Poem: the fading lights of a lonely summer

long lovely lonely
sunny summer days
all alone
companion-less
devoid of company
passing day after day of summer sun
all by my lonesome
no one to pass the time with

the end of this long summer finds me
willing autumn's speedy arrival
longing for shorter days and longer nights
and hoping it will bring with it
someone to pass the season with
but as green bleeds from the leaves
leaving behind orange and red and yellow

a chill creeps into the air
pushing summer's heat into memory
turning my hope into to hopelessness
that autumn might be lonely
that I might pass another season alone

and I don't even want to think about winter

Book Reviews: Catching Fire, Mockingjay

The Hunger Games introduced us to Katniss Everdeen and the world of Panem. In the second and third books of the series, Suzanne Collins advances the narrative with a lot of action and a fair number of surprises. We learn much more about the world Katniss inhabits - more about Kastniss' life, Panam's history and the current state of things outside of District 12.

Catching Fire brings us back to the Games. Mockingjay takes us further into Panem. As a follow up to a phenomenal first book, The Hunger Games, there was danger these two books might not equal this original. But both deliver and neither disappoints. There is a lot of action, suspense and excitement. Collins has penned a series of page turners which beg to be read. These books hold their own against anything else on the shelves.

Thumbs up!

Poem: Futility

Goals are futile

setting goals is futile

reaching a goal is futility

Gain is futile

chasing wealth is futile

the lust for more is futility

Men plan and work

toiling in hope to earn

wealth, influence, noteriety

Dreams of empires

visions of conquering

longing for monuments to themselves

Yet empires fall

monuments are ruined

and futility reigns over all

Mankind reaps wind

and returns to the dust

wealth inherited by the living

But rich and poor

get joy from food and friends

fresh air and rest and simple living

When life is lived

with plain, simple graces

small joys are the spring of true pleasure

Poem: Transience a.k.a. A Tribute to a Barrier Island

waves roll up onto the shore

bringing sand, leaving shells

building up, taking away

grain after grain

the sand shifts

waves move and rearrange

impermanence and longevity

intertwined in a cycle

of erosion and redistribution

purposeful transience

planned impermanence

forever moving

forever changing

Author's comment: People who build their homes on barrier islands should not be surprised when their homes get washed away.

Poem: In Death Be True

As I leave this mortal life

I have one request, dear wife

In death be true

Please long for no other

Never find another

Let your heart be mine forever

As I draw my last breath

And approach certain death

Please draw near

Lay your hand in my mine

Swear to be true for all time

Swear you will always love me

As my life slips away

Confirm your oath this day

Seal it with a kiss

Tell me that you'll never leave

That your heart will always grieve

When death takes me

As death takes my hand

Draws me into his land

On the other side of the veil

I fear what awaits

But hold on to faith

That you will remain true

As I slip from life

My darling, my wife

Tell me that you'll be true

That you will honor this vow

For forever from now

That in my death you'll be true

Poem: We The Dying

We recognize death

and curse its presence

as it surrounds us

and weighs us down

dogging our every step

Many fight to prolong

the inevitable end

while many are alive

and never live

they merely wait

We however face death

with determination

to live fully and completely

as we rush towards death

the conquered enemy

We the dying declare

that we will face death head on

knowing we will live once more

awaiting the destruction of death

and the enthronement of life

once and for all

Poem: Ode to Time

Time is disposable

wasted

abused

and misused

Time is relentless

unstoppable

unable to be tamed

or reclaimed

Time is a trap

a jail cell

a deception

a room with no exit

Time is invisible

unknowable

unchangeable

irreversible

Time is unreal

an artifice

an imposition

a prison

Time is measured

by the snail and the light

when our time is done

Time will go on