Questions

what did I say
what did you think
what wasn't said
what never done

questions persist
now decades hence
answers obscure
unwelcome truth

Joy and Pain

I could not write
if not for joy
and just the same
if not for pain

as life unfolds
they both occur
in equal dose
it seems to me

Is this a Poem

is this a poem
are the lines too short
does it have to rhyme
is the meaning clear

does it make you smile
does it stir your soul
will the critics cheer
will it bring me fame

is it deep enough
are the lines obscure
do the words hit home
do they make you cry

I hope it's a poem
not a waste of space
there's so much to say
and so little time

How can Love

how can love
unleash joy
yet cause
such pain

how can it
fuel courage
or crush
our will

how can love
mend our soul
or dash
our hope

how can it
bind us together
or tear us
apart

how can love
be heard too much
yet be so hard
to express

Dead Cows Standing

once they grazed
in verdant fields
a placid herd
a wholesome scene

but now confined
in crowded pens
munching grain
from metal troughs

and there they stay
in rain or snow
in fecal muck
and acrid fumes

til rescued by
a packing plant
so we can feast
on marbled steak