Fred Saw 2 Robins in Yard March-5.

You know
when your world falls apart
and you're stuck in the dark
you can head back to the start.
When you've lived to see a man hit 92
somehow when you're struggles hit you,

You know
you can just power through.

You know
life's like a bird in a cage.
It's something you go through alone
not something able to be understood.
You're trapped and chirping
waiting for someone to set you free.

Dream I Had the Other Night

She sat on the beach
blonde haired
and broken hearted.

With an opal heart
her mother gave her
on a golden chain.

So the sun went down
and she fell asleep
in the sand
with a bearded man.

He became her family
which was something
she couldn't comprehend
because she never had one.

So she ran away again
found a new man
gave him her opal heart
but he just gave it back.

He just couldn't accept it.

Two Kids and a Funeral

That cedar chest memory
of a back-dropped curtain
that covers a window
in a dimly lit room
slightly tinted red
from the tassels on the shades.

So as he tries to crawl inside
someone always pulls him away
from that reoccurring dream.

While the memory I carry
is much less morbid, it's still
nonetheless
embedded in my history.

A yellow kitchen set
on a rainy summer day
that caught my eye in such a way
that someone had to do the same.

This Poem's a Mess, and Has No Point

I'll highlight my life in black ink
and let it go word for word.

Trying to simplify the point
which I've written over and over again
losing nothing in translation,
and he just opens my drawers
like I'm some sort of Salvador Dali painting.

So he peeks inside and sees a crumbled mess
knowing that we're nonetheless alike.

Hope for a Family Became a Scary Hospital Drive Memory

I wanna have a family
all my own
without worry of my drone

disorder-

-that sickly sad chord
in the song called my life
sounded over this piece.

So I walked through my memories
without a soul by my side.

Although even if there was one
there's no way they could
understand the ride
and the music on the radio
would be too hard for them to find.

so I'll sing a tune to kiss my pride goodbye
sit back, enjoy the ride
and let someone else drive.

A Rainy Day Spent in an Empty Pool

A cloudy sky on a dreary day
the rain falls on my hair
with the words in my heart.

It's hard to write in the rain
when the ink runs down the page.

Those old plastic rimmed glasses
that I stepped on again.

That was the last time
the pool was open,
and the end of my childhood.

A black blanket draped over me
-soaked in rain
was my umbrella.

My Hero

What a shame-
I won't see you again
till your next tour

But when you come around
I'll be waiting for you with open arms
and a book in hand

As a gift for the songs
you've given me.

A Message for my Mother- a Complicated Brother

Throw your money forth to him
he'll just throw it away
feel as bad as you want for him
it won't change a thing.

You feel, lost, hurt, broken, betrayed
and ask god why-
but let me tell you something
there's more to life than the god you see.

You frame yourself
because he's the son you raised
but you raised me too-
and I'm not running anywhere.

I'm standing right here-
and so is my sister.

Becoming a Better Writer

I want to grow old
with my poetry
have it as a partner
and become wise
as it follows

as if it was human like me

so I could somehow
develop a relationship
with every word I write

to have a bond with the words
that speak for themselves

You left for Nebraska, I had a panic attack

I painted several blue stars
while you were gone

And for some reason
I still love the shade of blue
I plastered on the walls
but when I finished
my mind was too far gone
to realize I created a masterpiece

I cleaned up my world
and scrubbed it until the finish
came off the hardwood floors
then I'd horde again
to fill the empty space

and me scared, shaking
suffering for the first time
from the anxiety flu
partially because I was afraid to lose you