An Ex-Wife in a Dream

He hadn’t seen his ex-wife in years.
Last time he saw her they argued,
and they parted hating each other.
In the dream, she was forgiving
and so was he. He woke up thinking
it seemed like more than a dream.
He felt as if they’d let go off the hate
they had for each other for years.
The next day he learned that
his ex-wife had died that night.

Bob Boyd

The Impulse for a Mate Is So Strong

Even though I’ve lived for 80 years,
sometimes I feel the desire for a mate.
I would have thought my age would have
obliterated that feeling, that need,
for a female companion in my elderly life.
Despite the many reasons my mind
can find why being with a woman
would be too risky a proposition
with the possibility of a painful outcome,
sometimes my mind reneges and
that desire, that need, resurfaces.
I don’t act upon it. In a way I don’t
care. In a bigger way I see the many
disadvantages and suppress those
unwanted feelings that now
I wish I’d never been born with.

Bob Boyd

A Radical Change

Barely knew him in high school.
He was a quiet, nice kid
Met him again years later
After I got out of the Air Force
He had a trendy, hippie look
Long back hair down to his shoulders
Something about his eyes was different
He didn’t look like the seemingly nice kid
Life appeared to have hardened him
As I saw when I looked into his eyes
He said he’d been to jail
I didn’t pry and ask what for
He said he’d be going back again
And he didn’t care
He had such conviction when he said it
That I know he meant it
To this day I cannot understand why
I cannot understand why any person
Would be perfectly okay with
Going back to jail again
Never saw him again after that
Brief and reveal meeting
But sometimes I wonder what
Changed that quiet, nice kid in high school

Bob Boyd

Enjoy Your Youth

Enjoy your youth
It soon passes
Before you know it
Those youthful days are gone
Before you know it
Your hair begins to gray
Your skin begins to wrinkle
You wake up and realize
Those young days are gone
And never coming back
Despite there was a time
When you felt as if
You’d be young forever
I know I did

Bob Boyd

I Like 30s Music

I like 30s music It hearkens back
to a simpler, more peaceful era without drugs
Everywhere,
Without poor drugged up souls in the streets
Twisting
Without pointless mass shootings
Commonplace
Without people pushed into subways
Routinely
Without people attacked all the time
Randomly
Without bullied children committing suicide
Often
Without children being sexualized in schools
Daily
Without the government treating concerned parents like
Terrorists
I pine for 30s music and simpler more peaceful times and
Normalcy.

Bob Boyd

Wendigo

Wendigo Wendigo where did you go?
I’ve searched for you everywhere high and low.
Are you afraid of my Werewolf prowess?
Does my howl render you powerless?
Someday under an auspicious full moon
I’ll find you and your body I will hewn
Before you die I’ll say this is for Sue
My sister you killed in 2002.

Bob Boyd

A Chipmunk and a Tricky Crow Named Randy

Chipmunk, Chipmunk what do you like to eat?
Bonbons are my favorite treat.
Chipmunk, Chipmunk where do you find candy?
From a tricky crow named Randy
He brings me vegetables and meal worms too
Once he brought pieces of a vegan stew
I spit it out and said that won’t do
Randy was trying to be tricky and coy
And turn me into a soy boy.

Bob Boyd

Time

when you’re six
you are going to
live forever

when you are sixteen
you are never
going to get old

when you are twenty-six
you’re still a bit
like an immortal

when you reach sixty-six
if you’re lucky enough
to live that long,

the illusions die and
you know you’re going to die
and you wonder how
the time went by so fast

bob boyd