Third Row Angel

Third Row Angel

Watching my television

The first baseball game I have been home for

Eight innings

Five strikeouts

Seventeen hits

A score of four to two

Yet, I never saw any of it

I watched the home plate shots

Shots made from centerfield

I could see you in the third row

Long blonde hair

Legs all the way up to your ass

You were perfection in a Tampa Bay Rays jersey

My heart broke when you went to get a beer

Your empty seat started at me

My heart stopped

My breathing went shallow until I saw you return

A pair of short pants and a Red Solo Cup

My team lost the day

Beaten to a bloody pulp

But I didn’t care

My only thoughts were simple

Are you a season-ticket holder

Will you once again be my third row angel

I will see tomorrow at seven o’clock

When ESPN is once again on my TV

And the umpire yells “Play Ball!”

Once again, if you are there the game will not matter

Too bad it will be a good game

I Don't Trust My Computer

I Don’t Trust My Computer

I don’t trust my computer

I won’t let it sleep

I know it dreams

That’s what bothers me

Is it wondering how to ruin my life

Then again is it truly asleep

It knows I have erectile dysfunction

It knows I dream about that redhead down the hall

It knows when I can sleep and when I can’t

I know sometimes it works for me as I sleep

Poems and stories on its screen I don’t remember writing

I also know it tortures me mentally

Showing pornographic pop-ups when my wife walks in

Ordering a lawn tractor for my fifth floor walk up

Saved emails sent at all hours of the night

I always trusted my pen and paper

The photo album I kept in my dresser

Still, I never trusted my computer

At least not since the lawn tractor was delivered today

So I will go and I will think

While I ride the tractor and cut my carpet

Maybe I can still trust my cell phone

At least until it butt dials one to many times

That will be the end

I will never trust a microchip again

Turkey Love

Turkey Love

Such a noble species

The royalty of American birds

It struts proudly

Flying wild or farm bred

It creates awe wherever it is seen

The turkey has history in its line

Loved and worshipped by the people

The turkey was as American as the eagle

It was almost the national bird

Almost the pride of America

It survives by the millions

Besides all of that one thing in our minds

They make one hell of a great sandwich

And that is all we need to know

Let The Light Shine

Let The Light Shine

Let the light shine

Cutting through our lives

Showing that there is hope

Despite what you see

What you hear

Or what you know

Somewhere the light is shining

Showing people how to live

How to change to end the darkness

What need to be done to survive

The light will become brighter

More intense as people learn

As people accept differences

Thinking they don’t understand

Losing hatred raised from ignorance

Let them all know the truth

The light will shine

Knowledge will grow

And life will be better

If we let the light shine

Decision

Decision

Standing on the corner

Afraid to make a choice

Eyes dart back and forth

Trying to find the way to go

Any way to turn

No sense going back

I’ve seen what is there

The other ways are unknowns

Are they better than what I left behind?

Could they be any worse?

I just don’t know

I don’t want to know

There has to be a way to live

Without making such a decision

For now I will just stand here

Looking and watching all around

Thinking about my life

Where I want it to go

Then I will go back to where I started

And leave the unknown until tomorrow

Gremlin In The Computer

Gremlin In The Computer

Working all day

Struggling all night

It has ti be done

It has to be perfect

Not one misspelled word

Every period has to be in place

Illustrations have to tell the story

So many times I watched the sun go down

Just to see in come up again

Gallons of Pepsi

Dozens of bologna sandwiches

My eyes droop as I look at the screen

Typing and importing pictures

I have come to hate every word

Dreading open my computer is frightful

I know what is there waiting for me

It is finished on a cold winter’s night

Everything is just the way I want it

Beautiful and articulate

It is a masterpiece

If only the gremlin wasn’t there

Watching as I hit the button to print

Looking at the computer starts to make it real

It watches as the pdf starts to print

All the words come one by one

While the picture come

It steals them one by one

Leaving only blank pages

Again and again I try

Again and again the pictures disappear

The frustration grows

The curse words flow

But the gremlin just laughs

God I need a drink

A handful of pills

And three days of sleep

But that won’t come

Not yet

Not until that pdf is finished

Not until the gremlin is chased from my sight

Only then I will alow myself to relax

To drink

And lastly to sleep

Until my next project

When the little demon returns

And it starts all over again

Between Heaven & Earth

Between Heaven & Earth

Look down

Beneath the clouds

So many stars

All in galaxies across the land

Ships travel through paths of light

Red, yellow and green start flash

Keeping a perfect rhythm

Such beauty hidden from view

Yet it is there all around us

It is just sad that we can’t see it

Unless we are floating

High above the Earth

Still not yet in Heaven