Poems by Bob Boyd

she’s considered part of the masses
by those who think of themselves
as the higher intelligentsia
she’s not lost in lofty thoughts
or delusional self importance
in a world that’s a blink
in the eyes of eternity
she lives a gentle, normal life
works in a factory days
takes care of her family nights
extends kindness to all
does her best to be
a good and decent person
living by the golden rule

bob boyd

reading passages of the Bible
reflecting on the words
becoming infused
with their sacred meanings
feeling Divinely inspired
when a certain sentence
or passage stands out
and remains in your mind

you close your eyes
and contemplate it
if you can connect
even a little
with the Absolute
if you can for a moment
really feel the
sacred images
the words reveal

you unlock
the peace
beyond understanding
the bliss
beyond imagination
and get a glimpse
of The Divine

Bob Boyd

She looked
so beautiful
when started work
at the jewelry store.

I lucked out
and
got a date
with her.

It went to hell
when she
got drunk
and wanted
sex on the
way home.

Sloppy drunk
women
have never
held any
appeal to me.

I declined
the drunken
offer that
for me
would have
been like
having sex
with a corpse.

But I really
didn’t want
to have
sex with her
because it
was so wrong
to use a
drunken woman
no matter
how hot.

Bob Boyd

Leaves turning gold as winter approaches
I wish they could stay that color forever.
They look like something out of a fantasy world
instead of a sign of the approaching winter.
If they have leaves in the afterlife,
I’ll bet they stay gold forever
and never fall off trees.

Bob Boyd

margaret always loved
the hot fudge sundaes
at her small town’s
little ice cream shop
never had better she said
everybody ate there and
echoed what martha said
until a big ice cream shop
part of a national chain
moved into the town

it offered more ice cream flavors
and food than the little ice shop
and with cheaper costs
better advertising too

it stole all the customers
except martha from
the little ice cream shop
and saddened martha
a principled woman
never ate
hot fudge sundaes
or anything at
that big ice cream store

bob boyd

cameras all over the city
spying on the populace
citizens spying too
with their ever ready
cell phone cameras
to catch others
doing stupid or
criminal things
police and employers
snooping on
social media
yet despite all
the surveillance
some people still
do stupid stuff
and get caught
on camera
and on
social media
welcome to 1984
in 2024 and
shout outs to
george orwell

bob boyd

she always had to buy the most expensive designer clothes.
she blew thousands more on fancy cars and overpriced houses.
she always dined at restaurants affordable to only the rich.
she looked down on people who shopped at stores like walmart,
peasants she called them, who had no class or taste,
who’s idea of dining out was filling their faces at fast food restaurants.
despite all her arrogant airs and her extravagant spending,
she could never buy enough stuff to make her happy
she was more miserable than so-called peasants she disdained,
and all her heaps of stuff that didn’t matter one bit when she died.

bob boyd

it was the most
thrilling ride of her life
falling, falling, failing,
spinning, spinning, spinning
wafting through the air
exhilarated like never before
when the ride ended
the leaf on the ground
the ladybug
crawled off it

bob boyd

After her cheating boyfriend broke her heart,
she gave up on love and men at age 21.

She didn’t have a man in her life for seven lonely years
until she met a decent and true man at age 28.

The romance lasted two beautiful years until
her ideal love died in a car crash.

She had three more loves and two marriages
before she died at 74.

None of those loves or marriages worked out.
It wasn’t that she was unlovable or hard to be with.

She was a kind, sweet, and decent woman and fun to be with.
It was the bad luck of the random draw, never finding
the right one, never finding lasting love.

Bob Boyd

He keeps suppressing the persistent need
for a woman in his waning life.
He’s at an age where he could die any day
or become physically impaired or get dementia.

Yet, the romantic spark stills flickers in him
every now and then
despite his logical reasons
for not trying to find a woman anymore
or going through the trouble of
finding one who would want him.

In clear headed moments, he realizes
he just doesn’t want to try,
or face rejections and aggravations,
an old man can only take
so many disappointments.

Despite being lonely and
missing the love of a woman,
he gives up on romance in his aging life.
And he dreams of maybe
finding love with an ideal soulmate
in the inexorably, impending afterlife.

Bob Boyd