Reading our books in bed in the early evening
You, a favorite murder mystery
I think you’ve read three or four times
Me, another damn poetry book

Together, we hear a forlorn cry
from one of our sleeping dogs. It was high pitched
So, it must have been from our little guy

We check them both to be sure they are okay
And they are. He probably had a bad dream
You wonder why our little brown fella
felt so sorrowful in his dream
and fret about what you can do
to keep him from being that despondent again

Can you;
find beauty in things not pleasant to the eyes?
Can you;
be nice to people you don't recognize?

Can you;
find sunshine, on a rainy day?
Can you;
remain silent when you have things to say?

Can you;
fight when you're tired to the bone?
Can you;
call it quits, leave well enough alone?

Can you;
be ok, in the lonely moments?
Can you;
stay strong in the midst of disappointments?

The trail leads gently up
and through the stand of trees
The day is chilled by autumnal winds
just in from the coast

I contemplate the desperation of the falling leaves
as they wander about in the bracing air
Carried by the breeze to where they will lie
And I wonder: “Are they bitter?”

Or do they accept their fate
as the annual benediction
of having served their purpose
reflected in the colors of the season?

….you have programmed your final day under the sun:

your body dissolves,
graced in sheets of flowers,
succumed to the grass that touches your back side.
you lie inside an abandoned home,
vines and moss cover the cement and bricks.
the flower of life subverted into this once natural structure.

the sun’s rays flash through the trees,
through the absent roof, the home claimed by nature.
it lowers down, calmly.
seeping into your skin, through your blood, through the rest of you.
she is ready to prepare your eternal bedding.

The religious zealots say,
they will pray for us,
They look down their nose,
at us with disgust.

They say repent;
we are an abomination,
We are headed straight
to hell fire and damnation.

They scream we offend them,
and their religion,
It is none of their business;
not their decision.

Eighty percent of churches,
condemn homosexuality,
They explain it’s a sin,
and say it is an abnormality.

Mary had a lady parrot
Its name was Josephine.
It had two short scaly legs
And its beak was green.

She also had a naughty dog
By breed a Labrador
He was a very randy hound
And his name was Ruddigore.

One day when Mary was at work
Jo escaped her gilded cage
Flying squawking round the room
Putting Rudy in a rage.

Rudy finally caught the bird
And bit poor Josephine
So the parrot pecked him on the nose;
What came next was obscene.

By all means, HE will shelter you.
Storms may come, yet you see the sun.
Darkness follows, yet never crosses your path.
Others fall, yet you stand tall.
Sorrow touches your heart, yet you feel comforted.
Others doubt you, yet joy is forever present.
Fear comes; HE is there.
By HIS Voice peace forever abide; by all means.

I have learned;
crap does occur,
I have learned;
there is a his and a hers.

I have learned;
sometimes love is not enough,
I have learned;
there really is a diamond in the rough.

I have learned;
the outside does not pertain to the inside,
I have learned;
it is easier to take it all in stride.

I have learned;
I'm healthier if I manage my stress,
I have learned;
every day is a work in progress.

It's 2021 and Corona Virus is still here,
No one knows when the coast will be clear.

You notice you have no sense of taste or smell,
As Covid-19 rings in your head like a bell.

A low-grade fever a slight sense of chills,
Leaves you feeling a little green around the gills.

The reason you're not dying, or flat on your back,
You had the vaccine to counter the attack.

Still, you ponder, will it kill me now that I crossed its path,
You can feel it wanting to unleash its wrath.

I really loved that show
The old kinescope reruns
It probably wouldn’t fly today
But he really loved her, you could tell,
between all the laughs

She knew who she married,
and never once set foot on the moon,
despite the opportunities offered

His constant, his foil
they still live happily ever after
in old black and white New York