Category: Poems

The Poet

He dreamt of becoming a great poet.
He knew he had enough talent to be one.
He lived off some savings he had in a bank
After ten years his dream not fulfilled,
Nothing published. No savings left,
He had to take temp jobs to support himself
And live in old rundown boarding houses.

He squandered what little money he made
On beer and cheap whisky to erase his sorrow
Over his failure to become a great poet.
He became an alcoholic, wrote worse poems,
His brain damaged from all the drinking.
He could no longer get any temp jobs,
Became homeless and begged for money
He spent on beer and cheap whisky.
Gave up on becoming a great poet,
Drank himself to death instead.

Bob Boyd

New Pitbull in the Neighborhood

I liked the new pitbull in my neighborhood.
I hoped he liked me.
He eyed me sideways when he first saw me.
He made me wonder what was on his mind.
The other day in the news a pitbull,
Described as being as harmless as a baby,
By the elderly woman who owned him
Killed her granddaughter’s newborn baby.
I know not all pitbulls are dangerous
Like that pitbull.
But some of these powerful dogs are.
And the neighborhood pitbull growled
And snarled at me today
But doesn’t realize I’m open carry.

Bob Boyd

Acorns

I hear birds singing in an acorn tree
Like a chorus in a church
While acorns drop to the ground,
Like paratroopers falling from planes
Into the arms and hands of
Hungry squirrels on the ground.
And I wonder if the ants want some
Of the leftover acorn crumbs.
And I wonder why those birds have
Chosen that acorn tree to sing in.
Do they have an affinity with acorns
Or was it just a random choice?
And I think to myself how much
I missed when I didn’t pay as much
Attention to the goings on of nature.

Bob Boyd

Jailed for a Tweet

He sits in jail wondering how he and his country
came to this.

For a mere tweet criticizing his heavy-handed government,
the police knocked on his door and carted him to jail.

He never thought his beloved country would become
a totalitarian nightmare state.

He never thought living in a proposed new world order
would get him ordered to jail.

Yet there he sits silenced in a soul-stifling cell
as if he were a dangerous criminal.

He vows when he gets out to begin a fight
against the injustices of the oppressors.

And he takes solace in knowing
a revolution is brewing.

Bob Boyd

Fame and a Wife

He pined for fame all his life
He wanted it more than a wife
He began acting in grade school
Starred in high school plays
Voted best likely to succeed
In his high school yearbook
Took acting class after that
Got his first break a year later
A bit part in an action movie
Got recognized for his role
Began getting bigger roles
Eventually became a star
And won an award
All uphill from there
Fame achieved
A high for a while until
His stardom began to dim
And the fame became empty
And he got depressed and
Bored and drank too much
And started hating his life
Until he found a good wife

Bob Boyd

Jonathan Watts (1900-1933)

I was making it before the Great Depression hit,
Living the American Dream, buying stocks.
Then I lost everything and felt so disgraced
When like everyone else I stood in line
For bread and soup
And nearly starved to death.
When like everyone else I lived in a shanty
In Hooverville and nearly froze to death.
When like everyone else I couldn’t find a job
And got so damn depressed
That one day I just couldn’t go on,
Living in rags like a goddamn bum,
Unable to support myself,
Unable to afford a decent meal.
I gave up on living my lousy life
And shot myself to death.

Bob Boyd

Jessica

Daughter of Satan, Saint of Christ,
One day like a demon, next day like a saint.
One day sweeter than any other woman.
Next day meaner than all of them.
A crazed woman of conflicting contrasts
When she intentionally went off her meds.

Bob Boyd

Timeless Eternity

Timeless Eternity

The days, months and years kept racing by
Faster and faster and faster, no let up.
Sixty one year seventy the next, it seemed.
More and more people dying in that rapidity.
More and more friends falling away in the rush.
Time in an advancing full throttle mode
Sped him to his death bed at a age eighty five
When he died he saw that time finally stopped
In the timeless eternity of his afterlife.

Bob Boyd

The Real Thing

They knew it was the real thing,
That summer’s night they met.
They had a wonderful romance,
Got married in a Baptist church.
Had a glorious honeymoon,
Sailed the sea on a cruise ship.
Spent five years together
Until all the glitter wore off.
Got bored with each other –
Began to hate each other –
And got divorced.
Why does love often
Have to be like that?

Bob Boyd

Endless Regret

The House of the Rising Sun was blaring out of radios
The night I got out of my mind drunk at the beach
And dove into dangerous shark interested waters.
My beer muscles maxed up more than my sense.
And I felt invincible, even to man eating sharks.
A killer shark almost got me, suffered a single bite,
Before a friend pulled me out of danger and I got away.
But my friend lost his life to that blood-crazed shark
Because of drunk and stupid me on that deadly night.
Now I go to the ocean where my friend lost his life.
I say a thousand I’m sorrys to him in the depths.
I wipe hundreds of tears from my reddened eyes,
But I can’t wipe away the if onlys and the endless guilt.

Bob Boyd

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