unattended…

old sun bleached table
retains a fine lace pattern
of a lost doily
a loved weaver’s legacy
faded image of a life

 

 

lifestyle pundits…

like your life your words
will quoted and misquoted
vanish from memory
a shallow grave resting place
paved over by indifference

 

 

illegal immigrants…

once death’s accepted
the question’s not if but when
the worrisome how
is an agenda item
paramount in some folk’s minds
but there’s an old lie
that fills our hearts with anger
eternal life myths
those promises that control
our desires and behaviors
keeping us restrained
compliant to other’s will
oh we had a choice
go against society
and live in the wilderness
or meekly comply
and go with the flow of life
sacrificing dreams
but being an outstanding
to be forgot fine corpse
with a funeral toast
praising all that you didn’t do
making you a saint
in some distant land of peace
an undocumented soul

evanescence…

the details
of
my existence
are
fading
some
replaced
with
deliberate
confusion
by
others
an attempt
to
justify
their
fading existence
details
they clearly recall
but
wish not
to
claim
much easier
to
attribute
them
to
someone else
often called
selective memory
but
once
such flaws
are
stapled onto
another’s
existence
it becomes
a form
of
assassination
but
i suppose
it
really
doesn’t matter
since
we’ll all be
forgotten
anyway

 

 

endure…

to live life nobly
stand only in your shadow
not that of others

 

 

mere existence…

seashells tossed ashore
old oceanic gravestones
appear without names
lives without their history
like nameless stones in graveyards
unengraved memories of life

nothing about location…

page with dried flowers
a lifetime of memories
compressed between words
words never spoken in life
some convenient random lines
just irrelevant sayings

as expected…

another birthday
another
day
alone
no one came
to
celebrate
no cake
no
gifts
not even a single flower
placed
upon
my grave

i’ve lived…

nothing
will be placed
upon
the earth
to
mark
that i was here
it is
by my choice
for
no one
really
looks at graves
oh
someone
may wander by
and
comment
about
a clever verse
inscribed
upon
the marble
but
it is
the inscription
that’s
recalled
not
the person
no one
ever really knew
the
person
that
housed the soul
beneath
the flesh
that’s
why
we’re not recalled
we began
as a faded image
and
death
merely bleached
what
was left
leaving
at best
a sketch
of
what
people wanted
to
believe

ain’t been a good year…

they’re taking my sister’s ashes
to the beach she always enjoyed
guess it beats being stuck inside
icu with all those damn tubes
but somehow
it’s hard to be consoled
there’s three of us left
the oldest and the youngest
and me
in the middle
the three of us
are feeling well for our age
but somehow
it’s hard to be consoled
we finally got some decent rain
and things are greening up
this was the year
she planned to visit
getting away from her city apartment
wanting to see
the famed california lifestyle
she would have enjoyed it here
all of the glitter and such
but somehow
it’s hard to be consoled
hospital did all that they could
and in fact
she had shown some real progress
but couldn’t breath on her own
the new president says
he’s really going to address
the pandemic
not like the last guy
but somehow
it’s hard to be consoled
did i mention
they’re taking my sister’s ashes
to the beach she always enjoyed