I was one of the featured poets at the Pasadena Library yesterday. I read these seven poems:

Once upon a time
Short life, short skirt
I am the Boss of Me
Commonality
Betty
Good Better Best
Smell my success

I'll give you a couple of lines from each...

ONCE UPON A TIME
You ponder… what if he hadn’t rescued me that day?
I bet I’d be better off, I’d have found a way
To escape and be free to thrive on my own;
Instead of worshiping at the feet of his stinky throne.
...

SHORT LIFE, SHORT SKIRT
Could it really ever be possible that I could be that comfortable in my own skin –

a skin that I would later come to recognize wasn’t me at all.

It was just the house I live in on earth and maybe I shouldn’t care if it needs a little maintenance, the true me dwells inside there

...

I AM THE BOSS OF ME
I have heard experts say that you can create much more wealth
If you’ve your own business, and your employer is yourself.
What a good idea, I decided I would to apply;
Thought, “I’ll definitely get the job; I’m my best ally”.

...

COMMONALITY
Start today, start this minute,
you’ve not finished
is this your due deserve?
Your justice, your eye for an eye
Tooth for a tooth, Thou Shall Not Kill

...

BETTY
They had done their best in shelters and such,
But dismay, there’s a time limit on that stuff.
Mom couldn’t secure a job and a place to live;
She’d had “offers”, but some things you just don’t give.

...


GOOD BETTER BEST
My daddy use to say “Good better best, never let it rest
Until the good gets better and the better gets best”.
I didn’t start out at ‘Good’, so I had a long way to travel
To get to a point where I wouldn’t involuntarily unravel.

...

SMELL MY SUCCESS
Today I went to work hopeless and distraught, my wife is pregnant again; don’t buy your condoms from the 99 cent store.

Slipping Loyalty

Excerpts from the Poem: Slipping Loyalty

Is your desire still to love and Cherish the wife of your youth
Or have the office gals turned your head if you had to tell the truth? ...

After all of these years why is it now that you have no self-control?
Is the incessant asking the secretary for ‘help’ your way to cajole? ...

You think you can live in two worlds and have your feet on either side. Your footing is not sure. Better watch marriage-slides due to slippery pride. ...

TAKE A SHOT

You are going to miss 100% of the shots that you don't take;
The law of probabilities suggests that they're will some you make.
Forget the fear and excuses that are causing this immovable stalemate
You can't get any better without practice, that's how to become great.
If you don't go for it now you won't, your dream will certainly expire;
So make your fantasy reality, visualize your target, ready, aim, fire!

My Date with Gym

Muscles are fatigued, losing the fight with cramps
Forget the stairs, where's the wheel-chair ramps?

...Can't stand erect on these throbbing thighs
Can't even keep open these heavy lids on the eyes...

Thought you were good for me, despite the feedback from each limb;
Sorry the courtship didn't go as planned, I gotta leave you Gym!

JUST BE CONTENT

Excerpts from the poem "Just Be Content"

...There comes a point when one must realize they can't be hell-bent
On having everything immediately and still just be content....

...If you're forever looking ahead, you're not enjoying the moment;
Then your life flashes before your eyes like you didn't even own it.
Contentment shouldn't only be felt when you meet the next goal;
Not enjoying the journey is downright torture to the soul...

...If you can't celebrate the little victories and shake your party rattle;
You will deflate quickly when you actually do win the battle...

HOW MANY VICTIMS?

Excerpts from "HOW MANY VICTIMS?"

... It's like you're driving to your destination with a blindfold on;
Then wonder why you keep ending up on someone's front lawn....

In your hurry to get to your goal and have sought after clout;
You're creating too much wreckage and taking pedestrians out!

...You hit them in the crosswalk, head on in the collision;
Their dreams are now up in smoke because of your decision.

...How many victims have to fall for you to get where you want to be?
How will you answer to the charge of manslaughter in the 1st degree?

DOORMAT

1st Half of the Poem "Doormat"

I'm done. You've trampled on me many times. You won't anymore;
I'm done being your floor mat, forever waiting outside your door.
Being that squish of comfort on cement as you come and go;
You've not made me an equal, but turned me into something low.

It was always a competition with you, I didn't sign up to compete;
You’re threatened by my resilience, so you use me to wipe your feet.
You’ve dropped your ashes on me, I've been singed by the burn;
Set down on me your canned goods, paid for with what I earn....