The Homonymic Man

 

Communication challenged me

Forever screwing up phonetically

Jumbling

Our and are

Where and wear

There and their

Scrambled nightmares

Messing with my message

as I crash threw

the spell check safety net

into the crowded abyss

of social media irrelevance 

Masterpiece Street

 

After the unexpected evening shower
the boulevard glistens like diamonds 
       
Giving back the street lights glow
like a placid asphalt lake

You can find art in the most mundane places

given the right visual conditions

The serene scene will soon evaporate
and all will be hard and barren again

Proof positive nothing lasts forever
though this need not apply to memories

Death to US

 

Us Against Them Man

Staunch defender
of the 2nd Amendment

Hero of the Back to the Past movement

Takes an ironic bullet to the head

All hope for coexistence
now exhausted and dead
as the death to all opposition mob
goes ballistic
demanding revenge

The spark is ignited
as the payback pretext is set

Blame is quickly fixed
with zero Due Process

That antiquated roadblock don't play
in the current scorched Earth environment

The Thems gonna pay

We're way past mere censorship

The storm troopers roll in

Retribution is swift and merciless

The opposition is erased
like an ugly blemish
on the Body Politic 

My country tis of thee

Sour swirl of violent anarchy

Soon they wielding the PC Hammer
will be coming for me
for a post I scribed
way back in 2003
back during the antiquated
First Amendment days 

More Confiteor

 

I came here

to this stained glass palace

seeking repentance
for my litany of vices

Sins of the flesh

and shameless excess
has always been my weakness

So off to confession I went
like the good Catholic boy I am

for the clean soul protocol

My blind priest prescribed
the same old 

blanket penitence
to absolve we usual suspects

Two Hail Fathers
and Three Our Marys later
I was good to go
to sin some more

I will drop some coin

in the collection plate tomorrow

to monetize my contrived sorrow

The Freelancer

 

All hail the freelance dancer
putting down
moves on the floor
never seen before

This improvising performer
with the creative feet
has been known to fall
on his face occasionally 
but that's OK

No harm done
cause the thrill
and possibility
of humiliating disaster
tis all part
of the freelance charm
to we wallflowers in awe 
of such unrestrained bravery

Connected Impediments

 

My grandfather's walking stick
from the Old Country
made of the finest mahogany
has been passed down
through the generations

I hear the sounds of yesterday
when he tip taps down the long hall

huffing and puffing all the way

A comforting reminder of my past
and the hobbled legacy that awaits me

Dredge Toast

 

After I got busted
for my latest indiscretion
the self mea culpa's gushed
in a flood of confessions
emptying a river of tears
into the muddied delta
of guilt long suppressed

The clean up reclamation project
of my tarnished reputation
will be quite extensive
and costly post crash

dredge event

Down the Shaft

 

The theory of verticality
in permanent alignment
with the force of gravity
made our fall from the summit
a crashing inevitability
and since the rocks below
provide no cushion
our destruction was a given
from the moment we ascended
this slippery peak
of a purely physical relationship

Me Equals Displaced Square

 

My eyes glazed over
as my sexy mathematician
bitch of an ex
girlsplained the complex formula
that proved our relationship
no longer added up

to meet her minimum

requirements of emotional satisfaction

Seems the delta
between her material expectations
and the sum of my net income

currently on the table
exceeded her personal affections
for soon to be deducted me

The proof of her relationship 

addition by subtraction equation

would later achieve verification

when she hooked up

with a wealthy professor emeritus from MIT

who while older than her times three

easily had the means

to buy the zero sum game

money grubbing hussy

a baby blue Ferrari

DAMN I DO SO HATE MATH!!!

Happiness is a Warm Rerun

 

When self soothing failed
and it became quite obvious
that I could not stop the pain
I turned to my trusted friends
who love and guide me
from their flat screen scripted reality

My handsome companions 
always know
what to say and do

They know what it will take
to make my sad ass happy

Now it seems I'm sick
from over consumption
of all the numerous
over the counter
joy inducing medicines
as pitched on TV
by my well meaning 
guardian angels

I am duly advised
by the distinguished looking
white smock clad actor guy
playing the part
of a calming presence
who is also very smart
that I must first
consult with my real physician
to get the miracle medication
as seen on TV

This will numb
not only my new 
consumer fueled addictions
but the teleprescription
comes with plenty
of whispered disclaimer
side effects attached
that can only be remedied
by the same Big Pharma chemists
who made me sick in the first place

Strung out me has gotta admit
this chemical death cycle is pretty grim
but with just another quick shot
of purchase power numbness
these twinges of depression
can be readily suppressed
with channel hopping quickness

Last Call For America

 

To all bunker inhabitants:

Underground residents
cowering in darkness
waiting for the endless storm to pass

To those who quake and shiver
in abject horror
when the monster appears

on your tear stained screens

To those who lament
about the incompetence
and reckless arrogance
of the current regime

Things while bleak,

ain't as hopeless as it seems

Open your eyes and see the light

Faint as it may be

The flicker is still out there

The die is not necessarily cast

This may be our last chance
to make things right 

Now is the time to rise up
and take back what once was
before our negligence
allowed the beast in

We got one last shot

in the chamber

of our wounded democracy

You know what to do

Rise up from despair

Let in the light

Cast out the nightmare

GET OUT AND VOTE DAMN IT

Supply the Demand

 

Our world filled with things
burns out of control

Flames shoot out everywhere

as the structure starts to buckle

A real pyrotechnic tragic show

To the rescue rides in the fireman
        
Sirens blare in all directions

for the frightened world to hear

Our hero rushes in to save the day
but truth ain't always as it appears

For it seems this disaster was set in motion
by the very same arsonist who put the fire out

Job security sometimes needs a nudge

Demand creation fuels success

From out of these smoke drenched illusions

contrived based reality is applied

for the desired special effect

Solo Skills

 

In the database
of pleasurable alibis
sin is regulated
and categorized
by time duration

of the engagement event 

Getting off alone

is defined as selfishness
though it can be quite organic

and even liberating

Empathy as an enigma
can be a forced choice
though it is a deductible expense
if you are into such empirical
numerical things

in a black and white sense

Why does my head always hurt?

Chains of Yesterday

 

More oft than not
in this imperfect existence
tis the sins of omission
that bite us in the ass

Trapped in the prison

of past repetitions

that strangle our best intentions

with mocking lamentations

of how things have always been

This chain of unfortunate events
that foresight and courage
could have prevented
has forced us yet again
into frantic scrambled reactions
that diminish
clueless cowards like us

in the end 

Executive Translations

 

Give us this day
are daily stream

of unconsciousness
string of perplexing non sequiturs

Do not try and make sense of it

It's way above your pay grade

Comprehension ain't your thing

We got trained translators for that

Our best creative sychophants
will tell you exactly

what our president meant

Just gotta scrub his gibberish 

This ain't rocket science

Thanks for your continued non attention

Taps

 

Tonight the wind is howling

from a northerly direction

Feels like a cold front moving in

whistling down from up there

where they get off on such things

DAMN THOSE CANADIANS

The windows are singing
tunes with no melody

Branches brushing lightly
kissing the glass
with a relentless efficiency 
that only Nature can play

Come morning I won't recall
this flash concert at all

Some things ain't meant to last

Time Tripping

 

We sail these endless seas

Riding this current forever

Seeking point of entry
into the Port of Never

Straining to see the shore
through the sunset in our eyes

The elusive harbor is found

This journey has reached its end

Drop anchor and say your good byes
to mates you may never see again

Now is the long awaited chance
to let our wounds heal and reflect
on the lessons learned from this trip

The next voyage will depart soon enough

Taking us to places we never expect

Every day a fresh adventure

Even here on dry land

Insert Peacemaker

 

I do not know
how this conflict began

When exactly
the first shot was fired
is a mystery to me

Not that it matters
in the grand scheme
nor is the blame game
even relevant anymore

So much blood has been shed

in this escalating tit for tat war

Our poorly conceived

now tattered defenses

have both been shredded

Resources from both sides

now lie exhausted

as the mutual siege drags on

Who plays the adult
and makes the first move
toward reconciliation
will be the true hero

of this tragic play

that seems

to have taken on

a life of its own

Blessed be the Peacemaker

Flexible Living

 

Cold wind blows

Slicing through time

Rupturing monuments
once thought immortal

Nature erodes

The years corrode

Dispassionately

Relentlessly
doing removal duties

Empires crumble

Collapsing into history
only to be recycled

Our palaces to the sky
built on ruins of
forgotten yesterdays

Oh how the cold wind blows

We feel tomorrow in our bones

Change always reigns
so embrace the hurricane

Don't fight this undefeated force

Bend with the breeze
and savor today's scenery

Fact Checked Out

 

The spotlight cuts through the dim

Into it the ancient salesman 
swaggers in

Armed with slick confidence
bordering on arrogance

Like a Shakespearean thespian
he takes control of the stage

This is his canvas
where the artist crafts
another persuasive masterpiece
of half truths wrapped in sincere promises

A virtuoso master class performance 
fine tuned over time
to lure in the pigeons
and relieve them of coin

But it's a different flock today

Fact checking his every pitch
real time on their hand held devices

Still our hero keeps dancing

Like a fly caught in a web of reality

The more he spins the deeper he sinks

It's just not easy selling
to skeptical consumers
who ain't buying

And when your financial existence
is based entirely on commission
this is a fatal condition 
for the well dressed dinosaur
who now sees his extinction

So it went
for the salesman once great

Death by internet
was his inevitable fate

The Eternal Beat

 

The body dies
when the heart gives way
but the music forever stays

A rocking live concert
stored safely away 
in my looping core memory

This free falling symphony
starring the late great Tom Petty
will always be my refuge get away
from this off key life

The Oxymorons

 

We both knew we were not built to last
and yet here we are

Struggling up this mountain steep

Forever trudging into a stiff breeze

A frickin bad relationship cliche are we

In desperate need

of perpetual Couple Therapy

Without a clinical doubt

after a thorough and complete
exhaustive examination
the shrink would most likely
conclude conclusively
that you and I
were never meant to be

A terrible fit of jagged
badly damaged
mismatched pieces

Each feeding off
our own self destructive tendencies

All true charges
though I would beg to disagree
with the narrow diagnosis

Our mutual dissolution
while probably advisable
and rationally inevitable
would definitely wreck us

Cause you see
in scientific terms
we are the perfect anomaly

The storm which brings serenity

A cacophony soothing symphony

A joyous impractical solution

Greater than the sum
of our disjointed parts

We are the joyous exception
to the rules of relationship perfection 

Short Changed

 

Believe it or not

I've got some mad skills

Suppressed by chronic stubbornness

Shackled by confidence inhibitions

A toxic finger pointing reliance

Pointless defiance begets internal chaos

All this lost potential unfulfilled

is the stuff of heart break

Spite for spite's sake

makes the whole world vomit

and is proven to be

quite counterproductive

I personally have lived this

For I am the poster child

of such pointless bitterness 

 

Head Over Heels

 

You and I
got this
Yin Yang thing

Up and down
on the perspective
see saw

My Hell

is your contradiction paradise

All these demons
I so despise
you invite over
for cookies and tea

You exasperate me

Guess I gotta bend and adapt
like I always seem to do

Because without
contentious you
my perceived Hell
would become
painfully real 
without my friction mate
forever straining
to set me straight

And you know I'm right (wink)

My abrasive Love ❤️ 

Writ of Reality

 

Wither the concept
of absentee Justice

She used to exist
on a marble pedestal
long before we got lost in the haze
when the fog of corruption rolled in
clouding our way

Money and Power

Those pernicious serpent twins
seduced the fair maiden
then tossed her away

Now we sit in the wreckage
of a once noble notion

The battles have all been fought

Once proud banners lie tattered and charred

All that remains are the incriminating scars
covering the hard verdict of history

No appeals will be forthcoming

No reprieves to be received

Harsh Karma is in charge today

The bill for our sins have come due
and she's in a collection mood
for a dead beat country

that now has to pay

The Great Within

 

Propriety demanded
I renounce my roguish friends
to achieve social acceptance
with my new crew
of well connected types

Their praise precipitates
angry charges of hypocrisy
from my freshly minted enemies

consumed with bitterness
who feel I sold them out
just to sit in the cool kids clique

I confess the sting of such criticism

resonates in my muted soul

but if only they could see

all the perks of being an insider

they definitely would have succumbed

to the lure they dangled before me

Fool's Gold

 

Another gala event

for all the Right People

of extreme means

They regale in their Golden Palace

recently renovated

now bathed in sparkling opulence

as the peasants shiver outside

Sure the upgrade was expensive

and the cost prohibitive

but our Jester Magician

through accounting quite creative

moved some safety net money around

to get it done nearly on budget

as the well dressed Aristocrats proclaim: 

"The Party is the King

The King is the Party"

Not mutually exclusive

Can't separate the two

But the Facade Kingdom

is destined to shrink
cause the product reeks
as once loyal peasant subjects

who comprised his power base
will soon renounce and abandon
the sinking Ship Of Fools

Even the Obscenely Wealthy

will flee into hiding

to protect

their precious investments

All that will remain
is a lonely decrepit King
sitting wearily 

on a tarnished throne

in an empty ball room

lamenting bitterly

about the treasonous audacity

of his growing legions of enemies

dismantling his delusional legacy

of an Oligarch Camelot

Take Out Virus

 

Post extinction event

the once fertile fields

are today blackened

Scorched into oblivion

in a futile attempt

to burn out the beast

The Earth now wrapped in darkness

as the final tenacious pestilence

ravaged the landscape of Humanity

in a replay event

we were once again

shamefully unprepared for

The Death Virus mutated and adjusted

much better than now defunct us

Truth Benders

 

I tossed a truth grenade
over the Wall of Ignorance
into the Garden of Propaganda
long nurtured by slick
orator ministers

making shit up as they go

Naive me actually

thought I could change history

by invoking the ghosts

of muckrakers past

The influencer class
easily absorbed my blast
and spun it into today's ration
of mass regurgitated disinformation

Thereby living and thriving

to lie another day

for dark money compensation

from the never seen enemy

seeking to hunt me down

for my crime of reality heresy

Laminated Love

 

Never very wise
to smoke inside
a gunpowder factory

Nor is it a good move
to drink wine
during surgery

And it's never
smart at all
to take love for granted

For love
must be nurtured
and vigorously protected
from the forces of erosion
that if unchecked 
will corrode the heart
over time

Whatever it takes
to keep these feelings solvent

Cause Love,
that fragile necessity,
remains our bedrock foundation