My friends are dead Zen and Tang Dynasty poets.
When I read them daily, it is like I am hanging
out with them,
and I think to myself who needs any more friends
than these great poets?
Their words, their philosophies, their wisdom,
provide me with all the socialization I need,
far better and more fulfilling than spending my days
listening to the idle chatter of many my age
still in the peopled world.
Bob Boyd
get my attention with this poem of yours:
Beneath the skin of
The one we fondle today,
There is a skeleton,
Propping up the flesh.
Ikkyu
Why couldn’t you have just written something
less graphic, less disturbing?
You could have written something less drastic, like
the woman you are fondling today will be dead someday.
That, though still disturbing, would have been more palatable,
gone down easier.
Now if I ever fondle a woman again, your buzzkill poem
will at some point pop into my mind
and wreck the illusion that I’ll be holding her forever.
Besides, you were supposed to be a freakin’ monk,
not some playboy writing about fondling women.
Ikkyu, if you hadn’t been a monk, I’d say damn you,
but I can’t afford any more bad karma in this life.
So in regard to your disturbing poem I’ll just say,
Ikkyu, why did you have to?
Bob Boyd
In his misspent, wasted youth
Sitting, profiling, in a pool hall,
Hard eyes, looking tough to fit in.
Often skipped days of school,
Had no time for education
In a small city in Massachusetts.
Inhaling a Lucky Strike cigarette,
Exhaling smoky circles in the air
Unfiltered, only manly way to go,
Greaser haircut, thought he was cool,
Thought he was super tough.
Cue ball breaking a rack to pieces,
Clatter of numbered balls
Speeding all over the pool table
Bouncing off the banks
Thudding sounds erupting
Some high and low balls
Dropping into the table pockets.
Cigarettes thrown in spittoons.
Hissing sounds when hitting the water.
Guys swearing over missed shots,
Losing serious betting money,
Some gangsters in the making.
Like Lucky Hall, 6’6” lean machine
Gangster mean and crazy as hell,
Always dressed in black.
Strolled over to him and
As he was taking a drag
On his unfiltered cigarette,
Lucky stuck a gun in his face.
He sat casually in a chair,
Pool stick in hand, unfazed,
Guns rarely seen back then.
He smiled and reached for the gun,
And said to Lucky, “Is that real?”
Not out of bravely was he unafraid,
Couldn’t believe the gun was real.
His nonchalance didn’t get the result
Lucky was looking for.
Lucky turned away, his black trench coat
Swirling in the smoky air,
Lucky looking gangster cool,
Dangerous, and genuine.
Two years later Lucky’s luck ran out.
Shot to death in faraway Alabama.
Probably put his gun in the wrong guy’s face.
Bob Boyd
On a true crime show
a woman with a nice
voice and a sweet
Southern accent is
calmly explaining
why she couldn’t
have killed her
ex-husband who was
shot to death and
the police think it
was a family affair
since the family
hated the ex-husband
and their daughter
was in a custody
battle with him
for custody of
their two kids
I think to myself
the woman seems
too nice to have
participated in the
murder of her
husband even though
I know she did and I
know the police have
text messages between
her and her family
setting up the murder
of her ex and that
his new girlfriend
was more like
collateral damage
But I’m still thinking
she looks and sounds
too nice to be an evil
murderer but I know
she really is and it
baffles me how she
can look and sound
so nice yet be a
cold blooded killer.
And, as the police
proved her entire
family was involved
in the planning of
the murder and in
the cover up
And I think to myself
how could you people
be or become so evil
that you were okay
with murdering that
ex-husband and his
girlfriend sort of
by accident
At least they got
caught and went
to prison
Life in prison
for the daughter
and father
Life in prison
for the mother
with parole after
30 years
(She’ll probably
be dead in 30
old as she is)
10 years for the
son for hiding
evidence
Bob Boyd
A killer storm is rising
over weakened countries
their cultures on the brink
of the coming annihilation
unwittingly abetted by
their oblivious leaders
despite the people’s protests
many of them sent to prison
real patriots silenced
real patriots shut away
the others unable to prevent
the rising, unstoppable doom
Bob Boyd
All through your life
friends come and go
some you could trust
some you couldn’t
some in childhood
some in adulthood
some as work-friends
but through it all
the truest friend of all
your best friend Y O U
Bob Boyd
How forlorn your life
can become
when you enter
the world of women
seeking true love
carrying the dream
fates you never
imagine coming
inflicted upon you
but if you’re lucky
you’ll find true love
and the world of
women will be
a blessing for you
Bob Boyd
He went to the Emergency Room with what he thought would be a routine problem waiting for a few hours, seen for a few minutes and back home. But to his astonishment, he was tested with instruments and machines and told he was staying there; they’d get him a hospital room when one was available.
They gave him more and more tests and blood drawn constantly. He felt like a rat in a lab. Then came the diagnosis, a blood cancer.
How the hell is this happening?, he thought. I’m Mister perfect health. I’m Mister don’t eat red meat, and with no cancer in my family and have worked out for decades. Yet there he was diagnosed with a blood cancer that was trying to kill him. It seemed impossible that something that only happened to others had happened to him. It seemed impossible that the cancer he was sure he’d never get had stricken and weakened him.
It took months of infusions and medications. For a while it looked like he was going to be doomed when the infusions and medications were not killing the cancer, and his cancer doctor found his case channeling. Then his doctor sent him to another cancer doctor for her suggestions. He retured with the outline for a new treatment, and ever so gradually the cancer began losing its death grip on him. More months of the infusions, a new medication, and eventually he was cancer free, sort of like being reborn with a second chance at living.
And he’s been that way for three years and kind of grateful he had the cancer. He derived enormous personal and spiritual growth from it and an appreciation for the medical field and the loss of his fear of going to doctors. And his hardwon battle against the cancer became like a happy ending. And should the cancer return, he’s perfectly okay with that. So far so good.
Bob Boyd
Sometimes a person with a face that looks evil is the same inside. Of course, the old saying you can’t judge a book by the cover, usually applies. But, not always. She was like that, and I can’t even write her name here because I feel like some of her evil would escape out of her name.
I don’t get scared about many things, but her face scared me. I saw more evil in her face than in any face I’d ever seen before. It was as if she was one of a devil’s minions cast upon the earth to darken days and spread evil upon the land.
And I wasn’t far from wrong when it was revealed she was a widow six times over from six husbands she’s poisoned to death and buried in her backyard.
At first, it was thought she was just impossible to live with and each of those six husbands just left her and moved out of town. But as the runaway husbands kept increasing and family members kept calling the police about their missing male loved ones who’d been married to her, the police had to investigate.
But, despite their investigations that began with husband number three, it took them till husband number six to search her property with cadaver dogs and find out her backyard was her burial ground of all those husbands.
And though she was finally arrested and sent to prison, the five officers who arrested her all died mysteriously of massive heart attacks seven months later. Maybe it was an awful, extraordinary coincidence, but I think her evil and vengeful thoughts about them manifested into the bodies of each of those officers and ended their lives so tragically. And I know much more about her, things I dare not say, because that evil woman is my sister.
Bob Boyd
In high school Mark wasn’t wild about
high school girls like the rest of us
for a while I thought he was gay but that
wasn’t the case
he was just impervious to their sweet and
cute charms
unlike the rest of us who simply adored them
and wanted one for a girlfriend
there were many girls who had a crush on Mark
maybe more so because he was indifferent
but I don’t think a need to be with any of them
was coded in his DNA
two years after Mark graduated from high school
he went to India and became a Hindu monk
he returns to America once a year to spend some
time with his family
and he is always dressed like a monk when he
visits them
and seems incredibly content and happy
sometimes I’d wished I could have been like Mark
but I knew I couldn’t live without a woman and
that I’d probably go crazy as a woman-deprived monk
I think some people like Mark may be born to be monks
and maybe were monks in former lives
if reincarnation is real
Bob Boyd
Dear Grim,
You tried to take me out twice
I have to give you credit
they were really nice tries
your scythe nearly ended me
completely both times
I think you gave up because
I didn’t give a damn about dying
I think that indifferent attitude
took the fun out of your
trying to slaughter me
but, Grim, don’t lose heart
maybe the third time
will be a charm for you
Bob Boyd
I met her on a dating site,
long black hair, alluring blue eyes
slim comely body, nice smile,
mind blowingly beautiful.
But when we met, one of the first things she
said to me was, “I thought you said
you worked out?”
Because I was a tall ectomorph
with decent musculature for my
slim, hard gainer physique, she
thought I was inadaqute, expecting
a muscled up, easy gainer mesomorph.
Her ignorant insult, not a good beginning, lol.
Strike one.
I took her to a nice restaurant in Fort Myers, Florida
where I lived back then in my 30s.
But that restaurant wasn’t good enough for her,
and she complained about it.
Strike two.
Then she tried to flirt with the waiter. Prudently, he
ignored her, and she bad mouthed him to me.
I said, “I can’t believe you’re being like this.”
She said, “I am like that.”
Strike three.
And at that moment, in that nice restaurant, she
became insufferably ugly to me.
I was relieved when the date ended and surprised
at how, like a fast fading flower her beauty wilted
in front of me, in a telling moment in a nice
restaurant in Fort Myers, Florida.
Bob Boyd
He has a YouTube Channel in Singapore with over
700,000 subscribers.
He visits scary paranormal places, ghost haunts,
cursed roads, houses, forests, et cetera.
Sights and sounds that would wilt even the strongest
of men, do not faze him.
He’s got the bravery of a superhero and he’s funny
as well.
If you’re afraid of dark and cursed places beware
his scary adventures.
If you have enough grit to go with him, you’ll be
well entertained, maybe a little scared as well.
His YouTube Channel is called Sneaky Sushii, and it’s in English.
Go there and enjoy his great videos.
Bob Boyd
I see the rioting and the looting
in France
I see the destruction of heritage
sites as well
supposedly 800,000 rioters today
October 26, 2026
It saddens me to see the France
I knew damaged like this
the beautiful Paris, France I visited
in 1967 will never be the same
Bob Boyd
I hear the birds singing
in trees outside my apartment
they sound like natural virtuosos
born with exceptional talent
I wonder what their range is
and if they just use their singing skills
for attracting a mate
not that that wouldn’t be enough
yet it would be great if they had
many more songs to sing
and I like to think
maybe they do
like singing uplifting songs
when they are happy
or whey they found the
right mate
and with further thought
I have read they have
different chirps/songs? for when
danger is near
like a predatory bird
maybe a song translated
into human speak
like this
run run hide hide
that big bad hawk
is here is here is here
run run hide hide
if you don’t want to die
die die … bye bye bye
I’m hiding now too
Bob Boyd
76 is supposedly the average lifespan
here in the U S of A
even if 100 were
it’s still just a blip in eternity
and at some point
some age
you realize it passes
swiftly by
and no matter how important
some people think they are
they’re just a blip in eternity too
Bob Boyd
Imagine if death were like deep sleep
would you be bothered by that
I imagine you probably would
but worry not
you wouldn’t be if you were dead
oblivious to your passing
there’d be no you to worry
no you to care
no worries about maybe going to hell
no fears about maybe not going to heaven
you’d have no concerns about either
no you bothered by anything anymore
Bob Boyd
I remember as a kid I was told if you prayed
to God you would get things
maybe I misunderstood what I was told
but I think I prayed for a pony I never got
and I think I prayed for a few other things
at different times
and, not surprisingly, my prayers were
never answered
I still don’t believe you can get things
by praying for them
but I do feel prayer is a good way to
connect to the God in the heavens
Bob Boyd
Today I learned my first love
died of cancer at age 71
she left me after two summers
when I was seventeen
and though I didn’t pine over her
when it’s over I’m over it
I was sad to learn she died of
cancer at age 71
at least she was married and
had a family
and probably a good life and
71 is a reasonably long life
Bob Boyd
Break up letters from girlfriends who couldn’t
wait for their GI boyfriends to come home
flew into GI’s mail boxes like
rockets fired by enemy soldiers
but instead of blowing the GI’s up
they shattered their lonely hearts
they had put their trust in girls back home
who proved unworthy of trust
some GI’s might have died purposely in battle
after their hearts had been wounded
some might have considered killing themselves
their girlfriends no longer waiting for them
some no doubt soldiered on hiding their tears
on the inside
I never got one of those letters because when
I was in the service, I was nobody’s Dear John
Bob Boyd
Sometimes I look at the obituaries
it grounds me in my mortality
so many people die daily in them
most unknown to the wider world
like a woman who had been a secretary
then became a stay-at-home mother
a woman of strength, kindness and compassion
who often put the needs of others before her own
now she’s gone forever from this world and
no doubt many tears have fallen for her
It saddens me when by their deaths I see how
they were temporary in this impermanent life
and I often wonder where we go when we leave
this world aside from the claims and beliefs
I look forward to finding out firsthand one day
to see if my belief about it is true
if there really is a life after this fleeting one
that is if dead is more than just dead with no
awareness that you have died or ever lived
Bob Boyd
So Much Talk About Aliens
On YouTube I’ve listened to so much
talk about aliens
and a growing taxonomy of them
that I have to wonder why
we are not seeing more of them
instead of them seeming invisible
to most people on this planet with
many of those who allege they
have seen or interacted with them
after they’ve been hypnotized
reptilians
greys
nordics
ebans
et al
where are you?
Bob Boyd
that I hadn’t had contact with in
years because of politics
in the dream he was not normal
more like a semi dead person
his once vibrant personality had
gone so flat
I wondered if he was in the
spirit world
when I woke up I looked online
for his obit
saw none
so maybe he is still alive
and the dream was just a dream
Bob Boyd
