In a city in Britain
a man makes
an innocent
social media post
a day later
six police show up
at his door
and say
someone found
your post offensive
you’re coming with
us to the police station
they grill him for hours
let him go with a warning
anymore posts or
comments like that
and you’re
going to be arrested
and most likely
sent to prison
welcome to 1984
in 2026 Britain
it used to be said
God save the king
now it’s
God save Britain.
Bob Boyd
He lived to kill young women
and torturing them as well
he found them thumbing rides on roads
hiking alone in secluded forests
wandering drunk from bars
jogging in tree dense parks
he killed at least twenty women
torturing them gleefully before
ecstatically strangling them to death
ironically his killing spree ended
when one of his intended victims
armed with a gun shot him
in the heart and in the head
on a remote forest trail
his remains devoured by wild animals
the women who murdered him
a serial killer of predatory men.
Bob Boyd
The sailors heard it emerging from the sea
a slight humming sound vibrating their ship
what the hell is that, one of them said
another one drew a gun and fired shots at it
the humming sound grew louder
the ufo whirred and floated in the air
directly toward the frightened sailors
other sailors began shooting at the ufo
their bullets having no effect
with a high pitched ringing sound
rays blasted out of the ufo
killing all the sailors, obliterating the ship
before it vanished in the sky.
Bob Boyd
In the 18th century, Two women conspire
to kill one of their husbands
they decide to poison him to death
the wife buys the poison, puts it in his food
the husband eats the food, dies a painful death
neighbors and others become suspicious
the husband too young too die
a doctor examines the husband’s body
determines he died from poisoning
the wife confesses to the murder
implicates her friend’s involvement
a trail is held, both found guilty
the wife’s friend hung to death
the wife strangled till she died
her remains burned at the stake.
Bob Boyd
Like a Biblical quote about young men having
visions and old men having dreams
I’m an old man who has a lot of dreams,
figuratively and literally
for example, I had a dream, as in an imagining,
that maybe I could be with an ex wife in the afterlife
and unlike with the marriage on earth
everything would work out right
the perfect harmony, the everlasting love
despite our being incompatible in this earthly existence
her being too much of an extrovert
me being more of an introvert
me being of a deep, spiritual/philosophical nature
her unable to relate to any of that
and besides we’d still probably be incompatible
not right for each other even in the afterlife
then I thought about how in the afterlife
there may be no romantic love
all unconditional love beyond
the I’ll love you if you love me
that thought saddens me a bit
maybe I’m too much a romantic
but I’d like to see romantic love endure forever.
Bob Boyd
Yesterday, I thought about death closing in
ordinarily I have no fears, no regrets
with no one on earth to grieve for me
which I’m kind of glad about
I don’t want to bring any sadness
when I pass away on any day
despite feeling young and quite well
but, unexpectedly, when I thought of my death
I felt a tinge of sadness
despite being alone, I felt some attachment
to my now reclusive existence
an existence where each day brings
the possibility of more age-related health problems
the reality of the body and the mind breaking down
like an old machine of months over eighty years
the gears worn down, the mechanics outdated
the machine no longer fixable, the machine dead.
Bob Boyd
Last night I had a dream quite pleasant
though some of it a bit indistinct
pleasant conversation with a lovely woman
she looked like Marlene Dietrich to me
I’m living in some kind of community
that also provides help to people
two female employers are going
to hire me for a human services job
the feelings are quite positive
quite cheerful with the two women
asking me what I’d like to do
the conversation shifts to small talk
I tell one of them about the lovely woman
who looks like Marlene Dietrich to me
I think with the hope of securing favor
when the lovely woman learns what I said
before the dream ends I’m about to
walk into an apartment where I live
I see the Marlene Dietrich woman
in a classroom across the way
she’s smiling at me, an inviting smile
I’m smiling back at her and thinking
how she’s a beautiful young woman
and though enamored, I realize
I’m an old man far too old for her
I wake up realizing I was right,
realizing I wanted to be with the young woman
and it was a foolish old man’s impossible dream.
Bob Boyd
She was so beautiful she seemed like
a mythical creature
she was so uncommonly nice she
seemed like an angel
but when she got angry
she seemed like a demon
and in one of her demonic
rages
she picked up a kitchen knife
and stabbed her mother to death.
Bob Boyd
She came to work at the department store I worked in
funny, pretty, a nice woman, we had a great rapport
her flirtations increased, and I was a bit enamored
but something undefinable keep me from asking her out
on the day I was about to ignore the undefinable
she didn’t show up for work and never returned
she had been fired for stealing women’s clothes
though surprised such a nice woman was a thief
I was grateful I didn’t give her a chance to steal my heart.
Bob Boyd
At 1:00 AM you might see her
walking by the railroad tracks
on main street, maybe in
the city you live in
the little old ghost lady
who is always dressed in
black and glows in the dark
if she sees you looking at her
or hears you speaking to her
she vanishes into the ether
the locals say every night she
roams the tracks looking for
her husband who died on the
tracks while drunk in 1973.
Bob Boyd