open
honest
trusting
unaware
unconcerned
trustworthy
optimistic
unsuspecting
meeting new friends
seeing the good
inexperienced
concerned and caring
naïve and open
loving and giving
ready to party
He guards the perimeter of
my newly built life,
An unappointed warden to
his long- departed wife.
His surveillance is a shadow,
heavy and profound,
As his relentless, predatory
footsteps trace my ground.
He orchestrates a calculated,
unconcerned chase,
Inserting his fixation into
every public space.
My mailbox is violated,
stripped of its defense,
By his intrusive fingers and
his desperate, dark suspense.
He intercepts my letters with
a convert, hungry gaze,
To map the secret geography
of my escaping days.
Invisible tripwires hum with
electronic sight,
As hidden lenses pierce the
sanctuary of my night.
Those cold, robotic apertures
are blinking from the trees,
Recording every movement
on his digital decrees.
He is a phantom archivist,
compiling what I do,
An omnipresent voyeur of a
life he can't renew.
This suffocating vigilance,
this voyeuristic thrall,
Has turned my independence
to an exhibition hall.
He hovers like a specter in
an inescapable grid,
Unraveling the safety where
my fragile freedom hid.
A microscopic tyranny that
never lets me be.
Reading about totems or power animals is enlightening
In one week I will see five deer, or six red cardinals
I know there is a message in these sightings so I research
Cardinals bring messages from heaven; deer remind me to be soft
When I was walking around a pond one time I felt eyes on me
I stood still and scanned the horizon, thinking I would find a fox
But there was no fox, yet my feet were rooted in one spot
A voice was stilling me, willing me to stand there.
I scanned the other side of the pond, feeling surveyed.
Sudden movement on the trunk of a tiny tree took my attention.
A small brown snake slithered down that tree.
My clairaudience kicked in; I knew I was in touch with this creature.
He slithered away, unconcerned, recognizing message was received
I researched snakes that day; they represent renewal, and vigor.
Signaling a new direction, project or career.
I slow danced with my scars,
tracing tiny specks of mourning stars,
as traumatized tissue
beneath a translucent sky translates
the skin of tortured twilight ~
the truth I hide behind
metaphors of melancholy,
like a heart carved from granite and grey.
Come and see,
for this poetic flame
keeps rising in sync with regrets
and timeworn memories,
where insomniac ink releases
3 a.m. sighs to heal in solitude,
amidst every scribbled sentence
that screams in desolate diction,
turning the page into a rage room
of storms and ghosts ~
a paper protest
against darkness and demons…
~ my reality, the push and pull,
of torment and tolerance,
of pain and patience ~
So allow my soul to sew silver linings
with half-stitched seams
in skeletal silence ~
unconcerned, unaffected
by snakes slithering through
the haze beneath the sun…
kindness grabs me and throws me onto a page
sense of humor tickles me until I am laughing
empathy wants in, as if I could ignore her
the words I write come from a source I cannot see
strong feelings jump onto a page
kicking meddlesome pests onto the ceiling
if it is not fun for you, it will not be fun for them
But do the readers need to always be entertained?
Maybe not, but you need to appeal to their feelings.
Write your truth, be unconcerned about theirs
The ones who need to hear it will run with it
You cannot appeal to the other ones anyway
Enchanted by your voice, I almost fell asleep,
in a field full of sunflowers, dreaming reality could mirror dreams.
I followed you so far, unconcerned by the fatigue,
walking through danger just to keep my place beside you.
Loved you so hard, when I saw you I missed a beat,
rational as I am, I was startled that I lost my breath.
I carried it to wake with you beside me,
wondering at night if an angel could be disguised.
Hearing you, I learned that dreams could also become scary.
Seeing you near taught me vigilance.
Loving you moved me across worlds — but I had traveled far enough.
Carrying it this long, I saw our colors — bold and subtle — filling the canvas.
Now.
My ears can listen from afar, but I cannot hear you.
My legs could cross layers of hell, but not to reach you.
My heart now beats fast as falling leaves, but not seeing you pass by.
I still carry it — but it no longer shines the same.
There was a young lady named Mimi
who had a great taste for sashimi.
She ate a full plate
unconcerned with her weight
till she didn’t fit in her bikini!
THIRSTY
He was close to drinking water;
Yet his mouth would open;
In his last breath, he gasp;
His mind wasn’t sober;
His soul was nonchalant;
Heart beating casually, calm relaxed unconcerned;
THIRSTY
1/12/26
Written by James Edward Lee Sr. 2026©
A WAR-WORN FLASHBACK
As quiet
As it’s kept,
Wars continue
To win,
As peace
Likewise,
Continue
To lose:-
In war
Only death
Wins:
Dying peace
Loosing
As parentless
Children
Daily feed
Death—
Satisfying war’s
Wealth-Inspired hunger:-
Yet, we seem to
Continue to be
As unconcerned
As are the fires
Burning in hell:-
Death ! I’m not afraid of you, you are a balm
come softly with long dark muscular arms
carry me into deep crimson flute melodies
where I will float with pink wreaths, a remedy
Here tenderly I embrace your breezy ripples
through Tunnel of Light, past heavenly officials
trumpets announcing my awaited joyous arrival
name embellished across peaceful sky, as recital
Delicate sugarbird wings will sway at ankles
lifting me into lilting velvet deep spangles
purple-gold lotus on engraved jewelled crown
butterflies bringing etheric ambrosia profound
Wild winds hum hymns with Star unconcerned
You will embroider my spirals with fragile ferns
faraway rains always fill sparkling trout streams
Death, I’m not afraid of You, hug me, my Dream !
When the world moves on
and bulldozers crowd the scene
to cleanse the shattered land
with schemes of resort towers.
As the broken stone and steel
is smoothed from our sight
who will search for what is left
all those buried in their homes.
Among rags and concrete dust
rubble tombs above the dead
so small are infant’s bones
easily missed or left behind.
Many workers need the pay
unconcerned by death and war
do they stop and gag to find
a child's hand beneath their tools.
The heavy work will be done
their schedules must be kept
foundations poured, they leave
and another team flies in.
majestic serene
she has her own mind
mighty keen hunter
fierce rodent killer
sleeps in a curl
has a war cry
off with their heads
loves chasing prey
pats down her nest
unperturbed
unconcerned
unruffled
queen like
my way
cat
~The breath drawn deep is but a borrowed stay,
~~A fleeting spark within the endless night,
~~~~Where light and shadow's. in a silent play,
~Will fade and flicker, in the morning light.
~~~~~~~The bud unfurls, a vibrant splash of green,
~Bloom in sunlight, then wilt in autumn's chill;
~~~~~~~~~~~~ragile beauty on a fleeting scene,
~~~~~~~~Caroming seasons on a lonely hill.
~~~~~~~~~~~So man appears, a whisper in the wind,
~~~ A passing thought in time's unconcerned hand,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A story written, ultimately sinned,
~ ~~~~~~~~~Before the final grains of silver sand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~We rise and fall, as ocean's restless tide,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Where the universe enigmas reside.
IN AND OF DEMOCRACY AND EQUANIMITY
Indeed, “...we are a society in deep crisis:-”
Once more and again, we continue sitting
And daily standing by, in abject nemesis:
Seemingly unconcerned about the daily
Trials and tribulations of political injustice:-
Aren’t we supposed to be a nation of deemed democracy?!
If so, how can we sit and stand by and allow this political mockery
Of freedom, justice, and constitutional-granted equanimity?!
Now is the time, and the time is now,
For those of us in caring awareness,
To be about the peaceful labors of love,
Bringing back equity and its fairness:-
Let’s get to being able to truly sing again,
About a sweet land of freedom and liberty;
A land where true democracy is sustained,
And is reflected in its glorious equality.
We can and must become a nation of peace and love;
And a land that is truly the home of the brave and free:-
A nation with balanced scales of justice hanging high above,
And one that is molded in the practice of equity for all of humanity:-
Her winsome smile belied her secret essence
A temptress and siren
Given to saturnine quintessence
And I a man of placid and calm complexion
Became ever more umbrageous
With each stranger she offered affection
Ciara Cybelle chose to take her chances
Unconcerned by my mood
Continued her frenzied romances
She swooned at my charm
And laughed at my wit
And yet held to another man’s arm
Ciara Cybelle a nymph out of hell
Twisting a man
With her temptress spell
I had to make her understand
She simply had to see
I must be her only man
But Ciara Cybelle laughed instead
Eyes flashing fire
She brazenly said
The likes of me would never know
The deliciousness
Of the charms she would bestow
On other men she found fairer
Then in a rage
I struck in blind error
And carefree Ciara Cybelle
Lay shattered and still
At my feet where she fell
To the dark waters I fed
The alabaster body
Of Ciara Cybelle dead
Now benthic stillness of cimmerian depths
Disturbed by the pale lifeless limbs
Of Ciara Cybelle
Now tumescent and water pruned
The once sempiternal beauty
Forever ruined
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