Poetry Challenge Day 257 (Sat Jun 18)
Live life
like you are riding your bicycle
across the country.
1. When you get up in the morning make your bed and stow your gear.
2. Eat breakfast, stretch, then get on your bike.
3. Keep pedaling and keep your eyes open.
4. Fix yourself a nice dinner.
5. Relax for awhile, read a good book, then get plenty of sleep.
Poetry Challenge Day 256 (Fri Jun 17)
I believe life is a mystery.
We never know for sure what will happen next,
even if we plan.
That is the joy.
Poetry Challenge Day 255 (Thu Jun 16)
Smart people write every day.
I’m not smart because
I have to force myself to write every day
which results in stuff like this…
Irony: A humorous or sardonic literary style.
Sardonic: Disdainful or skeptical.
Skeptical: Probably what you should be…
Poetry Challenge Day 254 (Wed Jun 15)
Trump Pence 2020…
Trump Take Our Country Back…
Coexist…
Team Love…
I actually saw all four of these stickers on the same bumper…
Written after I tested positive for COVID. A perfect example of how fucked we are (the stickers, and the test result).
Poetry Challenge Day 253 (Tue Jun 14)
Writing poetry is hard.
(I’ve already discussed that below.)
I just want to add
this year of poetry does not feel
like my greatest accomplishment.
That raises the question:
How does one determine their greatest accomplishment?
The best I can do is recall the little things (and some big)
that have brought me to the place
where I find myself today.
Poetry Challenge Day 252 (Mon Jun 13)
Happiness comes from cats
not relationships.
If you’re lucky, happiness comes from both. I consider myself to be a very lucky man.
Poetry Challenge Day 251 (Sun Jun 12)
You did it.
You made the grade.
Now it’s time to start
the next journey.
I hope it is wonderful.
There are a lot of things
in this world I could give you
but I’m afraid the most important
thing you will need to find on your own…
happiness.
May you find it and carry it with you
all the days of your life.
Poetry Challenge Day 250 (Sat Jun 11)
I have probably
used the word “fuck”
more times since the outbreak
of the Pandemic
then in my entire life prior to that.
I’m not young either.
Although a very nice person
I was chatting with on the phone today
said that I sounded young.
My reply was simply:
“Your fucking kidding me.”
Poetry Challenge Day 249 (Fri Jun 10)
How do you write poetry?
Well, first of all, you need to have eyes.
Hearing doesn’t hurt either.
Perhaps a sense of smell as well.
That is just table stakes.
You need feelings,
and the desire to sit with them
and let them tell you what to say.
That’s not easy,
it’s also a bit scary.
If you do it,
you just might write a poem.
For the record, I’m not sure I can sit with my feelings long enough to pull it off, just saying…
Poetry Challenge Day 248 (Thu Jun 9)
Please.
Take guns away,
now and forever.
It will never happen in America.
America…
The country where the almighty dollar rules.
I want to escape.
I want to start a new country,
where only smart non-violent people live.
Journal Entry (Wed Jun 8, 2022)
I must see:
The Grand Canyon, Arizona (check)
Mount Rushmore, South Dakota
The Delicate Arch, Utah
The Golden Gate Bridge, California (check)
Old Faithful, Wyoming (check)
Hoover Dam, Nevada (check)
Half Dome, California (check)
Chimney Rock, Nebraska (check)
Oak Alley Plantation, Louisiana
Statue of Liberty, New York (check)
Devils Tower, Wyoming
Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. (check)
Fort Sumter, South Carolina
Antelope Canyon, Arizona
Monticello, Virginia
Middle Fork of the Salmon River, Idaho (check)
The Breakers, Rhode Island
Crater Lake, Oregon (check)
Space Needle, Washington (check)
Portland Head Light, Maine (check)
Denali, Alaska
Taos Pueblo, New Mexico
The Alamo, Texas (check)
Southernmost Point Buoy, Florida (check)
Jenny Lake, Wyoming
Score: 14/25
This is admittedly a somewhat random list of 25. (I did not come up with this list.) I hope my journeys take me to more places than these… National Parks… Classic ski resorts… Famous overland routes… Iconic bicycle routes… the list really is endless…
Poetry Challenge Day 247 (Wed Jun 8)
Poetry is tough.
You have to have a brain to write poetry.
Attempting to write poetry
(as I am trying to do)
is a huge personal exposure.
You are exposing all you faults and weaknesses
to anyone who might care to observe.
Not to mention the fact that your brain
may not really be up to the task
you have set before it.
Then why make the attempt.
When I started my year long journey into poetry
I honestly (naively) thought there was a chance
I could pull it off.
I now know just how hard a task that truly is.
I have days where I think
I have failed miserably.
For some reason I continue,
I suppose because quitting is worse than failure.
And yes, I’m calling this a poem.
Poetry Challenge Day 246 (Tue Jun 7)
I’m aware that my poetry
has taken a dark turn
of late.
To rectify this
I give you the following
poem about cats.
If it weren’t for my cat,
my poetry would take
a dark turn.
Poetry Challenge Day 245 (Mon Jun 6)
Three words of advice:
Read, think, write.
Poetry Challenge Day 244 (Sun Jun 5)
Those of us
not fully conscious
are being desensitized
for political purposes.
This is a proven path
to political power.
By giving up our humanity
and listening to repeated lies,
cliches’, and political jargon,
we are surrendering ourselves.
The ultimate aim, is the perpetration
of violence against our fellow humans.
Poetry Challenge Day 243 (Sat Jun 4)
Giving women the right
to decide the fate of their
own bodies is an
existential threat to men.
That was the prevailing view
held by men
in the mid-17th century,
and also the view of Justice Alito.
Poetry Challenge Day 242 (Fri Jun 3)
George Washington
famously said:
“Unless we can return
a little more to first principles…”
He was chiding James Warren.
The real point here is
how familiar these words
sound to us today,
even removed as many
generations as they are.
Poetry Challenge Day 241 (Thu Jun 2)
How would you like
to be educated
in the finer points of racist theory?
It is highly fashionable
these days.
Just hang out with the likes of
Tucker Carlson.
Poetry Challenge Day 240 (Wed Jun 1)
In the final analysis,
the abortion debate centers
on who has the right
to control your body
and your actions.
The unborn fetus has not yet assumed
a role in society.
This makes the decision a personal one
not a societal one.
Poetry Challenge Day 239 (Tue May 3)
I played baseball once
in a Federal Penitentiary.
I was not an inmate.
After the game
we ate in the prison mess.
There were no prisoners
in the mess with us
(probably a good thing)
but we were served by prisoners.
As you go through the mess line
the prisoner serving the potatoes
will decide how many
you want on your plate.
Poetry Challenge Day 238 (Mon May 30)
It doesn’t matter what you do
(within reason of course).
But whatever it is,
be good at it.
Poetry Challenge Day 237 (Sun May 29)
She sleeps
My love
Gentle slumber
I wait
To wake her
Gently with a kiss
A kiss
To greet the morning
A kiss to light the day
A kiss to show her
The depth of my love
My Love
Who gently sleeps
You are my morning
My day
My everything.
Poetry Challenge Day 236 (Sat May 28)
I was told by someone close to me
that I had a mental break.
Of course I did.
You have to have a mental break
to turn your life around.
All this accusation does is beg the question.
The good thing about a mental break is
you no longer need to ponder inconsequential questions.
Poetry Challenge Day 235 (Fri May 27)
“Jesus, the ONLY path to God.”
I saw that on a billboard.
I was under the impression
God was kind, loving, and merciful.
Apparently I’m learning something new.
I’m learning that God will only love you
if you follow his exact proscription to the letter.
If you don’t, well then, God has no time for you.
I don’t understand how some people (you can safely read here religions) can so completely misunderstand the nature of God.
Poetry Challenge Day 234 (The May 26)
Most days I don’t think so.
Why are people so stupid?
Why do some people choose to follow
someone so clearly lying to them?
The only answer I can give
is that is easier
than thinking.