Pity the poor loser¹

Pity the poor loser
He tries so hard
    to lose
so that we'll pity him

Do you think of me?²

Do you think of me
anymore
    or any less
than I think of you?

Summer²

"What are you doing today?"
    "Nothing. What are you doing?"
"Nothing."
And we cruise away,
the car slicing through thick air
rising from exhausted asphalt
as we roam in search of nothing

Regret²

I'll not go this way again.
The path is steep
and choked with the brambles
of damned eternal memory

Shadows³

Creeping across the dust,
silently marking the hours
we spend
apart

Passion³

Sweating and straining
beneath sheets twisted and tortured
    oblivious
as snow blasts against windowpanes
with harmless fury

Rearview⁴

Who is that
with eyes at once familiar
    and strange?
I don't recall seeing them
searching and
searching still

Beloved

Hair of fire
eyes of embers
what price love
but a burning embrace

Cruelty

That I could stop
    time's arrow
when all it does
is take you further away

Until

The corner of your mouth
tucked into an arrow
pointing to eyes
that double a promise

...and oh, that curve
lurking beneath a sheathe of satin,
the slightest move
a nearly silent breath of anticipation

I am forever there
there with you
always with you
    until

You left!
You left this world
by your own hand
without a word

Nothing

There is nothing
no sum of gold
no stolen beauty
no soothing balm
no boundless land
nothing you can offer
will bring her back

Aged

A year, a month, a week,
an hour, a minute, a second,
they're all as one
to the aged

So allow them their anguish
for experiencing in a single day
    far more
than youth could possibly bear

Thief

I didn't want this
hideous, decrepit shell.
Who stole from me all of this time?
Who shall answer for this crime?

Fireflies

Earthbound stars
rising to reach their home
in tribute to the goddess Nature,
that sacred being we've forsaken

I miss my trees

I miss my trees so much I ache...
to walk among them each and every day
to listen to them, to acknowledge them
to live in silent contemplation of their wisdom

Lesson learned

The lesson learned
    regrettably
is that lessons are always learned
after the fact

Rock bottom

Hurling into the abyss,
to land here.
Surely this is the end
I would hope,
but there is yet a long way to go

They are blind

No arrows, no bullets
have I endured.
Friends assure me
my body is whole.

Alas, they are blind;
the shattered remains
they cannot see
that was once my soul.

We shall never meet

I know him well
a kindred spirit
a hand offered
a soul bared
a cherished friend
    I shall never meet
why be fate so cruel

Trip

How much does it cost
to travel out beyond the stars?
Can I afford to see
my beloved one last time?

Relief

That sheathed dagger
that unfired bullet
that blessed relief
please take me
    take me
    take me

Anything More (6 Jan 2026)

how on earth did I get here
nearing the end of a road
a road supposedly long
or would seem so I'm told

where did the miles go
the stops along the way
was i asleep at the wheel and
drove past my chances to stay

yet here i am with memories
of many things I have done
its all I have left now
of a life lived, only one

the memories they flicker right past
at an ever increasing rate
would that I'd put them on hold
but alas time does not wait

it would seem I've done quite a lot
based on the torrent of sights
they do offer some comfort
with the lengthening of nights

but it's love that brings the most joy
my chances to open my heart
with a few of the kindest of souls
until it was our time to part

i cannot deny that I've had
a life full of riches to toast
but the beauty and magic of love
is that which I cherish the most

I can't ask anything more
I can't ask anything more
no I can't ask anything more
than that

If You Really Loved Me

You appeared when my world was dark
filling the hole bored through my soul

whole

If you really love me,
If you really care,
If you really love me,
I’ll be there

Daily life is never quite as thrilling
a fact that sadly slipped my mind
willing
it all began to unwind

If you really love me,
If you really care,
If you really love me,
I’ll be there

Got a message from my lawyer
saying that the paperwork was done
for her No, I was done

If you really loved me,
If you really cared,
If you really loved me,

I’d be there
I’d still be there

It's Still You

i've been walking this lonely old road
by myself an awfully long time
and i will wonder as i round a bend
if there's anyone there i might find

sometimes i play a game in my head
what would i do if there might be
someone i happen to know
or just a stranger to me

i'm old, far too old
to be playing the game
now i'm that creepy old dude
the one at the end with no name

sitting there in the corner
at the far end of the bar
i try not to obviously stare
at all the beauties from afar

they're children to me now you know
in the december of my days
what point even looking
at marches, aprils and mays

the road impatiently awaits
for me to finish my ale
to continue a seemingly unending trek
on a one way dead end trail

i've learned not to get my hopes up
that i might find a traveling partner
this close to the end of the road
finding anyone gets ever harder

if i had my druthers
i'd rather it be an old flame
someone i used to know and love
and skip the whole stupid game

i no longer possess the time
needed to start again
especially how rusty my skills
have become since then

oh i wouldn't say no
to the prospect of a new flame
but we'd both need to be clear
about the brevity of this game

a short term affair it would be
with the focus on being a friend
there'd be little to no time for romance
as for benefits we'd need to pretend

Script

I see it in your face.
I know that I've slipped.
It's always the case.
I've read the script.

Not hard to figure out.
Our lives have been stripped.
There is no doubt.
I've read the script.

Tell me I was wrong.
Etch it on my crypt.
I've known it all along.
I've read the script.

Such a sad sight. Dead horse being whipped. There in black and white. Just read the script.