Reality Check

Honest, compassionate
and positive Americans
are in the majority in
both political parties.

It's up to all of us
to take back our country
from the rich, greedy minority
that is willing to destroy
the economy and the environment
to amass enormous wealth.

Don't think someone else
will do it. It's up to each
and every one of us.

The death of love

My heart will break
when the last breath
passes the lips I will
forever long to kiss,
but I will savor the joy
you brought to my life
until the last breath
passes mine.

Father’s Day

I could have done better,
worked less, played more,
talked less, listened more,
scolded less, hugged more,
failed less, earned more.
And modeled better
self esteem, self assurance
self control and endurance.

But I didn’t.

Dangerous Orange Clown

His clownish persona
obscures his true danger.
His way of lying is not a joke.
It’s a deliberate strategy to disable
our capacity to think in the realm of truth.

Our responsibility as citizens in a democracy
is to recognize his strategy for what it is
and to resist its assault on our democracy.
We must come together, listen to each other,
organize our efforts and restore truth.

Aging love

As I look across the table
at your graying hair
and the lines in your face,
I still see the young woman
with the seductive eyes
and the entrancing smile
that captured my heart
more than 50 years ago.

The gray and the lines
are the medals
you have earned
for your bravery
and your determination
to not leave the battlefield
that has often been
our relationship.

The Self-absorbed Poet

searches for that rush he gets
when a poem starts to blossom,
the words effortlessly falling
into lines that will move the reader.

But he falls into the abyss of shame
when the bud refuses to open,
his feelings of desperation crushing
his ability to believe in himself.

Spring Song

Full March moon
makes coyotes cry
like children in fear
of being forever lost
in the frosty night. 
The neighbor’s dog replies
from distant memories
of wailing in the woods
on a cold Spring night.

The Bottle of Life

I am a bottle that
keeps filling with life.
Every so often someone
knocks me over and I
spill all over the place
and feel empty.

The Voyage Ends

The old man’s life is a slowly sinking ship,
and as captain he must keep her on course.
He jettisons goals and dreams in a
frantic effort to keep his vessel afloat.
The once valuable cargo now threatens his
command and the sea-worthiness of his craft.
He knows the hull will soon be swamped and
the bridge will slip below the water’s surface.
He has done his best to man the helm,
but he knows that won’t matter when
the rotted hull sits on the ocean floor
and his dreams become jetsam
and his ideals flotsam.

Depression…

seduces him with the promise
of relief from feelings of inadequacy
by removing the need to measure himself
against his aspirations.

lets him slide into a cold bath
where he can float weightlessly in acceptance
of his failures with no need to rehash
his mistakes and shortcomings.

is a refuge from the recriminations
he heaps upon his ego – a place to
resign himself to the fate his choices
have set in motion.

Artistic License

We scorn but secretly admire those creative geniuses who
care only for their art and selfishly indulge themselves
in whatever keeps their creative juices flowing.

The musician who soars in heroin induced improvisations.
The artist who paints nude portraits of his underage mistress.
The writer who drafts crime novels from an alcohol haze.

We fantasize about their freedom and envy their ability to engage
in wanton artistic expression that brings artistic gratification
but not happiness.

Normalization

Donald Trump normalized
sexual abuse, naked nepotism,
conflicts of interest, compulsive lying,
overt racism, xenophobia,
public bullying, buffoonery,
name-calling and chronic immaturity
by the President of
the United States of America.

So now what’s abnormal behavior?

No Problems

Children lying on classroom floors in pools of blood -- no problem.
Civilian bodies shattered by drone-borne weapons -- no problem.
Starving refugees in filthy internment camps -- no problem.
Immigrant children torn from their parents -- no problem.
Insurance companies getting rich at the expense of the sick -- no problem.
Global warming and Polar Ice melting at a record rate – no problem.
Just what does constitute a fucking problem?