Geese are flying overhead
ants are marching on the ground
minnows are swimming in the water
all of them like many humans
live and move in groups
unlike me, a lone wolf,
who lives and moves alone.

Bob Boyd

When Franky got drunk,
he got crazy
beer muscles as if
on super steroids
would fight anyone
even drunk he never lost

often when under the influence
he’d say he could kick the shit
out of a polar bear at our local zoo

his friends thought that was funny
250 pound Franky going
mano a mano with
a 900 pound polar bear

except one night when Franky
said he was going home
after getting crazy drunk
he drove to the zoo instead

in the news the next day
the police reported a man broke
the polar bear’s jaw
before the polar bear
tore the man to pieces

at least Franky got a good
sucker punch in. RIP Franky.

Bob Boyd

In a city in Britain
a man makes
an innocent
social media post
a day later
six police show up
at his door
and say
someone found
your post offensive
you’re coming with
us to the police station
they grill him for hours
let him go with a warning
anymore posts or
comments like that
and you’re
going to be arrested
and most likely
sent to prison

welcome to 1984
in 2026 Britain

it used to be said
God save the king
now it’s
God save Britain.

Bob Boyd

He lived to kill young women
and torturing them as well
he found them thumbing rides on roads
hiking alone in secluded forests
wandering drunk from bars
jogging in tree dense parks
he killed at least twenty women
torturing them gleefully before
ecstatically strangling them to death
ironically his killing spree ended
when one of his intended victims
armed with a gun shot him
in the heart and in the head
on a remote forest trail
his remains devoured by wild animals
the women who murdered him
a serial killer of predatory men.

Bob Boyd

The sailors heard it emerging from the sea
a slight humming sound vibrating their ship
what the hell is that, one of them said
another one drew a gun and fired shots at it
the humming sound grew louder
the ufo whirred and floated in the air
directly toward the frightened sailors
other sailors began shooting at the ufo
their bullets having no effect
with a high pitched ringing sound
rays blasted out of the ufo
killing all the sailors, obliterating the ship
before it vanished in the sky.

Bob Boyd

In the 18th century, Two women conspire
to kill one of their husbands
they decide to poison him to death
the wife buys the poison, puts it in his food
the husband eats the food, dies a painful death
neighbors and others become suspicious
the husband too young too die
a doctor examines the husband’s body
determines he died from poisoning
the wife confesses to the murder
implicates her friend’s involvement
a trail is held, both found guilty
the wife’s friend hung to death
the wife strangled till she died
her remains burned at the stake.

Bob Boyd

Like a Biblical quote about young men having
visions and old men having dreams
I’m an old man who has a lot of dreams,
figuratively and literally

for example, I had a dream, as in an imagining,
that maybe I could be with an ex wife in the afterlife
and unlike with the marriage on earth
everything would work out right

the perfect harmony, the everlasting love
despite our being incompatible in this earthly existence

her being too much of an extrovert
me being more of an introvert
me being of a deep, spiritual/philosophical nature
her unable to relate to any of that

and besides we’d still probably be incompatible
not right for each other even in the afterlife

then I thought about how in the afterlife
there may be no romantic love
all unconditional love beyond
the I’ll love you if you love me

that thought saddens me a bit
maybe I’m too much a romantic
but I’d like to see romantic love endure forever.

Bob Boyd

Yesterday, I thought about death closing in
ordinarily I have no fears, no regrets
with no one on earth to grieve for me

which I’m kind of glad about
I don’t want to bring any sadness
when I pass away on any day
despite feeling young and quite well

but, unexpectedly, when I thought of my death
I felt a tinge of sadness
despite being alone, I felt some attachment
to my now reclusive existence

an existence where each day brings
the possibility of more age-related health problems
the reality of the body and the mind breaking down
like an old machine of months over eighty years

the gears worn down, the mechanics outdated
the machine no longer fixable, the machine dead.

Bob Boyd

Last night I had a dream quite pleasant
though some of it a bit indistinct
pleasant conversation with a lovely woman
she looked like Marlene Dietrich to me

I’m living in some kind of community
that also provides help to people
two female employers are going
to hire me for a human services job
the feelings are quite positive
quite cheerful with the two women
asking me what I’d like to do

the conversation shifts to small talk
I tell one of them about the lovely woman
who looks like Marlene Dietrich to me
I think with the hope of securing favor
when the lovely woman learns what I said

before the dream ends I’m about to
walk into an apartment where I live
I see the Marlene Dietrich woman
in a classroom across the way
she’s smiling at me, an inviting smile
I’m smiling back at her and thinking
how she’s a beautiful young woman
and though enamored, I realize
I’m an old man far too old for her
I wake up realizing I was right,
realizing I wanted to be with the young woman
and it was a foolish old man’s impossible dream.

Bob Boyd

She was so beautiful she seemed like
a mythical creature
she was so uncommonly nice she
seemed like an angel
but when she got angry
she seemed like a demon
and in one of her demonic
rages
she picked up a kitchen knife
and stabbed her mother to death.

Bob Boyd

She came to work at the department store I worked in
funny, pretty, a nice woman, we had a great rapport
her flirtations increased, and I was a bit enamored
but something undefinable keep me from asking her out
on the day I was about to ignore the undefinable
she didn’t show up for work and never returned
she had been fired for stealing women’s clothes
though surprised such a nice woman was a thief
I was grateful I didn’t give her a chance to steal my heart.

Bob Boyd

At 1:00 AM you might see her
walking by the railroad tracks
on main street, maybe in
the city you live in

the little old ghost lady
who is always dressed in
black and glows in the dark

if she sees you looking at her
or hears you speaking to her
she vanishes into the ether

the locals say every night she
roams the tracks looking for
her husband who died on the
tracks while drunk in 1973.

Bob Boyd

Superficial
temporary
not really
there for you

eventually
gone
like the changing
weather

most you cannot
get too attached to

in your life
only for a moment

if you’re lucky
you might have
a permanent one

perhaps to some
degree
in some way
we’re all like

fair weather friends.

Bob Boyd

The older I grow
the less of my past I remember
ages 5 though 12 seem
almost nonexistent
12 through 20 almost the same
20 through 50 some memories
stand out
I’d have to really focus to try
to remember more
the achievements I had in my work
for 20 years before I retired
are mostly fading away too
the older I get
the more it seems
my life was like a dream.

Bob Boyd

She hears her name being called out of the woods
behind her house

but nobody’s there

she posts about it on her YouTube channel
some people commenting about the voice calling her
say they’ve experienced the same

heartfelt remedies are suggested:

don’t answer the voice
keep your dogs inside
invoke the name of Jesus
call on angels,
pray, pray, pray, etc

by some commenters, she’s told the voice
is from a mimic
a malevolent spirit that
dwells in forests

a few others chime in
posting the same

the comments read like folklore
and superstition

but who knows for sure?
there might be real unseen entities
we have no knowledge of
except in seemingly fake folklore stories.

Bob Boyd

Indicted by a madman
didn’t like their nationality
wanted them rooted out
of his master race
conned a nation
into hating them
aiding him in
putting six million
of them to death
a field day
for dark forces
a blight upon
humankind
for the jews
a holocaust.

Bob Boyd

When George met Gwenda,
he felt blessed beyond belief
everything in common, Gwenda hot as hell
they marred a year later, nuptial bliss
the happiest day of George’s life
three years later constant arguments
everyday more and more stress
everyday more and more torments
Gwenda always bringing drama
her love seemed more like hate
George’s life filled with misery
constant turmoil, strained emotions
George diagnosed with high blood pressure
the initial “blessed beyond belief” became
like cursed beyond belief when Jeff
died of a massive heart attack.

Bob Boyd

Marilyn’s husband Ferdinand was a ventriloquist
his dummy’s name was Alex

Marilyn hated that goddamn dummy
she felt Ferdinand loved it more than her

he talked to it as if if were real
spent more time with it than with her

exasperated, fed up, Marilyn went a little crazy
and while Ferdinand was getting a haircut

with a kitchen knife, she cut that dummy to pieces
Ferdinand passed out in the barbershop and bled to death.

Bob Boyd

Some people who have been temporarily dead
and revived

claim they saw dead relatives while clinically dead

if what they say they saw is correct

God, spare me from seeing relatives I don’t want to see when dead

that would be close to the hell I don’t believe in

but maybe annoying people become endearing when dead

like old people who supposedly become wiser and nicer

but since I know not all old people become that way

maybe when dead, annoying is still annoying

so, God, please give me a sanitized afterlife minus annoying relatives and people I didn’t like in this life

spare me from what would be like the hell I don’t believe in.

Bob Boyd

Often I read of unsolved crimes
many about young women murdered

by human monsters who escape punishment
have seen too many of these cases

all over YouTube and the news
I’ve often wondered why we

have to have so much evil in this world
and so much seemingly unpunished evil

and so many soulless, heinous monsters
though I don’t believe in eternal damnation

I do believe in an afterlife reckoning
personally, I’d like that reckoning

to be the monsters experiencing the
horrors they inflicted on their victims

after which, the evil in them got deleted
if that would even be possible

if not, maybe some are just fated to be
evil souls and nothing more

just as there’s so much unfairness in this life
like babies born with terminal diseases.

Bob Boyd