Full Size

Full Size


A tangerine
ain't an orange
no matter
how you slice it


Clementines
may be be sweet
but 
it's still not an orange

Size does matter

if you want more
of what you crave

Good things
may come
in small packages

but

you don't get as much
of that good thing
as you desire

Maybe we need
to
downsize
our
expectations

Maybe we need
to be grateful
for the little things 

They all add up
and accumulate

The Detour Tour

The Detour Tour 


To get where
we need to be

we so often
have to travel
through calamity

Frustrating
as the detours
may be

They are a 
practical necessity 

These curves
of unforeseen reality

Forever testing
our resolve

Bolstered by
the belief
our patience
will be rewarded
someday

Well Connected

Well Connected


In the swirl
of this existence

we live and die
in our narrow slots

By day

you and I

dance in parallel worlds

We wave at each other
as we fly on by

Quick visual checks

Touching base
superficially

but 

come late night

in the still of
our solitude

we interact

our words in sync

a joyous interlude

when our worlds
briefly intersect

and we can link 
hearts

and be

cyber together again

Magic Waltz

Magic Waltz


In the moon drenched mist

between Earth and stars

We dance

the late night dance

to the rhapsody
only we can hear

Just the two of us

gliding in sensuous
innocent embrace

This is our moment

even though
we know


that in
the end

this is our
fantasy entirety

For tonight
the magic
is our thing

and the memories

will sustain us

for all eternity

Nest Remnants

Nest Remnants


Come to me
my sweet baby

Let me sooth 
your pain

Dry your tears

Ease your fears

You belong
in Daddy's arms 

Sleep under
my umbrella

Dream the dreams
of innocence

Soon enough

the day will come

when 

you will want
nothing to do 
with me

Dance away 
my love

Stand on your
own two feet

Leaving me 
thumbing through
the scrap book
pages of memory

Alone in your
empty room

As it should be

The Burning Twig

The Burning Twig


Wandering through
the urban wilderness

Indulgent pilgrims
from Sodom Nation
roll 
down the boulevard

Seeking another shot
of instant gratification

Amidst the glitz 
and revelry

I heard a booming
voice above me

from a source
that is a mystery


Was it God

or
just another
chemical hallucination?

The voice
that just can not be

by all scientific reasoning

Declared his love for me
and all his
wayward children 

And just like that
the force was gone

or was it?

I've got no proof
of my close encounter

and I told no one

lest I be stoned
by the doubting
humanist crowd 

but now I do know

Faith is an uplink 
required
by man


Even if we don't
fully understand

the eternal mystery
we are players in

The Unchosen Ones

The Unchosen Ones



In our play ground

where we run
around 

like wild 
little monkeys

a whooping and
a hollering

Order now required

organize the games

Captains anointed

To choose up sides 

The last one picked
always smiles

but

cries inside

Something they
carry within
throughout their lives


Don't tell them
tis just a game

These self esteem
crushing scenes
  

Tale of Two

Tale of Two 


In the city 
that never sleeps

tourists soak up
the scenery

Bright lights dance
in their dazzled eyes
as they clamor
to see the sights

Offstage

away
from the bustle

huddled in
the shadows

far from the view
of the paying crowd

refugees from our
jobless recovery


fight over the scraps

soon to be cut again
by their deaf government

Cost reduction clamor
from the entrenched
numbers mob

What better place
to slice than the
desperately silent
soon to be majority?

who struggle daily
and face a future
of obsolete uncertainty

smothered by depression

battling to
survive
the biting
winds
of poverty
that blow
defeat through
these dark
city streets

Ashes of History

Across golden fields
two forces assemble

The banners are raised
bugles blare the charge

Strangers in different
uniforms collide

Thousands of 
one on one
hand to hand
combat death dances

Beneath sulphur clouds

our blood
will be spilled

Generals peer
through 
looking glasses

safely removed 
from the carnage
they have set forth 

One side wins

but there are
no winners

Broken soldiers
carried back behind
the lines 

Their lives forever
shattered

The dead are
carted away

Names to be
scrawled on
future monuments

Just another
skirmish
in this endless
civil war

On to the
next battle

for the
cause we were sold

Dumb pawns we

Across the pages
of history

we fight and
die for a 
country
 
where love
once mattered

and will
again

Until next time

Getting Reflected

Getting Reflected


Mirror mirror
in my face

reflecting
all over the place

These reflections

Visual introspection

I now see 
myself
and my worldly
perceptions

What do I see?

I see a scared
child
pretending
to be a
man

Bluffing and
blustering
my way through
the playground

Desperately
seeking
validation 
from myself
and my society

The crew 
I play to
that views me
as a happy go lucky
clown

Harmless
burn out
fall out
free spirit
refugee from
the 60's

Which I guess
is my projection

so who am I
to blame them
for their
misperceptions?

Mirror mirror
now at my feet

I must stomp
you now
in order to
maintain
my self deceit

Mango Soup

Mango Soup


You and I

not as tough
as we think we are

nor as vulnerable
as we believe to be

You and me

always 
tend to skew
to the extremes

We can not see
our truth through
the trees

Cause we reside
inside
this thicket
of our own creation

Inside our heads

where
the real battle
rages daily

Defense Mechanic

Defense Mechanic


At my core

I be a cynic

Seeing
all the flaws
in myself
and the 
outside world
that constantly 
forever
disappoints me

Expect the worst

Hope for the best

My cynical
low ball
safety defense
against failure

Tis the curse
of my jaded past

The skid marks
of my upbringing

Though hope
does sometimes

somehow
find a way
to seep
through my
wise ass shell walls

Truth
of the matter
be told
without pain
occasionally
there is 
no real life

In A Nut Shell

In A Nut Shell



Here we be
yet again..

Rote routine..

Forced reality..

Automatic pilot
clicking on..

Our favorite
defense mechanisms
we wrap ourselves in
to make it through
with minimum pain..

Hedge against 
the risk
of all rotating
variables hitherto unknown..

Here we be
yet again..

Saying the same
old things
to the same
old faces..

We communicate..

We regurgitate
clever cliches..

All the while fearing
the day that may come
when our cover gets blown
and our buried core
gets forever exposed 

Shield of Dreams

Shield of Dreams

I sure do wish a lot

I dream even more

Which means
I gotta deal
with the
table scraps
reality slops out
constantly

We all have to
wake up eventually 

Step into
the dark abyss
of disappointment

but

this pain
will never
shut me down
or 
prevent me 
from always
hoping
better things
are in store

Once you surrender
your dreams 

your life becomes

one

continuing

never ending

nightmare

Shedding Skinny

Shedding Skinny



The longer we survive
this grinding marathon
existence

the more unsecured
things drop off
along the way

People too

All part of the 
program

Need to try
and travel light

Lighten the load

Drop off the baggage
at the curb

Lose what you 
do not need

but 

take heed

you don't
lose yourself
along the way