I know what it's like to be called *****
You are not alone with this badge, brotha
Saturday is for you and me
The victims of profanity
No free ice cream, flowers, or the otha

Childhood
Innocence

Teenage
Awareness

Twenties
Indestructibility

Thirti­es
Caution

Forties
Confidence

Fifties
?

That boy ain't too much to look at.
During sports, on the bench he sat.
In any game, he'd always lose.
But ****! He sure could sing The Blues.

In school, he barely made the grade.
His memory was sure to fade.
In weekend dives, he made the news.
'Cause ****! He sure could sing The Blues..

All of the pretty girls around
Chased him in the clubs in the town.
He's not the boy fathers would choose.
'Cause ****! He sure could sing The Blues.

He couldn't grasp the fame and crowd.
His nerves lept as they screamed so loud.
Got his courage from too much *****.
But ****! He sure could sing the blues.

He has risen
Praise be to God
Gramps passed
Death to Billy
Cancer to Linda
Rejoicing in sadness

My wife I'll love, for years to come
But if she would ever pass or leave me
I'll audition a new love, no three
I'll challenge the ladies to a game of fun

I'll make my own game of "Chopped"
They'll cook, I'll taste and evaluate
I must chop one, I won't hesitate
From three to two, they'll be cropped

I have a sophisticated palette or taste
Burgers, pizza, steaks, potatoes sweet
Chefs are ecstatic, pleasant, and neat
Yet I need to stay slender in the waste

Who am I trying to fool or trick
Women won't compete to feed me
If I want to eat, there is one solution I see
"You will have to make a phone call, Slick"

             I've "been chopped!"

I'm not a wise man
And I'm not as old as the sea
I do what I can
To figure out life for me

Life is the moments we make
The meaningful ones we never forget
And the ones that seem like a waste
Breath in each moment, so there are no regrets

Tell stories, both good and bad
Find entertainment in the benign
Be proud of the mistakes, not sad
Because this life I'm making is all mine

I, like a robin in late fall, flew south
To escape memories of northern snows

I discovered mountain vistas, breathless
Oceans as warming as tropical seas
Food made with love and fresh ingredients
And old friends whom I met for the first time

The snows will fall as sure as I'll miss ya'll
Yet the heat of Dixie forever warms my soul

Jocular word play
Adroit syllabic patterns
Effulgent world views

Twenty-five years ago
Upon the cold driven snow
I dreamt of future days
Of us in a summer haze

Seasons were born then passed
Our weathered love didn't last
Another summer now
You're still in my head somehow

Days gone by, all grown up
Once dreamt of sipping the cup
The season brought me wisdom
Dry mouth, yet breathing freedom

In the winter of my youth
I thought that you were truth
Now in the summer of life
I'm glad you aren't my wife

Haunted
Scared
Spooked
Rushing
Tripping
Petrified
Grasped
Wakened
Sweating

She haunts me still!

Remember me when I'm gone as a friend
Not as a brother, father, or lover
If my epitaph reads friend, in the end
I'll be proud of time spent, when I ascend

:                                                    i  o  n
    ­                                             t                   t
                                             o                         i
                                         m                               o
                                     e                                        n
                      ­                                                               a
                              n                                ­                          l
                           a
                                                               ­                                   r
                    s       ­                                                                 ­        o
                 I                                                                ­                         l                                                r.
             ­                                                                 ­                                  L                              ­   e
         e                                                                ­                                         e                     t                            W
      f                           ­                                                                 ­                     r    coas                                        h
  i           ­                                                                 ­                                                                 ­                                 L                               ­                                                                 ­                                                                 ­                         
   y                                   ­                                                                 ­                                                                 ­              d    o
            
                         e
                e                k                             ­                                                                 ­                        o      p
            s                                           ­                                                                 ­                      o                     -                    ­  -
                                                             ­                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            l                                d ­                                                                 ­                                                                 ­                                           e
w e                                                 e  m  o  t  i  ­o   n   a  l                                                             ­                         
              e

                     r                             m
                           o            o                                                   ­                                                       i  o
     ­                                                                 ­                                                                 ­       t                    n
                                   ­                                                                 ­                                     o                           a
                                                       b   y                                                                ­      m                                 l
- L   o   o   p   s                                          b   e   c   o   m     i   n    g       e                                           l
                                                             ­                                                                 ­                                                y


e   n  r   a  p   t  u  

r   e    d                            i     n                                                           sports?????????????????????­??????

Heat consumes my energy
Humidity soaks my spirits
September's sin saturated
In embers' smoldering smoke
Steam invades the south
As moisture soaks the thread
Gasps my weary mouth
Of Hellish days of dread

Weekend in Jersey
It's baby Sin City, but
Daddy wont sin, much

Sensual rains dance
Down the curves of her mountains
Her valleys rejoice

Strident ~ I can be harsh
Uxorious ~ I am compliant with my wife
Corpulent ~ A  bit too much for cycling well.
Kudos ~ I receive accolades occasionally
Sagacious ~ wise enough to know
                      I have nothing to complain
                                         About
                       Because my life S.U.C.K.S.

I'd
Like
To
Describe
Your
Beauty
But
You
Are
Ineffable