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Sometimes, I Prune

sometimes
I prune
things that were once 
live
vibrant
once having meaning and value
got sick and died along the way
before succumbing
reached out their infested limbs to
infect other well-meaning branches
live
currently having meaning
value
purpose

sometimes
I prune
before the sickness turns my green into a sad 
morbid yellow
then
a blackness of death
spreading branch to branch
and eventually
killing the entire tree
which was once vibrant
meaningful
full of purpose
which is the end of me

sometimes
I prune
but before I do
every attempt is made to revive
to survive its sickness
maybe remove a leaf
here or there
I owe it that
because it once had meaning
purpose
once a part of the big picture
part of the trunk<...

I Would (An Anniversary Thing...)

I would
take the same path I once took in younger years
scattered
littered with thorns
gravel
broken glass
boulders
small stones
slowly working my way through the labyrinth
feeling my way through the dead ends
until I found the right path
the exit
at the end
would find you there
waiting for me

I would
give up my simple minded vacation plans
just a day of fighting traffic to get to the Jersey shore
hardly a day of relaxation
to pack and plan a year in advance
fly through the friendly 
cloudless skies
landing next to a cruise ship port
next stop
sun
sand
sangria
to my adopted home of Jamaica
among other tasty
Caribbean destinations

I would
stand by your side again and again
tears and/or rain clouding our vision
together
sending loved ones ba...

The Pen Has Super Powers

poetry page one
I'm reporting what I see
poetic Clark Kent

Sloe Gin Fizz

Teddy Pendergrass
close the door and lights turned off
how prom night ended

Preacher's Kid Blues

heading the call and
we snuck out of Sunday School
parents in nine months

Ready In Five Minutes

once was hard pasta
she cooked and turned me into
warm Chef Boyardee

Pallet

she is a rainbow
Really loves the color blue
but ain't got the blues

The Rich White Men News Report (This Ain't CNN)

they will all read this aloud
gun sounds
repeating rounds
mass bolting from the starting blocks
tanking of financial stocks
the race to the NY Times
prime time booking
plugging their lamps into every conservative news outlet
everyone looking
until their midnight light shines over every Gotham City
my god
even Batman thinks it pretty

then comes the screams
how can I write this piece of slanderous diatribe?
I am such a verminous scribe
delete this from every textbook in school with the quickness
do not infect our vulnerable young with this sickness
remembering old Hollywood movie times taking liberty with every script
the truth never really matters
as long as the ticket sales are strong
opening night comes with limousines
lean
black and long

pretty stars and red velvet ropes and carpet
jewelry
...

The God's Honest Truth

I had to wise up over the years

there was a question I had rolling around inside of my head
like dice in a crap game
needing an answer
real bad

it took a lot of thought for me to seek out an authoritative source for the answer I needed

I hedged on asking the preacher
who would
sho nuff
quote me everything from
Genesis to Revelations
and leave me to ponder more questions than what I started out with

couldn't ask the politician
who would reach up into his cabinet
open a jar of canned speeches
and melt my ear drums with historic words and analysis
designed to dazzle
confuse
and unsatisfy

I even went to a neighbor
and got answers to questions
other than the one I needed an answer for
wondering how my question
my picture
and a myriad of solutions to my question
appeared the following morning in...

Out Of Mind, Out Of Sight

out of mind
out of sight
was what you said last night
as the light was turned off
and I walked away shackled in shameful handcuffs
skillfully placed when I wasn't looking

out of sight
was what we used to be
strutting our stuff across the stage
like when James Brown was all the rage
back in the day
we were the soul couple #1
but when the performance was done
the curtain came down
and no one called for an encore

out of mind
is what I was
and what I am today
walking past me without a word to say
and a cold look
penetrates my being
and what I'm seeing is
snow melting slowly
uncovered
the uneven pavement
with last summer's trash
still piled up beside the gutter

out of sight
what I once felt for you has been packed
neatly stacked in a box
set lovingly in the ...