Ok, one last one for a while....

Understanding

Speak softly now

I can hear you

Talk quietly now

I understand

Your pain is a real thing

Your suffering made clear

I will not ignore you

You are there

Your tears wet my life

Your unknown sorrow profound

You feel incomplete

You feel empty

You don’t know why

Embrace my compassion

Hold on to my voice

Don’t let go of who you are

Your shadow is in hiding

Let is sleep for now

It’s ok

I’ll take its place

The world today is in such bad shape, and I die a little bit more every day.

Modern world

The rain comes down incessantly

The snow joins the conspiracy

Emotions hung out to dry

Moisture seeps in and takes hold

The world cries

Tears roll slowly down misled cheeks

Revolution of spirit ignites in certain quarters

Popular rule dictates the day

Western world lies down

Patiently waiting for burial

The sadness of lies misleading

The truth always heartbreaking

Society buried in broken promises

Society worth nothing

Where has kindness gone?

Since when has humanity become so cold?

Not enough places at the table

The communal feast bereft of flavour

Trestle tables filled with nothing

A pretend meal does not nourish

The truth fills only chosen belly

The masses go hungry

Lies hold no value

Missing information like missing spices

Does anyone notice?

The rulers are still eating

Someone said that my poetry was too complicated to understand, not straight forward, and sometimes too political and negative. Here is something very simplistic and positive with a happy ending: a nursery rhyme from years past; what could be more simplistic? No politics involved whatsoever, unless you accidentally substitute Harper for Mary, and Canadian voters for the lamb.......

Mary had a little lamb

Little lamb, little lamb

Mary had a little lamb

Whose fleece was perfect for her coat

Everywhere that Mary went

Mary went, Mary went

And everywhere that Mary went

The lamb was sure to go

Mary hatched an evil plot

An evil plot, evil plot

Mary hatched an evil plot

The stupid lamb was unaware

The lamb followed blindly with no thoughts

With no thoughts, with no thoughts

The lamb followed blindly with no thoughts

Blissfully walking without care

To the slaughter Mary led the little lamb

The little lamb, the little lamb

To the slaughter Mary led the little lamb

To be fleeced was its share

The little lamb screamed in pain

Screamed in pain, screamed in pain

The little lamb screamed in pain

But Mary had a feast

Mary got salmonella poisoning

Salmonella poisoning, salmonella poisoning

Mary got salmonella poisoning

The lamb smiled from Heaven with a grin from west to east

And they never crossed paths again

The end

I tried making pie crust today for a chicken pie........

Recipe for pie crust

Start with two cups of flour.

Add one half teaspoon of salt.

Add one half teaspoon of sugar.

Blend until you think it is really blended, because all ingredients are white, so how do you know? Your guess is as good as mine.

Add butter or Crisco. They are both solidified fat so who cares?

Cut it in slowly using that instrument that resembles Freddy Kruger’s manicure until you have something that looks like white rabbit droppings.

Add cold water one half of a tablespoon at a time. You will have to grow a third hand.

Eventually you will have a lump of pale dough that should stick together in a mass, sort of like an overweight albino’s back muscles after a stressful meeting with the boss.

Massage the lump, working out all of the kinks; it needs to be totally relaxed.

Make a ball and cut it in two. Think of it as cutting the Pillsbury Doughboy in half. If I never hear that stupid laugh again....

Sprinkle flour on the counter and the rolling pin to avoid attachments; emotions are never good while baking.

Put the ball on the counter and make a disk with your hands.

Show the disk the rolling pin and make threatening gestures to make sure it understands.

Introduce the rolling pin by gently flattening the disk into a shape more convenient for a pie. Ignore all protests.

With the rolling pin berate the dough into a flat shape big enough to fit in a 9 inch pie pan. Many firm discussions may be needed.

Gently lift dough over pie plate, curse and swear freely as it breaks in two.

Gather the dough back to make a new ball, take the freshly formed ball and quickly throw it at the nearest wall.

Pick up the mess, while picturing Julia Child choking on boned duck, and throw it in the garbage.

Proceed to the nearest grocery store and buy thoughtfully pre-formed pie crusts for your convenience.

Consult a psychologist about anger management

And most importantly, if the urge should come upon you to try again, suck some flour through a straw until the urge passes.

Ever since I was 13 I wished I could sing and belong

I can’t sing

I heard your music the other day

Your melodies lift me

I listen to what you have to say

It makes me melancholy

Because I want to join you

But I can’t sing

Your words wrap around your guitar

Creating eddies in my life

The gentleness of your thoughts move me

The vibrations make me want to write

The emotions make want to sing out loud

But I can’t sing

Each note chosen carefully

Every word crafted in love

I listen and long to sing with you

I listen and want to accompany you

But I can’t sing

With your music you create other worlds

With you music you validate me

I sing to you in my dreams

But I wake in emptiness

Desperate tears run down my face

I can’t sing

For everyone that has taken the time to help those less fortunate, thank you. This poem is about those who never think of others.

A divided world

A world divided weeps

A world united a broken dream

Right wing against left

Gentleness against hate

Fairness takes a dive

The cold lake is deep

Come and find truth

Honesty wears a torn cape

Ideals worn out

Good people bow in pain

Worldwide the cry is heard

Local politicians deaf to pleading

When your children die

The world stops spinning

When their children die

A commercial break on TV

Imagine the pain and suffering

Imagine you cared

Imagine you belonged to the human race

Imagine no one weeps for you

For those of you afraid to speak

Speak

If you don’t talk

No one will listen

If you don’t scream

No one will care

If you want validation

If you want compassion

If you want open ears

Speak loud and clear

Don’t shut down

Don’t be crushed

Ignore opposition

Ignore definitions

Speak truth

Speak without fear

But speak

You have a voice

Use it

Getting older is not a bitch, getting older is the accumulation of dirt on the sandals of a young surfer.

Getting older

Who is this man in the mirror?

No recognition

Fine lines tell stories

Stories wanting to be ignored

Sagging cheeks speak true

Loose skin wins by a neck

Young imagination lies

False perceptions

Silvered reflections can’t be true

No recognition of past years

Years accumulate in small cracks

Skin stretches in the strangest places

Ass heading south

Never comes back from vacation

Laws of gravity never broken

Extra skin not useful

Except to catch the wind

Ring around the waist

Pocket full of haste

Regrets, no regrets

We all fall down

The Québecois have a great expression which says "Don't trip over the flowers in the carpet"

The circus

Decisions made by mad clowns

Harlequins’ rules indecisive

The circus union dances around rings of ridiculous

Followers led to the main tent

Sheep led across Irrational’s border

Find roots in the country of Ludicrous

The ring master quits in disgust

His top hat falls to the dust

His exit precipitous

Rules and regulations meant to end in results

The end results absurd

The silent mimes laugh out loud

Silent laughter mimicked

Sound never heard becomes common

The audience greatly amused in confusion

The audience thrives in ignorance

 New ideas preposterous

Living in trailers built of hope and wonder

Tattered pavilions house old conventions

Striped houses contain old teachers

Nothing new to teach

Ancient conventions still rule

Change a new act

New dances not welcome

Old dancers will not admit need for cane

The clowns will always be the last to die

A clown’s death celebrated

Newborn wails in frustration

Anticipation reborn

Once again, I don't know where the words come from.........

Save me

I don’t want to go to bed

I don’t want to sleep

One drink too many

One drink more

Memories of you drown me

I wish I could breath without air

I wish I could breath without you

I am drowning

Who do you think you are to leave me

Who do think you are to save me

I am breathing promised emotions

I am left beached looking for help

You don’t love me

You don’t care

Looking for truth

Only  finding lies

Your lies save me

Again

I have the greatest parents

Great parents

Four kids no resources

Nowhere to turn for help

Mistakes made with no intentions

Always saying no, maybe

Parental fear comes forth

Never discussed, always talked about

Father knows best

Motherly interventions

Save a child from paternal inquisition

Motherly responses request strength

Such a young family

No instruction booklet

Problem child needing guidance

Guidance freely given

Family vacations to the cottage

The long drive in crowded van

Sibling conversations rambunctious

Parental control limited

Children well behaved nonetheless

Perfect summers by the lake

Perfect summers with parental supervision

Lessons learned through laughter and pain

Four adults well adjusted

Each one independent

Each one lives a sane life

Thanks to parental intervention

Thanks to parental experimentation

Good memories are strong

Memories clear as lake water

The smiling clams approve

Thirty years later

Thank you

I remember living on fourth street; sweet memories.

Fourth Street

Fourth Street full of memories

A little house full of love

With Jane Oliver chasing rainbows

Inviting people to come in from the rain

The upstairs room a closed reception

Dining table a centre of conversation

Each place set with precision

Every glass in its place

A beautiful table receives

Laughter makes the wineglasses ring

Friendship makes the evening sing

A whistle with perfect imitation

Prepares the evening meal

Four courses of smiles

Barbara Streisand sings sweetly

Memories do not tarnish

Memories do not fade

Fourth street remembrance stays solid

One more ride on the merry-go-round

I remember and die

Just a little

How many times have you heard a song that just brought you back?

What if?

The piano hits a solitary note

The chord vibrates in my heart

The singular sound wakes emotions

Remembered times reverberate through me

The past meets present day

So many memories to the front

Riding the bus lost in words

Thinking of nothing

Music escapes a rider’s headphones

The piano note rings loud

The piano note rings clear

Holds my day prisoner

Trapped in what could have been

The music takes me where I should have been

Regrets bring me dissatisfaction

A moonlight sonata keeps me company

Even as I sleep with you

The moonlight is dim compared to my recollections

Recollections a reflection in delusion

What could have been?

Circumstances make me happy

Circumstances lead me

Why ask “what if?”

Today brings satisfaction

Yesterday a perfect illusion

Redundancy paints a portrait in black and white

I live in colour

The protests in the arab world are inspiring.

Bad government

The scream inside builds

Blown up with indifference

The pressure needs relieving

Looking for an outlet

Looking for salvation

Years of oppression crack the foundation

Rules for freedom abridged

Free thoughts in shackles

Murder in the marketplace

Martyrs find heaven

Government sanctioned assembly

Bystanders not welcome

Censored change hits the wires

Ruling authority asserts privilege

Protesters cry in a rain of blood

Red tears fuel the rage

Courageous umbrellas unfurl

Fear imposed bans ignored

Memories of repression wake slowly

Indifference dies a quick death

Old pain gains new life

Freedom lives on the street

Societal chains broken

No more denial

No more lies

No more

This is for all of you who have had to deal with Vogons in one form or another.

Red tape

Don’t know what I’m doing anymore

Used to know my place

Used to know where I was going

The rules changed bureaucratically

Decisions made capriciously

The county fair comes to town

New entertainers run the show

The sideshow becomes the main event

Performing miracles with red tape

Shooting with bound hands

The carnie laughs at my efforts

Logistics imitate logic

Throw the dart and decide

Impossible to see the prize

The fixed target ever moving

Ring master with no direction

A three ring kaleidoscope

Falling from the trapeze

Promised net imagination thin

Promises fail to break my fall

I fall broken

I am finding it very difficult at work these days.

An open door

Working in a house built by others

The foundation precarious

The walls made of bad decisions

Floors made of quicksand

Windows casings out of plumb

Central winds threaten destruction

Eaves blocked with remnants of last year’s results

The shutters hang in disgrace

Missing steps on the front stairs

Be wary of the climb

The supporting pillars do not communicate

The wiring is frazzled

No suggestions from on high

The year is architecturally deficient

Total collapse is imminent

Stuck inside

Looking for an open door

The tree of life, we are all connected.

Humanity rooted

Entwined deep in dirt and soil

Winding around rocks and stone

Unfurling with twisting spiral

Uncurling searching for life in the dark

Fingers down to the bones of the earth

Sending tendrils to feed on the past

 Bringing nourishment to the future

Nourishment that climbs the winding way

Rising in concentric circles that betray age

Surrounded by rough protection

Liquid memories move slowly ever upward

The path tied in knots

New pathways created by persistence

Sturdy trunk grown massive with the ages

Centuries of strife causing malformations

Centuries branching out in limb

Each limb a step on a living ladder

A rung broken gives birth to two

Stretching in search of sky

Two become a hundred with expectations

Wishes unfurl to capture sunlight

Bright green in their innocence

Unknowingly they wave goodbye

Memories blossom and flower

Pregnant with the past

The wind carries their hopes on swirling breeze

Thoughts that drift a distance unknown

Alight and grow new root in fresh soil

Spiralling down to a distant past

Looking to the future

I read in the news today "Virginia refuses to consider anti-gay discrimination proposal" and "Indiana's House passes gay marriage ban" This is for my American brothers and sisters; keep up the fight.

Let there be darkness

I Read the news today

The ruling masters have rightly spoken

The right to deny human emotions

Legislation written in the dark

Laws to suppress

Laws to divide

Second class citizens have no say

Legal discrimination in illuminated script

Medieval thinking lights not the night

Some passages chosen others ignored

Selective ignorance on a soap box

Intentional sophistry meant to confuse the masses

Sunday mass feeds the confused with bread and wine

Modern media with republican pimp

Worship on hands and knees

Well used orifice given easy access

Well greased channels hide behind artifice

Your laws will not change me

Your laws will not deny me

Your walls will crumble

My friend Alycat likes my doodles...here you are Alycat, something I did while watching the news.

This is something I wrote for my partner...

Sometimes I forget

The smile’s first appearance

A mouth full of stolen gum

A warm restaurant gives respite

A warmer story gives hope

Spanish words strung together for the first time

Laughter over their meaning

The boring bus ride to work,

The running smile makes it easy

Time not to be wasted

A clock to be constructed, a puzzle to be solved

A multitude of friends come to roost

The dove wishes to escape

Change of venue is welcomed

Three rooms are better than one

Cafe, yellow, and green

The changes are needed

The search for permanent happiness

A citizen of belonging found

The stress of contractual living takes its toll

Relief grounded in government

Busy lives with forgotten laughter

Laughter taught to me

Sometimes I forget