April 2017 poems

April 2017 Poem a Thon Poems

https://allpoetry.com/Jake_Aller#t_main and

https://allpoetry.com/group/14865-National_Poetry_Month_at_Allpoetry

Poetry Soup (add link). https://www.poetrysoup.com/me/jakecosmos | edit

I followed up in 2018, also on Triferet journal

journal @ http://tiferetjournal.com, and on a special community Facebook page @https://www.facebook.com/TiferetApril2018Poemathon/

and All Poetry, and Poetry Soup.

This year, 2019 I changed focus a bit and wrote them mostly following links in Writers Digest,  https://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/poetic-asides/2019-april-pad-challenge-day-28

Creative Talents Unleashed https://creativetalentsunleashed.com/

*and Writing.com poetic forms forum. https://www.writing.com/main/portfolio/view/jcosmos

as well as posting them daily on all poetry, writers digest and on my blog (which I did not have in 2017 and 2018.

I tried this year to experiment with more formal verse forms which is one of my creative goals this year.  Writers Digest has a great list, as does All poetry, poetry Soup, Magnum Poetry Opus.  For more info on formal verse forms see

https://allpoetry.com/

https://www.poetrysoup.com/poetry/resources/

https://www.writersdigestshop.com/writers-digest-guide-to-poetic-forms-ebook?utm_source=writersdigest.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=wd-rlb-bl-190329-guidetopoeticforms

http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/forums/forum/23-explore-the-craft-of-writing-poetry/

I also added images and audio clips. For 2017, and 2018 I have gone back and revised them slightly adding in images and audio clips.  I intend to turn these poems into my first published book of poetry.

Comments and feedback greatly appreciated.  I intent to make this an annual creative project and keep going as long as I can.

Now to the 2017 Poems:

Index

1. April 1 Berkeley California
2. April 2 Lithia Springs
3. April 3 Walls
4. April 4 Changes
5. April 5 Facing Life’s Challenges Together
6. April 6 Wagontire, Oregon
7. April 7 Watching Cats Hunt *
8. April 8 Landlord Blues
9. April 9 Pane e circus 2017 Redux
10. April 10 Long Live Emperor Donald the Ist
11. April 11 3 Am Nightmares
12. April 12 Zombie Apocalypse
13. April 13 Spring Doositsu for Angela Poem a Thon
14. April 14 Love Jones
15. April 15 Kim Vs. Trump Twitter War
16. April 16 Why I am not a Christian Easter Thoughts
17. April 17 Love Haku *
18. April 18 Coffee Haku *
19. 18 Spring Time in Oregon
20. April 19 Cats *
21. April 20 Secret Agency Man
22. April 21 COSTCO People Watching
23. April 22 The Dogs of War are Howling
24. April 23 Suburban Laundromat
25. April 24, I Want You Right Now
26. April 25 The Decline of America
27. April 27 Life is Wonderful
28. April 28 Sandwich Choices *
29. April 29 More Coffee Blues *
30. April 30 Rambling Man -Where Do I Belong?

• Published

Audio Clips

April 1 to April 5

April 6 Wagontire

April 7 to April 12

April 10 to April 15

April 17 to April 20

April 20 to April 30

April 1

Berkeley California

Growing up in the 60’s
In Berkeley
almost 50 years ago

I think back
At those turbulent times
Those crazy wonderful times

Berkeley is a wonderful place
In many ways

Stuck forever in 1967
A true time travel experience

Every time I go back
And relive the memories
Of the 60’s

The 60’s never died
They continue

In college towns
Across the world

And Berkeley
Remains the mecca
Of the counter
cultural revolution

Many things have changed
But the organic food revolution
Became mainstream

Marijuana spread out
The sexual revolution
Became mainstream

So much of the world
Is but a reflection
Of the revolution of the 60’s

And the conservative
counter-revolution
That we are still fighting

So, I salute
My homeland
The center of my universe

April 2

Lithia Springs</strong 

Staying at Lithia Springs
Soaking in the healing waters

Soaking my pains away
Renewing my life

Renewing my love
As we both soak away

As the pain of life go away
And our love grows

With each soaking session
Life is good

At the hot springs water
Sooths us
and smooth us

And we fall in love
Again and again

April 3

Walls

 

Trump wants a wall
Between America and Mexico

A wall against the southern hordes
A wall based on fear and hate

A wall to make America safe
A wall to make America great again

And yet I wonder
Will his wall fall

Like the Berlin wall
And the great wall

And all the other walls
They all failed
All of them

Walls divide us
Walls make us
Into different tribes

Between the pure
And the impure

St Reagan, Said
Tear Down this Wall

Will future Presidents
Tear down this begotten wall

Or will it become a tourist attraction
Another great wall
Against barbarian hordes

April 4

Changes

I reflect upon my life
As the sun comes up

What could I have changed
What would I have changed

If I could go back in time
What would I tell my earlier self

What would I do differently
And what have I learned

The one thing
that I would not have changed

is meeting
the women of my dreams

the chance
meeting on a bus
that changed everything
in a moment

I met my fate
That day on the bus

And that
is the end of the story

April 5

Facing Life’s Challenges Together

Woke up at 0 dark hundred
Vowing to boldly go forth

And face
the challenges

of the future
Without fear

Knowing
that I have you there

Makes
all the difference in the world

As we meet our fate
Together

Until the day we die
And time takes us

Back to another world
Soul mates, together forever

April 6

Wagontire, Oregon
wagontire wiki entry

1975

In 1973, I went on a road trip
With my father

We left Berkeley to go to Yakima
Where my father had a summer cabin

He was a college professor
And had July
and August off

And we spent the summers
Every summer from 1968 to 1978
Our whole dysfunctional family

Our annual road trip
to hell and back
As we did not get along at all

We decided to drive
through Eastern Oregon

Just my father and me
Just for the hell of it

The rest of the family
was already there
in Washington
waiting for us

My father and I shared a travel lust
One of the few things we shared

This was one of our best trips
We got along

Which was unusual
Normally our relationship

Was fraught
As we were so different

We left Klamath Falls
A real nothing burg
in those days

And headed east along highway 395
As we entered the desert
of eastern Oregon

We entered a different world
High mountain dessert

Almost
no one on the road

nothing on the radio
but country music

and talk radio
from KGO in SF

my father and I bonded
Learned a lot about his past

What he liked
And did not like

He hated country music
But loved news radio

And we talked about politics
And life in general

Just a father and son
Enjoying a rare

Father son
Bonding moment

We usually did not
get each other

I inherited too much
Of my Mother’s
wild Irish personality

To suite his dour Norwegian
Germanic personality

Then we saw the sign

Wagontire Oregon

100 miles ahead
Burma shave

We counted down the signs
Miles after miles
As we drove
into the gathering dusk

along with the wagon tire
countdown

were other signs
last gas for x miles

and the Burma Shave
road side signs

with their classic
cowboy poetry
slogans

which in 1975
were already

becoming
a thing of the past

had not seen those
since this road trip

but on this road
they still had them

every mile
Burma Shave signs

We speculated
that Wagontire

Must be a giant truck stop
In the middle of no where

And we drove on
Counting down the signs

Listening to dreadful country music
And endless political news

Wagontire 100 miles ahead
Burma Shave

Wagontire 99 miles ahead
Burma Shave

Wagontire 98 miles ahead
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Wagontire 97 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 96 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 91 Miles ahead
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Wagon tire
Last gas 90 Miles ahead
Burma Shave

Wagon tire 89 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 88 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 87 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 60 Miles ahead
Next Gas 60 miles last gas for 200 miles
Burma Shave

Wagontire 61 Miles ahead
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Next gas 50 last gas for 200 miles
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Wagontire 10 Miles ahead
Last gas, food lodging for 210 miles
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Wagontire 9 Miles ahead
Last gas, food lodging for 210 miles
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Wagontire 8 Miles ahead
Last gas, food lodging for 210 miles
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Wagontire 7 Miles ahead
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Wagontire 5 Miles ahead
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Last gas, food lodging for 205 miles

Wagontire 4 Miles ahead
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Burma Shave
Wagontire 3 Miles ahead
Burma Shave

Wagontire 2 Miles ahead
Last gas, food, lodging for 202 miles
Burma Shave

Wagontire 1 Miles ahead
Last Chance Gas, Food, lodging next gas 200 miles
Welcome to Wagontire, Oregon

Population 2 ½ humans 10 dogs, 50.000 sheep

We pulled into the town
Nothing there
but a gas station
Motel and café

We decided to stop
Last gas for 200 miles
According
to the highway signs

In the morning
We chatted with the owner

He was the sheriff,
the fire chief
The owner
of the motel,
gas station
The only business in town

And the only place open
For two hundred miles

Until the next town
John Day I believe

I asked the Sherriff
Say, who is the ½ human?

My idiot son!

And we left.

200 miles later
We finally
left Eastern Oregon

2016

In 2016 my wife
and I drove
through Eastern Oregon

As part of our epic
cross-country trip

first time for her
in Eastern Oregon
Idaho, Montana
Wyoming and many other states

last time I had visited
was during my epic road trip
with my father
summer of 1975

10,000 miles
31 states

in three months
to celebrate my retirement

On the way from Medford to Yellowstone
We drove along highway 395

The signs for Wagontire was gone
And we drove through the town

The motel was abandoned
Nothing there at all

And that sign
was gone too

and the Burma shave signs
long ago

faded into lost
Americana

On the radio
Nothing but country

Right wing talk shows
And Christian radio

I said I suppose the idiot son
Never took over the business

And we speculated about Wagontire
And all other nothing burgs

We drove through
that summer

Heart of Trump’s America
True fly over country

April 7

Watching Cats Hunt

Early morning
Watching two white cats

Hunting a white dove
The cats hunt in pairs
Tracking the bird

The bird flies away
Safe for now

And I think about the cats
And the hunt goes on

Such is life
And the fate of cats
And birds

April 8

Landlord Blues

I am a landlord
Owner of property

Here there
and elsewhere

Have been for years
Since 1989

When I bought my first duplex
I have tenants

and tenant
issues galore

I receive rent from the tenants
it seems money grows
on the proverbial tree

but at times
from time to time
I hate being a landlord

I suppose in my heart
I am a socialist
with a blending heart

But my wife
is comfortable
as a landlord

She calls me a hypocrite
And a wild romantic goat

Born under the sign of the goat
And I call her a capitalist pig

Born
under the sign of the golden pig

April 9

Pane e circus 2017 Redux

By order of his excellency
Emperor Donald the First

The merciful,
the Christian King of Kings

The Sultan of Sultans
The Emperor of North America

Be it hereby decreed
That the ancient honorable
gladiator games
Of the old Roman Empire
Have been restored

Each city in the Empire will host a team
They will compete for the honor
Of the national championship

The games will start
With fighting animals

Fighting fish
Roosters
Cheetahs
Tiger
Bears
Wolves
And lions

Then a man lion contest
With a heretic thrown to the lions

If he or she lives
They will be pardoned

Then then main games
Six men/women teams compete

Armed with swords, knifes, mace, clubs
They fight until one man or women remans
The victor of the game

Those who are prisoners
Can compete for their freedom
And a full imperial pardon

Let the games begin
Long may the games reign
In the new North America Empire

Praise be to the Emperor
Donald the First

April 10 Long

Live Emperor Donald the Ist

Ladies and Gentlemen
My fellow American citizens
Greetings and salutations

Today is a momentous day
The old corrupt USA republic is no more
The constitution that once protected us
Has been overthrown and violated

The barbarians at the gate
Have taken over

And ruined the once great land
The last hope of the world

And so, I had no choice
But to kill the old rotten regime
And restore American greatness

To save democracy
I must destroy it

And so, starting today
I will serve
as the Emperor of North America

I welcome Canada and Mexico
And the Caribbean islands
To join The North American Empire

As we rebuild America
Restoring American greatness
And making us all proud again

Proud subjects of the New American Empire
May the Empire reign forever and a day
Triumphant against all enemies

And so, I take this burden
Sadly, but gladly

I will serve you
As your Emperor

And my son Donald
Will serve as our second emperor
Once I pass from this world

His son will serve as the third emperor
And so on until the end of time

And we will reign
in our new capitol city
Colorado Springs
renamed New Rome
Until the end of time

Washington will remain in our hearts
As the capitol of the old Republic

But the heirs of the Roman Empire
Need a new Imperial Capitol

And soon we will conquer Mars
And expand our Empire to the Starts

Long Live the Empire
Long Live America

Good night
And may God Bless
This great Empire

April 11 3 3 Am Nightmares

3 am

The bewitching hour
When the wild things come out
And play

And torture you
With endless wild accusations
And nightmarish visions

As I toss and turn
Trying to escape

I look over at my wife
And as always

Repeat the mantra
Everything will be alright

And the wild things are banished
To the dark corners of my mind

And I recover my happiness
And I smile
As I look at the sleeping beauty

Still the most beautiful women in the world
Still the most alluring women in the world

Still in love with her
After 35 years

The love gets stronger and stronger
As she overcomes my despair

And the sun comes up
And I think to myself

What a wonderful life I have
With the women of my dreams

April 12

Zombie Apocalypse

Zombies to the left of me
Zombies ahead of me

Zombies behind me
Everywhere zombies galore

The end of the world had become
And the zombification
of the world had begun

Zombies to the right of me
Zombies to the left of me
Zombies ahead of me
Zombies behind me

No one knew when or where
the first zombies appeared
One moment zombies were just a collective
figment of our deranged imagination

The next moment we were all living
in a zombie apocalypse nightmare

Zombies to the right of me
Zombies to the left of me
Zombies ahead of me
Zombies behind me

Some said the zombies were created in a lab
Released by mad scientists and the military

Others said it was plague sent by God himself
To punish mankind
for tolerating evil and moral depravity

Zombies to the right of me
Zombies to the left of me
Zombies ahead of me
Zombies behind me

The Christians and Muslims prayed
But their prayers went unheard
As they too soon became zombies

Zombies to the right of me
Zombies to the left of me
Zombies ahead of me
Zombies behind me

The zombies hunted in packs
Overwhelming their victims
Killing most instantly
But some they simply bit
And turned them into fellow zombies

Zombies to the right of me
Zombies to the left of me
Zombies ahead of me
Zombies behind me

The zombies did not attack one another
They preferred living live flesh
Human flesh
but they ate everything they saw

Zombies to the right of me
Zombies to the left of me
Zombies ahead of me
Zombies behind me

And so, I ran into the countryside
With my fellow humans
Hit out deep in the woods

Hiding from zombies
And crazed cannibal gangs alike

Zombies to the right of me
Zombies to the left of me
Zombies ahead of me
Zombies behind me

The world ended that day
And our nightmare world began

Zombies to the right of me
Zombies to the left of me
Zombies ahead of me
Zombies behind me

April 13

Spring Doositsu for Angela Poem a Thon

Waking up seeing you there
Watching you as you wake up
Fills me with such sweat desire
Overcoming my mind

I sit watching you all day
Thinking of you all day long
Wild erotic imaginings
Love making to come

That old blues song come to mind
I just want to make love to you
I just want to make love to you
Nothing more than that that

I end this morning with this thought
You are still the most wonderful
The most beautiful creature
In the whole universe

April 14

Love Jones

I got the Love Jones, baby
And it won’t leave me alone

I got the Love Jones, baby
And it won’t leave me alone

I’ve been writing these love poems
All day long

And I have been dreaming
Of all the ways,
I could make love
To my secret lover

If only she will let me be
If only she will open her heart
And let me in

Perhaps the love Jones
Might leave me along

But I got the love Jones
Bad baby

Can’t you tell?

That the love Jones
Has grabbed my Soul

Twisted it up into little pieces
And I need you
To unravel the Love Jones

I need you to answer the call
Of the Love Jones Baby

I need you
To let me be free

Of the spell
Of the Love Jones

I got the Love Jones
Baby

I got it bad
And only you can

Put a stop to the love Jones
Baby

Let me enter your life
Put out the fire of desire

Send the Love Jones packing
And let me make sweat love to you

Oh, Love Jones
Go away

Let me be in peace
Love Jones
Leave me be

Baby
I got the love Jones
For you

Can’t you see?
What you do to me?

I got the Love Jones
Baby and it ain’t going away

Until I get to make love to you
Then perhaps this Love Jones
Will leave me be

Love Jones

April 15 Kim Vs. Trump Twitter War –

in memorial of Kim Il Sung’s the Great Leader’s Birthday

 

President Kim, it is time that we cut the shit and cut a deal #Real Trump

 

President Trump, it is impossible for us to cut a deal unless you agree to me keeping nukes # Kim Jong-un the Great

President Kim, you know that if I want I can just make you disappear.  You can be wiped off the earth in a moment.  We know where you live #real Trump

President Trump, we have a nuke with your name on it on a boat sailing up the Potomac and it will blow your ass up any day now so don’t fuck with us. #Kim Jong-un the Great

Kim, your stupid Asian gook.  Let me break it down for yah You threaten the US you die and all the North Koreans go to hell. Is it worth it? #real Trump.

Trump, you are so stupid. You are the worst excuse for a human being ever $ Kim Jong-un the Great

Kim, you are the stupid mother fucker. I mean what’s up with that idiot haircut of yours?  $real Trump

Trump, I would not talk about hair, your orange haired mutant mother fucker.  #Kim Jong-un the Great

Kim, it is all real baby and so are my wife’s boobs… #real Trump

Trump, let’s cut the crap and get down to business.  How much will you pay us to get rid of the nukes?  #kimJongun the Great

Kim, lets meet manor a mano and get it out on the table.  No nukes no chems no bioweapons and no more political prisoners to start with #realTrump

Trump, we can discuss. If I can stay in power the rest is negotiable #Kim Jong un the great

Finally, the two of you are talking sense. About time #Xi the President of China

April 16

Why I am not a Christian Easter Thoughts

On Easter Sunday,
I often think about Christianity
I don’t understand why anymore
would believe such nonsense

The essential story makes no sense
An imaginary all powerful deity
that no one has ever seen or heard

Except for psychotic patients or Drug users
Comes down to earth
and impregnates a married woman

Who has never had sex for some reason
And her husband is okay with that
Believes her wild story

And still does not have sex
Until after the baby is born

Then there is total silence
Nothing about Jesus’s childhood

30 years later he emerges
Preaching love, peace and brotherhood
And denouncing the corrupt temple leaders
And the Jewish leaders as well

The miracles also don’t make any sense
In the real world,
you can’t turn fish into bread
Can’t walk on water
Can raise the dead etc. etc.

Just does not happen
In the world, we live in
And has not happen
since those ancient days

Then the last supper makes some sense
Jesus knows he is about to be betrayed

But he does not confront Judas
Does not run away
Does not encourage his disciplines
To run away with him

The whole Jesus Mary M story
Also, does not make sense

Jesus must have been married
Or he was gay

There is no doubt
Either way the story makes no sense

The crucifixion is the only part of the story I buy
Jesus was put to death because he was a rebel leader

And the Romans tolerated no dissent
To the Roman’s right to conquer and rule

The rising from the dead stories
All contradict one another

And Jesus was either walking as a normal human being
Or was a ghost

The door was rent open as if by lightening
Or not

Finally, we have been waiting over 2,000 years for his return
You would think if the story is remotely true
He would have turned up by now

Except he has
As many lunatics claim to be Jesus
in the flesh

all delusional of course
and that is what I think of Christianity

nothing but fairy tales and mass delusions
surrounding a kernel of truth

Love each other
Treat each other right
Don’t be consumed with greed

 

But couldn’t that message
Be made simpler
Without all the associated nonsense?

So, on this day I say
Open your minds

And discard the nonsensical elements
of Christian thought
And follow the true teachings of Jesus

Even if you don’t believe
in the imaginary man in the sky

April 18

Spring Time in Oregon

Spring has finally sprung in Oregon
Escaping from the longer winter prison
That has covered the land with snow

They say that this winter
Was a colder than normal winter

Wetter than normal
As the long drought finally ended

As nature resumed
its normal spring thaw

I rejoice
Seeing all the signs of spring

Especially the sight
of young beautiful women
Shedding their winter clothes

And walking about
in the spring sunshine

So wonderfully alive

So, beautiful and sexy
As they sashay about
Here and there

It makes me smile
All day long

Yes, I love Spring time
Everywhere in the world

But especially in Oregon
My new found second home

April 19

Cats

I often wonder about Cats
What do they think of us

It seems at time
That cats think of humans
As their slaves

We exist to feed them
To comfort them

To save them from their enemies
And to worship them

Yes, cats are an alien species
Totally different from humanity
Detached, and almost evil

If we ever encounter an alien civilization
God help us if it’s a cat based civilization

We would then be engaged
In the epic mother of all wars

As cats and humans would not get along
The cats would think we were their slaves

And we would resent and fear them
And secretly worship their alien ways

April 20

Secret Agent Man

Secret agent man
Where are you going?

What do you know?
And when did you know it?

What dark secrets do you hide
In your inner soul?

Do you even have a soul anymore?
Or has it been so compromised
That there is nothing left?

But lies, within lies with lies
Do you even know the truth?
Does the truth set you free?

Or is the truth just another lie?
That you tell yourself

I’d like to know
My secret agent man

Perhaps someday you well tell me
Your deepest darkest secrets

And reveal what the government is hiding
But perhaps I can’t handle the truth

So, keep you secrets to yourself
And let them die with you

As you go to your grave
Your secrets buried deep within
Your corrupted soul

Until the end of time
Reveals all

April 21

COSTCO People Watching

I love my COSTCO
I love going there to shop
But most importantly

I love people watching
Looking at people as they walk by
Wondering what their stories are

And covertly checking out
the beautiful girls
As they walk on by

And when they smile at me
It makes my day

Yes, I love my COSTCO
And COSTCO Loves Me back

Extracting my money
From my wallet

I go in for one simple thing
And walk out
having spent 500 dollars

Yes, COSTCO has my number
And loves me too
Long Live COSTCO

April 22

The Dogs of War are Howling

The Dogs of War

Have been set free
Of their cage
And are out
Howling at the moon

The Dogs of War
Have been set free

 

To wreck what havoc
Might be

Yes, the Dogs of War
The Hell Hounds
Have bound out of their cages

Sniffed about
And smiled

At the destruction, they saw
They knew soon

They would be in their element
As the world descends into chaos

The Dogs of war
Are at foot

The chaos is upon us
The evil grows and grows

And dark noises are heard
Here and there

And the dogs of war
Smiled

They knew soon
They would be in their element

The war machines
Came to life

The plans came out of the books
The military might be unleashed

And the Dogs of war
Smiled and howled at the moon

And the rest of the world
Shuddered
At the thought
of what was yet to be

Satan on the other hand
Was happy as can be

With the evil shit
That was going down

He smiled
Patted his hell hounds
And told his dogs

The war to end all wars
Armageddon is upon us my friend

Soon, mankind will know
The face of absolute evil

And they will love it
When I take over

The armies prepare
The bombers prepare

And the dogs of war
Are happy
Unleashed to do their mischief

And soon millions may die
And the pits of hell
will open

And the judgement day
May be upon us all

Madness descends upon the land
The fog of hate envelops us all

And reason and civilization
Fall away

As the Dogs of War
And their minions
Take over the minds of man

And the end of the world
And the beginning
of the end times
Come upon us all

And the US goes bankrupt
Morally and fiscally

And the evil that men do
Goes on and on and on

But the war machine must be fed
The munitions makers must be paid

As each million-dollar missile is launched
Millions more are made

And the corporations
Think of the endless profits
To be made

Every time they kill
With the war machines

But who cares about the victims
They are nothing but collateral damage

Who cares about the soldiers
Nothing but cannon fodder

Who gives a damn
About the dead
They are dead and gone

Just think about the profits
Think about the profits

Satan is happy
The dogs of war
are free at last

April 23

Suburban Laundromat – thanks to Don Teeter for the inspiration from a FB posting

Suburban Laundromat Scenes

Suburban laundromat
Anywhere USA

I often go to a suburban laundromat
Near my suburban apartment

I can sit in my car
Listen to jazz, classical or blues
On my car’s radio

And watch my machine
Doing its suburban laundry duty

Just spinning and spinning and cleaning
Doing its thing its laundry thing

The neighborhood is anywhere USA
Strip malls, apartment houses, townhouses

A fire station, a police station
Banks, cell phone shops
Restaurants from around the world

At the parking lot’s edge
As I approach I notice

Gentlemen of the off-grid class
Sitting among their Hogs
Stoned off the semi legal weed

Smiling at me
With an I don’t give a fuck attitude

That is somewhat contagious
They tell stories

Paranoid ramblings
Containing a kernel of truth

As they watch their clothes
Like a hawk

The clothes spin and spin and spin
As the laundry machine does its laundry thing

The machines don’t care about what we humans think
They just do their duty as the man says

Across the old run-down boulevard
The light rail line uses a right of way

That dates to the mid 1850’s
An old Indian game trail perhaps
That the white man turned into the first road
In these parts

People come and go
Some in cars

Some on foot
People from all over the world
Speaking languages from everywhere

But all understand English to some extent
And many understand Spanish to some extent

I feel everyone is united
Chiefly by their transience

And think back on old Latin saying
Sic transit Gloria mundi
And wonder if these are the end days

And ask the laundry machine
What does it think

The laundry machine pauses
Seems to think
And looks at me

Almost saying
WTF do you think
A laundry machine knows?

And so, I gather my items
Nod to the regulars

Who interrupt their endless paranoid arguments
Acknowledging my existence

And I stumble back
To my suburban apartment
Truly paradise on earth

April 24,

I Want You Right Now

I still want you
More than anything else in life

I want you
I want you next to me

I want you every moment
Of every minute
Of every day

I need you in my life
I need your wisdom
I need your kindness
I need your beauty

I need your special wit
And I need your ability
To deal with this cruel world

I need you to save me
From the demons
That haunt my Soul

For you are my soul mate
The only person

Whoever completed me
And made life worth living

April 25

The Decline of America

You see it everywhere
The unmistakable signs

That the decline of America
Is in full swing

And we have gone past the tipping point
There is nowhere left to go

But downward
As the Empire begins to collapse

Victim of imperial overreach
Like all empires before

The DC metro on a good day
Is a broken-down remnant

Of a once proud system
The future of mass transit
Its proponents said

The interstate highway system
Is falling apart day by day

The cost of rebuilding America mounts
And our politicians are afraid
That it will costs trillions of dollars

Just to prevent the US from collapsing
Into third world irrelevance

We have the world’s most expensive military
A million dollars per missile

And yet we can’t find the money
To provide decent health care for all

Bombs, and tax cuts for the wealthy
Are the only things

That the Republicans care about
And the world looks in amazement

At the clown boy President
As he struts about

Looking more and more
Like some Banana Republic

President for life
With his family
grabbing as much loot

As they can
From the federal government
Before the coming revolution
Overthrows them

When did we start this decline?
Some say 1960s started it
Others say Nixon’s to blame

Others claim that it was Carter’s fault
Or Saint Reagan’s fault
Or the other boy President GW Bush
Or Obama the fake American’s fault

Does it really matter
All I know

Is the America I knew
The can do anything country

Is alas no more
And I morn for our lost liberties

Our lost sense of purpose
Our lost sense that America
Was the last great hope of Mankind

And still I wonder
Can America be made great again?
As our President Trump proclaims

The end times approaches

Nuclear war is talked about
Another missile crisis

And instead of JFK leading the country
We have Donald John Trump

The one and only
The greatest con man
To ever get elected

And I fear the end is in sight
As America begins its decline

Will we be one country
Or will we erupt into a civil war

The right claims that the left has started it
And the left claims that the right has started it

And both sides claim that the civil war
Is inevitable

A fight for the future of our country
And so, it goes
The decline of empires

And I pray
That I may survive
The end of times

April 27

Life is Wonderful

This morning I woke up
Always a good thing
At age 61

I looked out my window
And saw a bright blue sky

Nice Spring time weather
Not a frown in the sky
Not a cloud to hide
The bright late April Sun

I looked over
And saw her there

As always
The nighttime anxieties fade away

And I realize once again
Everything will be okay

If she is with me
And I said to myself
What a wonderful day

April 28

Sandwich Choices

There are so many choices to be had
When ordering a sandwich

What kind of bread

What kind of meat or any meat
What kind of cheese or any cheese

Whether to have sprouts or not
Whether to have a pickle or not

Whether to go with a classic peanut butter
And something sandwich

I loved peanut butter sandwiches
As a kid

Peanut butter and sweat pickles were my favorite
Peanut butter and banana is good also
Peanut butter and strawberry jam
What a delightful memory

My current favorite

Is a BLT with sprouts, avocado, and kosher dill pickles?
Heirloom red tomatoes one slice per each half
Avocado one half per each half
One half pickle on each half
Bacon cooked just right – well done but not black
Sprouts and lettuce just right
Timamook Yellow smoked cheder cheese
On each half
On Gluten Free bread
with chipotle mayo
And Dijon mustard
Cut in half

Truly a sandwich made in heaven

And bacon makes everything
Taste so damn nice

And God if you are reading this poem
You had better prepare them for me
Or Heaven will not be worth it

Does Satan serve BLT sandwiches
I wonder

Probably not
Probably you become the bacon
In his hell sandwiches

April 29

More Coffee Blues

One morning as I drank my fake coffee
I needed to go out
and get a cup of real coffee

The fake coffee just did not do the trick
It tasted almost like the real thing

But just did not have that kick
And I needed it bad

I needed the real coffee buzz
I realized that I was a coffee addict
I tried to just drink decafe

But was boring
And almost as bad as the fake coffee
That I drank

Caffeine was bad for me
I knew it

But I craved the rush
Craved the intense buzz
Craved the hyperactivity

Kept me all day
And caused me nightmares
Sometimes for days on end

I knew I could not handle it
But like all addicts

I needed my coffee buzz
And so, I once more

Drank my drug of choice
And entered the coffee zone

As I fried my brain
With caffeine

The last legal drug
In neo-puritan America

And I smiled as I gave in
To the intoxicating smell
And flavor of my coffee
And surrender my free will

And drank my coffee
Waiting for the nightmares to come

April 30

Rambling Man -Where Do I Belong?

I have been a rambling man
All my adult life

Grew up in Berkeley, California
Went to College in Hayward and Oberlin
During my lost year
Lost in a fog of booze and pot
Then I came back to reality

And went to college
In Stockton, California

The central Valley
Ohio transplanted to California

Then after four years in Stockton
With extended weekends
and breaks in Berkeley

I became an expatriate wanderer
Peace Corps worker in Korea
Then taught ESL in Korea
For four years

Occasionally returning to my home
But always wanting to be elsewhere

Then back to Korea
And then Seattle for four years

Driving back and forth to the bay area
Stopping off in Southern Oregon

Eventually bought a house and duplex
In Southern Oregon

Vaguely thinking we would retire there
Some day when my rambling ways were over
Then back to Korea for three more years

Then I joined the Foreign service
And my wife the military

And I wandered the world again
Always somewhere
Always dreaming of my next somewhere
Never there
As I was a permanent expat

And a diplomat to boot
Never a local

But never really felt I belong there
Or in the America

That was becoming more and more
A foreign land

The longer I stayed away
I stayed on in DC for almost ten years

Off and on
But never really felt
that I belong there

I was too West Coast in my heart
And DC seemed to be
Just a place to stay
In between travels

Stayed in Thailand
Then later India
And Eastern Caribbean
And later Spain

Traveled to 45 countries
Lived in ten

And now I am retired
Still torn between

living the expat life
In Seoul, Korea

And returning to the West Coast
And occasionally back to DC
and Florida as well

And I wonder
Where do I belong

Where do I belong

Other than wherever
My wife and I end up

Neither here nor there
Half way there

And so is that my fate
Never to really belong

Never to have roots in the ground
Always wanting to be somewhere else

Always a stranger in my native land
And a stranger in my other home
Across the sea

There is no answer to these questions
As the rambling urge comes again
And I prepare to move yet again
Hoping someday I will be

Somewhere where I can stop
These rambling blues

And really be there

The End