We fight the good fight

when most folks have given up

even though we face long odds.

~

Long odds are better

than no odds at all so we’ll

continue to fight.

Yet another day

to sweat our way through, hoping

for a cooler tomorrow.

~

Why do I suspect

all these great shenanigans

are all just smoke and mirrors?

~

He’s a wannabe

magician who is playing

tricks on you and me.

Awakened by cats

who didn’t get the message

that this is a day of rest.

~

Cats and dogs don’t care

about our concept of rest

so long as they get their food.

Passion has its place

but that place should never be

a tool to cudgel allies.

~

Who would want to be

an ally of anyone

who thinks cudgeling’s okay?

Next he’ll want to change

the names at our borders to

Trump North and Trump South.

~

Neither North nor South;

He’s craving one “Trumpica”

from pole to tropical pole.

Of all the places

that damned wasp could choose to sting,

why the scar on my right knee?`

~

Perhaps that spot just

looked like a lot less work would

be needed to make his point.

My how those deer run

when they catch sight of Knox

and me from afar.

~

Deer, like some people,

react with instinctive fear

when they see a big dog near.

Sleeping late is great,

until folks become irate

when the hour grows too late.

~

And who among us

has not overslept and made

someone quite upset?

Hummingbirds flutter

among the blossoms, pausing

to taste their nectar.

~

Pausing to enjoy

all the things not made by man

is an act too oft ignored.

Cleaning up messes

from yesterday road trip

occupied my feeble mind.

~

Your hands. were busy

and it was probably time

to give your heart and mind rest.

Nothing much to do,

no place I have to go, so

the mind went to sleep.

~

On the road at dawn,

in perpetual motion

toward pumpkintude at ten.

Living with nature

has an unexpected cost;

critters munching auto parts.

~

All good things come with

a price and one we are more

than willing to pay.

Circumstances change,

often in a heartbeat, but

we are much slower.

~

There is a delay

between when changes happen

and when our hearts feel the beat.

Casual malice;

the emotional dress code

for modern diplomacy?

~

Yes, and see how it

fails to address critical

issues and real distress?

Saunas have their place,

but it seems they have laid claim

to the entire outdoors.

~

Tropical climates

invade the temperate zones;

and yet, climate change is myth.

Clutter and chaos,

not only describes my home,

also my country’s psyche.

~

We have much to learn

from those who honor both land

and inhabitants with care.

They say it’s better

late than never. I hope that

that applies to poems.

~

To those who await

the wisdom of these scribings,

I say, “Trust more in yourselves”.

From icy Greenland

to the swelter of Hormuz,

has his appetite no bounds?

~

When fast food or praise

isn’t available, he

rotates between hot and cold.

Failure to refill

her empty bowl resulted

in loud, indignant meows.

~

Perhaps those meows

are, in fact, angry growling

of a giant empty void.

When business jargon

permeates pedagogy

students are commoditized.

~

Education’s worth

can not be measured in terms

of dollars and cents.

It must feel great to

know that you were useful as

a presidential decoy.

~

I, for one, would not

hazard very life or limb

for a Decoy President.

Dystopian tales

pale in the light of events

some swear media invents.

~

Trump’s dystopia

is no media fiction.

It’s Maga reality.

Returned home and was

greeted with a wagging tail

and two sullen cats.

~

A greeting mixed bag

perhaps the best to be had

in a house of dogs and cats.

Cut watermelons;

refresh on this summer day,

unless you’re behind the knife.

~

Our experience

varies according to

both position and placement.

With no apparent

schedule, the sea comes and goes

all on the wind’s whim.

~

Wind and wave and tide

move without our involvement,

nudging us to harmony.

Slaves to the machine,

its digital cancer grows,

gulping power, water, souls.

~

Is there such a thing

as slavery by choice or

are we powerless?

Softly the breeze blows

gently teasing the ocean

and nearby palm trees.

~

Still and stifling,

dripping under rising sun,

nary a breath moves. Waiting.

Sometimes tough choices

leave a bad taste in our mouths.

Why is adulting so hard?

~

Being an adult

can be hard, especially

if we forget how to play.

Reminiscing brings

to light differing takes on

a past shared with each other.

~

Memory filters

through the layers of our lives

absorbing trace elements.