Day: October 23, 2025

Like beasts of the jungle are born to kill
so was he

except the beasts killed for food
but he killed for the thrill

unlike the beasts of the jungle
he relished his tortures before the kills

he had no misgivings, no guilt
like sinless jungle beasts, he was born to kill

a terrible car accident left him with a concussion
and rearranged his thinking

the weight of all those tortures and kills
began to shame and torment him

as if the brain damage birthed a conscience
rendering him unable to torture and kill

he climbed to the top of a mountain cliff
jutting rocks below it

took a deep breath, began to step off the cliff
then backed away, couldn’t do it

hiking back down the mountain
stepped too close to a bear cub

screamed when he saw the mother bear
growling and racing toward him

he tried to outrun the bear until the bear caught him
and did to him what he couldn’t do to himself

now his blood and bones are scattered in the forest
and he is in a hell being tortured and killed indefinitely.

Bob Boyd

She was born into all the advantages
wealthy parents, high IQ, beautiful face and body

In her early twenties
she got tired of having everything

began drinking too much
driving too fast and too drunk

flew off a highway into a tree
rushed to the ER by paramedics

clinically dead on the examination table
a doctor pumped her chest with defibrillator paddles

returned to life minutes later
said she had a life review and saw God too

shortly after that and some reflection
donated her riches to the poor

and became a Buddhist nun
in faraway Singapore.

Bob Boyd

Should had died at age 76 of cancer
medical treatments saved my life
at 80 another pending medical crisis
a pace maker staved off the threat
now at 80 and nine months I’m worried
I feel too goddamn good
riding an exercise bike 2 hours daily
working out 3 times a week
writing thousands of poems
I might live longer than I want to
like my mother who lived to her late 90s

from working decades with the elderly
I’ve seen living too long
is often fraught with problems
possibilities of more health conditions
maybe a dementia or Alzheimer’s as well
maybe in a wheelchair or on a walker
quality of life becomes diminished
medical costs can keeping adding up
might be in an assisted living facility
unable to take care of yourself
or consigned to a bleak nursing home
fully dependent on others for your care
your independence, your freedom
and your extended long life
essentially finished before you die.

Bob Boyd

Thumbing a ride to high school
he got a ride from his second cousin
a good conversation with him
a nice guy

weeks later the nice guy second cousin
shot a store clerk in a robbery
and went to prison for life

years after that, he broke out of prison
killed a prison guard

disappeared for ten years
police didn’t know where he was

became a celebrated poet in Chicago under an assumed name
awarded poet of the month as J. J. Jameson

a photo of him with the award in a local newspaper
caught the attention of a police office

the authorities finally caught up with him
second cousin killer poet back in prison

he tried to get paroled a couple of times
denied each time

until in his late seventies when sick and dying
paroled and died a few years ago.

Bob Boyd

Sweet couplings of lovers
nature’s way of multiplying
the human species

sooner or later children follow
advancing the species

as it has been in the beginning
as it will be in the end

as it is will all species
from the least to the most

procreation, procreation, ad infinitum.

Bob Boyd