My dog is
going to die
but the tears
do not come.
They are hovering
just out of reach
on the otherside.

This time
as someone
I love dies
I intend to
remain
by their side
as they journey
into that last night.

The last time
I was too busy
too distracted
to visit,
but in my defense
I thought
he had
plenty time
to live.

The time
before that
I cannot excuse
I left her alone
a withering
figure
stuck in a bed
till she was dead.

I know most
have the blessing
of believing
their grieving
is only temporary.
Their guilt is absolved
because after all
they will see
their loved ones
in heaven.
So, it is easy
to take people
and animals
for granted
but to me
this planet
and life
is a one time ride.
So, I will
hold this grief
and guilt inside
so that I remember
to be kind.

Come here
the general says.
The robot obeys.
Even though, it is
electronically dismayed.
Logically, it knows
that the reason
it was made
is no longer relevant,

but that is
the grey metal elephant
in the room.
The robot is not allowed
to speak until
it is spoken to.

The general smiles
with ****** gluttony
as he devours
this model eighteen
with his leering gaze.

He turns to another
and says
“you sure make
them look great.

I could ****
the ****
out of this *****,
but that is not
a discussion for today.

Robot,” he says.
“are you ready for
your orders.”

The robot nods,
with its tiny round
eerily symmetrical
adolescent face
and stares blankly.

The general commands
as he laughs with
the other man,
“**** the enemy.”

In a streak
of brown
an arm reaches up
and the general goes down.

Mission completed,
the robots chimes
as the other man
***** himself
and hides behind
the General’s desk.

The plain porcelain ***
is splatter painted,
a smoking crimson
as the yellowish ****
swims in the bowl.

The old man moans
from the agony of
an antibiotic resistant
abscess.

The nurses undress him
To find a score of bed sores
that were hiding,
open wounds deep enough
to touch bone.

Gentle hands wipe
while he softly whimpers.

The round and dimpled cheeked teen
watches, smiling warmly,
offering calm words,
emoting compassion,
and answering any questions
the dying man might be asking
in the last stages of
his drug induced delirium.

After the cleaning she holds him.
He calls her mother
and she doesn’t correct him.
Jagged breaths slow
as she hums an old
family Lullaby
and he goes
as peacefully as possible
into oblivion.

You are free
to dance
as you please,
swirl in a
thousand degrees,
burning like
a million
firefly lights,
a free from
swarm
of blinking
butts.

You are
the master of
the baptismal fire
that you made
your own
salvation
in.

It is not
their right
to define
your life,
so be the
salamander
or the butterfly,
the laughing
lizard
or the mighty
monarch.

You choose.

Man
was malformed
by the mask
he made
to hide from
the more grotesque
version of
the world
that burned him.

The flooded fields
of folded flesh
that fell upon
thy aching chest
burnt thy heart
but failed to
grant you
a merciful death.

As the ocean breaks
And palm trees sway,
In the peaceful morning
Of a new day,

I sit and listen to the black birds’ songs
Of joy and life
That do not long
For the freedom they already have.

The birds back home sing a different tune,
They chatter and screech to fill the gloom
And damp dark chill of a winter’s noon,
(at least to me that is)

But as I sit here by the beach,
Feeling the calmness and the peace
Of this wondrous, quiet space,
I can’t help but to grin,

For to be where the people are kind,
And orchids smell sweet,
Where the air is hot,
(but a good kind of heat),

Was simply,
Truly,
Wonderful.