Think I don't hear muttering under your breath?
Insulting me with projections?
Peerless chick magnet you; all the right moves
With illusions throughout your pretentious life
Bitterly recounting the strayed wives
The financial strife you skirt to this day
Mountains to hang from and glide away
This passing sun shower that tickles my back
Each drop of boredom excites and thrills me
Every drop trickles into the river of retirement
Affluence so satisfactorily eludes me
Women unattached with gawky reservation
As you fly high as a kite in the wild blue yonder
I come up for air from under blue water
It’s all slim pickings without Zen and a pension
Why would I want to resurface without?
Unless game existence is mutual, no doubt
Why would I trust someone resenting?
When two men walk they take turns listening
Not one narrative will unwind
Lying to one's face would be so unkind
Nam-yo-ha-ring-aye-quo let the feeling go
Be in this world but not of this world
Born to sweet delight or the endless night
I would chose the former for my lot in life
To a fate in an unchangeable mind
For those unable to help themselves out
Few choices are left that they can find
The natural world refreshes me
Mountains, canyons, deserts and seas
The natural world resounds
Jostling for position, terrestrially bound
And the rain falls on mankind
With shelter or without
Survivors understand and save their doubt
Each to one’s station along the long road
Each to one’s ability to carry or unload
Living life only for a paid vocation
Trapped in a haze of borrowed frustration
Takes the joy away from others
Takes the joy away from thee
Such a pitiful apathy
At noon on the bench the turbines stop humming
The Han in my ringing ears meditating
On bird calls, cicadas, a gentle stream
Cumin pumpkin soup at home with cream
Caramel droplets for ants below roaming
Keep us fueled in all the right places
Penetrating the red dust with your graces
July 15, 2020
www.readingsandridings.jimdo.com
Purchase "Unnatural Beauty; Poems from the Han Riverside"
Copyright © 2020 by David Barry Temple. All rights reserved
