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