Month: September 2025

She was a nice lady
more than pretty enough
prettier on the inside
which mattered more
we had a nice date together
it seemed we could have had
a loving romantic relationship
but she felt we were incompatible
because I didn’t play golf
so in other words batting balls
around the ground
was more important than
the multiple benefits
of a heart to heart
soul to soul connection
I was grateful for that insight
into her character
and felt no sorrow
or disappointment
from her superficial
batting balls around
the ground rejection

Bob Boyd

Walking down Elm Street, Greensboro
many years ago

I spotted a man who looked like Santa Claus
standing behind a stand

I cannot remember his name

I only remember he stood out

Instead of giving Christmas Gifts
to passers by

He was a poet offering his finely crafted poems
to the world

as good as getting longed for Christmans gifts
on Christmas morn.

Bob Boyd

Her beauty was incomparable.
Flowers faded by comparison.
Painters could never capture it.
Poets could not put it in words.
To the despair of legions of men.
She never gave her love to them.
She surrendered her heart to God.
Became Sister Angelica instead.

Bob Boyd

While reading Du Fu’s poems and feeling such peace, I pause and think about how this serenity could be shattered by another that’s supposed to love me.

An argument the night before, an unkind word, a caustic remark,
my peace assaulted, my patience strained.

Though in rare, lonely times I pine for a caring, supportive female companion, at other more sobering times, I realize the insertion of another into my solitude could sabotage my serenity, compromise my peaceful life.

My occasional romanticization of an idealized other devoid of drama, free of tensions, love without friction, enduring forever, is as unrealistic as believing in Saint Nick bearing Christmas gifts.

Bob Boyd

September 29th, 2025. Today the weather
has finally gotten cooler.

It’s been like summer up till now.

Temperatures as high as 80, like a
sweltering fall

instead of invigorating cool winds
and lower temperatures.

You might be a summer person.
You might bask in the hot summer sun.

Me, I like the cooler weather and
dislike the heated rays of that hotter season.

Maybe because I’m at an age with the sun
can be like an enemy to an older person’s skin,
the ever present threat of skin cancer.

Or maybe it’s because I’m originally from a
much colder climate than where I live now.

Whatever the reason, I’m basking in the fall
winds and enjoying the refreshing, colder weather.

Bob Boyd

Despite claims of levitation from different quarters,
I just do not believe any human has ever levitated.

The evidence I’ve read seems more like hearsay
and embellished legends.

Were levitation attainable, I’d think we’d have
scientific, observable proof by now.

I’ve read some Catholic saints have levitated,
but those claims could easily be embellished,

or the alleged writings of saints making such
claims could have been altered

to make the faithful think those dedicated to God
were granted supernatural powers.

I also don’t believe because many claims of
supernatural abilities have been easily debunked.

And I believe in the quote “extraordinary claims
require extraordinary evidence.”

Bob Boyd

He senses they are coming for him,
as if he were somehow connected to them.
They come through his bedroom wall.
His mind becomes subdued, his body weak.
He feels his body being lifted off his bed;
it feels like a floating cloud.
They carry him through his bedroom wall,
as if it’s no longer solid matter.
Next he’s in their huge, oblong ship
strapped on something like an examination table.
The inside of the ship has a sterile, metallic smell.
He doesn’t like the look of the strange grey beings
and their unblinking, large black eyes.
He senses they are soulless and unfeeling.
They hover over him with medical-like instruments
in their abnormally long fingers and spindly hands.
They start extracting fluids from his body.
He feels weak and drained; he passes out.
He wakes up in his bed, his head aching,
his body sore, his mind dazed.
He feels like he’s had a terrible nightmare,
but he knows for sure it’s something worse.
And he fears they will be back for him again.

Bob Boyd

I can put up with a woman’s rabid politics.
I can endure with her talk about mansplaining
and her rantings about toxic masculinity.
I can withstand her constant dramas
and unhinged behaviors.
I can accept her fake body parts and
bloated buttocks enhancement.
I can suffer her constant nagging
about leaving the toilet seat up.
But I cannot live with her dislike of
my favorite ice cream, Häagen-Dazs.
That’s where I draw the line.
That’s the deal breaker.
That’s where we break up.

Bob Boyd

It all begins with love and bliss
that eventually levels off a bit,

or it levels off a lot.

The romance is no longer as
24/7 incredible,

though it might still be good

But sometimes at that juncture
It starts to go bad

and keeps growing worse.

I know this from experience
and how it goes so bad

that there’s no turning back.

Bob Boyd

Why do some have to come
into this life disabled

when others come into it
with perfect health?

Why are some fated from birth
to suffer a mental health crisis

later in their lives, say in their
early twenties,

at a time just when their lives
are really just beginning?

Why are some innocent babies
born with cancer

when other babies are
born with perfect health?

I cannot fathom the whys
of these terrible misfortunes.

I only know my heart aches
at the mere thought of them.

Bob Boyd