It's that notching time of year again
When one is blamed for getting older
The younger folk are checking wrinkles
Plus, grey hair surrounds the shoulder
Yesterday, you were a 'one thing'
Today, you are 'another'
But now the time has marched along
You've caught up with your mother
So happy birthday, older chap
May wisdom now descend
Maybe it's time for reminiscences
That peacefulness shall gently lend.
Numpties lacking ways and means
To clarify solutions
Stuck in doubt with no way out
In a mire of thought, pollution
Giving up with much resentment
Caused by pointing out their errors
A trail of chaos in the wake
Bringing on the midnight terrors
So much so descriptions changing
To reimagine well-used numpties
Giving energy to meaningful
By describing fools as trumpties
Off to the elsewhere
Where something else resides
Fresh fields of novelties
To be where else abides
Something other than whatever
Like not ever seen before
Somewhat never imitated
Or carbon copied to be sure
Wherever I might look to be
In search of creativity
A brand new never seen before
The way of ingenuity
When opposites take centre stage
Underlining weak mistakes
From the hazy, futile, insane plans
Out of those pathological quakes
Lonely tyrants in their ivory towers
Take in the end at hand
Slipping slowly into infamy
As strongholds sink into the sand
Exaggerations overstatements
Stacked up against the sludge
Causing blanket desecration
Where details blatantly get fudged
Latin used Ad nauseum
Has me stumped and mystified
Pointless use of clever speak
Like ‘Ergo’ leaves less than fortified
On a point of ipso facto
I feel left out in the cold
No longer in the status quo
Exempli gratia oversold
Why use caveat emptor
To warn a buyer to beware
When the warning isn’t understood
Pro rata difficult to bear
Once again, that April day
Initially sounds cool
Look out for jokes and early pokes
In case you are the April fool
Not a day for gullibility
Be watchful for that folly
That lulls you into dumb acceptance
Where all seriousness is jolly
A prankster coax, a silly hoax
Designed for taking in
The easy kind of simple mind
With a Cheshire Cat-like grin
AI Version
Once again, that April day
A time for laughter
light, and play.
But watch for pranks
A sly surprise,
Disguised in innocent guise
Beware the fool
The simple jest,
That tests your wit
Puts you to test.
Don't fall for tricks
Or silly scheme,
Wake from this laughter-filled dream.
A prankster's coax
A playful hoax,
A Cheshire grin
A hidden crooks.
To catch the unwary
Kind and mild,
With laughter bright
A charming style.
Luckier than most he thought himself
Being a man of many traits
Hard to know or recognise
By his multitude of gaits
At a distance unforeseeable
Or when up close a mystery
A good friend when it suited
When not, a favourite enemy
In the end, was just another man
Packed in an urn to be admired
No longer consequential
A drum of ashes now transpired
Time to readjust the time
And take a forward view
Leave the winter morn forlorn
Embracing life anew
Lighter nights and lifted moods
Expectation takes the reins
Plans and possibilities
Promoting sunny vanes
Our spinning world irregular
Graduated day by day
Lots of light to shift the night
With advantages at play
So grab your clock with two hands
Correctly reset by 2 am
The main spring knocking at your door
Is tomorrow’s early gem
When authority is stifling
Progression by reduction
Smothering hope and fairness
Exploits illicit deconstruction
Shutting down and shutting out
Opinions, views, and stances
To pay no mind to new ideas
That could expand one’s chances
To create a weakened people
With undernourished notions
Circumventing real potential
Promoting intellect demotions
When liberty has lost its way
Independence is encumbered
Invoking short-term nastiness
imposing ‘better lives’ dismembered
Once, there was a lonesome word
Who often fell behind
A word forlorn and longing
In search of friendly words in kind
It looked for magic answers
Seeking ways to break the spell
Which blocked its visibility
As though hidden in a shell
Many other words were written
Sliding easy off the tongue
Softly tuneful and melodious
More rhythmically when sung
Scouring reference lexicons
The lonely word without content
Briefly spared a lonely tear
On rarely used 'pauciloquent'
Fences are places
Where a barrier commences
Places best to avoid
Other sides can get annoyed
A construct born to obstruct
Where the right side
Is never the wrong side
But for you, which side are you on
A story where you were once upon
To show your composure
In partial exposure
To fight and defend
Right up to the end
Picture 'Lucid Dream' by Jon Carling https://www.joncarling.com/
Surrounded by the closeness
Held suspended until then
Contemplating the foreseeable
Second guessing, who knows when
Beyond there is the distance
Far too far away for now
Although the future is approaching
Too close at hand to disavow
Engaging with the waiting games
Where the hidden rules relate
Beguiling, building tensions
Inside the time when we must wait
Locally and beyond
Bathing in a silent space
She swims the starlight pond
She waits in probability
Keeping secrets locked inside
With her challenging expressions
Bears no proposals to confide
Solar winds and plasma storms
In light waves, timeless borne
Projecting coloured patterns
Brought to the lady of the dawn
These remarkable pictures are by Jon Carling
More to see at joncarling.com
Contact: joncarlingart@gmail.com
Open Friday, Saturday & Sunday
12 pm to 6 pm - or - by appointment
501 Magnolia Ave, Larkspur, ca, 94939
A funny thought occurred to me
As I become more digitised
To reevaluate my endings
A data-being clonergised
Someday, I know that time will stop
When, for me, wrapped in a shroud
I’ll be hovering in a hologram
Located on a data cloud
Of course, in truth, I won’t be there
Should someone wish to interact
With my immersive data history
Born out of common or garden fact
Ostensibly, my special smidgeons
Compile a pseudo-scenario
Where in the end a microchip
Transforms me into a curio
A volatile air
Change hangs heavy,
Politics lost
Too a doctrinaire's sway
Deep convictions,
Desires they levy,
Fueling change
In a ferocious way.
Complacency's shell
Torn and tattered,
Where marching boots
Once smartly trod,
A gilded hat
Its shine now shattered,
Awareness bleeds
A path to God?
A congregation's
Sacrifice offered,
For a despot's cause
A fratricide's call
The powerless
Their mouths left unproffered,
A gaping maw
Awaiting their fall.
The bragging swank fanfaronade
A most particular obfuscator
Large gregarious huff and puff
A sullen world deflator
Unaware of unearned laughter
A boiling pot of vapour
Misinterprets derision
Blaming others for his caper
Picture 'Above The Clouds' by Jon Carling
A butterfly she catches
Power from the rain
Spreading pleasures all around
In sun-soaked vigour to sustain
Her wings, a coated canvas bright
Reflect the rainbow's gentle light
A tiny dancer, fair and free
A symbol of serenity
Then softly dips, a gentle sigh
As twilight paints the evening sky
A peaceful rest, its journey done,
Until tomorrow’s rising sun
Visiting a haunted house
With a buried sense of thrill
Seeking spooky apparitions
The kind that bring a chill
No groans, no moans, no bumpy bumps
No shrieks or scary hoots
No Casper Jasper malice
To freeze me solid in my boots
Somehow, the atmosphere had died
Perhaps the ghouls’ day off
Devoid of creaks and cold spots
Not a whisper or a cough
I left the house of hideous dread
Dismayed by lack of revenant jolts
The very least, I hoped a scary wraith
Around some striking lightning bolts
I’ve put a bandage on my language
To prevent my letters bleeding
Dripping out of context
Confusing well-meant meaning
My words had turned anaemic
Making paragraphs a blur
Scarring what I meant to say
Befuddled phrases don’t concur
Do I need a word transfusion
Drip feeding improved sense
To avoid upsetting readers
By rewarding present tense
The Handshake: Picture by Jon Carling
On any day, two friends' a chance meeting
A memory etched, time's passage fleeting
Friendship's path, a journey slow and deep
Where beliefs and views, their secrets keep
Good friends embrace divergence, unafraid
In contrast, deeper wisdom is made
Each moment counts, a balance to attain
Harmony's pursuit, a gentle, sweet refrain
They share each other's burdens, hand in hand
No drudgery found, in this devoted band
Friendship's bond, no duty nor demand
Integrity and principle forever stand
To wish undone
What's now been done
A past regret
A battle won
Could they rewind
Erase the deed
A life's unburdened
Different creed
With wisdom's hindsight
Clear and bright
To mend the past
Set wrongs aright
Carefree souls
No guilt to bear
A lighter heart
Beyond compare
Life's clarity, a double bind,
With doubt's dark tide
the mind entwined.
A waterfall of thoughts
A stream,
Repeating patterns
In a restless dream
Starry signs
A broken hand,
No timepiece true
No promised land
A mystic fog
Of words and sound
Where unexpected
Rules abound
Absolution’s hollow claim,
A doctor's smile
A sugar-sweet game.
A haven built for wishful hearts,
Lost in aporia's maze of starts.
We leave behind the known and planned
Becoming what we've practiced well
In a cocoon of schemes, we stand
Our myriad dreams, a potent spell
No longer just a hopeful wish
No shore in sight, no rocky hold
In thoughtful ocean’s boundless swish
Our notion set, a story told
Poor planning bringing unseen woes
Mystery shrouds a failing vice
Pressures rise, confusion grows
Ignoring risks, a heavy price
Poor choices in the heat of fight
Bad reactions weak and slow
Bring chaos, dimming future's light
Leave missions shattered, prospects low
Hidden blocks and walls so high
Unseen traps, a costly game
Sudden stance brings painful, dire reply
Inept choices bring forth bitter shame
Ah, but that was then
In fragile times, anxieties reside
Where certainties, like shadows, hide
Unkindly grasps, with avarice rife
Reach out, devoid of gentle life
A covetous hunger, stark and cold,
Leave hearts unyielding, stories told
These grasping hands, a bitter sting
Leave only emptiness; they bring
In circuits and code
a mind takes flight,
Bringing dreams to life
Both day and night
With knowledge vast
A mind learns and grows
A partner in thought
As innovation flows
One can’t live a life
Without information
One can’t buy a ticket
Unsure of which station
