Bob Boyd's Free Verse Poems

he felt sorry for her having
had cancer three times

he also admired her
she was a warrior

she was sweet and
so nice to talk to

she wasn’t born a looker
but looked good enough

he suggested they
correspond by email

she smiled and wrote
down his email

he was so much older
than her

so he didn’t expect
anything romantic

she never emailed him
he wasn’t disappointed

he was old enough to
be her grandfather

he understood she
was probably not good with it

and changed her mind
about emailing him

and he knew with hindsight
he was better off without it

Bob Boyd

Milly told me she had
butterflies for pets.

Surprised, I wondered
where she kept them.

When I got to apartment
and she opened the door

her apartment was full
of hundreds of butterflies.

Sure it looked cool, but
it was all too much for me.

I left her with some of
her butterflies flying
behind me.

Cool to see, but way
too much for me.

Bob Boyd

In ancient China poetry was revered,
Seemingly more than today,
618-907 CE Tang Dynasty days,
High age of Chinese aristocracy,
Dream times for talented poets.
Du fu, Li Po, Wang Wei and more
How I love those poets.

Bob Boyd

He never had any affection;
nobody gave it to him.
Unwanted as a baby,
sent to an orphanage.
Had to make his way
in his life alone
and unloved.
Than he met
a beautiful woman
who saw the untapped
love inside of him and
gave him so much
affection it made up
for the lack of it
in his lovelorn life.

Bob Boyd

Sad days and heartaches everyday
happen all over this uncertain world.
It doesn’t matter if you’re an optimist
and always see the good in it.
It doesn’t make any difference;
It doesn’t lighten the weighty load
of all the suffering and sorrow
in this ever troubled existence.
But it can lighten one’s load
if one can rise above the sorrows
And roll with the heartaches
and, to quote Apostle Paul,
“fight the good fight.” And keep at it
till the end of your remaining days

Bob Boyd

He attained all his goals,
climbed all the mountains,
had all the successes
he ever desired.

He worked countless hours
to reach the top of the peak.

And burned out on that peak
and had a nervous breakdown
when he had no more
mountains to climb.

Bob Boyd

I kept getting kicked out of high school.
I was a rebellious, troubled kid.

The days I was kicked out I’d go to the pool hall
and play pool kind of as pre-punishment therapy,

dreading going home and because I knew
I was going to get a beating from my father.

I’d take the beating and his overblown rage
and hate him after he went off on me,

but I’d act up again in high school
unbeaten by the beatings.

that just made me badder and
chronically rebellious,

and I hated authority all the more
but I enjoyed the free time to play pool.

and I still hate authority, but not as much
and I no longer play pool,

and I wish I’d never gotten kicked out
of school and been a better kid.

Bob Boyd

She said she’d meet me at the coffee shop
7 pm on a Saturday night.
I got there at 6:45 pm and waited till 7:30 pm.
Stood up, I didn’t give a damn.
If she was that rude, I didn’t need to be
with her anyway.
She called me and apologized for not
showing up and said she’d like to try again.
I couldn’t do it. I said goodbye instead.

Bob Boyd

She never recovered from the trauma
of the mass murder she witnessed.
All the therapy in the world couldn’t
save her from her mental turmoil.
Disheartened, she didn’t know
what to do with her depressing life.
She settled her problems with a knife
And took her twenty-year-old life.

Bob Boyd

He dreamed he was in an old soda fountain
back in the good old day’s fifties
drinking a vanilla cola.

Girls wearing bobby socks sat on stools near him
talking about fifties music.

And the temperature of the times was
so much cooler than today. And the weather
was so much sunnier.

The dream was so good he wanted to
stay there forever.

He would have if he had met a girl named Peggy Sue,
but he woke up disappointed instead.

Bob Boyd

Smitten by her looks
he didn’t bother to
get to know her
before he took
the plunge into
irreversible love.
Drowning in his
love for her,
he put up with
her abuse
that reduced
him to less a man
and more a weak
and willing victim
of her tyranny
that eventually
sent him to
his grave
prematurely
broken and
dead before
his heart expired.

Bob Boyd

She strolls along the boulevard,
her onlooking admirers many.

Her beauty unparalleled,
none can resist her.

Unknown to her admirers,
She cares not for any of them.

She only cares for herself
and her captivating beauty

That keeps her in a prison
of self love.

That renders her unable
to ever know true love.

Bob Boyd

A brilliant professor in his day,
when old he became like a zombie.
He shuffled instead of walked.
How could his life have come to that,
a sad portrait of aging diminishing
of a man renown for his accomplishments
and his outgoing, charming personality?
Aging has no respect for position.
Aging has no respect for wealth.
It takes us all down in the end.

Bob Boyd

Silly restrictions
Trigger warnings
All nonsense to him
Let’s get back to
less hyper sensitive
days.

Let’s get back to
normalcy and less
crybaby sensitive
people instead of a
nation of mentally
weak minions.

Bob Boyd

He was so elated
when he first fell
in love with her.
She made him
happier than
he’d ever been.
But after about
six months the
ardor wore off.
The joy receded,
the love lessened.
And she made
him more
miserable than
he’d ever been.

Bob Boyd