Raising Cain

You, there! 

Once a child, now adult.

Pointing fingers.

Pushing limits

Blaming others all the way.

Look in a Mirror

You were the creator

The person who decided,

Never willing to accept

Responsibility for what's done.

Always believing

You had a right 

We "held too tight".

Never there to help.

Always there to criticize.

Causing havoc growing up.

Getting drunk.

Flipping a car.

Totaling completely.

Laughter, probably

With your friends

We absorb costs.

Should have put

Your "Axx" in gear

Believing it was"funny".

No acceptance of responsibility.

Anger is your "go to"

Blaming others for your choices.

Two family members died.

Waiting for you to apologize.

You'll have accountability one day.

For all you've done "along the way".

Conflicting Views.

Out of Loss,                                                                                                                       We can be Found.

Surrounded by Water,                                                                                                     We can Die of Thirst.

This won't be the last time;                                                                                                 It wasn't the first.

Where is my Focus?                                                                                                     What's in my Brain?

Right on top?                                                                                                                     Or buried deep?

Think I'm awake?                                                                                                               See I'm asleep.

Often Daily Life                                                                                                                   Is One Big Drain

On my time.                                                                                                                  Full of pain.

Always focused                                                                                                                   On another day

Is there, though?                                                                                                                 Or will there be?

A time that's mine?                                                                                                             How long must I wait and see?

Start To Finish

Snow and Sun.                                                                                                               Ice and Rain.

Walk and Run.                                                                                                             Feel the pain.

Broken heart.                                                                                                                   Mended wrist.

Which hurts more?                                                                                                             When you tug and twist?

He said this.                                                                                                                       She said that.

More like a disagreement.                                                                                             Between dog and cat.

I'm right!                                                                                                                           You are wrong!

I know your kind.                                                                                                                 So, run, go and  hide.

You talk the talk.                                                                                                               Never walking the walk.

You think I'll sway?                                                                                                             And lean your way?

How wrong you are!                                                                                                         You'll run long and far!

You don't know me at all!                                                                                                   I know how to fall.

It hurts for a time.                                                                                                             Then we rewind.

In the end it was best.                                                                                                         That's why we have the test.

Better to end.                                                                                                                     Than to never begin.

Run away, anywhere.                                                                                                         Just never stop to stare.

Stop The World

From walking and talking,                                                                                                 We move into space.

To occupy what                                                                                                                 We claim as our place

As part of the massive                                                                                                     Whole human race.

Some walk, others run.                                                                                                     Some trip, several fall.

It's how we find our "selves"                                                                                           Even when backed into a wall.

We plan and we fret.                                                                                                       Always feeling we've left.

The path seems to turn                                                                                                   Our feet seem to burn.

We've walked and we've run.                                                                                         Through Rain and Hot Sun.

Ourselves go, seek to find.                                                                                               With never, ever, enough time.                                                

WHAT IF we chose another way?                                                                                   To measure each and every day?

We stopped measuring,                                                                                               Comparing  and judging.

Would the world actually stop spinning?                                                                           If for once we simply turned away? 

Simply put, enjoyed the day, today?

Same Old Song

How far will you go?                                                                                                   What paths will you make?

Does your age group create?                                                                                         Or does it eliminate?

Will you rise to the top?                                                                                                   Pulling out all stops?

Mom and Dad pave your way?                                                                                     Do they still "have the say"?                                           

Is where you live a key?                                                                                                   Does it set you free?      

Who will hold out their hands?                                                                                     To cushion your fall?    

Pick you up?                                                                                                                  After giving your all?                                            

So much has changed?                                                                                                 It's a different world today?

Are the words different?                                                                                                Same Old Song?

Where did it get others?                                                                                                 Did they survive "life's game"?

Will you walk or run?                                                                                                       Stand still or move around?

What's your purpose?                                                                                                   Will you finish or "drop out"?                                          

Same Old Song.                                                                                                               With a different beat.                                                                                                       We all carry around. 

Split and Run

We're so naive                                                                                                                   When it comes to kids.

We think it's "forever"                                                                                                          At least as long as we live.

Parents are important to needs.                                                                                         To eat, play and grow.

Like all animals --                                                                                                         The "newbies" learn and go.

Time passes quickly.                                                                                                   They move away.

Come home to visit.                                                                        Seldom to stay.

Or if they do,                                                                                                                   It's to use and to snooze.

They're still on their way.                                                                                               They search "What to do today.?"    

Our eyes were set on future times.                                                                               Their focus is on what can be "mine".

They dream so much.                                                                                                         They lose track of time.

Tomorrow is always another day.                                                                                       What difference now to sit and play?

Fingers scrolling, following,                                                                                           Eyes fixed and glowing.

Believing they'll find                                                                                                 Whatever they lost or "left behind".

So many believe                                                                                                           Life is theirs to control

Are we headed again.                                                                                                       To being told and to Serve?

Is that the only way to remove                                                                                         The kids who think they're "nerds"?

Who sit and dream far past their time                                                                         Believing the "right answer" shines

Simply because . . . It's Online!

Gabber Grabber

Sit down anywhere.                                                                                       Parade will start soon.

Look over your shoulder.

Grab a quick snack.

 

Finger and thumb ready?

Begin the “channel search”.

.

Like your Grandparents

You become mesmerized.

 

Food on the side

Eyes on the prize.

 

No. No. Really? 

No. No. Yeah! That’s it!

 

Focused and oblivious.

Living for the “ah ha moment”

 

One up. 

That’s what’s needed.

 

One down. 

Always good to have

 

Who needs News.

It’s everywhere we choose.

 

Don’t need their opinions.

They rise and fall, mine remain.

 

I’ll look anyway.

It’s my amusement.

Makes my day.

The Bogey Man Book

Look out, look away!                                                                                                     The Bogey Man.                                                                                                                 Is coming your way. 

From Diapers to Sports.                                                                                                    He slithers and slides. 

All the while busy.

To list you in his Book.

 

You’ve probably seen

Him walking ‘round town.

 

Eyes focused, head down,

Looking, looking, all around,

 

Laughing and calling

He knows us by name.

 

We think he’s a friend

That’s part of his game.

 

He offers great times

If we would just “sign”

 

His Registration Book

Showing we took a “look”

 

His success in conversion

Is based on your emersion.

Life styles, life changes,

You focus and sigh

No time to think twice!

 

The Bogey Man is real.

And, knows how to steal – 

From You!

Road Runner

I sit and wonder . . .                                                                                                         Is this my Past?                                                                                                      

If it is so,                                                                                                                         How will my Future go?

So many times I feel I wait.                                                                                             When all I want is to anticipate.

Have I moved too far, too fast?                                                                                       Am I going to be first or last?

My map's kind of cloudy.                                                                                                 My eyes see unclear.

This race that I've run?                                                                                                   Will I never see the Sun?

I feel alone yet I walk beside.                                                                                       Sometimes I need a different ride.

Why do I make messes . . .                                                                                           When what I want are mixtures.

Coming to a Crossroad . . .                                                                                         I've seen this place before.

It's not one I want to visit again.                                                                               Nothing draws me through the doors.                  

If I sit down I might not go on.                                                                                       If I stand still, there's no race to run.                                    

LIfe's supposed to get easier as we age.                                                                       The challenge is we're all on a "stage".

To see and be seen.                                                                                                       To walk and to run.  

I wait and I watch.                                                                                                              Tell the world, "I've had enough?"  

It's simple, my friend.                                                                                                       I do not give up.

I walk and I learn.                                                                                                             I stop and I turn.

For me it's the journey.                                                                                                 Not how the story ends.

The Bogeyman

The Boogeyman                                                                                                               has come to call.

He sings at first                                                                                                                 to draw you in.

Then calls your name.                                                                                                       This begins "the game".

Is "it" real or is "it" false?                                                                                                   Why can't we see?                                                                     

Forgetting a name,                                                                                                             Is part of 'it's" game.

To keep you off guard                                                                                                         Is how "it" proceeds.

Generations ago,                                                                                                         You were warned and told:

"Watch out for the Bogey Man"                                                                                      He'll come, even when you're old.

Some walk, some run.

Do they know 

their time will come?

When they may face 

watching loved ones race?

To try to keep away

that unwanted face?

He doesn't tiptoe.

Walks boldly in.

Knows the way. . .

To get his "Kin".

This Bogeyman

Plots and plans.

He wants "the best"

Never settling for "the rest".

Wears a smile,

Shows interest and fun.

All the while,

He has "work" to be done.

Shaping what's said;

Offering great rewards

The Bogeyman reaches

As though offering STARS.

Our loved ones watch.

They're caught off guard.

The Boogeyman charms

All the while doing harm.

Close your eyes tight.

Wish him into the night.

You have the power.

He depends on your fright.

Facing our fears 

Even if it's with tears.

Show him the door.

Tell him -- "No More!

Cockroach & Chameleon

For many decades I have shared                                                                                       My view of life from seat and chair.                                            

Some ask how I have gotten thru.                                                                             Simple, really, I have a "view".  

If I would sit and see what's "there",                                                                                   I'd never make it to another chair.

My life would be one of sit and wait.                                                                           Never realizing I can "create".

My life, my times, my health & more                                                                               It's all behind a nearby Door. 

When I sit, I Iose perspective.                                                                                           Rising up, I gain "respectiive".                                            

Like the cockroach,                                                                                                    I will survive.

Like the Chameleon,                                                                                                           I will adjust.

Finding my place.                                                                                                     Adapting to time and space.

To dwell is to stay inside.

To explore is to seek and find.

No need to step aside or hide.

If you are stuck inside the box,

Turn round, reach inside, pull apart.

If you do not, your fate is found.

It's six feet down, underground.

You will lose simply because

You chose not to "move around".

Yearly Reflections

We join at birth.                                                                                                               We lose at death.

We set aside.                                                                                                                     For "All The Rest".

Walking in line.                                                                                                           Meeting the Hearse.

Others step forward.                                                                                                         Leading the way.

Marking the calendar.                                                                                                         Making the play.                                                                                           

Follow the Leader.                                                                                                           March, yell and curse.  

Rules are to follow.                                                                                                             Life becomes hollow. 

We lead for a short time.                                                                                             Then we sit on the shelf.

We sit and we wait.                                                                                                   Where we used to run.

Darkness coming.                                                                                                             Let's sit in the Sun.   

Everyone yelling.                                                                                                               Lost in the telling.

Don't bend over                                                                                                             You'll fall in.

Pulling you down.                                                                                                             Head in a spin.

Where are you now?                                                                                                       Where were you then?

Pedal To The Metal

AI is promoted                                                                                                                 To answer and create

To trust and believe.                                                                                                     Support and debate.

The "new kid on the block".                                                                                               It spits and it "spouts".

Often not knowing                                                                                                             What life's really about.

It takes time we're told;                                                                                                   The machine needs to see.

Just who you are now,                                                                                                     Who you want to be.

It's a work in progress.                                                                                                     Once that was YOU.

Today it's your computer.                                                                                                   What or Who is next to "answer to"?

Adjust Your Lens

Our focus often

drags us away.

 

Dreaming 

of another day

 

Continuous pause 

from work we do,

 

Always looking for 

the other shoe.

 

We walk, we run, 

we stand and sit.

 

Believing 

we don’t accept 

all that sh…

 

We’re young.

We believe 

We ARE the best.

 

Easy to dream 

without real 

responsibilities

 

We work, you say, 

each and every day!

 

You’re learning we shout. . . 

It’s what’s life is all about!

 

If you’re fortunate, 

We say . . . 

You’ll have time --

Every Day . . .

 

To ponder and pause,

To have time to think.

 

To grow and become

To eat and to drink.

 

To look forward

With desire.

 

Using the past

As your Light and Fire.  

Ordinary Day

Give it up?

Put it away?

Keep it for another day?

Preparation taking time

Future open, on the line.

See the Past.

Plan the Day.

Weigh the need.

Measure the deed.

Everyone has answers.

They'll tell you they do.

Most interesting to me

Their view is askew.

Outside. Inside.

Treasure. Trash.

You've moved on.

They've gone away.

They've moved on.

You have to stay.

Value perceived

Value received.

Take some advice.

Your treasure is their trash.

Your values for the past.

Are their targets for today.

They've collected their own

Your memories are old.

You see the best.

They covet the rest.

Your life has value.

For all to see.

Look up and away.

Your future's not to stay.