I am a heathen
who went vegan
and I’m not allowed to have meat
Tried the vegetable juice
and now I'm reduced
to searching for food in the street
They found me at dawn
on somebody's lawn
seasoning the boots on my feet
and to my dismay
I heard the cops say
boots are not what vegans can eat!

To be so blessed
as to sleep so sound
To sleep so sound
as to greet each day
with all it deserves
and let come what may

This man was much worse
than a spendthrift of time
unaware of what truly mattered
He wasted his words
full of worry and regret
then wore them
as clothes torn and tattered

When it’s Monday
he usually laments it
When it’s Tuesday
he usually resents it
Then, comes Wednesday
he feels better about it
So, on Thursday
he can drink about it
On the weekend
he can’t care about it
and usually ignores
his feelings about it
It’s a cycle
that repeats without end
For come Monday morning
it starts over again

Three yellow birds
have died in a cage
Canaries in the coal mine
kept miners from their wage
“Got to get down there
I’ve got a family to feed
That’s more important to me
than the air that I need
I don’t care about the danger
It’s too late for me
In another year
I won’t be around to see
more birds dying
on account of me
Just open up the mine
and let me be”



And put Vincent’s drawings
where all can see

Where does a person's feelings lie
when a child can't afford to hate?
Maybe love
turned away many times
was no longer willing to wait

I remember myself
as a child
Busted out of my house
untamed and wild
Nary a care for fear
Couldn’t be bothered with loathing
Breathlessly waiting
for what the next moment would bring
Happy with
just about everything

I work hard
every day
to make things
go my way
So much so
that in fact
I lose sight
of how to act
While at work
I'd rather not
get myself
tied in a knot
If truth be known
I'd rather play
but, then again
I like the pay

Wise man say that if one is tired of
gaining weight at mere glance of food, one need only wear blindfold to dinner table

It had been a day
of holding back tears
Putting fingers in holes
of a leaky ****
A wall that had been sturdy
for so many years
crumbling into a person
I think I could like

I believe in a karmic world
Negative thoughts and deeds
beget more negativity
and this cause and effect
can balloon into a storm
A storm that can overwhelm  
all reason
Where sitting in a dark corner
of a room
is preferable to the light

His little girl
is no longer
She poses with a pitchfork now
Flanked by her husband and child
she sports the face of a P.O.W.
No longer in need of her father
and that’s the way it should be
He just wished she looked happier
A smile would be nice to see
Maybe it’s not what it looks like
Maybe she doesn’t want to be free
Maybe she loves
the life she has made
But, he thinks she just wants to flee

Stuck in patterns
that are damning to repeat
because vows to do better
don’t last
How does one be
who one wants to be
without healing
from an imperfect past?

Along with creating our own
personal philosophical views of life
comes the distinct possibility that we will become disillusioned by them
Because, if we had some answers,
we wouldn’t have so many **** questions

Eat when you are hungry
and when you’re tired sleep
Stop all the questioning
Life isn’t all that deep

Wise man say: “There are too many ways to look the fool without
arguing with one.”

Careful now
make not a mistake
It’s only your hide
the skinner wants to take
Ready to pounce
it won’t think twice
to be all over you
like white on rice

Old things for new
Old things for new
Cried a poor peddler
through a high province of Peru
He thought of the story
of the rain that got in
It filled the world up
to wash away sin
It was but an ark
that had saved not the least
of all that were chosen
from man and the beasts
And how had that mattered
in the Andes of Peru?
Long after the water
could reach Machu Picchu

Cradled in the arms
of Glenda herself
I could sleep
Sleep like I may never wake
or want to
for the rest is needful
and the dreams devine
I could bathe in the comfort
of clover and poppies
at the foot of Emerald City
waiting to hear the good witch tell me
“Good night sweet prince”

May we one day be toasting
the bright, morning sun
with the blessed chalice
full of nectarine dew
And if our quest
should test our resolve
raise a cup in its place
when the day is through

I err,
therefore I am

I can see the world
through a murky lens
clouded by storms
of my making
And if I am cursing
that which I can’t see
then, it’s only myself
I’m forsaking

Here lately the Sandman mocks me
with his calls to sleep that are nothing more than brutal sarcasm
To report to my bed at night
is the highest level of futility
Even the sheep are laughing
I’m here all week

Soft pink rose petals
touched his lips that day
and burned through his body
like the sun through the wings
of Icarus
For he had reached for ecstasy
and cared not for consequence
It was a good day to die

That fleeting moment
of divine inspiration
floats like a leaf
on a warm Autumn day
Gather it quickly
and pull it close to your heart
before a cold wind
comes and blows it away

Men are ugly
Women are not
Men are such hounds
because women are hot
Their desires are simple
Not very complex
Risking life and limb
For the chance of ***

We can outrun the wolf
on a good day
We can’t cry enough
on a bad day
And sometimes we fight
to get through the night
frightened of all
we could not say

Anxiety is a passing cloud
in a crowded sky
It does not live in painful truth
nor in a dreadful lie
It isn't yours
It isn't you
So, let it howl and bark
Just, gently sit beside it
and hold it in the dark

The silence of the woods
quieted the noise in his soul
As he walked the sacred trail
he felt the spirit of the wind
rustle through him
as if he were high in the trees
He bathed in the cool water
at the base of the silver falls
and prayed that his body
be cleansed of his ***** life
and that he be given the strength
to cope with the stress of adversity
For to conquer that
is to conquer the temptation
to soil oneself with sin

Rise to the blessing
of the morning sun
Open all the windows
it’s will be done
Let it chase away the darkness
of the cold, still night
Let there be clarity
where there was no light
May the sun’s luminescence
baptize all the faces
of those so receiving
of it’s bountiful graces
For a day without storms
is a good day indeed
and may that be remembered
in one’s hour of need

While the puppeteer sleeps
how divine the dream
that frees the marionette to dance

Before the terrible tyrant wakes
Pops the dream
and spoils it's chance

With all the unknown variables
in the complex equation of our lives
for X to equal happiness
we must be always solving for the
value of X

There are ghosts that dwell
in the spooky mist
above the water at night
With the break of dawn
they will soon be gone
like vampires in the light

We must stand
in the rain to hide
any trace of tears
To be discovered weeping
is the worst
of our crazy fears

Big “I”
Little you
and everyone else too
As long as it
comes out the winner
If it’s let in the game
things won’t be the same
The ego is a natural born sinner

May the glorious sun
be the face of god
and all it’s light his robe
as he takes
a morning stroll
across this sleepy globe

Art is in the eye
of the beholder
There is no wrong
or right
In time, I think
it can grow on you
But, for the most part
it’s love at first sight

A grim prospect indeed
that the best one can hope for
is to surrender to death
as a part of nature
I can’t see myself
on my deathbed thinking
“It just doesn’t get any better than this!”

The serenity of wheat
sways in the sun so sweet
I walk in peace
on the golden fleece
that bends beneath my feet

As I lean against this tree
I feel so close to thee
This kiss of gold
has taken hold
and won’t let go of me

Picture lying
in a lush green field
cradled within an ancient glen
Boundless is your imagination
of where the gods lived back then

There’s much to fear from living
When you don’t know what you’re doing

There’s much to fear from dying
When you can’t see where you’re going

From the outside looking in
It would seem that one can’t win

So, get in the boat with Michael
And start rowing the boat ashore

Do raindrops become
lost in the ocean
when they fall into the sea
or do they become
united as one
content with eternity?

Can life be so bad
that you’re better off dead
I asked a wise man
and here’s what he said:

“There’s no way out of life
except through death
So, beware of that spot
between a rock and a hard place”

To feel that
there is no hope
to fill
that which cannot be filled
to console
the inconsolable
to resurrect
that which will not be raised
is to know that
at least,
your pain
will not abandon you

Amidst all the disguises,
misrepresentations, and exaggerations
it eventually rises
to reveal the most surprising and
powerful version of itself
We curse at the blackards who
insult it with lies
and knight those
who sacrifice everything for the
honor of defending it

Yet, at times
and not for the better
we also bear the scarlet letter
as adulterers of the truth

Can there be any greater gift
than the lesson of how to be happy
Too many students
not enough teachers

When wind moves through it’s limbs
and blows down through my hair
I seem to forget
about the burdens I bear
And whenever this pall
cast it’s shadow on me
you will find me outside
standing next to a tree

Mindful to tread
ever so lightly
that fertile ground
we visit nightly
Careful now
it’s takes so little
to awaken adrift
in sweat and spittle
The pleasant dream
betrays yet again
hurling the psyche
into a den
of frightening, blood-thirsty nightmares

To feel the ache of suffering
is to to look no further than
the space between the lines
It is where the godless echoes live
and they try to convince us
that faith will not get us through
this long, arduous trip from home

I remember
a summer of water colors
softly lit
by the light of the sun
Holding hands
along the lake’s hidden beaches
Waltzing in the twilight
when the day was done