The days pass by like

the wind that rustles the leaves 

changing green to brown 

 Everything is a 

joke, but nothing is funny 

when the bombs are real 

the dancers twirl in

hope of enlightenment — a 

connection to God

Commercialize it

from birth to death and the rest

to make us all slaves 

A funeral drum 

beats a tattoo too rapid 

to keep in time with 

Spinning plates crash down

when the juggler looks away 

for a split second 

Cagey ol' dogs have

survived on castoffs, cunning, 

and no need for care 

In a fevered state

William Blake's words came to

me burning brightly 

A shelf cluttered with

childhood memories tells a 

tale of innocence 

Scads of scabs picked off

before their time leave oozing 

wounds helpless to heal  

Cicadas and crows 

try to outdo each other 

as nature's loudest  

The heron stumbles 

awkwardly in the shallows

but aloft is grace 

No quarter given 

nor dropped into the slot for

entertainment's sake 

Cat got your tongue as

nine tails flail and flay the flesh

of the howling crowd 

 

Fluttering hearts fail

to keep time with the world's march

towards its own demise 

Night talk and whiskey 

gets past the witticism  

to deeper meanings 

Salutations all

you suckers, he said, before

the bottom dropped out 

Single drops of rain

leave little change, but a flood 

alters the landscape 

This was going to 

be an ode to nature, but 

devolved into woe 

A screaming siren 

draws more attention then the

twittering of birds

Bloodletting only 

ever pays off for the fat 

leeches, not the sick 

Ragged breaths for the

deadened day were once filled with

deep bellowing play 

 Bodies break down and 

minds collapse inward but the 

soul still sticks around 

A bloodless coup brought

on by ignorance leads to

a reign (rain) of blood 

You promised pastures 

and pack animals but gave

police states and pain

Picture this: a pic

of a painting digitized,

shrunk, and tweaked to death  

It was the year when 

everything broke from either 

neglect or misuse 

Behind the photo

lies lies like the Wizard of 

Oz's swept back veil

 

Peel back the gilding 

from their ballrooms and blather

and find putrid truth 

No bread, but plenty

of circus antics for the 

masses to devour 

Braided lives remain 

entwined beyond human time

in eternal flow