So many blank stares
Who cares
So many empty shells
Hell’s bells
So full of hatred
Alien-rated
So strung out on dope
Couldn’t cope
Take a picture
Hung by a rope
Each year I get a letter
To make sure that I’m not dead.
There must be other ways
To check that info out, instead.
It’s from the T.R.S.*, which holds
Retirement accounts,
Keeping track of teachers’ monies
In their varying amounts.
I guess that sometimes people die
And relatives or friends
Pretend that person’s still alive
To claim those dividends.
So I have to take a picture
Of my government I.D.,
Plus a photo of a newspaper
That’s being held by me.
The headline must be visible
To ascertain the date
And I have to sign a form that says
I’m living and not late.
With A.I. and technology,
It seems that such a shot
Must be easy for someone to fake,
But maybe it is not.
At any rate, I sent the forms
And hope when they arrive,
Whoever checks them out will see
That I am still alive.
*Teachers’ Retirement System
Take a minute to take a picture of it,
That pastel gradient sunrise or sunset.
Take a minute to enjoy life's every little bit,
Appreciate all moments, so you don't regret.
Take a minute to tell something to someone,
Even if what you have to say isn't easy.
Take a minute to breathe before you go run,
So you can energize and ease your anxiety.
Take a minute to step back and reflect,
All it takes is a minute to break the tension.
Take a minute when you get only disrespect,
Remember all have flaws, with compassion.
Take a minute to write down your thought,
Sometimes it is what others need to read.
Take a minute for them if you're all they got,
Because you're most likely what they need.
Snow on one hand
Sun on the other
Is our hide and seek.
Bench on the front
Snowman on the side
Take a picture on it.
Lightpost already lighted
A lighthouse is on
For a passing vessel.
The moon lighting the bay
A bonfire at the shore
Beachgoers singing around on it.
Photos can be endless.
Photos can be turned on and off.
With phones.
We never have to pick and choose.
With film?
We’d have piles of photos with red eyes and splotches that made us laugh.
Some would be proudly displayed.
While others ended up in the trash.
If we still used film.
We wouldn’t be scrolling and straining our eyes so much.
But these days,
I take a picture of a shirt from the store.
I send it to them in an instant.
I liked that shirt, but never actually bought it.
But now I have to photo to remember it by.
By the time it's officially Summer,
Without a doubt, they will be arresting me.
Presently, they are budding under the crape myrtle, which also will be stunning by summer.
Most assuredly, all of our plantings will be most pleasing to our eyes, and will cast their spell on me.
They will dare me to ignore them in the slightest.
Indeed, I will have been captured by their beauty.
My neighbor might even take a picture of them
As they stand tall between the cactus and roses.
I tell you; those beauties will render me dizzy, dazed
and dazzled, standing in attention like a patriotic soldier.
I must remind myself to thin out the cactus plant.
I wouldn't have to cut them if they were mature enough.
In time my cactus will burst force with yellow blossoms.
God gives my flowers plenty of water, and I weed them well.
Cuddling with you is a treat.
I don’t want to move, even to eat.
Lying on my lap.
You paws do their taps.
Turning my pillow over.
Your purr as gentle as a shaking clover.
Then I hear your inflection.
A meow giving me direction.
But before breakfast-
Let me take a picture really fast!
The first thing I do.
Is pull out a can for you.
The bowl is out, the bowl is full.
But she’s being coy, and it’s taking a toll.
Of course, she snuck back to bed!
I give in and let her rest on my head.
Through a Dream
Like a Movie Screen
Inner body soared
Flying with Lord
Toured outside of Heaven
Flesh and Blood can’t enter according to the scripture
I couldn’t take a picture
It was Majesty
Beauty of Excellence and Elegance
I was totally absorbed
With the Lord
My thought was Peace and no worries
This is my story
I asked the Lord how soon could I arrive?
Lord’s reply, He was only showing me Heaven, and if I continue to follow him, Heaven is where I will be
The Lord also stated, “It wasn’t my time, and I still had living to do
The reason for the Lord’s response, the Lord simply wasn’t ready for me as I still had years to prosper
I told the Lord how, I guess I have to go back to that nasty Earth and the Lord stated in an affirmative Yes
My inner body transcended back to my flesh and blood body
I woke up with Hallelujah in praise
Heaven’s Dream in meaning everything to me.
The moon covers the sun.
The moon moves on.
Circular, and spiraling.
A mental block covers me.
Square, and spiraling.
And the block is only seen from a distance.
The block is only seen from a certain spot.
So that there is hope,
That someone will take a picture and prove its existence.
Before the the block moves on.
When the evening sun
is slanting just so,
let us take a picture
of us both reflected,
heads tilted together
in a shaded body of water.
Maybe we will, by chance,
capture a lone eagle circling above us,
or perhaps two mourning doves.
billing and cooing
mirrored there
in a chilly Ohio lake.
In the paling
contrails of amity,
will that likeness
remain as a depiction
of unbroken love,
or will it slip away
in spans and spells,
but an image
of an unmasked memory,
one to be swiftly swiped
left or right
inside a cellphone gallery?
Water jug ??of my life
A door opens
Our breaths are in the rhythm of a foreign room
White flowers
In a vase at the lobby
I take a picture of myself
Before I parted
You will always come back
There is no way to move you
Like a frozen picture that
Stay in reflection of my face
at a glass of beer
I'm just there
Watching you
Otherwise I do not drink
I just simply live
When you take a picture of something, it doesn’t cease to exist.
It becomes a part of the history of the universe.
Now that one, specific moment in time will never be missed.
It can show the world either at its best or at its worst.
The caterwauling was coming from the kitchen
It was loud, and it was ugly, now streaming down the hall.
The birthday girl came running from her bedroom.
Where she had been talking on a rather long phone call.
It is the kitties! She yelled to her friend Marcia.
They are playing the piano and serenading me right now!
Her friend said “Keep them busy, I’ll be right over to see.”
When she arrived, they were singing their hearts out, and how!
Happy birthday to our Mommy! Happy birthday to our girl!
Happy birthday oh wise woman, you are fresh and overdue.
Happy birthday to our Mama. Happy birthday to you with curls.
Happy birthday to our favorite feeder, happy birthday to you!
Her friend came over to take a picture, but they were all sleeping.
Are you sure it was the cats? She asked her birthday girl friend. May.
Oh, yes, she assured her. They were dancing, singing and leaping.
Of course they were sluggish now, snoring the rest of the day away.
Driving Through West Texas
By Franklin Price
05/15/2022
I was driving through West Texas
When per chance this sight did see
A hundred non-rotating windmills
That were looking back at me
Not a wisp of wind was in the air
Not a kilowatt was grown
Out among them were some oil wells
Pumping black gold all alone
I thought of how ironic
Was this power that we need
Maybe we should fly up high
And sow some needed windy seed
Or maybe we should study
On to how to make the oil clean
Then we could afford to drive again
Through this ironic sight I've seen
Wanted to stop and take a picture
But I could not pause my drive
I was past before I knew it.
I was cruising eighty-five
Snow stays in the sky
while the mountain peaks seem to fall
as first light denudes them.
Crystal clear in the mirror of itself
the lake shines under a surface of silence.
I know if I take a picture of what I see now
the mountains will not be falling,
I will not see the snow in the sky
nor the mirror in the lake
so I just sit awhile on a wet stump
and bleed a little wonder into the world.
If I still smoked
the smoky fumes would be perfect
to look through.
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