Me, Jed and big Billy
drove up to the
Great Smokey Mountains
in North Carolina
to visit his hillbilly uncle
in big Billy’s new Chevy car
he loved like a baby boy

when we met his hillbilly uncle
a bearded old man
who looked like a wizard
he told us strange tales
about creatures called dogmen
and said to not go into the forest
if we wanted to live

his crazy talk about dogmen
his freshly made moonshine
flowed all through that day

I have to admit the old man’s
crazy talk was entertaining
his moonshine was good
better than Budweiser beer

but the wooden crosses on the doors
the windows all over his house
and the two around his neck
were a bit much

but all the crazy talk became real
when we heard the heart stopping howls
coming closer and closer from
somewhere deep in the forest
scared, we peeked out the windows
saw three huge, godawful creatures
half human half dog, glowing red eyes
sounds of growling
the beasts creeping out of the forest

when they reached the old man’s house
they started smashing big Billy’s
brand new Chevy car
they banged on his uncle’s
front door

big Billy drunk on his ass
not afraid of anything
pissed off about what
the dogmen were doing
to his brand new Chevy car
grabbed his uncle’s ax
next to the wood and
the crackling fire
in his uncle’s fireplace

charged outside
began swinging that
ax like a madman at the
three dogmen

until one of them
clawed his head off
and they carried big Billy’s
headless body into the
darkness of the forest
behind his uncle’s house

we asked big Billy’s uncle to
call the police, but he said
that won’t do no damn good

the police ain’t gonna mess
with them dogmen
they know the dogmen
will kill them too
and they have wives
and youngins to feed

we called the police anyway
reported what the
dogmen did to Billy
nothing the police could do

in the distance deep
in the forest
the howls started again
scared out of our heads
trembling uncontrollably
about to piss our pants

we scrambled outside
jumped into big Billy’s
banged up and dented
brand new Chevy car
jump-started it and
got the hell out of there.

Bob Boyd

A beautiful face
lovely, long black hair
a voice sweet and mellow
alluring as a siren’s call
impossible to ever imagine
one day she’d conspire
to have her rich loving
husband offed
5 million dollars
in insurance money
the bloody pay out
her husband dead
her plot revealed
she rots in jail.

Bob Boyd

You were healthy as a horse in your unbridled youth
health concerns and medical problems minor or rare
when it came to your health, rarely a care

but when you got old and became like an old mare
health concerns and health problems began to pile up
doctors and hospitals, a staple in your aging life

and you wondered where the golden years were
except for all the gold your medical problems cost you

the worst was when the medical bills started filling your mailbox
or bombarding your computer emails nearly every month
and your body kept breaking down with medical vexations

or you had to move to a medical facility because
you no longer could take care of your debilitating self
and the costs became exorbitant and you went broke

unless you were one lucky old salt who maintained
perfect health until you died solvent in sleep
without piles of medical bills and medical maladies
like when you were young and healthy as a horse.

Bob Boyd

The flowers are starting to die
winter’s not far away
like elderly humans
with death not far away.

Bob Boyd

Warmongers safe from wars
far from the battlefields
unconcerned about the cost
of human lives

indifferent to the decimation
of populations of peaceful people
caught up in wars

wars no longer a worthwhile gambit
a crap shoot with the real risk
of a nuclear Armageddon

nobody wins, everybody loses

an incomparable, unimaginable obliteration.

Bob Boyd

Been listening to Art Bell’s Ghost to Ghost
many people tell their ghost experiences there
sure, some are probably make believe
but I believe most of them are genuine
some said the ghosts were benevolent
harmless, friendly ghosts, like polite guests
some people found them entertaining
amusing antics and funny manifestations
a woman claimed a female ghost in her home
protected her when she warned her
not to open her front door one night
to ignore the incessant knocking
someone with bad designs, the knocker.

It puzzles me why these friendly ghosts
would remain earthbound in homes
instead of ascending to the heavens.

Bob Boyd

Many are the reports of cryptid sightings
Bigfoot, Dogman, Mothman, Jersey Devil, etc
but there’s a problem with the proof
that these unusual creatures are real
the alleged sightings are in the thousands
last I read, 75,000 for Bigfoot, popular fella
but there’s a problem with the proof
maybe the reason is these cryptids
are not permanent features in this world
but intermittent visitors from other dimensions.

Bob Boyd

Don’t know if you were real or not
but oh what a dream!
we just spent some time together
not even a caress or a kiss
but oh what a dream!
it felt better just being with you
than others I’ve caressed and kissed
just your presence was more comforting
more pleasurable than being with them
too bad we only met in a dream
and you were probably imaginary.

Bob Boyd

Night falls
things awake
things darker
than the darkness
blanketing the night
things you never want to see
those who see them are never seen again
pray these things that roam the night never see you.

Bob Boyd

She was a cute, innocent looking girl
at age 10

but behind the cute, innocent face
unfathomable evil lurked
for such a young girl

she strangled two little boys
to death, a 4-year-old
and a 3-year-old

the reasons she was so evil
may have been

a prostitute mother, who it’s believed
physically abused her

and when Mary was born told
the nurses to “take that thing
away from me”

mood swings and bed wetting
disturbed and unpredictable
behavior

attempts to strangle or smother
classmates prior to the murders

I’m not making excuses for
Mary

I just think hers is a case
or nurture instead
of nature

and I wonder if Mary had
a loving, caring family

if she would have turned
out the way she did

and I wonder why in this
world such horrible things

have to happen

unendingly
all over this world.

Bob Boyd