Poems by Bob Boyd

He became so crazed with the
loss of his young, beautiful love
dead at only twenty-two
it seemed like a sin against humanity

he went insane
and dug up her corpse
took it home
embraced it every night
despite the foul decaying odor

maybe because of a strange, romantic fate
maybe because of a rotting corpse disease
he died cradling her in his arms
in his foul-smelling deathbed

Bob Boyd

he takes pills everyday
to keep himself alive
to keep the pain away
to keep a stroke from
numbing his mind or
killing him completely

sometimes he wonders
if all those pills are
worth living a little longer
or if he should chuck
the pills and let mother
nature embrace him to
death in her arms

Bob Boyd

he felt sorry for her having
had cancer three times

he also admired her
she was a warrior

she was sweet and
so nice to talk to

she wasn’t born a looker
but looked good enough

he suggested they
correspond by email

she smiled and wrote
down his email

he was so much older
than her

so he didn’t expect
anything romantic

she never emailed him
he wasn’t disappointed

he was old enough to
be her grandfather

he understood she
was probably not good with it

and changed her mind
about emailing him

and he knew with hindsight
he was better off without it

Bob Boyd

Milly told me she had
butterflies for pets.

Surprised, I wondered
where she kept them.

When I got to apartment
and she opened the door

her apartment was full
of hundreds of butterflies.

Sure it looked cool, but
it was all too much for me.

I left her with some of
her butterflies flying
behind me.

Cool to see, but way
too much for me.

Bob Boyd

In ancient China poetry was revered,
Seemingly more than today,
618-907 CE Tang Dynasty days,
High age of Chinese aristocracy,
Dream times for talented poets.
Du fu, Li Po, Wang Wei and more
How I love those poets.

Bob Boyd

He never had any affection;
nobody gave it to him.
Unwanted as a baby,
sent to an orphanage.
Had to make his way
in his life alone
and unloved.
Than he met
a beautiful woman
who saw the untapped
love inside of him and
gave him so much
affection it made up
for the lack of it
in his lovelorn life.

Bob Boyd

Sad days and heartaches everyday
happen all over this uncertain world.
It doesn’t matter if you’re an optimist
and always see the good in it.
It doesn’t make any difference;
It doesn’t lighten the weighty load
of all the suffering and sorrow
in this ever troubled existence.
But it can lighten one’s load
if one can rise above the sorrows
And roll with the heartaches
and, to quote Apostle Paul,
“fight the good fight.” And keep at it
till the end of your remaining days

Bob Boyd

He attained all his goals,
climbed all the mountains,
had all the successes
he ever desired.

He worked countless hours
to reach the top of the peak.

And burned out on that peak
and had a nervous breakdown
when he had no more
mountains to climb.

Bob Boyd

I kept getting kicked out of high school.
I was a rebellious, troubled kid.

The days I was kicked out I’d go to the pool hall
and play pool kind of as pre-punishment therapy,

dreading going home and because I knew
I was going to get a beating from my father.

I’d take the beating and his overblown rage
and hate him after he went off on me,

but I’d act up again in high school
unbeaten by the beatings.

that just made me badder and
chronically rebellious,

and I hated authority all the more
but I enjoyed the free time to play pool.

and I still hate authority, but not as much
and I no longer play pool,

and I wish I’d never gotten kicked out
of school and been a better kid.

Bob Boyd

She said she’d meet me at the coffee shop
7 pm on a Saturday night.
I got there at 6:45 pm and waited till 7:30 pm.
Stood up, I didn’t give a damn.
If she was that rude, I didn’t need to be
with her anyway.
She called me and apologized for not
showing up and said she’d like to try again.
I couldn’t do it. I said goodbye instead.

Bob Boyd