Too late he slept, the night had fled
As windows turned to gray
And wind-borne ghosts circled his bed
While wolves began their play
They mocked him softly all the while
He moved, but did not wake
Dark shadows swam with glinting smile
Upon the darkened lake
Fierce riders thundered with a scream
As phantoms filled the room
And sly hags wove the nightly dream
Upon the magic loom

I was born before the earth was formed
In misty shadows in the lee
Of giant gods who sheltered me
While all about me stormed
My mother was a flickered light
My father held me in his palm
And told me of the sudden calm
That came only at night
When howling wind that never ceased
Blew rain as hard as silver beads
And carried with it magic seeds
That formed both man and beast
There came the time the night so long
Was sundered by the golden beams
That stirred the gods deep in their dreams
To sing to me a song
That told the tale of things to come
Of grace and beauty, laughing joy
And said that I, now but a boy
Would calculate the sum
Of barefoot angels as they danced
On moors where flowered broom stood high
As angel wings reflected sky
A silent I entranced
The gods sang that when time was near
That angels would upon my death
Dance for me on my final breath
And so I have no fear
I smiled and then I whispered aye
And in the sterile hospice room
The angels danced in flowered broom
White wings reflecting sky

Another mass shooting, this time in a small Texas church, before that the New York City bike path and before that Las Vegas, and so on, back into what seems endless time. Every time there is a mass shooting, Las Vegas or Sandy Hook school, or any other atrocity, the shooter’s friends and neighbors say they can’t believe it, he was such a nice, quiet guy, always pleasant, give you the shirt off his back and so forth and so on. But we never know what goes on inside a person’s head until the dead pile up

They say he was a nice guy, mild
Inside his head was deuces wild
Will we find out that as a child
He tortured neighbors’ cats?
How did he get those guns inside
A hotel from where people died
And screamed and ran and fell and cried
Like someone swatting gnats
The term ‘lone wolf’ is just a trope
Designed to maintain the slim hope
That damages are small in scope
And candles will suffice
But wolves all hunt in ordered packs
Coordinate their fierce attacks
And so we must never relax
For life rolls with the dice

I wander through the dusty room
My mind enclosed by distant past
Dark furniture lost in the gloom
Ghosts whispering it could not last
So bright the glow of golden days
When all we wanted seemed so near
We counted not the many ways
The end would come for things held dear
So rich we were that those in need
Were given riches beyond worth
To caution words we paid no heed
We all were kings at time of birth
‘Tis painful now to see the way
The world’s become such bitter ground
We once thought gold but now is clay
The golden time we thought we found
I wander through the dusty room
That is my youth now in decay
And weep for flowers not in bloom
That once were here but could not stay

I sit on sunny window sills and dream of mice and men
And how we’re all the same in many ways
Outside a bird is warbling every song he knows again
That is how he spends his minutes and his days
A squirrel is racing up a tree, he seems to have such fun
While I behind the window pane look on
Not envious or jealous as I sit here in the sun
For come the end of day they’ll all be gone
To where I have no knowledge and in truth I do not care
Tomorrow at the window I’ll be here
To look out at the world so bright, so elegant, so fair
A world so far and yet again so near
A window sill is made for me and all who share my world
For God has made us, each and every one
And I content to sit and watch, so delicately curled
Upon my window sill in golden sun

He lies abed these sleepless nights
And thinks of many things
Of all the many wondrous sights
That each tomorrow brings
The windows turn from dark to gray
The birds are now awake
To celebrate the newborn day
As sunlight paints the lake
Now fully light, the woods ablaze
With autumn’s brilliant hues
He rises and he turns his gaze
To other wondrous views
A pair of deer walk by the fence
Unhurried, unafraid
A squirrel’s tail switches, quite intense
Annoyed by the parade
Meridian comes much too soon
And life slows to a walk
All sleeping now that it is noon
Except the red-tailed hawk
Who circles lazily at height
For the unwary prey
And soon the afternoon is night
As dusk replaces day
The starlit wood stands crystal clear
The moon begins her climb
A hidden owl says naught to fear
It’s midnight says the chime
He sighs and wanders off to bed
Insomnia to fight
He doesn’t mind the daytime dread
But oh the lonely night

The gods and goddesses of ancient Greece did not have human blood, but a magic fluid called ichor, whose boiling point seemed to be very low since they were always threatening to destroy the Earth and all in it. I think we are at that point again, where our behavior has caused the ichor of the gods to reach the boiling point, where the gods and goddesses decide to end it all and start over.

The Gods would often bicker
Over who had better ichor
While the Goddesses looked on and often smirked
Lesser mortals suffered greatly
Keeping mansions clean and stately
For Elites who ruled but never ever worked
Life was good for those on top while
Those below cried out to stop while
Judges cried in horror to see written laws
Disobeyed in certain quarters
Causing unrest and disorders
That caused both the Gods and Goddesses to pause
And declare the world was over
As they sowed the fields with clover
And the buildings and the highways turned to dust
Showing life is just a flicker
Should it ire the Gods’ ichor
For the Gods spare not the good from the unjust

The crow pecked softly on her window pane
And called her from her deep and peaceful sleep
Entranced, she watched the crow her bedroom gain
In darkness deeper than the darkest deep
She rose and followed to the tower stair
To far above the battlement below
She felt the gentle wind upon her hair
And felt the dark black shadow of the crow
The fall seemed dreamlike to her sleeping mind
So still the sound of gently falling snow
She touched each flake and let the dream unwind
As in the deep black darkness smiled the crow

The nest was full, it’s time to go
A nudge, a gentle push
The fledgling, dazed, upon the ground
Sought shelter in a bush
Well here I am, the youngster thought
But where is mom and dad?
I’m safe for now from that tom cat
But things are looking bad
This branch I’m on is swaying like
A hurricane passed through
Enough to make a fella sick
And scared of falling too
The ground it seems so far away
And what was that I heard?
Is it the cat? I’m getting scared
Thank goodness it’s a bird
Just sitting on the bird bath lip
And now he flies away
But pretty soon I’ll get my wings
And maybe it’s today
It looks like it is gonna rain
I’m stuck here on this leaf
It’s getting dark and now I’m wet
It’s all beyond belief
I’m cold and wet and in the dark
I’m scared, is that that tom?
THERE’S SOMETHING HERE! IT’S AFTER ME!

Oh phew! It’s only mom

We are losing many things that once were sacred, like respect for the flag, the sacredness of life, the knowledge and love of country and our history and, not least, the loss of the unspoken understanding of the sanctity and holiness of marriage. I spoke to a sex doll recently and she said,

For wholly marriage I am made
Not sex doll for your pleasure paid
Man come in store say blond hair Dutch
Saleslady say to him how much
He buy and carry me across
A threshold showing who is boss
Guests cheer and clap and is so nice
They throw on me some GM rice
In house a small man nod his head
He say some words and we be wed
Guests kiss me then have cakes and ale
Is strange how all the guests be male
At marriage night man sit and cry
Say user’s manual be why
Is not in English, he not read
He look at me, he cry and plead
I say I will be happy please
To teach him read the Japanese
She smiled and turned and walked away
I watched the brilliant sunshine play
On golden hair that made her Dutch
And warm blue eyes that said so much
Framed by arched eyebrows stark and bold
Above her epicanthic fold
I thought I’d get me one of these
As soon as I learn Japanese