Some folks do not like changes.
Break the entire organization apart.
Resetting emotional equilibrium is the hard part.
It is time to do some spring cleaning.
Everything is covered with cobwebs and dust.
Chip away crust
Testing
One
Two
Three
Four
Shake up the beans
Rip the seams
Experimentation galore
Grab a broom
Sweep out the store.
Innovation is never a bore.
Simple devices
Erode
Democracy
TV listening to me
Complete infiltration has succeeded
Gadgets
Handle surveillance chores
No need to kick down front door
Privacy
Does not exist anymore
Choices
Choices
Choices
What should I do?
Choppy sea
Tourists gone home
Beach all for me
Everyday
I sit under the sun
Drinking
Agua de coco
With Jamaican dark rum
Should I go back and keep marching in the parade?
Play the charade
Or take U-turn
Toss
The instruction manual
On the fire
And
Watch it burn
You offer me a chalice containing truth.
Drinking
The cloudy solution
I now see all of life’s illusions.
Listening
I hear the lies.
My mind is clear.
However
The deception makes me cry.
Saigon
Restaurant
Eating
Extra large bowl of pho
Looking
Out the front glass window
I see a lady
With a hand out
Holding her child
Staring at me
Outdoor bar
Copacabana Beach
Rio de Janeirio
Two ladies
Sitting next to me
Discussing
My old torn flip flops
They say
“Very poor gringo
Not a good catch”
I interrupt and say
“I have come to Rio many times
I’m married
To a Carioca
Her advice
Is to dress down
So I do not get robbed
Always works”
One of the ladies then says
“Your wife is very smart
Dressed like a poor gringo
Also keeps Rio women away”
Overripe fruit
Falls from the tree
Rats feed ferociously
Zombies
Spinning
Round and round on the roulette wheel
Blinded
By outrageous promises
That barely provides a subpar meal
Bow down
To the new phantom kings
Worship
Like pawns on a string
Vacuum sucking up brain cells
Artificial intelligence
Taking society into the bowels of hell
Creepy and crawling
Along the path to oblivion
The technology masters’
Goal
Is to make everyone reptilian
Sushi Bar
Ginza, Tokyo
Sitting next to me
The Japanese Gastroenterologist said
“I could make much more money working in America, but cannot take the food.”
Thinking for a moment
Taking another sip of my sake
I said
“I fully understand
Japan’s outstanding cuisine
Has also ruined me”
The Gastro then said
“I’m doctor
Eat
Drink
I pay”
Lost in a desert paradise
Drinking Australian wine
Snuggling together
In our pharaoh sized bed
Covered with soft Egyptian cotton sheets
We spent the night
Engulfed in ancient history
Holes side of roof
Mama Opossum and babies
Live inside rent-free
Sitting
At the 5 star hotel bar
You begin dealing me cards
I would not feed your offers to my hogs
Nothing left to discuss
Your limo is waiting outside
I will go home on the bus
Bromeliad dies
Land replenished new pups grow
Hot wet days begin
Garbage Piles up on the curb
Filthy
Filthy
Filthy
All that is heard
The beggar sleeps hidden in the alleyway
Feed people fear
So they obey
Crawling
Out of the sewer
Politicians
Offer promises
But only give manure
Internet
Tracks every move
All thoughts known
Carry a smartphone
Constantly watched
Never completely alone
Dumb down population into mediocrity
Take away paper currency
Pay electronically
Total control is the elite’s philosophy
Lazy Saturday afternoon
Opening a bottle of pinot noir
Listening to opera
Chopping garlic
Fresh garden basil, oregano, and rosemary
Mushrooms, onions, and peppers
Vine ripe home-grown tomatoes
Ground sirloin
Sausage
Simmering
Hour after hour
Occasionally
I stir the pot
Contentment
Making homemade spaghetti sauce
Surf carving away rocks
Sun resting for the day
Alone on the beach
Time to leave
Folding towel
Walking away
No more negative thoughts
Carambola Tree
Constantly making a mess
Fruit is delicious
Sun and rain sneak inside
Shack sinking into sand
Aging just like me
Retail store wasteland
Close layoff sell online
Change or rot on vine
When will phone ring?
Feeding goldfish to keep busy
Rain falls no one calls
My car broke down today
Received
A high interest
Payday loan
No catching the bus
The mechanic
Will get paid
I work
For a dollar more
Than minimum wage
Scared
Lose sleep
About becoming homeless
Only a couple lost paychecks away
Eat no name can or box dinners everyday
I’m told
To put money aside
For my old age
Not in prison
But
Trapped
In a cage
Wife says
Men
Have too much pride
Husband says
Men’s pride
Saved women
During caveman times
Strong wind heavy rain
Ocean waves erode past
Pain gone now have clear path
Hot sand burns my feet
Eating cold watermelon
Watching seagulls fly
Leaky shower
Drip drip drip please fix me
Old home always needs some love
A picturesque night
Choppy sea who will help me?
Keep swimming forward
Closing front gate
Daylight gone tools in the shed
Spiritually well-fed
Pile of logs rots away
Mushrooms grow among decay
New vines replace old
Resentment feeds on the mold
She would ride
Her surfboard
On the monster waves
She would frequently
Tiptoe
On top of the razorblade
Worked as a bartender
Up and down the coast
One night
She tied me
To the bedposts
Had her way
Then was gone
Like a ghost
Half-asleep tree frog
Stuck on my kitchen window
Nonjudgmental friend
The prosperous
Old man
Sitting
Behind
His
Oversized
Luxurious
Desk
Meticulously
Crushing
His cigarette
Into the ashtray
Looked at me and said
“Kid
Success is easy
If you desire it
Some do
Some do not
Some are afraid of success
All the self-help
Mumbo Jumbo
Only goes so far
Put
Horse blinkers on
March, March, March
And
March some more
Until
Every muscle
Cannot move anymore”
Wet chilly morning
Crawling out of warm bed
Chickens need to be fed
Homemade vegetable soup
French bread in the oven
All-day reading books
Shattered eye glasses
Nothing makes sense anymore
Ice thawing
Below my feet
Trying to keep alive heartbeat
You offer me a weathered map
We both know
It is a trap
Speak louder
I’m having trouble hearing
You say I should follow society’s rules
What for?
All I find is locked doors
Step inside my boots
They are wet cold will feel loose
Now beg for some coins
They come to Miami
Purchase a multi-million dollar condo or two
The area has magnificent views
They do not put deed in their name
Setting up a shell company
Is how they play this game
Funds wired
From
Hong Kong, Istanbul, Sao Paulo or Dubai
Lawyers
Many times
Do not ask why
Push it out the door
All involved
Make out on this score
They wash the illicit cash
The corrupt
In the future
May have to leave motherland
FAST
Chiseled out abscessed tooth
Tossed into rusty can
Lifetime of lost dreams
You now have the fame
Nothing will slow down your train
Why so unhappy?
Sushi sake beer
Home together for New Year
Fifties easier
The Hermit Poet's Ramblings 