Not You

As I watch

What was my life

Crumble to dust

Under the crush of pandemic life

All the rules

Ride the wind

Of social justice

The streets are packed

From pillar to post

As those who lead

Ignore my plight

Saying "not you"

Pointing to the doorway

Marked poverty

Beware

The world lays prone

 To all those

That lust for power

Progressives busily suck

The life from freedom

Unable to control their hunger

They pontificate

Executive orders

While dancing with glee

On the drug

Known as oppression

Upside Down

Hide away

I always hide away

The world seeks comfort

From others close by

I always hide away

Finding comfort within

Because I know who is there

I always hide away

To keep my world

Upside down

Far from the gatherings

Of distant beings

Pandora"s Box

Red tape gnomes talk in circles

Weaving a web of data points

Building models that screen agendas

So they can rest comfortably

In a world of no decision

From their pedestals

Located in gardens

Of guaranteed affluence

While the ordinary

Watch their lives turn to dust

At the foot of Pandora"s Box

No Return

My life is laid out

Behind me

I can only see it

In the mirrors

Of my mind

And muse about

The paths I never took

The loves I never met

On a journey of no return

Suns

I question

How many suns

I will see

December approaches

Like a runaway train

But then I wonder

How many suns

Do I actually need to see

Honky Tonk Butterflies

I only truly loved once

But she wasn't mine

To love

Never found another

That was quite the same

At all

So it was down the road

Once again

Till the next stop

In some old town

Looking for

 A Honky Tonk Butterfly

 To pretend to love

And fill the empty night