COVID-19

COVID-19

Disconnect. 
Reflect. 
Don't Deflect. 
Don't intersect. 
To respect, 
Doesn't mean genuflect. 
It's O.k. to introspect, 
And temporarily inflect, 
To obtain the maximum effect.

Invino Veritas
4/2/20

EOF

Fireflies From Afar

Fireflies From Afar

In my winter, I loved you from afar,.
Like a sea captain views the North Star,
My hand in yours, as you whisked me away,
Through my dreams that served only to belay,
For in my Spring, I'd encase you in glass,
Firefly to enjoy, delight that would pass,
And send you adrift with morning's first light,
With beacon unnoticed as you take flight,
Yet when Nyx, again, bade darkness to fall,
Another firefly would answer my call,
And into my jar, to delight once more,
Until dawn's first light,  she'd fly out the door.
   Alas, in winter, this love from afar,
   My dear, is for you, and not me by far.


Invino Veritas
9/2/19

EOF

Dragon Matters

Dragon Matters

I saw you on the corner,
Preaching fire while they flatter,
Collecting approval and raising fingers,
While the animosity still lingers,
From followers and mourners,
'Cause In the end it doesn't matter.
You imagined yourself a dragon,
Breathing fire from your ladder,
To the sky, they raised you higher,
As you fed upon their fire,
Drank ambrosia from your flagon,
To that which does not matter;
But when you died,
The world remained the same,
Your words trailed ever ghostly,
Fading ever so mostly,
As they all forgot your game,
Because it didn't matter.
For in the end they turned around,
From your body in the ground,
And found themselves left behind,
And what mattered did they find.

Invino Veritas
5/4/17
(May the Fourth be with you!)
EOF

Stranger Than Fiction

Stranger Than Fiction

Reality's stranger than fiction,
Because I know how the story ends,
Beowulf becomes the caped crusader,
And it's his home the hero defends,
Ahab's white whale is Somalian,
And Queen Jadis rules the desert sands,
In Yemen, Dracul's a thirsty fool,
Readers think hail from far off Iran,
And yet King Lear shouts from Israel,
With Cordelia, dear, ever in tow,
No longer resembling Robin Hood,
But the Sheriff we've all come to know,
Yes, it's surely stranger than fiction,
Wherein the tongues shall all at once fork,
If ever it once made sense to me,
It is when aliens came from Ork.


Invino Veritas
2/21/17
EOF

Oblivious

Oblivious

She's beautiful because she's oblivious,
And I wouldn't want to break her glass,
If she knew -- if our eyes met, she'd know,
And therefore, she'd not be beautiful,
Because she would then know,
Because she would then change;

And now I feel dirty,
And I'll go home,
And drown in pop culture--
Whip myself,
Beat myself,
Tear myself,
Come to terms,
And return.

I'll catch another beauty,
Across the darkened bar,
In the flickering candlelight,
And she'll be beautiful;
She'll be oblivious,
Until she knows,
Then I'll feel dirty,
Again.


Invino Veritas
2/14/17
EOF

Rabble

Rabble

Content, am I, within my own thoughts now,
Amongst the rabble and theories of how,
The visions of sports do not penetrate,
Nor do the rumm'ling voices of debate,
Catching but snippets that pass without note,
On the surface, these topics are remote,
Turning about one another as swill,
From the ales and spirits, their bellies, fill,
Alas, a break, where the music enters,
Moving away from the steady centers,
And my mind topples atop with the head,
Tipping it back, forgetting what was said,
   Perhaps by choice or the subtle refrain,
   Drowning the rabble twice ever again.

Invino Veritas
2/14/17
EOF

Then

Then

I wish I knew you then,
When stars lit up your eyes,
When the passion you made,
Would bubble and not fade,
And the fires that burned,
Did not die.

I wish I'd seen your soul,
Before the frost chilled your bones,
When the gaze and a word,
Were the thunder they heard,
And the excited cadences,
Struck like stones.

But I barely know you now,
So it's the best it's ever been,
When a beer incites the smile,
I've been waiting for a while,
I'm glad to call you,
A friend.




Invino Veritas
1/27/17
EOF

Legal Tender

Legal Tender

They told us it was,
Legal tender for all debts,
And justified wars for all vets,
But their heart's in the tank,
Where the submarine sank,
And they offer no regrets.
They pointed out the heroes,
When they shot the old man down,
And the murderers they thusly found,
Were justified under the law,
According to the evidence the jury saw,
Followed by yet another round.
She wasn't prepared,
When she returned to camp,
With dreams to be the champ,
That catcalls and requests,
To reveal her breasts,
Would make her eyes, instead, damp.
And it was the legal tender,
That eventually built the wall,
Between the big and the small,
Between the eyes and the ears,
Predicated on manufactured fears,
And a will to control it all.


Invino Veritas
9/6/16
EOF

Aethereal Secrets

Aethereal Secrets

As I lay here now awake,
In this bed I refuse to make,
Thumbing through your posts of woe,
Telling me what I should know,
Dogs and cats and killer cops,
Tenets wise and GMO crops,
Pocket squirrels and green landscapes,
Attract my eyes with escapes,
And sunlight gold across my screen,
Returns my mind to pastures seen,
A million miles past the moon,
Within the glint of Neptune's boon,
Fiery furnaces and bubbling seas,
Churning gasses, a frozen breeze,
Scales beyond mere mortal sight,
Floating within eternal night,
Yet, in the aether where I splay,
Between the two, here I lay,
Undulating with each wave,
Competing voices declared to save,
Surrround myself with sight and sound,
Locked inside on solid ground,
In treasure chests filled with gold,
And the secrets that I hold.


Invino Veritas
7/10/16
EOF

Cherry Pie

Cherry Pie

I'm a dime store cherry pie,
Sweet to the taste,
And glossy to the eye,
Country diner key lime pie,
Great on Sundays,
When time passes by.
But in dawn's roast,
On Monday morning,
I'm suddenly buttered toast,
Appearing most anywhere,
Not worth the boast,
Monday's hangover remedy,
To be slammed,
With a grimace,
    And toast to malady.
I lift you up,
Put you down,
Turn that frown,
Upside-down.
But tucked away,
Whilst you stray,
And lose your way,
Ready for Tuesday.


Invino Veritas
6/13/16
EOF

The Advocate

Today,
I am the advocate.
But not your's.
With sideways glance,
My eye slithers around you,
Over you,
Through you.
But I am cute,
A glittering charm,
A glint in the eye,
And I can do no wrong.
I am constructed with sugar,
And a sprinkle of spice,
But snips and snails,
And puppy dog tails,
Keep me anything but nice.
I am the bastard cat,
Swatting at the jar,
Watching it crash to the floor.
Yet, here I yawn,
Because I am beautiful,
I am berries and cream,
Their realized dream,
The apple of their eye.
I am the sparkling gem,
A star that won't dim,
That sizzling ember,
They can't deny.


Invino Veritas
4/7/16
EOF

Mea Culpa, Universe

Mea Culpa, Universe

My Universe, it appears to me,
Shifted focus, that I can see,
You raised me up and brought me here,
So far,
So good,
No harm,
No fear,
But Universe, you dirty rat,
On a dime, where I'm at,
Turning left,
Turning right,
Out of place,
Out of sight.
So Universe, here we are,
Took my health, took my car,
Apparently,
In store for me,
Yet to learn,
Yet to see.
And Universe, the other side,
Of your moon where darkness hides,
See your test,
See your game,
Mea Culpa,
Myself to blame.
So, Universe, challenge accepted,
Obfuscations intercepted,
From the ashes,
From the fires,
A starry furnace,
I climb your spires.


InvinoVeritas
3/12/16
EOF

The Spoils of Battle

The Spoils of Battle

That moment when your friends aren't friends,
And you've no idea at whom you're mad,
When it's too late and faced with adjustment,
When you're the wall and they're the brad,
When the hammer falls and it's too late,
And in your mind where you berate,
You dull the senses and numb the mind,
You ponder change and question fate,
Count your blessings and make excuses,
Dowse the fires with stalwart oathings,
Rally the troops and brandish flamberges,
Charge with torches lit with loathings.
Take the hill and light the fires,
Wave your colors and brave the towers,
Loose the dogs and charge as mongrels,
Ravenous for passage against the powers,
Rebuild your kingdom with walls of granite,
And allies fair to stand by your side,
Seek alliance and brothers in common,
Walking in arms with fortified stride,
And at that moment when you remember,
When day is done and night seems far,
Know that the fires that stand ever burning,
Are marked by many a battle scar.


Invino Veritas
2/12/16
EOF

Invisible

Invisible

We don't like him,
He does too few,
We won't invite him,
No, he won't do,
He will not speak,
Nor will he blend,
No, he won't fit,
Nor, to us, ascend,
But it's so lonely,
Inside his head,
He's all alone,
From us instead,
We can't relate,
We're far ahead,
We've lived better,
And he is dead,
But here's a flower,
Here's all the kind,
When laid to rest,
We'll pay him mind,
He'll be the best,
Friend that I'll find,
Though, when he lived,
Was left behind.


Invino Veritas
2/8/16
EOF

Sunday Lament

Sunday Lament

There's no inspiration without admiration,
No direction and no gifts,
No talents and skills for the pressurized,
No openings and no rifts,
No impetus, no cataclysms,
No sproutings and no light,
There can be no circumstances,
That provide for our delight.
Without admiration there's no inspiration,
No puzzlement nor epiphany,
No hidden treasures for dreams and hopes,
No Archimedian discovery,
So praise the child who imitates,
The songstress with homage to pay,
Reimagine our idols' intentions,
And creations that carve the way,
But inhibit the course of simple men,
The dreamers who dare to try,
We'll kiss admiration, inspiration,
And to each, wave goodbye.

Invino Veritas
11/8/15
EOF

.

Los Provocadores

Los Provocadores

There was a Glorp that met a Glorp,
And though each had experitise,
Without waste, but speed of chase,
They commenced to disagree.
The elder Glorp said at once,
'My sir, although you correlate,
You direct result without cause;
They simply don't relate.'
But the younger Glorp in retort,
Scoffed and rightly said,
' Your research shall besmirch,
And misdirect instead.'
Therefore another Glorp,
Added to each, some dismay,
As another Glorp listened in,
To what he had to say,
"Fiddlesticks and Balderdash,
And bull malarky, too!
Pay no attention to this rabble!"
He professed with much ado.
"Here, here you scallywags!"
The grey-haired Glorp agreed,
"We must, to reason, lend an ear,
Would you lend them, please?
Quite right, indeed you are,
My fellow purveyor hence,
Your silver tongue wastes no time,
And more importantly, my pence!"
But then the scoffs turned to shouts,
And the palms turned into fists,
And the two Glorps from before,
Thought best to not assist.
So hats in hand and papers tucked,
Outside, the two Glorps did sneak,
And each Glorp to the other,
Asked, "Same time next week?"


Invino Veritas
11/2/15
EOF

Dharma

Dharma

There, all at once when the outer ring blew,
The scientists immediately knew,
T'was time to vacate the Tarxian moon,
Leaving behind the rare Tarxian boon,
A jerk to the left and swing to the right,
And the silvery craft thusly took flight,
But a chunk of rock pounded the craft's wing,
As the silvery craft thusly did spring,
Then, all at once, it wheezed and it sputtered,
Clinging to his chair, the pilot muttered,
"Distinguished colleague and life-long friend,
Childhood buddy, we've escaped the end,
Alas, I lament those who're left behind,
And curse the soldiers who, us, seek to find,
So enagage the cloak and point the nose,
To a yellow star - right there, I suppose!"
And so, two friends, in a flash of blue light,
Left behind their lives and vanished from sight,
Past the expanse, the Sea of Endless Days,
Past nebulae of endless purple haze,
On a beam of twisted olivine light,
Behind Jupiter's cone of endless night,
Past Io and Titan, Ganymede, too,
Skipping, as pebbles, where trouble shant brew,
When, there, like a glint in a newborn's eye,
A tiny reflection each did espy,
Upon the approach a lonely station,
Circled the planet with sad rotation,
And there on the side: a bumper sticker,
From which the star's amber light did flicker,
A message of warning or perhaps it was pride,
A brand to all who dared to come inside:
"If, at first, we cannot deflower it,
It must be, for us, to devour it,
And if neither is cause for us to keep,
We, the monkeys, shall surely fall asleep.
So please bring tribute that you've meant for us,
But whatever you do, please don't bore us."
Now, it was clear a mistake had been made,
Maybe the choices deserved to be weighed,
The refugees leaned in towards each other,
Each agreed to listen to his brother,
When the pilot spoke to clear his mind,
"My friend, I think we are agreed and find,
'Tis better to be a slave far away,
Than a monkey on this Earth any day."
So away they flew past the distant moons,
Past Jupiter's cone and frigid Neptune,
Across the purple haze and nebulae,
To Tarxian space and the endless sea,
And when our heroes, nay, our refugees,
Before the Emperor, dropped to their knees,
But fate once again meddled as before,
The Emperor's distaste fell to the floor,
Bestowed upon them in spite of their dearth,
Life with monkeys on remote planet Earth.

Invino Veritas
9/2/15
Picture Added 9/3/15
EOF

Malaise

Malaise

I've seen this somewhere before,
In a dream, in a memory,
In a fantasy or perhaps a nightmare,
To it, I'm numb or perhaps sore,
Unable to notice the chicory,
Or deviate the penetrating stare,
Back and forth the ship sways,
Over the waves of another day,
Through the eddies of endless tide,
Of which I'm unable to confide,
Standing alone among the drones,
Surrounded by foam covering the loam,
A barrier thin to permeate through,
With line of sight, tactile, too,
The ebbs and flow nudge one another,
Lazily against as they both smother,
Each vying for their moment in time,
To pen the day's uneventful rime.

Invino Veritas
8/27/15
EOF

Bullhorn

Bullhorn

My phone makes me ill,
A constant stream of swill,
Regurgitated filth flowing forth,
Like garbage that lost its worth,
When once consumed it fell,
Into the brown, pungent swell,
My phone makes me sigh,
Reminds me of the lies,
Falling from the lips,
Of politicians and their quips,
Of security and faith,
And the nation the wraith,
My phone, to me, bleats,
Over and over repeats,
The dance of the honeybee,
Whispering promises to me,
Of sweet nectar and pollen,
Upon my ears, there, fallen,
My phone is the autumn rot,
Signaling death the winters brought,
Rustling in the breeze,
Where it bellows its sleeze,
Calling to me in time,
With that insidious chime,
It is my phone I despise,
For it only has cries,
Harboring only shame,
And an abundance of blame,
Of which none is for me,
Of which is reserved for thee.


Invino Veritas
8/26/15
EOF

Purple

Purple

It was not me, it was the world,
That painted my sky,
My perfect sky,
And colored it green;
A far cry from Purple.
It was not me, it was the world,
That drowned my dreams,
My gorgeous dreams,
And soaked my fingers,
And froze them out Purple.
But it was me, certainly me,
Who swung the axe,
That terrible axe,
That smashed their columns,
Staining their steps Purple.
And alas it was me, most certainly me,
Who broke the ice,
That terrible ice,
That freed the dreams,
Changing the sky to Purple.

Invino Veritas
7/20/15
EOF