A Game of Cat and Mouse

A Game of Cat and Mouse

The mouse wore a gentle brown coat and wiggled its pink nose
It was relaxed eating some seeds and a few pieces of cheese
Over all it had been a very good day and the mouse was pleased
Time to go home to its wife and children and watch some TV

The Cat had very sharp claws much like the blades of a knife
There was no scarcity of victims on that dark and rainy night
There were so many on their way to catch subway home
The real trick was to watch the way they walked and look for fear

The cat stood in the mouse's way and the mouse couldn't miss his train
The cat made it all very plain and asked for his cash and credit cards
The cat made it clear that killing the mouse was the only other answer
The cat wasn't willing to wait very long and the knife blade moved closer

The mouse didn't cower/ tremble or shake/ and stood up on its tiny feet
The mouse was tired and testy/ ornery and angry/ after working all week
The mouse decided that he wouldn't retreat/ that he would simply say no
The mouse opened his mouth and bared all of his tiny teeth/ shiny white

The cat saw a better victim/ timid and terrified/ and tried to let the mouse pass by
The cat saw the mouse stand with it's next victim/ and other mice joined them
The cat suddenly saw so many of them/ and panic began to fill all of him
The game of cat and mouse had changed/ and the cat could be their victim

Soon the cat was gone/ and it was clear/ that one mouse's courage saved all of them

This Old House

This Old House

This Old house was torn down after selling for a lot of money
It's window eyes and wooden body broken and torn
Like the years of pain and suffering that it held for his mom and her son Billy
Caterpillars/ large John Deere bulldozers/ turned it into rubble
Making room for a brand new house/ after destroying flower gardens
After destroying their bedrooms/ their kitchen/ their living room

A long rectangular deck/ where Billy sat and smoked many pipes
High about the ground/ where they sat and battled/ with his wounded heart
Their memories gathered together/ nightmares/ and waking terrors
The very place where Step Dad strangled a mother's heart/ and spirit
A murderous daily assault of ugly domineering words sucking out the life in her
When Billy fought back/ fought for her life/ his mother cried/ claiming he hurt her

This old house is gone forever and forever/ Step Dad and Billy's mother dead and buried
Why does he still store those memories and all of that pain
Does Billy have to destroy this old house AGAIN AND AGAIN/ AND YES AGAIN
This old house/ a house of pain/ a house of no longer standing. and no longer seen
It was here that his mother's spirit was murdered by Step Dad/ her very self destroyed
And she had nothing left of the bright/ creative loving lady that came to live there

Four members of the family/ Step Dads three and the other sister Suzy each got lots of money
Leaving nothing for his sister Sarah Lee and Billy and his mom lost her forever
Highway robbery engineered by my stepbrother Adolph a greedy thief/ the others silent
Yes/ and none of the four/ would allow his stepfather to change the will/ too much to lose
Cold cash and more wealth/ justified/ once again his mother was a victim/ tortured/ afraid
The prize of each of the four's greed/ his mothers tears and sorrow/ in the last of her days



This old house/ and finally he forgave the greedy four/ the materialistic money whores
This old house/ and finally he forgave/ his step dad/ for ruining his mom's life
This old house/ and finally he forgave/ his step dad/ for shredding his self esteem
This old house/ and he loved them them/ even when they were lying and scheming
This old house in his long nights of nightmares constantly dreaming so painfully
This old house/ this old family/ was never what it should be/ even until it's ending

Inner Child Park

Inner Child Park

My art/ that accompanies my poetry/ is like a window/ It shows what is inside/ my poems
Some feel that adults playfully enjoying/ moments from their childhood/ are very immature
Scientific data has discovered and determined that that kind of play helps to solve real problems
While that's all good/ enough to affirm and give permission/ to those who need that sort of thing
While we move through developmental stages/ and give away our toys to our children ad Grandchildren
Each and every one of us still has an inner child within us/ and our inner child really loves to play

For our information/ they still sell marbles/ dolls/ plastic soldiers/ Knights and dragons and other stuff
They still build play grounds with swings and tall slides/ and the big round thing that goes around fast
They still have soccer fields, baseball diamonds/ sandy beaches with sea shells and tiny crabs
They make a wide variety of kites in an uncountable number of sizes shapes and colors
They still have plastic model kits of cars/ trucks/ sailing ships/ jets/ tanks/ knights/ horses/ and dragons.
They still make finger paints/ color crayons/ colored pens/ and thousands of craft projects.

Why the lists/ why so many things/ and places/ and still more and more and yes so much more
None of them are plugged in to an electronic medium but each/ every/ and all of them lots of fun
What do they do for us/ they activate or imaginations/ while growing our skills and patience
They are not money making projects/ they have no stressful deadlines/ no pushy get it done bosses
They day are after day things we can do to unwind and relax us/ and joy in the doing/ always present
Each of us may have a different kind of inner park place/ ours to choose/ and enjoy every day

Unplugged

Unplugged

Some days we're plugged into a media that moves faster and faster
Marshal McCluhan wrote in the sixties that the medium is the massage
Speeding from moment to moment in limited space titillating our senses
Overwhelmed by O so much information that that quadruples so quickly
At some point our minds and our emotions give in to a Quantitative chaos
Once masters of images and words and contents /we give in to the medium

The medium is seductive/ an ever present rush and high/ ever so exciting
Reluctant at first/ wanting to embrace the medium's marvelous massage
I finally woke up knowing what I also knew/ an Internet train wreck was waiting
I decided that I needed/ to make a conclusion/ and end the intrusion
I chose to end the confusion/ like ordering a smaller plate/ fewer bytes
I did something physically/ I unplugged the medium/ and took back my life

Something Inside

Something Inside

Some days are truly inside out
Our skin is painted with our emotions
It may be an inconvenient place to show our feelings
No matter how hard we try to hide them/ they show
People can see them/ O so clearly/ and there's nothing we can do
We are caught in vulnerability/ and everything is absolutely revealed

We hear the phrases/ you look/ you feel/ you are
We simply can not argue with others point of view
No matter what we say/ no matter if try to explain/ we know they are right
Well then/ why do we have to cover up/ who and where we are/ at that time
Why can't we just be ourselves/ I mean after all/ aren't we ourselves
Is it just for others/ to judge us in these moments

You have heard the phrase/ "When pigs fly!"
Well? on days like this/ they really do
It doesn't do any good/ to take off our ties and mope
Or to ask others to bring us a rope so we can hang ourselves
Nope/ on these days/ we are simply/ and plainly/ inside out
On these days/ our insides/ paint our outsides/ with emotions from within.

Peace Like A River

Peace Like a River

A quiet place/ gently flowing water/ a refuge from life's storms
I shed the ashes/ of a molten day/ and calmly cleanse my soul
A pine tree/ green/ sweet pure scent/ a still place to rest
No phones ringing on and on so endlessly/ no dirge of voices
Not one question in an emergency/ demanding me/ to make choices
Freedom of being/ new life flowing/ and peace embraces me

Cell phone/ left in the car/ work clothes traded for a t-shirt and jeans
Mind emptied of civilization/ and foolish things/ embraces new dreams
No need here to define things/ no artificial realities/ just a gentle breeze
A doe and her fawn stop and look at me/ river fish rise playfully
Here no need for books to read/ or pens to write/ nature speaks to my heart
Here the pure breath of life/ untarnished by humans/ gently fills my lungs

Moment painted gently/ on the canvas of my mind/ O so effortlessly
Beautifully embraced/ by new steps/ on my path/ a healing journey
No expectations/ no list of my wants and my needs/ sweet serenity
Here time has no place/ no schedules and priorities/ here/ just me
Patiently without concern/ wisdom enters my living soul/ a natural renewal
These moments will be kept in memories/ become a peaceful refuge in my mind

Two Beautys

Two Beautys

Just imagine one day we will be visiting different worlds
Let's call the new people we will meet Beautys
Yes I know how to spell Beauties
But Beautys gives us a new perspective on Beauty
Hopefully it makes you stop and ask important questions.
What is beauty/ is it just what you prefer to look at

The Beautys are going to look at us and what will they see
What will be their perspective of you and us and everything
Will they look at us long enough and deep enough
Will they see into our hearts and feelings and thoughts
Will we be scary/ will we be ugly/ what they prefer not to see
They may see hearts and thoughts and feelings in beautiful colors

They may feel that seeing beings on the outside is a primitive process
In fact they may see our vision as distasteful and very disgraceful
They may reason that what is on the outside of beings is not real
That what is truly beautiful about beings is found on the inside
That what we are is not on the outside/ just a mask to hide behind
True beauty for them maybe/ thoughts/ words/ actions and feelings

Beautys may find what is beautiful in memories/ diaries/ and in our dreams
Beauty's may want to listen to our stories/ our poetry/ our music and our singing
Beautys may want to hear about how we treat others/ and what our love means
Beautys may want to know if we are angry or violent or walk together in peace
Beautys may want to know if we share everything/ or some have more and others less
Beautys may want to know if we help others/ or just don't care/ just aren't concerned

Beautys may want to know why we kill others/ why millions have died in wars
Beauty's may see that we let many starve/ many be homeless/ and not help the helpless
Beautys may not understand why we desire to have more or most of the wealth
Beauty's may not understand why some are rich and so very many of us are poor
Beautys may see the violence in our homes/ in our schools and in our streets
Beauty's may discover that we aren't able to love each other and live in peace

What will Beautys decide about all of us when some of us come and visit them
What if all that we are in every way is O so very very different than how they live
What if Beautys confront our weapons of mass destruction and are weapons for war
What if Beautys can't understand why we spend so much so that we can kill each other
What if wonder why our military has to me are number one priority to keep us safe
What if Beautys believe that the answers is to take care of every persons needs

Sweet Solitude Sam

Sweet Solitude Sam

He's not afraid of silence
He's never prone to violence
When he is in need of wisdom
Sweet Sam empties himself
Sits in the solitude of silence
Waits patiently for wisdom

I assure you the wisdom comes
His heart and mind make room for God
Nothing else enters his mind or heart
No other desire/ need/ or passion
Never/ no not ever in any form or fashion
Nothing/ no not anything/ is a distraction

It is oddly true/ this is something
Many and most others never do
They are O so busy/ don't have time
Awed by their importance/ endless projects
Own all of their attention/ every moment
Not knowing what's missing/ O so blind

I often wonder what directs them
What unseen motives affect men
Keep them from their wives and children
Break all of their promises freely given
What old age finally gets/ only many regrets
Piles and heaps/ of might have beens/ lie behind those men

God bless Solitude Sam
We need more like him
We Need God's Wisdom

Rose Colored Glasses

Rose Colored Glasses

I have a PhD and a six figure salary
I belong to the RICH party
It's not my fault that so many are hungry/ homeless/ and poor
It has been proven/ that any one/ can be rich
We are the land of opportunity and the American DREAM

I say/ don't have children/ if you can't afford them
I say/ get off the dole/ and start working for a living
I say/ be healthy/ and don't ask for free insurance
I say/ learn to live/ with what you make/ and be grateful
What you have and get in this world is up to you

You say/ I am greedy and I don't care
You say/ the rich have 95 percent of the wealth
You say/ the everyone deserves a college education
You say/ America should help the old/ the poor/ and helpless
You insist that all of the rich/ should pay higher taxes

My world is wonderful/ I have all that I want and need
There is a point to being rich/ I have a lot more than you
I mean/ isn't it plain to see/ your poverty/ means more for me
I am a powerful player and I like things the way they are
Is it my fault that you are dumb enough to vote with me

You know/ I love what has happened to democracy
I am so damn clever/ and you are too blind to see
If you voted for your interests/ it would be the end of me
I would be FORCED to SHARE what our country has given me
Okay/ I would still have a lot/ and your life would be better

Look/ I don't want even a little less/ you see I need more
I live in a beautiful world wearing rose colored glasses
I am the end product of the great AMERICAN DREAM
I am the man that none of you will ever, never be
I say/ God bless America/ and O yes/ keep blessing me

Your Electric Lady

Your Electric lady

I am your electric lady
You've wired all of me
I am your electric wheel chair racer
I am your every heart beat pacer
I am your puzzle of 500 pills

But I'll be 100 tomorrow
Put away in a nursing home
Where its illegal to light candles
You make a cardiac case against ice cream
You keep me alive with all your machines

My hall smells like urine
So you seldom visit me
I wear diapers
That are not changed regularly
My food is bland and tasteless

To put it all bluntly
I don't care about healthy
Why are you saving me
Let me die quietly
And enter a better world

Found and Lost

Found and Lost

I found my self and lost my soul
Death metal music death is cold
I am the damn break every rule boy
I am the punk rocky patriot of darkness
I am the most unreachable and unteachable

I am the anarchist against every uniting force
I am the devils messenger riding a black horse
I am the fallen angel of evil willing to kill you
I am the anger born in sexual and physical abuse
I am the wicked designer of revenge I'll take on you

I am the boy you dread and fear
I am going out with your innocent dear
I know every way to stain her and spoil her
Her yes says she wants me/ and she will hate you
Fear me/ I will teach her anger/ and addict her to drugs

Aren't you proud that you created me
A monster of antiquity/ smiling while sinning
I am the very end of all of your hopeful beginnings
Don't ever/ never label me/ you raped and beat me
I am your devil child/ but don't forget/ you created me

I didn't last long/ everything of me cut quickly and short
Depression took me/ shook me so hard/ and so deadly
Depression got a hold on me/ played with my emotions darkly
Finally death was the only image that my hollow eyes could see
Red ripe blood flowing from my wrists/ until the last drop left

DEATH/ Yes DEATH/

Playful Imaginary Friends

Playful Imaginary Friends

Come on lazy bones get up and out of bed
Feeling the sting of endless rejection
He wanted to sleep all day long and longer
No/ none of the kids will ever play with me
Ah/ we are here/ playful/ imaginary friends

An adventure began with back yard games
Silver suited knights to rescue damsels
High flying dragons with fiery hot flames
A broom stick his horse with a white mane
Charging with wooden sword again and again

A curley headed girl in a t-shirt and jeans
Watched from a distance with admiration
Thinking thoughtfully/ my knight in shining armor
But so unlike the other three she wasn't imaginary
She was real/ a damsel with rosy red girl cheeks.

He caught her out of the corner of his left eye
He had never met such a maiden/ so real and alive
Hey/ he said/ would you like to meet/ my imaginary friends
Yes/ said she/ I see every one of them/ I am also their friend
Wait now/ he said/ how can that be/ each and every one/ belongs to me

They belong to a world created by children/ and they live there with others
You opened the door with your imagination/ and I was already there
I have friends there,too, and they long to meet all four of you/ playful. too
Okay/ then tell me/ have you ever rode a dragon/ silver scale in sky
O course I have/ they taught me to fly/ and I gave them all names

But you say that they are real/ our imaginary friends/ do you think I'm crazy
Don't know about that/ but this morning you were lazy/ and so I sent them
You mean that you got me out of bed/ sleeping off the sting of rejection
Well I mean/ one true friend/ is worth far more/ than that herd of idiots
You mean that I am intelligent/ isn't thank a dumb thing to say about me

Well/ I could say I love you/ here we are and sixteen/ playing games again
I guess I look kind of silly riding my mothers best broom/ and charging around
My daddy has horses/ and collect old suits of armor and the swords are so sharp
Today/ after watching you/ my Knight in Armor/ for O so many days/ I decided
What did you decide today/ do you want me to charge and rescue you

Look at me closely/ I am not a little girl/ I have firm full breasts/ I am a real women
I have long Raven black hair/ and luscious red lips/ and I am stealing a kiss
O dear me/ dear me/ he said/ that was really real/ something is happening to me
Yes/ and I will kiss you again and many times more/ get ready for so much more
O dear me/ O dear me/ what's to become of me/ what more will you do to me

I will make a man of you/ in every way a woman can do/ my Knight shining bright
I will take you to new places every day/ none of them/ are imaginary in any way
Where are my imaginary friends/ I can't see any of them/ none of them anymore
O dear me/ O dear dear me/ O what is happening to me/I am only sixteen
All you are/ and all you can be/ now is desiring me/ I'll lead you gently/ don't worry

I didn't tell you/ she was the most beautiful in the Our Town High School
Every young woman and young man/ in the whole herd/ would be his friend
But he and she rejected them/ that stung them often and again and again
I didn't tell you that she and he/ were voted the king and queen at every prom
Now what love led them to/ is a never mind/ yet O so full of passion and delight

Four Fellows and Friends

Four Fellows and Friends

We began by thinking that friendships last forever
We never expected that they would gather dust
We never ever thought that we'd lose touch
We shared often and then gradually much less
One day I wondered what had happened to us

Four fellows my groomsmen and best man
Exist now in wedding pictures and memories
One actually visited me with his new wife
We talked together about detail of our lives
So far we haven't seen each other again

From my years in high school
From my days in college
A collection of different guys
Each unique in his own way
Shadows of our yesterdays

Where are they now and older
Will I see them again four fellows
Will life be kind and find a meeting place
A time when we can reminisce
And how do we understand any of this

Growing Old with His Love

Growing Old with His Love

How can we enhance everything about us that has changed
Like flowers cut and in vases our faces wilt in all of the places
Yet when I see my lady with love's eyes/ she is so beautiful
More beautiful each and every day/ our endings waiting
I am busy celebrating every inch of her fully revealed

She sees me/ her handsome man/ she sweetly calls me
Mother of our four children/ miracles each of them
All grown up and gone away/ except on visiting days
We enjoy our empty nest/ closely savoring each caress
Desiring close encounters nightly in each others arms

A heart attack and she was every so close to her death
My lady/ my love/ my soulmate/ my every breath
God gave her back to me again/ after healing her heart
After my soul wept endlessly on dark and darker nights
Growing old together these things happen and change our lives

Yet we look into each others eyes/ agree these days are the best of our lives
Rituals of togetherness continue to create loving bonds as our hearts respond
We are growing old together and we don't know what's in our future
So we taste the goodness of our togetherness like wonderful fine wines
We freely make each of the moments given to us the best of our lives

Sea Bird

Sea Bird

His life was a stormy sea/ a difficult journey
Strong dark gray winds/ always his enemy
Yes the wind has many colors/ gray meant death
But he at the wheel/ with his Sea Bird sail
A survivor of the terror/ of high green pounding waves

A skilled sailor in yellow slickers/ and unyielding
Soggy wet mustache/ beard/ and hair/ all very gray
Bent briar smoking pipe/ clenched burning bright
A dogged determination/ engaged in an awful fight
Stubbornly and steadily/ refusing to give up his life

The wind howled so loud and louder/ like a spoiled child
The wind commanded him to give up/ and to bow down
His heart like his briar pipe warm/ and refusing to go out
The bow of his little ship pounding against waves/ and very brave
Again and again rising up so very high/ with a thunderous cry

Then his hope born again in morning/ filled with blue sky
The gray ghost of the wind so angry/ finally gave in to sunlight
Poseidon the king of the sea had watched the man's bravery
Finally he found the gray death winds and silenced them
Both with briar pipes the two good friends/smoked together again

Starry Night

Starry Night

In the illusion of evening she saw nothing
Her eyes set on so many stars shining
Her heart ever so patient was waiting
Not an ordinary lady a glittering sex Queen

Car stopped filled with fresh green cash
A Friday night hunter and her street corner
She collected her cold cash price for paradise
He paid for the full meal sexual deal that night

But the night turned sour every moment of the hour
After devouring her body completely there was more
A Friday night serial killer looking for a new thriller
She screamed as his knife drew closer and closer to her.

Her body dead blood read and lifeless now in a dumpster
Another painted lady starry eyed next night took her corner
There were some who warned her about the serial killer
But her profession had become the reality of her sad life

High Noon

High Noon

Little boy with chrome plated white handled cap guns
Two holsters black leather steel studded on his hips
Put a roll of caps in each silver six gun ready for high noon

Little girl loved him wore a doeskin outfit with fringe on her arms and legs
An eagle feather in her read head of hair with a pink ribbon to hold it
Bright colored war paint on her face and moccasins on her feet with fringe

Every day in their childhood not yet imprisoned in orderly school classrooms
They played together all day the boy and girl thing didn't get in their way
It wasn't yet time for aspects of anatomy to make a difference in their friendship

Ever so young and innocent they were free to play unencumbered and truly free
Their very active imaginations created their exciting adventures and high noons
He a master of his quick draw six guns she an expert with her rubber tipped arrows

Then one day he stood amazed when he first saw her wearing a very pretty dress
Beneath the cloth two things o so strange though not huge yet surely they were breasts
It was then they drew a heart on the elm tree bark with their initials and the word love

All of this was such a mystery to both of them and they started acting differently
But neither of them were sure about what they should do other than holding hands
One day they saw two older kids kiss and they spit our their gum and their lips met

It seemed to be very sloppy to them and o so wet but they didn't move their lips
That was a new discovery for them several years later sort of a kind of high noon
By then they had feelings that often embarrassed them that they couldn't control

Finally the day of their first prom arrived and they didn't know how to dance together
They wandered around together a proper space apart hold hands all over the gym floor
A grumpy old woman with gray hair made sure that they didn't do anything that was sexual

They studied together at the library and in each others homes every day for many hours
Their parents and teachers had no reason to complain because both of them earned A's
It was being together talking and laughing two happy people enjoying sharing that pleased them

Everything had grown larger height his muscles and her breasts and feelings of true love
They began to think about the meaning of their differences and what they should do with them
Their new truth was that they were tempted to have sex he tall and handsome she so pretty

Their senior year ended and they graduated together earned the highest honors given
Their summer together they learned that their life together wood end very soon so sad
They ran through fields of meadow grass barefoot flew kites in the wind having fun again

Their last weekend together they camped on the beach cooking hot dogs and drinking sodas
They swam in the ocean beneath mellow moonlight o so playful in their birth day suits
They dried each other off held hands and kissed and shared their hopes and dreams

Whatever happened on two moonlit nights four years later the two of them married
Friends forever and still so much to discover through good days and through bad days
The story can not be completed they are still enjoying writing each and every page of it

The Button Lady

The Button Lady

She is a true lady
with strength and dignity
she carries herself humbly
yet she is far wiser than many

It is true in younger years
men used her and abused her
she was then powerless
to mount her own defense

As she aged in years
she grew so much stronger
refuse to take it any longer
much more powerful and harder

She now stands up to men
firmly says no to them
won't ever be hurt again
yet now can trust new friends

She is a truly lady
a teacher helping many
my friend a true treasure
with value beyond measure