I locked my memories and dreams
No one but me is bound to know
Where have I hidden our trees
The green of grass and white of snow
The roses, the forget-me-nots
The pansies and the olive tree
And every flower in your pots
You pictured for the memory
The cacti stars in white and pink
They wonder why they came around
I’m pretty sure they can think
Especially when the sun goes down
And we are there, inside the walls
The cacti whispers in the night
Watching our shadows in the hall
Move in the rectangle of light.
I lived seventy years without having whiskers
but then one popped out of my chin
it was thick and long
tweezers bent when they tried to pluck it
the whisker laughed at my attempt at removal
he was tough and determined to remain in place
he has been imbedded in my chin for two years now
it will be three at the end of the week
I put tape on each side of this stubborn whisker
and cut through the tape
expecting to hear him scream
the whisker howled, not in pain, with laughter
I grabbed a razor
the whisker snatched it out of my hand and threw it against the wall
I am pretty sure I am not winning this battle
(“Peyote Dreams”, 2018, original encaustic)
The Dreamworld
I admit it
My preference is for the dreamworld
Over the waking one.
And that’s not to dis those
Who are near and dear to me in waking life.
Waking life is great,
It’s just the dream world is better,
More intense, amplified and quite frankly
Filled with more interesting beings.
Why is that?
Well, I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with me.
I am after all merely a receiver who receives,
And what I receive is the world of dreams,
Vast, inconceivably vast, timely and timeless
Magical, mundane, mine and mineless.
(8/27/25)
Yes, there are times now and again
I'll look back and remember when
you were mine for a little while;
you always could make me smile.
You were my Fabio straight off the cover
of the romance novel I read over and over.
Our love was so strong, it was a natural high;
the kind that's guaranteed never to die.
But just like my book, it came to an end,
And we just couldn't get it back again.
No matter that it broke my heart,
it was too late; we had to part.
I'd never had to make it on my own;
but I soon found I liked being alone.
Though there was no more you and me,
I wasn't looking for someone to see.
I mean, come on, I couldn't replace you!
Now of course, we know that's not true.
But things aren't like they were before;
I'm not that same girl anymore.
Last time we talked, it wasn't the same;
no butterflies when you said my name.
I couldn't think of anything to say,
and I'm pretty sure you felt the same way.
Still somehow we've managed to stay friends.
At least that's something that'll never end.
And yes, dear Ronny, every once in a while,
you're still able to make me smile!
have you ever tried to eat dandelion leaves?
someone told me how delicious they are in a tea.
I did not have a recipe, but I tried it several ways.
I am pretty sure they were lying.
I can’t imagine
how painful it is to
be God.
Trying your hardest
to make a beautiful painting,
only to have the characters
you created complain and
mock the world around
them.
Why does God let bad things
happen to good people?
Pretty sure you’d walk
away from the canvas too
if it spat back and criticized
you.
But perhaps,
in his silence,
he waits,
hoping we’ll learn to
appreciate the
masterpiece.
And after he
suspects we’ve endured
enough punishment, he’ll return
to add an additional layer
of paint.
We call these added colors
miracles, and they renew our
dwindling faith.
Men's minds are devious at the best of times
Always twisting their stories
I should know, I'm one of dem der guys
Pretty sure I'm no different than 98% of my fellow males
It's inbred into our psyche and of this I'm sure
We're really damn proud of it
However I'm a straight shooter
At the expense of my fellow males I apologize
Hate blowing the whistle on you guys
But I can't help it... as George Washington once said
“I cannot tell a lie
Everything and I mean EVERYTHING
That comes out of my mouth
Is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth
So help... Z-Z-Z-A-A-A-A-A-P-!”
Georgie
I feel a slight touch on my arm and look down
and………….it’s a spider
Despite the heavy circumstances in my life and a
migraine weighing me down
I fly to my feet and spin around trying to dislodge
the creature that is much more nimble than I am
I try leaping as each joint in my body complains,
I try flicking it off, but as we are both moving,
it evades me and continues to run down my bare arm
I rush to the door and fling it open and continue
my graceless dance on the porch as the neighborhood
begins to wake up for the day, I am pretty sure I am
yelling at this point and I feel sweet relief as the
eight legged arachnid jumps from me to the porch railing
as I sigh and begin to realize where I am and who else
is present. I wave to my neighbor and say a chipper
“good morning” as my face floods with color and I realize
I am acting very odd, but to be honest, who cares?
The spider and I are both safe it’s not crawling on me
anymore. I sigh and begin my day, hopefully without
encountering any more of God’s eight legged creatures.
Used to slip from here to you
Through the rabbit hole we knew
Now the hole is filled with land
Rabbits fail to understand
When the night comes, I am here
At the place of our frontier
I can’t call you anymore
You won’t open your green door
I won’t enter, you won’t smile
I can’t go for many miles
Only by the special car
Time machine to where you are
You won’t tell your place of stay
You can’t hear what I say
Much interference and noise
Drown out my feeble voice
Still I wait, for I’m sure
You won’t left me insecure
There’s another rabbit hole
Slightly broader than the old
Slightly different path to go
Pretty sure you’ll say: I know..
when out birding, woodpeckers are one of my favorite finds
in Kentucky, where i live there are seven different kinds
the smallest is the Downy and they seem to like my suet feeders best
I always see them in a pair so I hope nearby is their nest
next we have the Hairy and its just bigger by a bit
in the evenings they seem most active so I like to go outside and sit
a Red Bellied woodpecker visits one of my trees each day
I am pretty sure when I hear its call it asking me to play
Northern Flickers have speckles and a black patch on its chest
Its feathers are mostly brown, and not black and white like the rest
Yellow Bellied Sapsucker is my favorite one to say
I spotted my very first one in a field of flowers on a hot summer day
the Pileated is the largest and loudest and a majestic one to see
they like to make their nests in the cavity of a large dead tree
the last is the wood-cockaded that I have yet to spot
its rare and likes pine forests but I will give it my best shot
I met a puzzle and conundrum.
His name is "Why Am I Becoming Dumb",
A diabolically a tough nut to crack,
both he and I are poised for attack.
I'm pretty sure I'll crack him, but
he thinks that it's I who is the nut.
My friend once told me
She hurts her self because
She hates her life
She didn’t say it exactly like that
But at the time I couldn’t comprehend how she did it.
Now I kind of understand.
I practically do the same thing with my headaches.
I get them all the time.
Instead of taking medicine to make them stop.
I let the pain get so bad that no medicine could help.
Now most could see that’s a stupid thing to do.
But honestly it what I deserve.
I’m a horid person
Though most wouldn’t know
I pathologically lie
And I hate people so much that
I wish they would just die.
I hate my self so much that one time I almost tried to die.
I won’t paint that sad picture
Because I’m pretty sure
You can already see it in your minds eye.
But now I just punish my self
With these headaches
To try killing myself on the inside.
Up and down the shopping aisles I go
I the poet and you the mathematician
I have a costume called Truth
It takes the enemy and turns it to brother.
Trauma can throw its blunt ugly force
but hold your nose over the next hill.
Can you love with your heart and hands?
It's okay to vent your fears
Now to find the right words to share
I am pretty sure I need you too.
Identity Store, Life of Balance, Hello My Name Is, Hope Joy and Kindness, What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger, Dead Skunk Season, How Bad Can It Be, In Pen, Creative Rut, You Need Me Crayon Box Edition)
The police tape has been taken down,
Candles and flowers litter the ground,
Politicians came through with their thoughts and their prayers
But no policy changes are made anywhere.
Just another story on the evening news
You can ignore it, if you so choose
But the families who bury a loved one tomorrow
Forever will have to live with this sorrow.
The price of an amendment is too high a cost
When paid with by the souls of the children we lost
What we should do, I do not pretend to know,
But I’m pretty sure it isn’t maintain status quo.
I am finding it harder to shed another tear,
When this same tragic incident happens year after year
When will our Nation finally cross that thin line
To motivate its citizens to make changes this time?
The absurdity of these mass murders we must always remember,
Each time we are privileged to vote in November.
The mayor’s been indicted
And they’re searching through his things
To uncover proof that he deserves
The boot this often brings.
I live near Gracie Mansion;
The surrounding streets are lined
With police cars and the vans of press,
Arrest on every mind.
I don’t know if he’s guilty,
Though his circle’s shrinking fast,
But I’m pretty sure our time as neighbors
Isn’t gonna last.
Related Poems