50 Words

Ode to Our Neighborhood ‘Candy Lady’

Mrs. Lawrence was our neighborhood Candy Lady

Her business was just four houses north of ours

Allowance, report card, and birthday money didn’t last long in our jars!

We’d spend most of our pay and life savings

On penny candy and afternoon cravings

I had the neighborhood Paper Route

Hundreds of dollars and dozens of dental fillings without any doubt 

Mrs. Lawrence was the reason

Summer, Spring, Fall, and Winter and every season

Everybody went to Mrs. Lawrence’s home

She even sold Ice Cream by the cone!

With a discount and word of mouth on my Paper Route, I'd advertise the going rate

Of her 'Limited Time Only' Elephant Ears for just $1 per plate!

Fried dough just like the kind they sold at the Fair

A dozen kids, each patiently sitting on the stairs if Mrs. Lawrence’s porch 

I paid for an unhoused man’s Vagrancy ticket during a layover at BWI - April 2025

My connecting fight home was delayed at BWI by three hours, so I walked to the Observation Gallery

Updating reports and responding to emails after hours earning more than my salary

A man was sleeping on a bench a few feet from me with no shoes on

The police arrived, and told him to ‘be gone’

They received 'several' complaints that he’d been loitering for hours and just needed to leave

He acknowledged the officers orders as he sighed and he rolled down his sleeve

Once the police left, he started complaining and vented his frustrations to me!

When I realized that he and I were the only folks there

I considered his experiences, and thought about how I could best show care

He said that he'd slept out in the woods last night, and got a ticket this morning from the Maryland police

$50 for vagrancy and disturbing the public peace!

He continued that this indoor location was techni...

What am I?

What animal is older than dinosaurs, but lives in the mud?

Has no ears, lungs, or blood?

But they can swim, have two stomachs, steal and own slaves, and can lift 20 to 50 times their own weight!

A few can even make honey, if they vomit nectar that they just ate!

They typically fight to the death, and are loyal to their Queen

Most take tiny naps throughout the day, but scientists aren’t certain if they ever dream

They live everywhere, except for Antarctica, and farm everything from fungi to plants 

20 quadrillion of these incredible creatures are called Ants!

Boycott Black Friday 2025

The day after Thanksgiving

I ain’t shopping at all!

I ain’t buying it!

I’m Black and it’s Friday

But to Target, Walmart, and Amazon, to he!! with you all!

No diversity, equity, or inclusion you say?

Then you’ll never get one red cent of my pay!

Only minority owned businesses, will I ever support

If I had the time and money, I’d take these ‘too big to fail’ corporations to court!

I understand if the only place you can work or or buy groceries is at Walmart 

Because you’re from a small town

But if you can avoid it at all, brothers and sisters, let’s take them ALL down!

MLK had a dream, but let’s show America the nightmare!

The time for civil disobedience is now, let’s really take it there!

Your sacrifice is easy, and participation is free

Don...

Stockbiography

A stock symbol has 1 to 4 numbers or letters

Ford is ‘F’ so it’s easy, better

The last price, low and high are just that

The total value of a company is called its market cap!

The price to earning ratio is one share divided by earnings per share in the last year

A dividend is a payout to hedge against inflation and to mitigate fear!

The 52 week highs and lows mark a stock’s performance in the past year 

If a private company offers shares for the first time

It’s called an initial public offering or IPO, so you should get in line!

If you’d like to own a part of that organization

In time if it grows in value your decision’s justification

May result in generational wealth as a manifestation 

Some dreams require ideas, time, money, blood, sweat, and tears

Or you can just buy slices of 'American&nb...

overcome with anger

I’m so apoplectic, overcome with anger

With the last inauguration, America became a stranger

Presidential pardons, millionaires and billionaires bending backs and knees

Cryptocurrency, 'AI', and inflation drives up the price of eggs and cheese

The middle class is last, replacing omelets with corn flakes and water!

My mother and wife’s past was brighter, compared to the odd future of my only daughter

Trying to make heads from tails, but my conscience asks why bother?

Wild fires burn in California, as snow falls in Louisiana

Used to be fans of Nelly and Snoop, but I deleted Doggy Style and Country Grammar 

Up is down, wrong is right

Our sticks and stones are useless, as America challenges us to automatic rifle fights

So we’re hibernating for the next 4 years, see you when the light is bright!

Death of the Gods

At the dawn of time, Gods and humanity shared the planet 

People craved understanding, respect was all the Gods demanded

Gods could do anything, but humanity wanted everything!

Beyond belief of the most powerful beings

Humanity’s free will fashioned ropes from their strings!

And overpowered, bound, and captured a trio of supreme beings

The Gods died by a simple fallacy 

Their expectations didn’t mirror their creation’s reality.

Growth Rings

I never imagined the present future back when I was a kid

Suppose that I did?

How could I possibly count all the blessings that rose to the surface?

For I found love, security and purpose

Beyond all my hopes and dreams

A kid from Indianapolis, born with middle class values and means

As I approach 50 springs

I also can’t imagine myself being nine

1985 seems like such a distant time

Even the present sometimes seems hard to understand 

The hours and days fly by so fast, its more difficult to plan

Or imagine what the next future presents will be

Like annual rings, recorded beneath the bark of a tree

So I’m writing down all my stories to help the future remember me

Perfection is a myth

An unrealized lie that causes folks to just wish

Knowing all the unknowns is the pits!

Ignorance is bliss!

Take a hundred shots, and you're guaranteed to miss!

Possibly more than you’d make

Think everybody’s better than you, please don’t take that bait!

Envy’s the thief of joy, so don’t be a statistic 

Just do your best, don’t stress and be more realistic 

If you accept this truth, you’ll evade the fangs of failure’s pain

Treat perfection like rabies, or you might just go insane!

Even the most talented artists, musicians, and athletes fail more often than not

I’d be a hypocrite if I told y’all what you shouldn’t do or ought 

Perspective, isn’t black is what the kettle called the pot?

Those who choose peace or fought 

Folks who choose to live o...

8 billion humans and 7 billion rats

There are more humans on earth than rats!

By over a billion in fact

That’s 8 billion humans to 7 billion rats

But only 700 million cats!

Goats, cows, and sheep

There are about one billion each

Scientists estimate 784 million hogs

And approximately 900 million dogs

Earth's mammal numbers are small to behold

Compared to 20 quadrillion nematodes! 

Those microscopic roundworms match the number of ants present on our planet 

Both are double the number of all other insects, but don’t panic!

In the oceans, Antarctic Krill number 500 trillion

But the deep sea bristlemouth fish many be more than a 20 quadrillion

Scientists have only discovered 10 to 20 percent of all life on our planet 

Now you may start to panic!