Day: October 21, 2025

You know the cliche, “A man ain’t supposed to cry?
Looking back, I cried twice over lost loves.
Now I see those times as wasted tears
on loves there weren’t real loves,
spent tears that soon dried up.
My tears were put to better use
over the death of a bedbound child,
spent tears not wasted on the
worst kind of heartbreak,
the mourning of the death
of an innocent child,
who never had a life.

Bob Boyd

Decades ago, a massive python invasion
of the Florida Everglades began

humans who had bought baby pythons for pets
released them when they got too big to handle

gradually the pythons mated and exploded
into tens of thousands

and began eliminating raccoons, opossums and rabbits
upsetting the everglades fragile ecosystem

hunters recruited for bounties and millions of dollars spent
with little effect in halting the python invasion

after weeks of the plan only 68 pythons eliminated
the program ineffective, the costs exorbitant

two python detecting dogs recruited next
a better plan but not good enough

hundreds of dog teams needed to cover all of the everglades
a sprawling 1.5 million-acre wetlands

costing millions of dollars and requiring constant maintenance
the costs and the maintenance unmanageable

after which real indigenous rabbits in secure cages were used
to lure the pythons out of their hideouts

menacing pythons began to surround the terrified rabbits
a public outcry saved the rabbits, ended the experiment

giving rise to a better plan with robo-rabbits in cages
armed with high tech mapping, rabbit-like fur and rabbit scents

so far the program a success less costly and efficient
but uncertain if it will rid the wetlands of the pesky pythons.

Bob Boyd

He was a teenager in the Philippines
and a ladyboy in the making

a friend of my ex filipina wife’s niece
and a good kid

though I’m 100 proof heterosexual
I liked him despite his ladyboy inclination

he could sing exceptionally well like an angel
and he had a gentle and fun nature

I had a couple of conversations with this kid
and felt the goodness inside of him

I didn’t care that he chose the path he did
I did care that he had troubles in his family

the worst was when in a remote province
far from Davao where he lived

he got stabbed to death on a rough street
probably because of his sexual preference

it was a sad day in Davao when this teenage kid’s life
got so brutally taken away.

Bob Boyd