I'm On This Road*

This road doesn't bend often.

Mostly, it runs straight and true.

Therein lies the problem...

Consistency can be as bad

As it may be good.

Constancy lulls me to sleep

Thinking there are no surprises ahead.

No challenges or dangers.

This is, of course, a lie.

Breakdowns happen on straight roads

As much as on curves.

They occur as certain on level terrain

As mountainous inclines.

Perhaps the help lies in that 

Old Scout adage...

Be Prepared.

But a road that pretends

360 degrees visibility is likely 

More dangerous than any other.

We fall asleep at the wheel.

But I can promise you

With full assurance

That trouble awaits 

Each of us.

Before you damn me

As a negative spirit

Or false prophet

I offer this single truth

In my defense

And I pose it as a question...

Who do you want on your side

The liar who steadily grins 😁

Or the one who prods you

Into wakefulness? 👀

Maybe all is well.

But maybe the bridge is out ahead. 💥

Which friend will help you to

Safely arrive at home? 👌

Heads up, my friend.

(Jesus) ☝

Make wise choices.

(Jesus) 👆

Well considered actions.

(Jesus) 👼

Be careful out there. 💀

Sometimes, the choice you make

Is the last choice you will ever make. 👻

* I do not offer this as a poem, but as a heartfelt caution. These are perilous times. Too many guns. Too many drugs. Too many distractions. Too many lies and false promises. Only the very alert will overcome these tremulous days. I hope you are one of those. But the "herd" is being culled. Stay awake, stay aware, and for God's sake, stay ALIVE! 

 Dear Readers,

I am compiling around 50-60 of my favorite love poems to be assembled in a book of poetry I hope to publish. As I comb through 11 years of entries (and 40 years of writing!) I find I love far fewer than I had hoped. If you find one or two, or so, you like, please tell me which they are by leaving  a comment following this post. I'm "all ears" to discover your selection(s).  I hope somebody...anybody...has some favorites!

~~ James  (My Favorite? RED BALLOON ======>🎈)

Names

Limestone Names

Walking cemetery rows
I read aloud names etched
In limestone.
So many silent sentinels
Standing a century
As a stubborn footnote
To local history.

Names left unsaid for ten decades

Or longer

Unpronounced and forgotten.
So, I speak their names
Into the air.
The syllables and phonics rise
Like prayer
Heard only by God.

I imagine their spirits

Smile in thanks
Happy for so little.

Of course, I am imagining this.
Imagining they hear
That they care
That it was important to them
That the universe missed them
That it feels good to be remembered
Even to the dead.

Some leave flowers.

Some leave flags.
Most just leave.

I leave the vibration of names.