Empty Cans

Today I choose not to engage
in the communal festival
of shared cyber rage..

It’s not that my anger has dissipated
or that this friction addiction within
has been satiated..

I just got hit by the realization
that the constant conflict
churning these pointless
circular arguments
is a no win situation
which only widens the schism
between family and friends..

All this shit breeds is mutual resentment
and a major sense of inner emptiness
with only our divisive opinions
to keep us company

Don’t Tug On My Blanket

All the answers you seek
to riddles that confound
are contained somewhere
in the loose solution fragments
rattling around
and bouncing off the walls
of your muddled brain..

Take the time
to sort
and collate
these jumbled thought cells
in an orderly progression..

Then just connect the dots
and allow the clarity
now staring you in the face
to lead you through the darkness
of what was once ignorance

Sobering Thoughts

Took a swig of something strong
cause it needed to be drunk
to get me out of my head for awhile
and fly above our daily muck..

Tricked my brain into having some fun..

A joyous condition oft frowned upon
by judgmental fools and moral hypocrites..

In my liberated inebriated condition
I blurted words without my usual hesitation
cause chemically emboldened me
no longer feared the monsters of recrimination..

Did things I never would have done
due to past indoctrination
under the guise of religious education..

How glorious it was to be free
even if only temporarily..

But of course the morning after came
accompanied by harsh repercussions
compounded by self induced shame..

Weakness rode in with my hung over state
as I now sought answers
for my perceived transgressions

Alcohol of course was there to blame
like a steady reliable fall guy..

Letting me hide behind the alibi
of personal inebriation..

Now that I’m back to my norm
of being a morally repressed
uptight white guy
I come attached with this disclaimer
when I binge and sin again
as is my decadent nature

Non Rhetorical

What’s wrong with me?

A multiple choice question definitely..

One of those desperate

self indulgent queries

that defects like me

always seem to ask..

Maybe we’re just deep sea fishing

for some sort of life validation

that behind this smoke screen

we’re really OK..

So the next time

I post this inquiry please feel free to lie..

The life you save may very well be mine

Edge Busters

Every contradiction
we struggle with daily
carries the seeds
of future catastrophe

If we can just take
a few steps back
and manage to see
the full landscape view
our future begins to make
big picture sense
sans distractions of proximity

It’s these snarling beasts existing
on the margins of the periphery
in the shadows of anonymity
who feed on our ignorance
that ultimately
ends up wrecking us

Down Bound Train

Waiting patiently on cathedral steps
for the impending Apocalypse…

True believers commiserate
about their glorious afterlife plans
post Rapture
after a pissed off Lord
dispenses man’s fiery fate…

Airlifting out only true believers
from the pit of the damned
which will be quite the packed place
filled with pissed off sinners
and very shocked atheists

Worst in Show

I took the contrarian position
when our self pity party
devolved into a boo hoo competition..

Rather than playing can you top this
in the side by side
my life stinks worse than yours comparison test
I chose the more noble option
of counting my blessings
[meager as they may seem]
and think of those truly less fortunate instead

Thought Break

Windows of opportunity
close with hyper speed
much like everything else
these microwave days…

Somber reflection time
has been accelerated
and crammed
into the blurred out sections
afforded knee jerk reactions
compounding the frustrations
of modern fractured communications…

The tyranny of swift processing
makes us long
for a little buffering interlude
which allows us the chance
to catch our collective breath

Ode to Peacocks

I really despise
self indulgent girls and guys..

Could do without all that vanity
and selfish proclivities..

And yet..

My admiration for their audacity
always doing their own thing
against the hurricane head winds
of stifling conformity
that keeps we cowards in line
is the ultimate conflict
of mixed feelings
I’ll never come to grips with..

Unless..

I can find the inner courage
to move past my judgmental
action inhibiting inclinations
and adopt the philosophy
of grudging acceptance

This Ain’t Easy

I confess I am from another time
all the way back to the last century..

Many of my views no longer fit
current acceptable narratives..

Concerning gender especially
from the bygone days
when only two held sway..

This whole fluidity concept
is difficult for me to accept
though choosing what you wanna be
is a freedom I really should embrace..

You may also say
holding doors for ladies
is condescending toxic masculinity..

That’s OK..

I should do it for everyone I guess..

Maybe this is evolutionary progress
for outmoded males like me
but I will never accept men who whine
as is the political norm today..

My role model John Wayne
would never approve
of the current Republican Party
with their daily grievance cacophony..

The Duke would be aghast
that the undisputed chief
of his former political tribe
is such a vain poser
who wears too much makeup
and plays the victim perpetually..

Objection is the new currency..

Complaints without action..

There’s never a better plan
cause it’s so much simpler
to continuously make demands
than it is offering up solutions
which may never pan out..

Always easier to destroy than create..

The curse of man
and what use to pass
as the myth of real men