Thumbing a ride to high school
he got a ride from his second cousin
a good conversation with him
a nice guy

weeks later the nice guy second cousin
shot a store clerk in a robbery
and went to prison for life

years after that, he broke out of prison
killed a prison guard

disappeared for ten years
police didn’t know where he was

became a celebrated poet in Chicago under an assumed name
awarded poet of the month as J. J. Jameson

a photo of him with the award in a local newspaper
caught the attention of a police office

the authorities finally caught up with him
second cousin killer poet back in prison

he tried to get paroled a couple of times
denied each time

until in his late seventies when sick and dying
paroled and died a few years ago.

Bob Boyd

Sweet couplings of lovers
nature’s way of multiplying
the human species

sooner or later children follow
advancing the species

as it has been in the beginning
as it will be in the end

as it is will all species
from the least to the most

procreation, procreation, ad infinitum.

Bob Boyd

I never really paid much attention to YouTube Shorts
until I saw one about a woman dressed as a flight attendant

who was lean and symmetrical appearing to be about 6’8” tall
and walking in an airport towering over everyone

I’m 6’1” but I’d feel short standing next to her
and seeing her was like seeing a new world wonder

people everywhere gawk in amazement at her
she is also beautiful which adds to her appeal

in other YouTube shorts she’s walking through different places
like crowded city streets and busy shopping centers

and no matter where she goes tall, regal and beautiful
people stare at her in wonder

I have watched videos of her at least twenty times or more
to observe the expressions of all the people blown away by her.

Bob Boyd

In a dream last night
I felt a woman kiss me

I didn’t see her face
I just felt her lean over me

from behind my head
and kiss me gently 3 times

because I had no idea
who she was

and couldn’t see her face
I felt uncomfortable

even though I’m by myself
and have no woman

in my otherwise good life
I guess that discomfort

with a few dreamy kisses
tells me I’m not hard up.

Bob Boyd

The tree leaves sense the coming of the joyous fall
and their long awaited sky dives

along with the excitement of dressing in
new red, yellow and orange fall robes

they leap off branches of weeping trees
into the exhilarating freedom of the windy air

they land upon the welcoming earth
gradually dissolving into the elements

and remain in the ether for a while
until they reawaken blissfully on the limbs of trees.

Bob Boyd

You know the cliche, “A man ain’t supposed to cry?
Looking back, I cried twice over lost loves.
Now I see those times as wasted tears
on loves there weren’t real loves,
spent tears that soon dried up.
My tears were put to better use
over the death of a bedbound child,
spent tears not wasted on the
worst kind of heartbreak,
the mourning of the death
of an innocent child,
who never had a life.

Bob Boyd

Decades ago, a massive python invasion
of the Florida Everglades began

humans who had bought baby pythons for pets
released them when they got too big to handle

gradually the pythons mated and exploded
into tens of thousands

and began eliminating raccoons, opossums and rabbits
upsetting the everglades fragile ecosystem

hunters recruited for bounties and millions of dollars spent
with little effect in halting the python invasion

after weeks of the plan only 68 pythons eliminated
the program ineffective, the costs exorbitant

two python detecting dogs recruited next
a better plan but not good enough

hundreds of dog teams needed to cover all of the everglades
a sprawling 1.5 million-acre wetlands

costing millions of dollars and requiring constant maintenance
the costs and the maintenance unmanageable

after which real indigenous rabbits in secure cages were used
to lure the pythons out of their hideouts

menacing pythons began to surround the terrified rabbits
a public outcry saved the rabbits, ended the experiment

giving rise to a better plan with robo-rabbits in cages
armed with high tech mapping, rabbit-like fur and rabbit scents

so far the program a success less costly and efficient
but uncertain if it will rid the wetlands of the pesky pythons.

Bob Boyd

He was a teenager in the Philippines
and a ladyboy in the making

a friend of my ex filipina wife’s niece
and a good kid

though I’m 100 proof heterosexual
I liked him despite his ladyboy inclination

he could sing exceptionally well like an angel
and he had a gentle and fun nature

I had a couple of conversations with this kid
and felt the goodness inside of him

I didn’t care that he chose the path he did
I did care that he had troubles in his family

the worst was when in a remote province
far from Davao where he lived

he got stabbed to death on a rough street
probably because of his sexual preference

it was a sad day in Davao when this teenage kid’s life
got so brutally taken away.

Bob Boyd

Because she was claustrophobic
she dreaded being buried in the ground
when she expired from this world

she knew it was silly, when you’re dead
you’re dead, or so they say
but the thought of being smothered
under the ground
nearly drove her out of her wits

she opted to be cremated instead
apparently being burned to death
was more palatable to her

but when she died her wishes were not honored
and she is buried in Green Hill Cemetery
smothered under six feet of suffocating soil

occasionally in eerie moonlit nights
people say they hear muffled screams
coming out of Green Hill Cemetery
I hope they’re not hers.

Bob Boyd

Many of
my generation
who had their
younger heydays
are buried and gone
lives that once
bursted with
hopes
joys
possibilities
now irretrievably
obliterated
possessions
loves
good times
fond memories
forever gone
I wonder where
they are now
in a better world
or still in the ground

Bob Boyd

mini fish
swimming in
a tiny
fish tank
what do you
think about
when you
swim back
and forth
endlessly?
are you on
automatic
pilot and
oblivious
except when
you spy
some food
or do you
contemplate
your tiny
existence
and wonder
what it is
all about
beyond your
mini life
beyond
your tiny
fish tank
world?

Bob Boyd

I’ve read some people joyfully see
their dead pets in NDEs

while clinically dead
they see
their deceased pets
healthy and reanimated

which makes me wonder
if NDEs are real
instead of illusionary
as some scientific studies suggest
are the spirits of the pets
in something akin to a pet heaven
or are they in a holding pattern
before an incarnation
into a higher life on
the spiritual
evolutionary ladder
instead of dead and no more?

or if the doubting scientific
theories are right
that NDEs are merely
brain shutting down
body function ceasing
causing NDE illusions?

personally, reader,
I’m opting for the
belief NDEs are
real
and pets live
forever in one
form or another
climbing up the
spiritual
evolutionary ladder
eventually
getting off the wheel
the cosmic bliss
the eternal enlightenment.

Bob Boyd

Powerful kundalini awakening
but k energy went up
the wrong channel
of the 3 channels
pingala
ida
sushumna
the one associated with heat:
pingala
when the k energy should
have gone up the sushumna
for a smooth awakening
at first he experienced
the unboundedness
the ineffable bliss
but as time passed by
he experienced torrid heat
burning up his mortal body
for many months
he felt his life
was in the balance between
life and death
and/or insanity
sought help all over India
gurus
sadhus
healers
holy men
and a
kundalini yoga master
none could help
eventually
perhaps through
Divine grace
he focused on
moving the k energy
up the sushumna
and finally
magically
mystically
the burning
the death and
insanity fears
gradually vanished
as time passed
he experienced
the sat chit ananda
eternal bliss consciousness
in my view
he became
fully enlightened
and maintained
what I see as
one of the hallmarks
of the truly enlightened
humility.

Bob Boyd

He dies temporarily on the operation table
bewildered at first

then he feels united
with everything in the cosmos

he feels it is perfect
his true destiny

he feels it is the absolute truth
uniting with it

his main purpose in life
above all the other purposes

that he pursued relentlessly
oblivious to his supreme purpose

to become united forever
with the eternal
bliss
consciousness
the Oneness

he awakens on the operation table
in pain in body
yet enlightened in spirit.

Bob Boyd

It began with not so subtle sarcasms
chop chop

Then the sarcasms increased and became wearing
chop chop

hacking away at him annoyingly
chop chop

until he blew up at her
and for a while the chopping ceased

but as often is the case with time
and bad behaviors re-arising

her not so subtle sarcasms began again
chop chop

in the end he did the chopping
by ridding himself of her

and she had to pack her bags and leave
peace at last.

Bob Boyd

Through fires, smoke, the stench of bombs, the moon was war torn and blue.
Alone, dazed, shell shocked, grieving, my heart was too.
My life destroyed, my mind numbed, my hopes shattered.

They bombed the hell out of my beautiful city and killed my Anastasia,
who bled to death in my arms in seconds, helpless to help her.
My sweet angel, my love who had accepted my proposal of marriage
before the bombs fell and turned our city and our love into rubble.
My world a nightmare without her, a godforsaken, war torn hell.

Crazed with rage I marched into battle to avenge my sweet angel Anastasia.
Nothing left, my life over, like an insane Viking berserker I’d lost my fears and become like a crazed beast.
The enemy troops fear dying, but I don’t, a noble death reunited with Anastasia.

Dying is all I have left. I’m empty and soulless inside marching through
this dystopian nightmare of dead corpses and dead dreams.
The cadence of a thousand determined boots marching summons
me to war under a blue moon that’s as broken as I am.
Bombs explode around me, soldiers and civilians screaming and dying.
I fight the battle raging and fearless, indifferent to the horrors,
like a bulletproof immortal protected by the gods of war.

The battle ends; we win; still alive I collapse on the battle ground,
the stench of gun power permeating the smoky air,
blood running in rivulets in the streets.
And I cry countless tears for my sweet angel, my love, my wife … Anastasia.

Bob Boyd

Home from the Vietnam War, two tours,
Wheelchair confined, broken body, traumatized mind.
High School sweetheart wife waited through the
Years, the tears, the fears. Cared For him,
Stayed with him, loved him through PTSD,
Times of depression and despair, hospital stays,
Many health problems, her love, her caring unwavering
Through it all till at age sixty- eight when he died,
Wife at his bedside. Could love be truer than that?

Bob Boyd

Finding the right romantic partner
has been too random for me

Never found the right one,
the meeting of hearts and minds

always ideal compatibilities lacking
making the best of less than the ideal

the romantic love often compensates
but still something wished for is missing

I don’t think even dating apps
with many ways to find the best match

are perfect enough to find the right one
that you will be a perfect match for

maybe some feel or know
they found the perfect person for them

I’m happy that they are living the dream
of finding the right one

I hope like some dreams that end in disappointment
their dreams endure

To me, they’re proof the randomness
sometimes works

and blessed and lucky are they
unlike many others and me.

Bob Boyd

Some say red-haired women
are hot-headed
I’ve always wondered
if there was anything to that
regret to say
I’ve never been with one
due to the rarity of them
but I’ve always found
red hair enchanting
I’ve always thought
there might be
something mysterious
something magical
about red-haired women
of course that was
probably bunk
and foolish thinking
but they will remain
mysterious and
magical to me
unless I meet one
in the afterlife
and find out
how they really are.

Bob Boyd

Flying in and out of dimensions
strange creatures
some UFOs and aliens
not of our world
maybe not of our galaxy
maybe worlds we
cannot see with telescopes
or even begin to fathom
perhaps cryptids too
bigfoot, dogman,
mothman et al
perhaps some
are nameless
invisible entities
abducting humans
in national parks.

Bob Boyd