Anna was a caring and loving wife
before her frontal lobes got damaged
in an awful auto accident
After the frontal lobes damage,
she became uncaring and unloving
and took her husband’s life
Bob Boyd
Free verse poetry, mostly fiction, some nonfiction
Anna was a caring and loving wife
before her frontal lobes got damaged
in an awful auto accident
After the frontal lobes damage,
she became uncaring and unloving
and took her husband’s life
Bob Boyd
She hears the death knells
Sounding in her head
She lays down
Falls asleep
And dreams she’s falling
But doesn’t hit the ground
The next morning
The death knells ring louder
She lays down falls asleep
And dreams she’s falling
And almost hits the ground
The next day she sees her doctor
He puts her on Hydralazine
Her blood pressure stabilizes
Her dizziness goes away
And she never dreams
Of falling again
Bob Boyd
Some people always
Play the victim
That must be a hard life
To 24/7 maintain
Day to day and
Year to year
For the rest of one’s
Brief and
Unpredictable
Earthly sojourn
Maybe for them
It’s gratifying
And gives them
Some small
Satisfactions
That gets them
Through their
Tired days and
Troubled nights
Bob Boyd
It seems for many Tik Tok is a great place
to act crazy or make a fool out of themselves
in front of hundreds or thousands
or maybe even millions of viewers.
I don’t understand why many people
are so obsessed with doing this.
Maybe they think it validates them
or gives them a chance to shine
out of the darkness of their discontent.
As for me, I’d rather write poetry on a blog
with few people paying attention to me,
especially if I make a fool out of myself.
Bob Boyd
I saw that a woman just added bug to her pronouns;
sure it’s crazy but it sounded like fun.
I’m not about pronouns. The trend doesn’t interest me,
but I find it amusing to think of describing myself as bug.
And were I about pronouns, particularly exotic ones,
I’d probably like to add one like cryptid or wolverine,
or maybe in mellower moments, I’d go with
something like river or moon.
Bob Boyd
In an old song from 1909 I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now, a guy obviously is pining over an old girlfriend who dumped him.
But I say why torture yourself? Even if she left you when you thought your love was forever and she was your soulmate, why torture yourself bemoaning those lost kisses and that irretrievable love?
It’s better to just let your past with her be gone.
It’s better to keep thoughts of the good things and good times with her out of you head. Instead of dwelling on them and possibly hurting yourself by becoming unhappy and depressed.
Move on … Move on … Forget about her. Forget everything
about her.
Remember … Remember … the times with her that were not so good. Forget about her lost kisses and her unlasting love.
Try to drop the sentimentalities, and seek a new and better life. See the broken promises, the broken love, as an opportunity to fall in love again with a better and truer love.
Bob Boyd
we met on the day
the roses bloomed
breathtaking and
beautiful
like our blossoming
love
then came the winter’s
chill
and the roses
and our love
died
now the roses
are blooming
again
but they are
crying tears of dew
for me and you
and what should
have been
and i will always
miss you
bob boyd
Remember the song You Didn’t Have to Be so Nice by the Loving Spoonfuls?
That’s how I still feel about you.
You came into my life on a dark, downcast day.
The woman I thought was the love of my life left me, and I felt so down and gloomy.
Until you showed up.
Years later when an auto accident put me in a wheelchair for the rest of my life, half a man, felt like killing myself, thought my life was over, and I’d lose you.
Until you showed up.
And loved me even more, always there for me, taking care of me, never leaving me.
And I believe you’ll still be there for me In the afterlife.
When I’ll be a whole man again, and I’ll be there for you; and I’ll love you even more.
Bob Boyd
Sometimes in the nighttime hours
When everything is quiet
When the moon shows its face
And the stars light up the sky
I stare at it all in breathtaking awe
And my thoughts turn to beautiful you
I think of how wonderful you were
In the years of our star-crossed love
And I stifle as many tears as the stars
Remembering what happened to you
When that terminal cancer took
You into the darkest night
Beyond the stars
Beyond our love
Beyond this life
Bob Boyd
I can’t understand how some people can have
spiders and snakes for pets.
I don’t know what the appeal is about pets I find
creepy compared to a bird or a betta fish.
But maybe the problem is me because of my bias
against spiders and snakes.
Maybe those who can find joy in spiders and snakes
are better than me
because they are more accepting of pets most would
find creepy or scary.
But there is a situation where I would appreciate snakes over spiders.
If I had to die by being thrown into a pit of spiders or snakes,
I’d prefer snakes even though the spiders would be easier to step on and kill before they took me out.
I’d rather die with the snakes even if I had to be taken out by an anaconda that would strangle me to death.
Bob Boyd
I remember wearing Yves Saint Laurent and
Pierre Cardin suits and selling diamonds,
watches and chains in upscale department
stores when I was a far younger me.
Although it was a fancy and fun, life it wasn’t
the right life for me. I wasn’t really into jewelry.
I wasn’t a stellar salesman. But I did okay.
It wasn’t until I started helping people for a living
that I found my occupational place in life
and finally found something I could excel at
and make a small difference in this big world.
Now that I’m retired and my life is withering away,
and I’m in what some call the golden years,
I find some satisfaction in having done something
I loved for a living and helped countless people
for twenty plus wonderful years.
Bob Boyd
I feel my body shaking
at first I wonder
is this a spiritual experience
then I have the realization
it’s just a train rumbling
down the track a hundred
feet away and shaking
the building I’m living in
And I’m reminded of the
first time I felt an earthquake
lying in a bed in the Philippines
and I felt just my body was
moving and I thought maybe
I was having a spiritual experience
until I realized the whole room was
shaking and that a mild
earthquake caused the shaking
all over the neighborhood all
over the house I was living in
Bob Boyd
I’ve been thinking about you
and wondering what it’s like
in your afterlife of a few years.
I wonder if you are in a heaven,
or if you’ve come back to earth
for a new start with a new life,
if you are still in the afterlife,
and if we will meet again
maybe we’ll ride unicorns in
crystalline skies over lands,
mountains, and seas far more
vibrant than any on earth.
And I wonder if I’ll see you
in another dream looking so
incredibly happy and serene.
Bob Boyd
Went to my mailbox downstairs from
my second floor apartment.
Checked the mail, only one letter.
Surprise, a birthday card from CareCredit.
Said the card wasn’t going to celebrate itself,
and I had to get out there and make my day
one to remember.
They remembered my birthday partly because
I gave them 12k for implants, money well spent.
Nonetheless, nice gesture.
But I’m not going to cut my teeth on a day to remember.
I had way too many of those memorable days in my youth,
many I wish I could rewind and do over.
So that card with have to celebrate itself somehow,
maybe on a molecular or cellular level.
Maybe for that card just being released from
the captivity of the envelope it came in is
the one to remember, the celebration of its
newly opened and free life.
Bob Boyd
a lifelong devout catholic
she was shocked when
she died and went to hell
and saw demons and
heard the screams of
all the condemned souls
fortunately it was only a
brief sojourn before her
savior rescued her and
she returned to life
upon the exam table
thereafter she pondered
how as a religious person
she could have gone to
satan’s horrifying domain
with much speculation and
communications with IANDS
the international association
of near death studies
she concluded her mind
had constructed her near
death experience of hell
perhaps from having the
concept of it drilled into
her mind by her religion
when she was a child
and unlike her belief in
santa clause her belief
in hell persisted into
near death experience
and was just as untrue
as the existence of
an illusionary santa
Bob Boyd
after his wife left him
because she thought
he’d gone crazy
her minister ex-husband
went a lot crazier
from his raised up pulpit
he said he had attained
mystical union with God
and attained many powers
said he could affect world events
could control the winds
and the weather
could change nights into days
could communicate telepathically
with animals and insects
his worst delusion was
when he thought he could fly
to heaven and jumped
off a skyscraper
flapped his arms and
dive bombed to his death
Bob Boyd
He was told to go to the ER
something about blood platelets
He thinks he’ll be in an out
after a six hour wait
The doctors have different ideas
and admit him
He can’t believe he’s being
confined to a hospital bed
But he quickly adapts to it
and wonders what’s next
After a few days and a
series of tests
He’s released with a
blood cancer diagnosis
He had thought
he’d never
get cancer
He thought he was safe
and didn’t have to
worry about it
He didn’t smoke, drink,
do drugs, or eat red meat
and had no cancer in
his family
But cancer didn’t care
about all that
It claimed him anyway
and tried to take
his life
Weeks and months
of blood tests and
transfusions
Not a problem for him
surprisingly
maybe, miraculously,
he just didn’t care
He didn’t worry about
it killing him
He accepted
his possible
termination
like an even-minded
unfazed stoic
And maybe the cancer
gave up on him
because his indifference
Took the joy, the fun,
and the steam out of
trying to kill him
The reaper
dressed in his
flowing
black hooded robe
Reluctantly
lowered
his scythe
and said I’ll
be back another day
Bob Boyd
She said my name was written in her heart
And had been from the day she was born.
I liked the sound of that but didn’t believing it,
An impossible but such a sweet claim.
And her love for me was uncompromising.
To her dying day she remained faithfully true.
And right before she breathed her last breath,
As she lay dying in that hospital bed
I saw my name glowing out of her heart,
As if she took it with her to heaven.
Bob Boyd
Rolling Down a lonely Highway
In my old beat up pick up truck
Hearing the whine of the wheels
And trying to forget about you
Ten hours away from what
Became an old worn out love
Now I’m alone and speeding
On a thousand miles of road
Wondering what I’ll do
Where I’ll go
Without you
Maybe when I get to Tulsa
I’ll stop at a Mickey D’s
Grab a Burger with fries
And on the front of a napkin
Write a one last chance letter to you
But it probably won’t do no good
We had a rocky road romance
Down a one way hectic highway
With a lot of wrong turns
And dead end streets
And there ain’t no turning back
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