He senses they are coming for him,
as if he were somehow connected to them.
They come through his bedroom wall.
His mind becomes subdued, his body weak.
He feels his body being lifted off his bed;
it feels like a floating cloud.
They carry him through his bedroom wall,
as if it’s no longer solid matter.
Next he’s in their huge, oblong ship
strapped on something like an examination table.
The inside of the ship has a sterile, metallic smell.
He doesn’t like the look of the strange grey beings
and their unblinking, large black eyes.
He senses they are soulless and unfeeling.
They hover over him with medical-like instruments
in their abnormally long fingers and spindly hands.
They start extracting fluids from his body.
He feels weak and drained; he passes out.
He wakes up in his bed, his head aching,
his body sore, his mind dazed.
He feels like he’s had a terrible nightmare,
but he knows for sure it’s something worse.
And he fears they will be back for him again.

Bob Boyd

I can put up with a woman’s rabid politics.
I can endure with her talk about mansplaining
and her rantings about toxic masculinity.
I can withstand her constant dramas
and unhinged behaviors.
I can accept her fake body parts and
bloated buttocks enhancement.
I can suffer her constant nagging
about leaving the toilet seat up.
But I cannot live with her dislike of
my favorite ice cream, Häagen-Dazs.
That’s where I draw the line.
That’s the deal breaker.
That’s where we break up.

Bob Boyd

It all begins with love and bliss
that eventually levels off a bit,

or it levels off a lot.

The romance is no longer as
24/7 incredible,

though it might still be good

But sometimes at that juncture
It starts to go bad

and keeps growing worse.

I know this from experience
and how it goes so bad

that there’s no turning back.

Bob Boyd

Why do some have to come
into this life disabled

when others come into it
with perfect health?

Why are some fated from birth
to suffer a mental health crisis

later in their lives, say in their
early twenties,

at a time just when their lives
are really just beginning?

Why are some innocent babies
born with cancer

when other babies are
born with perfect health?

I cannot fathom the whys
of these terrible misfortunes.

I only know my heart aches
at the mere thought of them.

Bob Boyd

There are intelligent ghosts,
and they can interact with you.

The worst is when they look at you
and whisper your name.

If that isn’t enough to freak you out,
you might feel one touching you.

They can make you feel icy fingers
or freezing breath on your body.

They can make things go missing
or move in your home.

When they’re around, the air gets cold
and follows you from room to room.

Lights in your house may mysteriously
go on and off.

My advice to you, stay away from the
haunts of ghosts and ghost tours.

You never know when an intelligent
ghost might be watching you

and decide to follow you home.

Bob Boyd

He worked out all his life, healthy as a horse,
strong as a bull.

Super fit, the fittest of all his peers.

Disease free in his fifties from the right diet
and working out daily in the gym.

Still healthy as a horse, strong as a bull, people
marveled at how good he looked.

Cancer in his late fifties, dead at age sixty

despite his superior fitness and the healthy diet
he scrupulously maintained.

His doctor said, “Sometimes you can do everything right
and still get sick.

Sometimes you can do everything wrong
and never get sick.”

Bob Boyd

She was an attractive, single woman
who lived in her house alone.

Crime and break ins had risen
in her city

that prompted her to buy
a gun for protection.

Her friends, opposed to guns,
thought she was being paranoid.

One night she heard someone
breaking into her house.

She grabbed and loaded her gun
and yelled I’ve got a gun.

The man trying to break into her
apartment yelled I’ve got one too.

The air exploded with gunfire
and the smell of gun powder.

When the shots died down,
one of them was dead,

a serial killer who planned on
raping, torturing and killing her.

Bob Boyd

he prowled the city streets hunting
for prey

he beat his many victims nearly
to death

he robbed them of their money
stole their watches and jewelry

made a good criminal living off all
the easy prey

until he tried to rob a petite woman
who had attained a special skill

and as he was about to strike her
she shot him dead.

Bob Boyd

To all the women and girls named
Karen who never act inappropriately
or crazy,

I hate how your name has become
synonymously when women who do.

I hate how fate and chance have put
that stigma on innocent you.

The curses of Medusa upon the cad
who put that unfair curse on you.

I pine for the day when the Karen fad
will pass,

and you can return to a normalized life
without your name

defamed and linked to deranged
behavior.

Bob Boyd

I recall Taoist Masters writing about meditating
near trees.
They claimed a peaceful energy emanated from
the trees.
I believe they probably were right; it does seem
more peaceful spending time near trees.
I remember the Taoist even have a meditation
method tied to trees, standing like a tree.
Having tried it decades ago, I found it was
an effective, potent method.
You stood with your knees bent and you arms
positioned as if holding a giant ball.
I know that treelike stance would give one
the peace of a steady tree.
I believe with years of standing like a tree
you would become One with the Tao.

Bob Boyd