Poems by Bob Boyd

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
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 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

the worst
day

of

my life

was when
I woke up
next to you

and

you were
dead

Bob Boyd

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

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

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

In youth she was beautiful, none could compare
But Life’s right-hand man, Time, stole her beauty away
Why oh why does life not let women stay fair?
Why oh why does it make loveliness its prey?
Why can’t it be like Death who beauty restores?
When faded flowers will bloom evermore.

Bob Boyd

I thought we had true love
I thought it would last
But you had other plans
Selfish plans
In violation of true love
In violation of vows

You wanted more stuff
I didn’t care about

So you met a rich guy
Who dazzled you with stuff
And you left me
I didn’t care about that either

Then the rich guy said goodbye
And took his stuff
You cried and wanted the guy back who didn’t care about stuff
Like a fool, I succumbed. Like a fool, I felt sorry for you

Your redemption worked
until you found another guy with more stuff
I’ll never make that mistake again.

Bob Boyd

Little Squirrel in the tree
It must be tough being thee
Predators up in the sky
And on the ground standing by
Looking to make you a treat
Sad you must be good to eat
Which must make your life so hard
Always fearful and on guard.

Bob Boyd