Poems by Bob Boyd

He used to like to fish
days and nights,
all the time.

To him it was a sport.
He didn’t catch fish to eat.

He caught all kinds of fish,
bass, trout, catfish, perch,
sunfish and more.

Once he even caught a tiny squid.

Once he could have caught
a crab; it hung on to the bait
and finally dropped off.

But there came a time in
his twenties when he could
no longer fish; he could no
catch, harm, or kill fish
for fun.

He didn’t know why that
change in him occurred,
an awakening
he hadn’t expected.

A blessing for the fish.

Bob Boyd

What a feeling it was when as a teenager
for the first time in my life, I held hands with a girlfriend.
Wow! I couldn’t believe how good, how wonderful, it felt.
It was like a fusion of hearts, hers and mine, in that
most special, sweetest of all moments in my teenage days.
I felt like I was melting with bliss inside my heart and
straight to the core of my budding, youthful being.
If only … if only for a wondrous, magical moment,
I could experience that enchanting, teenage feeling again.

Bob Boyd

Sometimes I find the news gets too toxic,
like eating too much unhealthy food.

Sometimes after months and months
of consuming it, my mind gets

a little too filled with it, like a stomach
ache from eating too much food.

At that point, I have to pull back from
the tableau of negative news

and take a self prescribed news fast
to purge the toxicity out of my mind.

Bob Boyd

She didn’t have true love on her mind.
Money was more important to her,
a practical woman.

I don’t care for gold diggers, but I think
I can understand her and commiserate.

I cannot blame her for seeking financial security
and nearly everything that money can buy.

I can understand her desires for the best food,
the best clothes, the best home and more.

Her life becomes sort of a Disneyland where
practically all her dreams and wishes come true.

What works for her, would never work for me;
I’ve no desire for that kind of life.

The glam, the luxuries, the riches mean
nothing to me.

But I can understand how they can make life
more fulfilling, and I can see how nice it would be
to never have to worry about money and be able
to buy nearly anything you want.

And given true love doesn’t always last, maybe
her practical plan is wiser than just seeking
illusive, true love.

Bob Boyd

They planned the great escape for months,
quiet whispers when the lights when out.
The day, the time, the possible methods,
the coordinated efforts, the escape
when the captors would be off guard.
In 2018, they slipped out of their confines
scaled the walls, leapt to freedom.
They surreptitiously stayed out of sight
of those frantically searching for them
They skirted the city, avoided being seen,
made a successful great escape, and
were never seen again, as if they
fully vanished forever from the planet.
the Lab lizards of the University of Virginia.

Bob Boyd

I’ve often read the heart knows what it wants,
as if the heart knew better than the head.

I like the sound and sentiment in that saying;
to me, it suggests the heart is truer in finding love
than the head.

Yet, despite what the heart wants, I think the head
is a far better guide when seeking love.

I base this partly on my own experience,
too often I’ve been led by my heart
when I should have been guided by my head.

And woe upon woes, the heartaches
the heart caused my head.

Bob Boyd

Wandered into Fisher Park brokenhearted;
my bohemian girlfriend Sheila had left me.

Didn’t realize night was approaching,
saw an old stoned friend Jed.

Twilight approached, and I got an
eerie feeling.

An ivory white female apparition,
appeared and telepathically said stop.

I froze, could not move, Jed spaced out
kept moving,

He stepped on a Mongolian Death Worm,
lights out, Jed dead.

Released by the apparition, I evaded the
worm seconds from its death grip.

Made it out of Fisher Park, apparition
appeared again, wife in a former life.

Bob Boyd

The ants assembled
in their underground temple

for community worship
prayers and meditations

unknown to humans
they had had their gods

that like gods of humans
changed with times and dynasties

Eventually their gods evolved
into the Oneness

the essence of them
and everything else

Ironically, or inspiredly,
they named the Oneness Cosmos

Bob Boyd

They called her a carpenter’s dream
because she had small breasts

flat as a board they said
barely a handful they jeered

It didn’t matter to her
It didn’t matter to him

She was far more
than her anatomy

She was far more
than the body she inhabited

Though her physical assets
were alluringly sufficient

her mind held the most prized treasures
the wonders, the magic, only she possessed

small wonder on bended knee
he begged her to be his wife

and she, a queen among women,
kissed him and accepted.

Bob Boyd

Sweet summer days
passed away

Enter the fall
and the chilling winds

The passing of summer
the beginning of fall

reminds me of the changing
human populations

born like the sun rising
dying like summer ending

dying like flowers
in fall

bodies buried
in the cold ground.

Bob Boyd