Day: May 6, 2024

I remember when in my childhood world
Before the elementary school years
To me life was often like a fairy tale.
Existence was fun, safe, and happy
And exactly like in the fairy tales,
The prince would meet the princess
And marry and live happily ever after.
And the only person being stalked by predators
Was little red riding hood by the wolf.

But even that fairy tale had a happy ending
When the lumberjack saved little red riding hood.
At least in the version I was read by my mother.
But like life, in the earlier version no lumberjack
Saved little red riding hood from the wolf.

And many princes don’t meet their princesses
And live happily ever after in their lifetimes.
And many people are stalked by wolves
And murdered by them in the real world.
Maybe when I die I’ll be reborn into
That fairy tale life of sweet innocence.

Bob Boyd

Come take a ride on the elephant they said,
The people I went to the safari park with.
No way could I ride that dinosauric beast.
I’d see too many go berserk and kill people
On television and in YouTube videos.
I think they tire of being the beasts of burden
Captive under the heels of human masters,
Enslaved and possibly beaten to perform.
Either of which could have led to the
Elephants cracking under the weight of that
And becoming raging rampaging maniacs,
Breaking the bonds that held them captive
And momentarily tasting the denied freedom
Only to be put down in hails of bullets.
But maybe they find true freedom from
Oppression in the life beyond this one.

Bob Boyd