When minds are made up

and hearts are closed, there’s no way

to hold a conversation.

~

No conversation

can ever be successful

with a cement wall.

With mouths afire

in sublime satisfaction,

we depart the restaurant.

~

Sounds like a blazing

good time was had by all, but

I was left out in the cold.

Stop where you are. Look.

Look up. Look down. Look around.

Anything you missed before?

~

I miss days of bliss

full ignorance occluding

political circuses.

Standing here, in line,

performing civic duty,

thinking, “Is this all an act?”

~

An action taken

responsibly is

an act of caring.

A lot is said, but

not much is done in the House

of Non Representatives.

~

Actions speak louder.

Words spoken for the record

underscore deadly silence.

Attend the quiet

gossamers silent drifting

among branches bare.

~

It’s easy to get

caught in that web of beauty

and just stand and stare.

We never know what

the day will bring. It could make

us howl, stomp, or dance and sing.

~

Through hard work we learn

to circumscribe desires

and keep passions in due bounds.

How I long to prise

That bright sparkle, in your eyes,

Imagining my surprise.

~

Bright sparkles light up

my eyes when in your eyes I

see the sparkle of surprise.

February leaped

forward and grabbed an extra

day. What will March gave to say?

~

Knowing its history

March gives February grace

for “rendering to Caesars”.

Nobody designs

their great works for retrofit;

assuring obsolescence.

~

Instead they design

mediocre works that break

and turn a profit.

He thinks his trump card

is a get out of jail free

card. Let’s hope he’s wrong.

~

We can only hope

the era of the “big lie“

finally is in denouement.

Conflicting duties

always leave some unhappy.

Thus you know you’re in demand.

~

Overcommitting

almost always leaves some things

undone and someone upset.

She opened the drawer

of her mind today and found

it crammed full of if onlies.

~

A drawer of regret

in a chest of memories

represents a life well lived.

Kudzu and bamboo

battle for supremacy

in a place neither belong.

~

Invasive species

are everywhere. They even

besieged our own capital.

As hard as we try,

we can’t magically turn

all wrongs into rights.

~

The best they can do

is convince us that are right

are too wrong to be preserved.

Cerulean skies,

so blindingly electric…

I think I’ll go back to bed.

~

Cerulean skies,

blinding sun, or shifting gray

clouds – any excuse will do.

The days sail by but,

having missed the boat, we stand

on shore lost at sea.

~

But if we remain

on the docks, our hats in hand,

our journey makes no progress.

Have we had enough

accepting just good enough

when we never get enough?

~

Is enough ever

really enough for any

dissatisfied soul?

The Anything Goes

As Long As It’s Ours party’s

leader aptly sells sneakers.

~

Guess that old soft shoe

isn’t slaying in the plains

as it had in yesteryears.

That was the brightest

day of forecast winter storm

of this young millenium.

~

Our days grew brighter

when that forecasted storm failed

to come storming in.

Watching the birds peck

at the seed til the rail’s cleared

enchants the two indoor cats.

~

Aren’t we all enthralled,

just like those enchanted cats,

by what’s always out of reach.

Sometimes it’s the small

little things that make the big

differences and the most noise.

~

The huge, silent things

that go unnoticed also

make huge differences.

Slowly we tiptoe

through the house not wanting to

awaken sleeping cats.

~

An empty nest

allows parents to run free

from disturbing anyone.

Images run free

dancing to unknown rhythms

at the verge of consciousness

~

Escaping reason,

images can dance to their

own beat, take us to new lands.

In so many ways

our pets bring comfort and play

each and every day.

~

Their playful antics,

when they’re not an annoyance,

are indeed, comforting joys.

Disquiet, unease

rises inexorably

from an ill-considered choice

~

If only we’d felt

uneasy earlier, we

might have made a different choice.

Why do we expect

things to be different when we

do nothing to change?

~

We pray that someone

more competent than ourselves

will act in our stead!

Philosophy is

a walk on slippery rocks

where nothingness is at stake

~

At least nothing is

something even in the field

of philosophy.

A brief moment of

connection can carry us

through a stressful day.

~

Like raindrops in drought

even brief drips can yield blooms

though they may not slake the thirst

Setting sun shines sharp

between tall seaside towers

illuminating whitecaps.

~

Inland sunlight slides

over hills and trees and comes

to rest upon the still pond.