when you have the feeling
the world is going on without you
no matter what you think or say
     or write
it’s better that you take
backward a step  or two   or three
look at yourself and what you’re doing
and simply cool it

you may agree with it or not
the world keeps turning
life is going on

unless you seriously want a change
and start a revolution

She rolled her brand new electric car.
Well she was aiming to turn over a new leaf.

The man at the studio doesn't like us

we aren't pretty as the teens
not dazzling like the newly weds
our faces are pretty grim
smiles are once a river
foreheads dry riverbeds
eyes hold no commotion
but he does it for money
and winds up quick.

We walk to the river
where under the grey February sky
she plays with our reflections
babbling and breaking us
into unreadable pieces.

Though this world may shiver and shake
Feel the quake from its mistakes
Not knowing what it's supposed to do
Spin through space without a clue

Show up empty show up late
Where every day seems a blind date
With no idea or master plan
Filling in the best it can

Tilt either direction in mid twirl
Through it all you'll still be my girl

While most alive are shoved aside
To a place there's no place to hide
There is you and me through it all
Each other's net lest we should fall

No matter what the world pours out
In its emptiness in its daily doubt
I'll take all of you that I'm allowed
Soon enough to find that out

You are both my sickness and my cure
And through it all you'll always be my girl

I'll hold you with all I've got
Every move and every thought
Love will be strong in my stand
Giving over all I can

Where no two days are the same
In the form of early in the shape of late
With the world no longer spit and shine
And no green grass on either side

You will always be my hidden pearl
And through it all you'll always be my girl

I hope that when I die,
They find every letter
I ever wrote you,
Every poem
I penned for you,
Every recording of every song
I ever sang for you,
And every day,
Every memory,
I recorded on paper with pen
So that they may know for certain
How much I always loved you
And how much I always will.

He spent his lifetime chasing rainbows,
All the colors, bright and bold
But the years of stormy weather,
Left him lonely, gray, and old.
For the sun to make a rainbow,
There first must be some rain,
For the soul to be forgiven,
There first must be some pain.

Judge not the book you haven’t read.
Your conclusion may be wrong.
The bravest of the armies
May not be so very strong,
For when the battlefield is littered
With bloodied bodies of our youth,
There is still a final chapter,
And that chapter holds the truth.

The sun shines bright and warms us,
Then it hides behind dark clouds,
Skies overtly ominous
Suggesting funeral shrouds.
He sees the remnants of a rainbow,
Fleeting, fading fast,
Strains his aged eyes to see it,
And he prays his faith will last.
Phil Lindsey 2/11/17

I feel so uninspired

maybe because I’m tired
of all the nicely rhyming jingle
I’d rather wish that just a single
great thought or image would appear
of love or hate or lust or fear
unfold its plethora of riches

     no matter whether clowns or witches
     the sky  the stars the moon the sea
     and all the creatures there may be
     nature’s eternal universal charm
     the friendly dragon that means no harm
     fair maidens pining for their knights
     vampires haunting stormy nights
     fairies benign and leprechauns
     protecting all the loved ones

so that my lines be generally admired

alas, I still feel uninspired…