I’m inserted into this lousy dream
I’m with a woman I don’t know
maybe one meaningful to me
all of a sudden I’m fighting
fighting with some rude guy who
offended the woman I don’t know
we’re fighting, fighting, fighting
no matter how hard I fight
this rude guy keeps coming back
back, back, back and back
I wake up annoyed, ticked off
that I had such a lousy dream.

Bob Boyd

Me, Jed and big Billy
drove up to the
Great Smokey Mountains
in North Carolina
to visit his hillbilly uncle
in big Billy’s new Chevy car
he loved like a baby boy

when we met his hillbilly uncle
a bearded old man
who looked like a wizard
he told us strange tales
about creatures called dogmen
and said to not go into the forest
if we wanted to live

his crazy talk about dogmen
his freshly made moonshine
flowed all through that day

I have to admit the old man’s
crazy talk was entertaining
his moonshine was good
better than Budweiser beer

but the wooden crosses on the doors
the windows all over his house
and the two around his neck
were a bit much

but all the crazy talk became real
when we heard the heart stopping howls
coming closer and closer from
somewhere deep in the forest
scared, we peeked out the windows
saw three huge, godawful creatures
half human half dog, glowing red eyes
sounds of growling
the beasts creeping out of the forest

when they reached the old man’s house
they started smashing big Billy’s
brand new Chevy car
they banged on his uncle’s
front door

big Billy drunk on his ass
not afraid of anything
pissed off about what
the dogmen were doing
to his brand new Chevy car
grabbed his uncle’s ax
next to the wood and
the crackling fire
in his uncle’s fireplace

charged outside
began swinging that
ax like a madman at the
three dogmen

until one of them
clawed his head off
and they carried big Billy’s
headless body into the
darkness of the forest
behind his uncle’s house

we asked big Billy’s uncle to
call the police, but he said
that won’t do no damn good

the police ain’t gonna mess
with them dogmen
they know the dogmen
will kill them too
and they have wives
and youngins to feed

we called the police anyway
reported what the
dogmen did to Billy
nothing the police could do

in the distance deep
in the forest
the howls started again
scared out of our heads
trembling uncontrollably
about to piss our pants

we scrambled outside
jumped into big Billy’s
banged up and dented
brand new Chevy car
jump-started it and
got the hell out of there.

Bob Boyd

A beautiful face
lovely, long black hair
a voice sweet and mellow
alluring as a siren’s call
impossible to ever imagine
one day she’d conspire
to have her rich loving
husband offed
5 million dollars
in insurance money
the bloody pay out
her husband dead
her plot revealed
she rots in jail.

Bob Boyd

You were healthy as a horse in your unbridled youth
health concerns and medical problems minor or rare
when it came to your health, rarely a care

but when you got old and became like an old mare
health concerns and health problems began to pile up
doctors and hospitals, a staple in your aging life

and you wondered where the golden years were
except for all the gold your medical problems cost you

the worst was when the medical bills started filling your mailbox
or bombarding your computer emails nearly every month
and your body kept breaking down with medical vexations

or you had to move to a medical facility because
you no longer could take care of your debilitating self
and the costs became exorbitant and you went broke

unless you were one lucky old salt who maintained
perfect health until you died solvent in sleep
without piles of medical bills and medical maladies
like when you were young and healthy as a horse.

Bob Boyd

The flowers are starting to die
winter’s not far away
like elderly humans
with death not far away.

Bob Boyd

Warmongers safe from wars
far from the battlefields
unconcerned about the cost
of human lives

indifferent to the decimation
of populations of peaceful people
caught up in wars

wars no longer a worthwhile gambit
a crap shoot with the real risk
of a nuclear Armageddon

nobody wins, everybody loses

an incomparable, unimaginable obliteration.

Bob Boyd

Many are the reports of cryptid sightings
Bigfoot, Dogman, Mothman, Jersey Devil, etc
but there’s a problem with the proof
that these unusual creatures are real
the alleged sightings are in the thousands
last I read, 75,000 for Bigfoot, popular fella
but there’s a problem with the proof
maybe the reason is these cryptids
are not permanent features in this world
but intermittent visitors from other dimensions.

Bob Boyd

Don’t know if you were real or not
but oh what a dream!
we just spent some time together
not even a caress or a kiss
but oh what a dream!
it felt better just being with you
than others I’ve caressed and kissed
just your presence was more comforting
more pleasurable than being with them
too bad we only met in a dream
and you were probably imaginary.

Bob Boyd

Night falls
things awake
things darker
than the darkness
blanketing the night
things you never want to see
those who see them are never seen again
pray these things that roam the night never see you.

Bob Boyd

She was a cute, innocent looking girl
at age 10

but behind the cute, innocent face
unfathomable evil lurked
for such a young girl

she strangled two little boys
to death, a 4-year-old
and a 3-year-old

the reasons she was so evil
may have been

a prostitute mother, who it’s believed
physically abused her

and when Mary was born told
the nurses to “take that thing
away from me”

mood swings and bed wetting
disturbed and unpredictable
behavior

attempts to strangle or smother
classmates prior to the murders

I’m not making excuses for
Mary

I just think hers is a case
or nurture instead
of nature

and I wonder if Mary had
a loving, caring family

if she would have turned
out the way she did

and I wonder why in this
world such horrible things

have to happen

unendingly
all over this world.

Bob Boyd

An army wife
Brenda got lonely
when her husband
Phil was away
in a war

one night
she cheated on
him

with a scoundrel
she met in
a gritty bar
after having one
too many drinks

the dark hearted
scoundrel saw her
only as a score

he bedded her
saw her nevermore

after being used
shame haunted Brenda

she’d never been
a one night stand before

days later she learned
Phil died in a battle

the same night as she
had her one night stand

she became shocked
and unbalanced
by the bad news
and the coincidence

and she blamed her infidelity
for Phil’s death

as if her cheating
on him had cursed and
deadly consequences.

Bob Boyd

The day is dismal
the sun is hidden
behind dark clouds

my aching heart
is in synch with
all of this

because you’ve
gone away

rain begins to fall
upon the arid
ground

like the tears
falling from my
eyes.

Bob Boyd

They told Ned not to look into
little Mary’s eyes

she’s got the witching eyes
they said

Ned scoffed at such
silly superstition about
an eight-year-old girl

to prove the foolhardy
believers wrong
Ned looked directly
into little Mary’s
witching eyes

that looked no different
than any other
little girl’s eyes

nothing happened

a week passed
Ned still unwitched
derided the believers

a week later,
Ned was dead

coincidence some said
proof believers exclaimed.

Bob Boyd

Nice guys were too nice
for Doria
despite her being an
exceptionally sweet woman
blessed with beauty as well
the desire of many men
nice guys and bad boys
because of her beauty
and sweet personality
she had many choices
among male admirers
but instead of choosing
the ones good for her
she always chose
the bad boys
sadly her obsession
with chronically
misbehaving men
led to her having
a miserable life with
cheaters, physical
and mental abusers
until her worst
bad boy pick
put her in her grave
beaten to death.

Bob Boyd

Healthy all your life

until

you grow older
and might become

one of those in need of
in home assistance
on a walker
in a wheelchair
or

the absolute worst
in a nursing home
with you death
impending

or

your mind gone
your awareness
barely operative

you become like
a zombie when
you mindlessly
wander
if you have a
spouse,
you no longer
know her

your mind has
said goodbye
to her
and what
was left of
your obliterated
existence

I ask you
is it fair that
for many
life ends
like that?

Bob Boyd

When you roll back time far enough
people were either bad or good
there were no in betweens
bad and good were simple matters
no complications
but as the world grew up
bad and good became less simple
the shaping of people’s characters
bad and good, complicated
nature and nurture
extenuating circumstances
came into play
thank God for that day.

Bob Boyd

The Breaking of Hell’s Gates is a Taoist ritual
to release dead souls from hell.

Damn, and hell’s bells, a lot of people could probably use a get
out of hell break like that; many will be there, some believe.

And many based on their hellbent behaviors and nefarious actions
surely could qualify for one way tickets there.

But I digress, back to the pertinent topic:

Taoist priests perform a ceremony summoning powerful
Taoist deities, chant scriptures

and burn offerings to rescue souls from eternal damnation
and the torments of a hell.

Talismans are included as well and appear to be potent
for opening the gates of hell.

Now maybe some could say this is just superstitious nonsense
but maybe in the Taoist afterlife it’s true.

Either way, I like the title The Breaking of the Gates of Hell,
and I like that those in a hell could get a second chance

were not tormented, tortured and damned forever
thanks to the compassion and power of Taoist priests.

Bob Boyd

The Hare Krishna’s say Krishnaloka is where you
Need to go after you die, if you can get there.
It takes a lot of chanting Hare Krishna’s to get there
And probably the right incarnation and the right karma.

Christians say heaven with Jesus is where you
Need to go after you die, if you can get there,
If you can avoid the snares of Satan’s hell
And probably pray enough and be good enough.

Muslims believe you go to a Muslim heaven
called jannah if you have lived righteously
according to their teachings.

Imagine if they were all right. Imagine if
There were multiple afterlife paradises
Depending on what religion or path you followed.

Imagine if the non-dualists were right, and
You had to get beyond all these dualities
And merge into the infinite Oneness.

Bob Boyd

Two women in Sheffield,UK
strutting their stuff on a busy street
dressed so nice, looking so pretty
until they start screaming at each other
like shrews on steroids, like freakin’ crazies
then the police come, maybe for them
the pretty women calm down
but only momentarily, temporarily
then the unbecoming screaming
erupts again, but morphs into screeching
the out of control, unhinged ladies
embarrassing themselves, worse is two
dudes are videoing them with cell phones
great content for their YouTube channels
bad for these pretty women turned banshees
the Internet never forgets.

Bob Boyd