SHE THOUGHT SHE WAS SAFE

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SHE THOUGHT SHE WAS SAFE

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When he came home from his business trip

He set down his suitcase and brief case

Surprised she wasn't at the door to welcome him home

Instead she was sitting at the dining room table

Which was covered by print outs of pages  

His intimate conversations with his girlfriend

The one he had just spent a fun weekend with

There were printouts of his ads on dating websites

Bills from hotels and motels too

She hit play on her phone and her voice asking the receptionist

At his job where his business meeting was being held filled the silent room

The receptionist answered that there was no business meeting 

But he would be back in the office on Monday

At first, he tried to pass all this off as nonsense

But the fact that he had been exposed for what he was

That was obvious to both of them

Fury overtook him

How dare she check on him?

Why would she ruin everything like this?

Create a crisis, tear off his mask

He went for her throat

She went to the floor where he only released his grip

When the strength in his hands failed him

After the light had gone from her wide eyes

She thought she was safe

But she was not

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AHOY MATEY

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AHOY MATEY

If a shipping container full of problems

Arrives at your port of call

Don't sign for it

Don't unload it

Don't step foot on its deck

Don't even let it drop anchor

You can send it in its way

With your own personal Maritime Zone Enforcement

Use the non-lethal deterrent that is kept

In every ballot box in the land

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MERRILY MERRILY MERRILY MERRILY

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MERRILY MERRILY MERRILY MERRILY

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If I had a dream about a blue flower

And someone had a dream about a red flower

Would there be any point in us

Engaging in mortal combat

Over what color the flower was?

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OPINIONS

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OPINIONS

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I have opinions

How I got them is unknown but not unusual

I have always had opinions

They have changed dramatically over time

The opinions I had as a teen

Look preposterous to me now

As a teen I would have fought tooth and nail

To defend my opinions from other opinions

I had strong feelings surrounding my youthful opinions

But in the end nobody took my opinions

They just eroded away and were replaced with new opinions

I dredged up from somewhere

I have no confusion about what my opinions are today

I hold them lightly, they are not my identity

I know one or more could fly away at any time

I am not my opinions

I am whatever manufactures opinions

From the raw material of life

If my opinions are different from the next person

That is not a reason to fight with them

Everyone is entitled to their opinions

They have the right to express their opinions

As I have a right to express mine

Transitory as they may be

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SOMEONE ELSE

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SOMEONE ELSE

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A sudden disaster, a shocking problem, a steep mountain to climb

Doesn't throw me into panic and confusion

If it happening to someone else

I can see the situation clearly

Think rationally, even philosophically

If it happening to someone else

I can think of effective measures

How to calmly proceed, the next step to take

If it happening to someone else

I immediately understand that blind panic 

Will not accomplish anything productive

If it happening to someone else

Now, when a problem rears it's scary head

 My only task is to figure out

How I can become Someone Else

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NEWS FROM AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE

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NEWS FROM AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE

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I almost spilled my coffee today

And perhaps in an alternative universe 

I did spill my coffee

All over this notebook

Turning this poem into a soggy mess

Unreadable

So you would not be reading it right now

You would be doing something else

Which means that my reality is impacting yours

And the "something else" you might be doing

Could impact others, including me

A spiraling loop of our intermingled realities

The Dance of Existing in this reality or another

The dance floor might change

But the Dancer dances on to the music

Of the spheres

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ARLINGTON

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ARLINGTON

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Arlington National Cemetery 

Is a thorn in the Confederacy's side

It once belonged to Robert E Lee

A source of Confederate pride

Lee had slaves and riches

Until the Union came in 1861

They freed the Arlington slaves

But they were nowhere done

They buried the Union fallen

Right outside the door 

In Mary Lee's rose garden

Before they won the war

They trashed the Southern mansion

Started the endless sea of graves

Set up a sanctuary

For the newly freed slaves

Today, if you go to Washington DC

You can see the somber cemetary

Now a sacred national resting place

For the brave that are honorably buried

The Confederates don't want this reminder

Of their mistakes and their defeat

They don't want to look at it

And the message that it speaks

A great big gaudy hideous arch

Would block the line of sight

Of our dignified national cemetery

Because the Union won the fight

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