dreaming about what I wanna be.
But me,
wanna be anything but me.
I just don't.
Don't want to be anything,
if it's not the being inside of me,
being inside of you,
which I want to be.
You.
I don't wanna be anything but me.
I just don't want.
Don't want to be anything,
if it's not in your arms,
and heart,
and any lovely part of you
that I want.
I want you to love the Me, which loves you too.
Deep in my heart, I know you do.
That hurts me the most.
Because that's exactly
why I have to keep going on:
Living the Me, I'm used to be.
Last night I dreamed of you
I held you close against me
I knew the second I woke up
You would become a memory
Why does my mind play tricks
That sadden and deceive me
It's as though my mind is trying
To purposely lead me to misery
I wish you could come home
But that's not an option anymore
With all that's been said and done
It's impossible to even the score
I'm unaware of what's to follow
On this journey to heal my heart
I don't believe anything will dull
The pain of us living life apart
Living under a dictator won’t be all that bad.
Most won’t even miss any of the rights that they had.
But oops! Here they come for your high-powered gun.
They’ve just about convinced you, it will be safer for everyone,
especially now that all those murderous immigrants are gone.
LIVING IN TEXAS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Texas, where cowboys roam free,
we’re born with big hearts, you see.
With BBQ extraordinair
and boots beyond compare,
We’re proud of our roots, yippee-ki-yay, whee!
With chili quite spicy and bold,
and tales of the wild west retold,
I’ll spin you a yarn,
'Neath the Texas dawn,
For this native blood never grows cold!
From Amarillo to San Antone,
I shout, “Yeehaw!” in a twang all my own.
with chili so hot,
and a big ol’ pot,
of sweet tea that chills to the bone.
The Texas armadillos all cheer,
for the BBQ smoke draws them near.
With ribs piled knee high,
they simply cannot deny,
Life in Texas is the best—let’s be clear!
can you imagine living on Uranus?
this unusual planet has a unique pattern.
forty-two years of darkness
then forty-two years of sunshine
repeat
I try to imagine it
but cannot fathom how it would feel to live there
Or how weird it would sound to say
“I live on Uranus”
I always try living each day in the moment,
spending scant time on what might lie ahead.
The future is uncertain, and only God knows,
so I review tidbits sleeping in my past instead.
These walls are made of sedimentary stone,
it's a desolate house with glaring glass windows;
they emanate the reflection of distorted images,
gulls twirl around it, their shrills have a dark tone.
How quickly I have aged by noticing these deep lines
across this face that was as smooth as a child's skin;
doesn't time ravage everything, leaving a bitter grin?
Whoever envisions only joy is startled by surprises.
Do we restrain ourselves or live in utter madness
to reject the dreadful thought of each abstinence?
Does pleasure alleviate fears in hopeless moments?
Wouldn't it be a refuge from denial to seek resistance?
This rapid existence has a deadline for glory or demise,
being alive is virtuous thankfulness to implement reason
and choose the easiest temptation or the hardest choice;
the decision rests on either: become a saint or a demon.
Fueled on octane of life
there’s never a dull minute to regret
~ every moment is utterly precious
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
the pouting begins
abusers manipulate
first apology
within a few weeks
a blatant power struggle
narcissists rule
welcome to hell house
you can never fully please
seriously run
he will seclude you
she will leave permanent scars
they are abusers
MEDITATIONS ON MEDITATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I sit, spine aligned with the spine of the earth,
breath flowing like an endless river,
each inhale a promise,
each exhale a letting go.
Mind becomes an empty sky,
clouds of distraction float by—
I watch them, not clinging, just witnessing,
watching the sun of awareness rising.
Time bends,
the clock dissolves into the ether,
and in this space,
I am both lost and found.
In the soft embrace of stillness,
I taste the sweetness of presence,
the clarity of the moment,
wrapped in the silence of the now.
Meditation, a bridge to the infinite,
where my mind learns to rest,
and my spirit unfurls,
finding solace in the spaces between.
I continue breathing, a simple act,
yet profound as the stars,
reminding me that stillness
is not absence, but the fullness of being.
I return again and again
to this sanctuary carved from silence
where thoughts dissolve
and the soul awakens ever present, ever now.
I thought to climb the mountain
then thought
why any need for atop?
Could just stay in a valley
where, less chance of a smashing
flop!
And if I flew, some aircraft of sort --
passenger, better chance I could safely
have same view --
Nah! What the heck!
Break-a-leg, as they say in the theater
The captain may down with his ship
trapeze artist, chance a deadly slip
I will perish someday, anyway~ if
not by faulty rope, a bad performance, a
capsizing storm, or poorly timed flip --
Over fourteen years ago pop culture told us
We’d only have twelve years to survive
Due to the existential threat of climate change.
Today I see a new prediction
That within two years AI will go rogue
And humanity will be extinct within the decade.
And it reminds me again, people may be wrong,
But you never know, and yet can never go wrong,
To not worry, be happy and live for today.
(8/12/25)
on parallel shore
I wander where waves caress
no footprints online
only brine, rock, and seabirds
to echo that I'm present
screens flare like lures do
hooking the curious in—
I keep eyes blinkered
knowing one slip starts the plunge
into hours I cannot spare
my life is fragile
ink seeps slowly into grain
behind the latched gates
I paint in colours unseen
where regret can't get a breach
no mast light for me
no beacon on shoreline gleams-
I sail without charts
my course drawn by phantom steeds
into the void in your world
I burn my candle
past the eyes that never blink
past networks alight—
your grid can't trap my shadow
your feed can't name what I am
I live analogue
unseen on parallel lines
that starves intruders
wanting to click, like and feed
on clocks that don't keep your time
no mast light for me
no beacon on the shoreline—
I sail without charts
my course drawn by unseen stars
in the space between your worlds
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