Survive and Thrive ~ Wednesday, November 26, 2025

Tablets crushed for the cats, each to their own
how, in the morning and in the evening
each day, this activity defines me

maybe as a child in a small beach town
each time I saw a cat, it was my friend
as a boy, I was strange, I sought meaning
not like others, but in books, I could see
instructions on how to understand life
not like others, a young sapling will bend
given, I was a boy, but not a tree

observation is key to understand
foreigners who live in a strange country

language acquisition, as to command
infantry, taught me, my tongue is a knife
for cutting others down, a tool to wield
each time, I bit my tongue while in the field

indeed, as a child, I lost my conscience
slowly, as an adolescent, I lost

deliberation to act with concern
instantly, my mind snapped, I lost all sense
from that point, I reset all the boundaries
for meaning, I had lost and at what cost
each to their own, as I began to learn
race has meaning for others to exploit
existence precedes essence carries
no weight beyond words, thoughts and emotions
transcend human understanding, patterns

foreign to every day routines, oceans
obtain messages in bottles, slatterns
removed from common life appear adroit

experience based on trauma or joy
answers the question, posed as a riddle
challenged by a Sphinx, live or die, fiddle
hey, diddle, diddle, the cat found her boy

how I became a man who fell in love
unremarkably with women and cats
mustard seeds but not faith or religion
animosity comes with hand in glove
no one knows the whole truth, hidden treasure

brings to justice hard men with baseball bats
each to their own, with a cat called Smidgen
if conditions precede actions, agree
not to disagree but to find pleasure
given consequences follow bad faith

accountability at the pulpit
slosh in my brain, my mother, an old wraith

entitled and privileged enough to spit
arguments at me, freedom is not free
chuckle at the old man in a tin box
how my father drank, and smoked from a pipe

tin box ashes in a graveyard, unseen
remember the coffin sealed, a ghost fox
invisible to the Catholic horde
enlightened monk, wild fox, no tears to wipe
subtle wisdom, cause and effect, pale green

translucent lamp, a word not to ignore
on release from the curse, no longer bored

religion mystifies burial rites
each to their own, a son fights his neglect
suffer fools in silence, the devil bites
off the heads of crayfish, demons detect
lo-fi, colorless green ideas that snore
versions of the truth furiously sleep
each to their own, unseen corpse, not a peep

each to their own, a black dog gnaws a bone
xenophobic vanilla bean ice cream
angels doubt the existence of the news
call me an ungrateful, hypocrite stone
the truth recognizes, firstly, the dead
led down trails paved with tears, buried a dream
yet, no one ever, for them, sings the blues

humans forget responsibility
only the need to raise dough to make bread
when there is no one left to reimburse

to offer the living recognition
only makes matters worse, nothing more worse

letting everyone die, an admission
if ever so formal, sterility
venal corruption smiles, money in hand
enjoys security, funds in the bank

acknowledgement provides precedent
no one wants to slither along the sand
dive back into the sea, back to the fish

enter and descend into hell to thank
noteworthy Lucifer for light hell-bent
joy, a sinister gift, the holidays
observe thanks and giving, my only wish
yes, that poetry makes kindness happen

left-handed path, who cares, positive change
if God and Satan appear misshapen
fiction cannot be proven true, derange
each to their own, riddles are just a phase