An army wife
Brenda got lonely
when her husband
Phil was away
in a war

one night
she cheated on
him

with a scoundrel
she met in
a gritty bar
after having one
too many drinks

the dark hearted
scoundrel saw her
only as a score

he bedded her
saw her nevermore

after being used
shame haunted Brenda

she’d never been
a one night stand before

days later she learned
Phil died in a battle

the same night as she
had her one night stand

she became shocked
and unbalanced
by the bad news
and the coincidence

and she blamed her infidelity
for Phil’s death

as if her cheating
on him had cursed and
deadly consequences.

Bob Boyd

The day is dismal
the sun is hidden
behind dark clouds

my aching heart
is in synch with
all of this

because you’ve
gone away

rain begins to fall
upon the arid
ground

like the tears
falling from my
eyes.

Bob Boyd

They told Ned not to look into
little Mary’s eyes

she’s got the witching eyes
they said

Ned scoffed at such
silly superstition about
an eight-year-old girl

to prove the foolhardy
believers wrong
Ned looked directly
into little Mary’s
witching eyes

that looked no different
than any other
little girl’s eyes

nothing happened

a week passed
Ned still unwitched
derided the believers

a week later,
Ned was dead

coincidence some said
proof believers exclaimed.

Bob Boyd

Nice guys were too nice
for Doria
despite her being an
exceptionally sweet woman
blessed with beauty as well
the desire of many men
nice guys and bad boys
because of her beauty
and sweet personality
she had many choices
among male admirers
but instead of choosing
the ones good for her
she always chose
the bad boys
sadly her obsession
with chronically
misbehaving men
led to her having
a miserable life with
cheaters, physical
and mental abusers
until her worst
bad boy pick
put her in her grave
beaten to death.

Bob Boyd

Healthy all your life

until

you grow older
and might become

one of those in need of
in home assistance
on a walker
in a wheelchair
or

the absolute worst
in a nursing home
with you death
impending

or

your mind gone
your awareness
barely operative

you become like
a zombie when
you mindlessly
wander
if you have a
spouse,
you no longer
know her

your mind has
said goodbye
to her
and what
was left of
your obliterated
existence

I ask you
is it fair that
for many
life ends
like that?

Bob Boyd

When you roll back time far enough
people were either bad or good
there were no in betweens
bad and good were simple matters
no complications
but as the world grew up
bad and good became less simple
the shaping of people’s characters
bad and good, complicated
nature and nurture
extenuating circumstances
came into play
thank God for that day.

Bob Boyd

The Breaking of Hell’s Gates is a Taoist ritual
to release dead souls from hell.

Damn, and hell’s bells, a lot of people could probably use a get
out of hell break like that; many will be there, some believe.

And many based on their hellbent behaviors and nefarious actions
surely could qualify for one way tickets there.

But I digress, back to the pertinent topic:

Taoist priests perform a ceremony summoning powerful
Taoist deities, chant scriptures

and burn offerings to rescue souls from eternal damnation
and the torments of a hell.

Talismans are included as well and appear to be potent
for opening the gates of hell.

Now maybe some could say this is just superstitious nonsense
but maybe in the Taoist afterlife it’s true.

Either way, I like the title The Breaking of the Gates of Hell,
and I like that those in a hell could get a second chance

were not tormented, tortured and damned forever
thanks to the compassion and power of Taoist priests.

Bob Boyd

The Hare Krishna’s say Krishnaloka is where you
Need to go after you die, if you can get there.
It takes a lot of chanting Hare Krishna’s to get there
And probably the right incarnation and the right karma.

Christians say heaven with Jesus is where you
Need to go after you die, if you can get there,
If you can avoid the snares of Satan’s hell
And probably pray enough and be good enough.

Muslims believe you go to a Muslim heaven
called jannah if you have lived righteously
according to their teachings.

Imagine if they were all right. Imagine if
There were multiple afterlife paradises
Depending on what religion or path you followed.

Imagine if the non-dualists were right, and
You had to get beyond all these dualities
And merge into the infinite Oneness.

Bob Boyd

Two women in Sheffield,UK
strutting their stuff on a busy street
dressed so nice, looking so pretty
until they start screaming at each other
like shrews on steroids, like freakin’ crazies
then the police come, maybe for them
the pretty women calm down
but only momentarily, temporarily
then the unbecoming screaming
erupts again, but morphs into screeching
the out of control, unhinged ladies
embarrassing themselves, worse is two
dudes are videoing them with cell phones
great content for their YouTube channels
bad for these pretty women turned banshees
the Internet never forgets.

Bob Boyd

On a busy Street in Sheffield, England
a man, brown hair, about 5 foot eight
medium build, wearing a beanie knit cap
stumbling and mumbling around
hardly about to walk, barely coherent
a policeman appears, talks to him
calm voice almost consoling
then he takes him away with two
other police, hopefully to get him help
if he is receptive to receiving help
the three police return and have a chat
properly and friendly with the YouTuber
who was videoing them and the man
two of the police are females, one a male
and the females are criminally pretty
I don’t know what they did with the man
nothing was said about him,
perhaps for legal, privacy reasons, but
I enjoyed hearing the British police talk
listening to their Queen’s English accents.

Bob Boyd