Bob Boyd – Bob Boyd's Poetry

Invasion of the Palmetto Bugs

I lived in Florida for about twelve years
I liked the little lizards that seemed to constantly do push ups
Maybe it was a male mating thing, showing off to a lady lizard
They reminded of the lizards on the backs of comic books
You could send away for when I was a kid in Massachusetts

The palmetto bugs were another matter, a scourge to me
Giant obnoxious cockroaches that invaded everything relentlessly
And don’t think you could leave a lovely display of fruit on a table Overnight
A palmetto bug’s delight, probably snack on it in the night to your Fright
In the morning light when you saw it scurry away and tried to kill It

And if you succeeded in killing one, no problem to the palmetto bugs
More awaited the chance to invade your dwelling and annoy the Hell out of you
And when they died invading your home, they probably thought they’d be
Rewarded with a hundred palmetto virgins in a palmetto bug Heaven

My worst encounter with one of these bastard bugs was when I saw one six feet up on a garage wall. When I went to attack him he flew off the wall nearly dive bombing into me. Shocked, I never knew they could fly
A sight almost reminiscent of a monster in a horror movie
Crawling out of the grave coming back to life

And if you’re a palmetto bug reading this, imagine me giving the finger to you
And if you think I should be beyond such a crude gesture at my age
I never claimed to have completely grown up

After all, I’m the guy who can walk off a job after over twenty years Of working there
Provoked by an outrageous, unpardonable slight by the director. And I’m proud of that

Bob Boyd

Over 20 Years of Dedicated Service and Screwed

Gave over 20 years to Senior Resources of Guilford, Received many accolades
Including an award from UNCG Department of Gerontology
Became adept at Medicare knowledge and helped
Countless people with all sorts of needs though love and compassion
Many wrote letters and made phone calls of appreciation
Cleaned up donations stagnating in a stockroom and a shed
Outrageous those items donated by people who expected them to get
Into the hands of people who needed them sat wasting away for years until
I decided to do something about that wasteful, unconscionable neglect
Though my indifferent director had no appreciation for my far beyond
The call successes in getting all 20 of those neglected donations into
The hands of those who needed them. I did that and far more, moving even
Hospital beds, wheelchairs, etc. My reward? The unappreciative director
Put someone else in charge of everything I had accomplished.
Could not suffer that outrageous slight, walked off the job
I’d worked at serving seniors in Guilford County for over 20 years
And no wonder Senior Resources of Guilford has so many bad reviews on Indeed, including mine now.

Bob Boyd

In Memory of a Mike McHugh

I remember you friend Mike McHugh, always a good story, always a great smile.
Women loved your raven black hair and your bright, deep blue eyes, to them
you were a handsome prize.
I hated how time dulled your bright deep blue eyes, grayed your raven black hair,
stole the stories from your lips, numbed your mind with a medical condition worse
than Parkinson’s.
How it saddened my heart that all that you were and more the years erased
And worse, now that all that you were and more is gone forever
buried in the cold, unfeeling ground.

Bob Boyd

Ode To A Stink Bug

He sneaks into my apartment somehow
He’s a weird-looking critter I must say
And he’s sitting here looking at me now
I could end his life in a flash, but hey
He’s just sitting there not causing trouble
Were he a mosquito, I’d be bitten
And that bug would be dead on the double
Unlike the stink bug with whom I’m smitten
Because of his odd look and gentle ways
I’m sure he’s not gentle with smaller prey
But it is not his fault in nature’s maze
We all eat smaller things; it’s nature’s way.
Poor stink bug saddled with a name that stinks
When named, if only he could have said nay
And gotten a cooler name like The Spinx.

Bob Boyd