Check Out Time

 

I have been duly advised
by the concerned management
of this prestigious establishment
to keep my demons on a leash

Failure to obediently acquiesce 
will result in the harshest punishment
that a pauper of my limited means
can ill afford to compense
the grasping global conglomerate
who owns all us pawns

Shrunken Trolls

 

Our trollish leadership's rep
as masters of slash and burn
is well earned

as evidenced
by the many owned scalps they display

on their bloody wall

of vanquished opponents

Of course today
they are victims of diminishing returns
as their intended targets
have evolved thick skins
and no longer give a shit
about their now desperate
short of the mark shots

 

Static Soup

 

Here I go
ranting away incessantly
to friends and foes
from my crumbling soapbox
in a designated section

of an empty public park

since fresh air nourishment

is so out of vogue...

Pissing into the wind again...

Bitter splash back
drenches my frustrated face...

Nobody cares
about my insightful views...

This only reinforces
my chronic negativity

about the decline of humanity...

Fast approaching is the day
when I will forever go away...

The last of the speech making breed...

Orators gone the way of dinosaurs...

Replaced by faceless

text purveyors who value

view volume over substance

Will the indifferent world miss me

and we who celebrated the spoken word?

Probably not

Swipe left 

Adult Requirements

 

Distressed pots and pans
lie dormant in the sink

Starting to pile up

A mountain of dirty dishware

of our own creation

They all gotta be

hand cleaned

and dried meticulously

Those are the rules

Not a joyous task

For the dishwasher is down

and there is no excess capital

laying around

to fix this convenience properly

So it falls on me
as it often does
to do the mundane drudgery
we were all signed up for
when we became

responsible adults

Excuse me

I gotta go make my frickin bed

Slot Racers

 

My anti society
collision course
I charted to address
my many anxieties
is rapidly
approaching the end of the line

The impending
gravity induced crash
should be quite the event
given the acceleration
of my descent

The "I told you so"
chorus of the status quo
will be very pleased
scraping up my bloody carcass
to mount on their Warning Wall

I sure would hate
to give these smug bastards
the confirmation validation 
they so desperately need

Deceased me
playing the lead
in their future forewarning
history stories
to yet unborn rebellious 
non conformist generations
about the folly
of living life brazenly
outside the rigid boundaries
constructed with bricks of bullshit

I guess it's time to confess
my internal trepidation
that's been slow cooking
in my rebel brain
regarding this soon to be
fatal situation

Now comes
the inevitable post mortems 

All those pointless
could and should ofs
as if somehow
we are the captains
of our destinies

For you see my soon to be
grieving comrades
the die was cast
for ill fated us
the day we were born

Hard wired
into quite finite time lines

Playing the roles
fate precisely defines
scribed in the unwavering stars

Medium Tyranny

 

Life on the median:

Best to push a murky concept
that few will find offensive
than to piss off a sizable segment
of your devoted

hypersensitive audience

This sure ain't the time or place
to take a self righteous stand

that rocks our paper mache boat

Not in this contentious
us versus them 
closed minded environment

of the heavily regulated

black and white spectrum

Ode to Low Expectations

 

Woke up disoriented

in the midst of a raging storm

The insanity of today

on an endless loop display

trapped within my weary head

My recurring nightmares

pounding at the bolted door

seeking entrance 

to today's fragile reality

Or could it all simply

be a half remembered dream

that was corrupted

by rogue misinterpretation?

Maybe things ain't as bad

as they currently seem to be

Perhaps I actually seek refuge

in all the negativity

swirling in the toxic breeze?

Expect the worst

and minimize the hurt

Find twisted solace

when disasters don't exceed

hyper gloomy expectations

Take up residence

beneath the low bar

of worse case scenarios

Embrace and celebrate

the small victories

in our glass is half full

kingdom of positive perceptions

Simulated Stimulation

 

My new love

A text based arrangement

Very impractical

Quite impossible

Half way 

across the planet

Guess it could

carry potential

to be a big deal

in a happily ever after

fairy tale kind of way

That's if

it's even doable

to actually 

love someone 

without

ever

touching

seeing

feeling

or

tasting

them

Maybe

when all is said and done

what we have here

is just

a silly little cyber crush

after all

And yet..

If a distance conquering

non bankroll busting

mode of transportation

could be obtained

perhaps we could one day

meet in the sensuous flesh

face to face?

Though based on past experience

most likely we would find

that the flame

of unfulfilled fantasy

burns far hotter

that the flicker

of tepid reality

Would this be the case?

Probably

(sigh)

And yet...

Maybe we connected blips

could try?

Peace In Our Rhyme

 

Another day
another battle
in our tedious
unrelenting 
conflict

Is this the way
it has to be?

Is continuous warfare
the only option
for our destiny?

Why not just settle up?

Stop tearing each other down

Agree mutually
not to fight anymore

We don't need to be pals

Let's choose to coexist
like the mountains
and sea

The natural order
of respectful
peaceful
serene
civility

Messenger Menace

 

The obedient sheep wait in line
for their daily dose of repression 

  
All part of their mind numbing routine

They drink what is served without question

A perfectly orderly society
just begging to be disrupted 

And this is exactly what happened
early one gray Winter’s morn

The Resistance snuck into the compound

Climbing to the top of  Kool Aid tower

Then the agitators did the unthinkable

Peeing down on the mix from a great height

When the group drink was served up that day
a solitary elderly man went to the authorities
and politely made note of the bitter taste

Substance Security was quickly dispatched      
  
The old man was quickly 
thrown into the Dissent Van

Never to be seen or heard from again

The extraction did serve
a much needed deterrent purpose
as any revolution requires
the critical mass fear cooperation
of the easily spooked herd

Ripe To Be Me

 

We yapping bastards of history
doing contention that comes naturally
as the conflict wheel turns...

Right back to where we've been before
as we seek to settle old scores
with those we feel done us wrong...

The Going Nowhere Payback tour
on the ancient treadmill of revenge
has now become
such a cliche saturated bore...

Today I'm gonna shatter this hate cycle...

Leaving all future pointless wars to you...

Gently tip toe forwardly grudge free... 

Have I finally achieved elusive species maturity?

Collision Assurance

 

The raging river 
surges into the sea

Briny and fresh waters clash

A churning calamity 

Night and day

The conflict for supremacy

Desperate forces
struggling for victory

This timeless contention

As constant as the tides

will settle down eventually

The war will subside

If only for a little while

Forces will exist in harmony

A gentle swirl of coexistence

This season of tranquility

A temporary peace

Until the inevitable Spring thaw
shatters the truce
and releases the rapids again

The civil war will be renewed
as the tempest for dominance resumes

Science Friction

 

Naughty naughty boy
plucking the wings off flies

Says he tortures for science

A noble experiment

to expand the bounds

of human knowledge

Quantifying extreme reactions
into his pain database
for future analysis
of the now flightless specimens
who hop around perplexed
with angry demands
to immediately see

the sadist in charge
of their pointless agony

that has forever grounded

bitter them

Hamster Lament

 

Tripping endlessly
on this scrolling horizon
toward the great beyond
treadmill style

Existing in a perpetual
transition scene
with no arrival time

Just pointless departures

Saying goodbye
to transactional friends
we are destined
to see over and over again

Deja vu on steroids

Damn I'm tired

of this nowhere trip

Gropey Boys

 

These be dangerous times

for touchy feely guys

Those hands on types

with their roving arms

and groping hands

of questionable affection

Where once they were just

roll your eyes inappropriate

today they are charged

as criminal pervs

Not easy being creepy anymore

though being a misogynist dick

is no longer disqualifying in politics

Out of my Depth

 

Don't mess with my depth perception!

It's hard enough for me to see
your time/space relationship
to the layered multiverse 
if you take away all sense
of scale proportion 

Are you coming
or going?

There's just no way of knowing

Truth is so multi dimensional
and I'm too damn superficial
to visualize properly
this distorted matrix reality
currently unnerving me

New Rules of True

 

In this heavily opinionated
click saturated world
where projecting 
resolute
absolute
black and white certainty
is the only way to be heard
truth is whatever
we say it to be

Our views backed
by pliable facts
drawn from the trough
of the world wide web

Of course 
results may vary
day to day
but it's rare
that we can truly convey
the power nuance required
to alter granular perceptions
of the thought entrenched populace

We gotta CAPS project
with higher volume
and emotional clarity
to sell the product properly

Presentation with conviction
will always be the ticket
to sell your version
of preferred reality
with harvested opinions

Laments of a Salesman

 

Peddling my shoddy wares
to a world that ain't buying
sure takes it's toll
on this cynical soul
as the stained walls
of my motel room
slowly engulf road weary me

This bottle of cheap whiskey
will have to suffice
to drown this vagabond's life
in a 90 proof sea
of mournful melancholy

lamenting every wrong turn

I've made along the way

A Fool and His Life...

 

Once the course correction
was locked in
our trust in the Captain
was fully engaged
to carefully navigate
our vulnerable craft
through the perilous straits 
around the wreckage
of wayward ships past
who carelessly ignored

signs that clearly warned
that jagged rocks unseen
lay just beneath
the seemingly tranquil surface

While it was common knowledge

that our beloved Skipper

enjoyed a wee nip occasionally

for medicinal purposes

to calm his nerves

and level off his stress

there was zero trepidation

from we gullible passengers

that our demise was imminent

Of course the crew knew

as in retrospect

should have been obvious

when they lowered the life crafts

and executed a flawless

quick ship abandonment

At the welcoming party

our fellow ghostly inhabitants

of Davy Jones's Locker

teased we rookie spirits mercilessly

for not only for our naivety 

but lacking the common sense

of many a befallen tragedy fool

Ghosts can be so damn cruel

Bigger Better Pawns

 

You whining peasants
best lose
that life liberty and happiness
load of socialist crap

Your inevitable mortality
ain't all it's cracked up to be

Stop being so damn selfish

and sign up

for our Darwinian concept

You have been designated

for the Accelerated Death program
cause our Bigger Beautiful Bill
has a price tag attached

so as an economic savings offset
your measly beggar's existence
has been deemed too expensive
for us Lords of the Manor

to carry anymore

Cease and desist asking

what your country can do for you

and take one for the team

as it is your patriotic duty

to lay down your pathetic lives

for the greater glory

of our American Dream

Ride the Light

 

In the end
all that it took
was a solitary
persistent sunbeam
that somehow
found it's way
through hatred's

thick curtain defenses

This blast of liberating light
shattered the entrenched darkness
that once seemed impenetrable

Now we

of the cowering oppressed

freedom loving majority

can finally see
the big bad beast
we have been endlessly fighting
with zero success
was nothing but a smokescreen

for a feckless grifter wizard

who exploited the fears and ignorance

of his flying monkey cult

to terrorize the now mobilized populace

Today we can finally commence

the long and arduous task

of repairing the damage

and making

the Yellow Brick Road Great Again

Clean Up on Aisle Us

 

The steady drip drip

of mutual antagonism

over the years

caused this relationship

to dissolve

into a puddle of tears

No one is to blame

is the polite 

political thing to say

but this is just a cop out

is it not?

We own this mess

and are gonna need

a big ass mop

to clean it up

Mea culpas all around

Requiem For Homo Sapiens

 

After ions
of swinging
from trees
we have evolved
into something
quite different
from our original
species point of origin

Dissolved actually

Devolved all the way back
to a monkey state
of mind
only this time
rolling highly weaponized
with unchecked tech powers
far beyond 
our primitive ape comprehension

Thus will soon enough end

the dominance of man

The first extinction

self created

Dancing the Darkness Fantastic

 

Take your emotional detachment
and clip it to my apathy...

Let's join indifferent forces
and dance the dance 
of the don't give a damn...

Screw this unforgiving light
blinding we creatures

of perpetual night..

Mambo in protective shadows
that ask for neither commitment
nor useless judgements
from us oblivious inhabitants..

Just us you and I
cheek to cheek
basking in this glorious eclipse
of blissful ignorance

The Best Ex

 

Now that we be

broken up officially

for all eternity

Let's try and be civilized adults

Today I'm just

your EX nightmare

The past is now

the only thing left

for us to share

I'm finally over you

I hope the feeling is mutual

Our scars will heal as they always do

using time as a soothing balm

When it does

and only the good memories remain

Can we at least try

to resume relationship status

as "just friends" again?

It is What It is

 

We wander
these gray corridors
that all look the same

Like rats in a maze
bouncing off
blind corners
desperately seeking
a way out
of our mundane story line

Perhaps tis time
to close off permanently
the escape valve option
and find serenity
in acceptance
of this fruitless labyrinth existence

Crumby Life

 

A stray wee sesame seed
wedged in my defenseless
keyboard existence
blocking communications
simply by it's insidious residence
in an unsecured crack

How could something

so diminutive

have such dire consequence

on my typing process?

Now please don't lecture me
about how this tragic breach
was commons sense preventable
for I now lack the resource
to adequately respond bac     kk

Dummy Nation

 

The radical tweaker
of our thought imprecision
will be beheaded today

promptly at seven

His bloody death
will not be subject
to the loose interpretations
he used to throw in our faces

with the smug impunity

of the woke educated class

who mocked our collective ignorance

Too bad for these diminished eggheads

we now hold the power of the majority

We the rigid thought absolutists
who rule with
black and white certainty
will not tolerate human subjectivity

The word "dissent"

ain't in our limited dictionary

nor will the future existence

or our obscenely literate enemies

Circle Jerk

 

The old man we used to torment

back in the day

keeps dying in my memories

We pack of snotty brats

probably hastened his demise

with our relentless attacks

How I wish I could go back

to offer my apologies

for every single cruelty

Today I am

the befuddled old man

A lame shell of former glory

Victimized by time

as yapping young hyenas 

now take turns

devouring diminished me

with flesh ripping karma efficiency

Howard's End

 

Man of means

Hard working

fast talking symbol 

of the American dream

Makes mega money

which sure attracts the honeys

Life on the road

You know how it goes

The wife knows

She looks the other way

Vows someday he will pay

but not today

She'll outspend

the pain

of his betrayal

Fast forward

to the lonely

old man today

First his wife

Then his 

steady mistress

All passed away

Depressed senior 

alone in the mansion

with his many possessions

mocking his loneliness

A friend takes the old boy

to a gentleman's club

to drool over the

main gyrating attraction 

In true romantic

love story fashion

our aroused relic finds

his final passion

Showers her 

with materialism

Overwhelming desires

Shop and awe

Affections purchased

for this transactional relationship

where both parties

get what they want and need

The Hell with the sniping judgements

riding smartass May/December wisecracks

from those who won't mind their own business

Wedding bells ring out in defiance

For the old man

and his trophy

named Anna

The rest of the story

is tabloid Nirvana