Under a past life regression hypnosis session I learned
I’d been Moses, Julius Caesar and Robert E. Lee
In former lives. I had always known I was special.
Now I know why.

I went to another past life regression hypnosis session and didn’t fare as well,
Nobody famous, nobody notorious,
Just humdrum lives. That one knocked me off my high horse.

I went to third past life hypnosis session with a dour-looking hypnotist
Who I sensed didn’t like the way I looked as I didn’t like the way she looked.
I learned I had a thousand insignificant past lives and was an old soul.

I left that session despondent, thinking I must be quite the insignificant, karma-ridden SOB to have lived all those lives and not gotten off the wheel.

Bob Boyd

Being a pampered dog
Owned by a wealthy family
Might be a better life
Than most humans have
Fetching a bone or a stick
And doing some other tricks
To amuse the rich patrons
Never having to worry
About paying any bills
Or affording any food
More love and appreciation
Than most humans have
Might be a better life

Bob Boyd

He dreamt of becoming a great poet.
He knew he had enough talent to be one.
He lived off some savings he had in a bank
After ten years his dream not fulfilled,
Nothing published. No savings left,
He had to take temp jobs to support himself
And live in old rundown boarding houses.

He squandered what little money he made
On beer and cheap whisky to erase his sorrow
Over his failure to become a great poet.
He became an alcoholic, wrote worse poems,
His brain damaged from all the drinking.
He could no longer get any temp jobs,
Became homeless and begged for money
He spent on beer and cheap whisky.
Gave up on becoming a great poet,
Drank himself to death instead.

Bob Boyd

I liked the new pitbull in my neighborhood.
I hoped he liked me.
He eyed me sideways when he first saw me.
He made me wonder what was on his mind.
The other day in the news a pitbull,
Described as being as harmless as a baby,
By the elderly woman who owned him
Killed her granddaughter’s newborn baby.
I know not all pitbulls are dangerous
Like that pitbull.
But some of these powerful dogs are.
And the neighborhood pitbull growled
And snarled at me today
But doesn’t realize I’m open carry.

Bob Boyd

I hear birds singing in an acorn tree
Like a chorus in a church
While acorns drop to the ground,
Like paratroopers falling from planes
Into the arms and hands of
Hungry squirrels on the ground.
And I wonder if the ants want some
Of the leftover acorn crumbs.
And I wonder why those birds have
Chosen that acorn tree to sing in.
Do they have an affinity with acorns
Or was it just a random choice?
And I think to myself how much
I missed when I didn’t pay as much
Attention to the goings on of nature.

Bob Boyd

He sits in jail wondering how he and his country
came to this.

For a mere tweet criticizing his heavy-handed government,
the police knocked on his door and carted him to jail.

He never thought his beloved country would become
a totalitarian nightmare state.

He never thought living in a proposed new world order
would get him ordered to jail.

Yet there he sits silenced in a soul-stifling cell
as if he were a dangerous criminal.

He vows when he gets out to begin a fight
against the injustices of the oppressors.

And he takes solace in knowing
a revolution is brewing.

Bob Boyd

I’m a celebrity
More important than you
I know better than you
What’s best for you
Because I think
I’m better than
Peon you and
Have the right
To lecture you
About things
I know little
or nothing about

Bob Boyd

He pined for fame all his life
He wanted it more than a wife
He began acting in grade school
Starred in high school plays
Voted best likely to succeed
In his high school yearbook
Took acting class after that
Got his first break a year later
A bit part in an action movie
Got recognized for his role
Began getting bigger roles
Eventually became a star
And won an award
All uphill from there
Fame achieved
A high for a while until
His stardom began to dim
And the fame became empty
And he got depressed and
Bored and drank too much
And started hating his life
Until he found a good wife

Bob Boyd

No matter how important you are
Or how important you think you are
Just like me and everyone else
You will be brought down
You will be extinguished
And in time
You will be forgotten
With more time
You will fade into insignificance
Just like me and everyone else

Bob Boyd

I was making it before the Great Depression hit,
Living the American Dream, buying stocks.
Then I lost everything and felt so disgraced
When like everyone else I stood in line
For bread and soup
And nearly starved to death.
When like everyone else I lived in a shanty
In Hooverville and nearly froze to death.
When like everyone else I couldn’t find a job
And got so damn depressed
That one day I just couldn’t go on,
Living in rags like a goddamn bum,
Unable to support myself,
Unable to afford a decent meal.
I gave up on living my lousy life
And shot myself to death.

Bob Boyd