Poetry Challenge Day 346 (Thu Sep 15)
Good writing is something I aspire to
but may never achieve.
Instead, I’m going to settle for good handwriting.
I was recently told I have that.
A server in a bar last week,
looking over my shoulder, told me as much.
I’m glad she took the time comment.
I hope she wasn’t expecting to find
Edward Abbey like prose.
Poetry Challenge Day 345 (Wed Sep 14)
I don’t like lists.
They make me look back
instead of look forward.
Poetry Challenge Day 344 (Tue Sep 13)
The quality of our life
Is determined by
The quality of our value judgements.
Poetry Challenge Day 343 (Mon Sep 12)
There is always love.
Give it, do not withhold it.
You may not see the benefit,
but someone will receive the benefit.
That will make the world a better place.
Poetry Challenge Day 342 (Sun Sep 11)
Why is it some humans desire power
over their fellow humans?
Why is it some humans desire to simply
live in harmony with nature?
Which view is correct, why can we not agree?
I want to leave the world
a better place for my children.
I don’t think I’m going to be able
to claim that as an accomplishment.
Poetry Challenge Day 341 (Sat Sep 10)
We floated the Colorado River
through the Grand Canyon.
That’s not a bucket list item,
that is the bucket list.
I did it with the love of my life.
Nothing will ever change that.
If I could do it again, I would,
but only with you my love.
That is now ours,
to cherish forever.
Poetry Challenge Day 340 (Fri Sep 9)
I saw a sign the other day,
it said: “The US Constitution is the law.”
I guess you can’t disagree with that,
the Constitution is the law… by definition.
What strikes me as interesting about this,
is that the sign really doesn’t mean what it says,
what the sign really means is:
“My view of the constitution is the law.”
Poetry Challenge Day 339 (Thu Sep 8)
COVID has exhausted me.
The world has changed.
I can’t look at things
the same way I used to.
I want to go back
to the way things were
before COVID and before Trump.
What the future holds next
is anyone’s guess.
The only answer I can provide
with any sort of assurance,
Is that things will never be
the same as they were.
Poetry Challenge Day 338 (Wed Sep 7)
Nothing can really quite compare
to first light in the morning.
It’s not always easy,
waking up before dawn.
If you make the effort,
you are always rewarded.
You can always go back to bed…
Provided you feed the cat.
Poetry Challenge Day 337 (Tue Sep 6)
You are the love of my life.
There is no doubt in my mind.
I would give you the world,
but that is so trite a phrase,
instead, simply ask me,
it is yours.
Poetry Challenge Day 336 (Mon Sep 5)
I want to sit with you
under the stars.
I want to hold your hand
for hours at a time.
Poetry Challenge Day 335 (Sun Sep 4)
I miss you baby.
Ya, the suspense is killing me too.
You are the love of my life.
That narrows it down
to possibly four people…
But in the interest of not
wasting another entry in this dubious collection,
let me wrap up this speculation
by saying…
without you,
my day is incomplete,
and my life would be less
than you have so graciously made it.
Poetry Challenge Day 334 (Sat Sep 3)
I miss you baby.
Poetry Challenge Day 333 (Fri Sep 2)
Breakfast in Denio Junction Utah.
Three eggs over easy.
87 Octane, $6.99 a gallon.
You now know you’re nowhere.
The BLM Fire boys like my truck.
They tell me they will trade me
straight across,
my truck for their
heavy duty dually fire truck…
I have to decline.
I told them my girlfriend
probably wouldn’t ride in their rig.
They agreed.
Poetry Challenge Day 332 (Thu Sep 1)
Smart is good,
it means you have a lot to say
to other people.
Introspective is good,
it means you have a lot to say
to yourself.
I have trouble deciding
which one I would rather be.
The problem is,
it’s really not a choice.
Poetry Challenge Day 331 (Wed Aug 31)
I miss you when you leave.
Its only been ten minutes…
I’ll be fine.
I’ll see you again soon…
but it’s worse when
you take the cat with you.
Poetry Challenge Day 330 (Tue Aug 30)
What makes a day a good day?
Observing the wind,
as it animates everything around you.
Observing the sun,
as it moves across the landscape.
Observing the birds,
as they rustle invisibly about.
All of this
a momentary respite
from ordinary cares and concerns.
Poetry Challenge Day 329 (Mon Aug 29)
I measure the passage of time subconsciously.
I have no real appreciation for what constitutes
an hour, a day, a year…
When I die (or rather just before)
I might be able to put my life into perspective,
but I can’t guarantee that.
I guess I’m just hoping for that.
In the mean time,
I would just like to live well.
Love, be loved, and perhaps, occasionally,
make someone else’s life
just a bit better.
Poetry Challenge Day 328 (Sun Aug 28)
Every age
has its end of civilization cataclysm.
Our’s is no exception.
It certainly does feel like we are there…
Poetry Challenge Day 327 (Sat Aug 27)
I love writing.
But for me,
it’s more about the act of writing
then it is about producing.
I don’t produce much,
at least much that is worth reading,
but I keep trying.
I’m like the monkey at the typewriter…
eventually something worthwhile
is bound to come out.
I hope…
Poetry Challenge Day 326 (Fri Aug 26)
It’s a nice day.
There’s a bit of a breeze.
I have some time
to sit and think about who I am.
All things considered,
not a bad situation
to find yourself in.
”Dwell on the beauty of life, watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”
— Marcus Aurelius.
Poetry Challenge Day 325 (Thu Aug 25)
What happens
when you set a goal to write
a poem a day for a year,
and you run out of things to say
after eleven months.
The choices that present themselves
don’t seem all that attractive…
You can always quit,
or write shit…
I guess you can tell
in which direction I am leaning.
I suppose the question you might be asking yourself is, “hasn’t he been leaning in that direction for the last eleven months?” A fair question indeed.
Poetry Challenge Day 324 (Wed Aug 24)
I’m in my favorite bookstore.
For some reason I set my wallet down,
I’m not entirely sure why.
I get up to the counter to pay
for my selection and I realize
my wallet is missing.
I tell the person helping me that I have
to drive back to the last place
I was to look for my wallet…
So that’s what I do.
Three days later after cancelling
every card I have, I get a call
from the bookstore…
“We have your wallet here…”
If your going to be dumb,
you have to be tough.
Poetry Challenge Day 323 (Tue Aug 23)
My goal in life
is to be like a cat.
Take it easy,
don’t show too much emotion
when people piss you off.
Enjoy the sun.
Eat when you’re hungry.
Avoid unnecessary work,
but perhaps most importantly,
do what you can to endear yourself
to others so they
will want to be nice to you.
The latter can include
lying on the floor, belly up,
with a more or less pleading look
on your face.
Keep in mind however,
that does not work quite as well
when people do it as when
cats do it.
Poetry Challenge Day 322 (Mon Aug 22)
I accidentally said something interesting
today to my Barber.
I told him that a lot of people look back on their lives
and take note of the things they have done,
I look forward to the things
I’m planning to do.