Death’s payment is due

Reluctant Ghost

He felt apathy and distance from them 

She, nothing but frustration and a void 

He wondered what changed

Instead of a dialog, nothing but bitterness and complaints

He felt invisible, his efforts unnoticed 

Even his daughter ignored him more and more each day

For months and years, the sentiment grew

Ever since his car accident… his presence felt… diminish 

He asked his daughter, if he was really here 

She laughed, then cried

He asked his wife to pinch him to prove that he wasn’t dreaming

She laughed, then cried

They both heard him, but never replied with words

Like a strange dream that can’t be controlled but must be experienced 

He became an extra in his own movie!

He never got sick, 

No close calls on the highway,

Nobody called or noticed him,

Our mistakes still haunt us like ghosts

We've drifted so far apart, that I often feel alone

Starting random arguments in person and on the phone 

When you’re vexed, beyond the rage, I still seek for clues and hope

That you still care enough to forgive and move on, but never, un un, nope!

Our mistakes still haunt us like ghosts 

Why fear our own creations, we should just be better hosts

Embrace our issues, air our dirty laundry, and find some common ground

I might be a dog, but I’m sad and loyal like a bloodhound

I can use my nose to find a way back to better days

I caught a scent of reconciliation, so maybe we can escape this crazy maze?

Even once we’re free, disagreements and arguments will find their way back to us again

Know even when I’m right and you’re wrong, that I’m still your friend

Nothing is ever 50/50, so why do we pretend?

T...

Now, then, and when

Among the past (then), present (now), and future (when), which is the hardest to grasp?

To my best recollection it is not the past!

The future, is either exactly what you expect, or the best or worse possible outcome

But the now, 'today' never quite ends up how you'd expect (it to) once it’s done

Trees are much more valuable than diamonds

Diamonds are worthless, so why be rich or famous?

That gemstone is so common in space, that its just called rain on Neptune and Uranus!

Search the entire universe, and guess what you might not find anywhere?

Wood, beyond earth, it is extremely rare!

Of all the elements, combinations, and things that can possibly ever be

There might not be anything quite as unique as a tree!

We're just recycled star dust

The water in your blood

Is over 4 billion years old!

The rain, sea, clouds, steam, ice, hot and cold

We're just recycled star dust

Matter may combust 

Sparks and flames change energy by time and shape

Once a great ape 

Challenged the status quo and evolved 

Genetic code

A different road

Opposable thumbs 

Communication from grunts to hums 

Ideas, tools, risk and progress

Change is anything but rest

Artificial intelligence

Ones and zeros programmed, answers on demand

All of the worlds problems and solutions in the palm of your hand 

Skynet may soon take over and ruin humanities’ plan

All because we got greedy and lazy

Consuming billions in cash, megawatts of energy, and lakes of water, but here’s what’s really ‘crazy’

AI can’t wipe your behind!

Your keys, wallets, the remote, lost socks, AI can’t help you find

AI can’t wash dishes, scrub toilet bowls, or dust and vacuum stairs

It can solve math problems, write a term paper, and answer trivia questions, but who cares!

It can’t teach my daughter how to swim, or pull a splinter from my finger

AI can write a song, but it can it make me a better singer?

It seems more like a gimmick, than a useful tool

If AI can do your homework, then what’s the point of s...

Rise and Shine!

Up early with the dog walkers and birds 

Thinking about my goals, writing down ideas and words

As the sun rises another day begins

Yesterday doesn’t matter, losses and wins

News, attitudes, and weather we can’t control 

The weight of the world demands a toll

The future is a mystery, what challenges and opportunities lie ahead?

You won’t find out, until you get out of bed!

To become a worldwide known unknown

I’d like to be anonymous and wealthy 

Like Bansky and Satoshi

Stealthy but moxie 

Creating art and wealth with proxy

Rather than being mediocre or obscure

With modest means and influence, mostly unsure 

If my ideas were ever worth the time

And effort to chip away at and mine

So thousands, then millions, and billions spent time and money on my whims

Reference often, go into debt, risk their lives and limbs

Just to obtain my creation

Something so strange and special, it causes instant elation

Something that haunts you like Frankenstein 

A terror so charismatic it stole the scientist’s last name and design!

To frighten and delight for generations in time

Most don’t know the woman who wrote the book or the character who brought the monster to life

To become a worldwide known unkn...

Megatron and Me

We was playing with our transformers

1984, outside just having some fun

His was a semi, mines was a gun

Police lights flashed, so we both started to run!

Cops thought I was packing some real heat!

We split up in alley, playtime became a track meet!

Transformed my gat back into Megatron real quick

My friend and Optimus Prime were able to successfully dip!

But me and Megatron failed to give the pigs the slip 

Still hot on my trail, I stashed Megatron in the trash with a flip 

Collar snatched, my heart sank when the ground left my feet

The pigs squealed, ‘Hey little punk, where’s your illegal piece?'

I spit on the ground and kept them both guessing

Watching those TV shows, I learned my lesson

Didn’t say nothing, per my Miranda rights

Just then, a buzz above illuminated the street lights

The second cop copped his watch, and they let me l...

Pull apart the art from the folks

The difference between pathetic and apathetic it’s hard to conceive 

The media just misleads

Product consumption and various misdeeds

While all the vitriol gets soaked up by our seeds

Your selection for the election

Lost, why do the rich and famous need more protection?

Cost, the transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich

Ask questions, when the future forgets the past, life’s a !

And then you die, so why do we even try to explain?

When the authorities show us nothing but disdain?

Pain, is just frustration leaving your body, but can you sustain?

Hundreds of brilliant men and women tried to complain 

Just to be be called crazy, converted, or even assassinated

Then later celebrated

Those black heroes who died young, been tried, or overdosed 

Went from young gifted and black to comatose 

Used...