Unknown's avatar

My Garden of Words

there is a porch
in my mind’s quiet place

broad
shaded
open

here I sit looking out
listening
enjoying
sounds and thoughts waving
in the gentle breeze of memories

in my garden of words

tio stib

Unknown's avatar

Weeding Words

what makes a word a weed?
makes me suddenly
yank it out
toss it from my poetic flower bed

I must admit it’s never rational
never logic
just pure and simple whim

it sounds odd
doesn’t fit

just a weed

goodbye

tio stib

Unknown's avatar

Climbing Mountains


Gasping from my lofty climb
I search for shadows left behind
The ghosts of journeys once so strong

how can it be
they’re so far gone

In this forlorn solitude
my spirit aches to be renewed
to share the path of life again

to walk beside a noble friend


tio stib
2015, 2025
Unknown's avatar

Insomnia

there are moments when
I dream in peace
a mind released to roam
then others when
the clock grinds on
and night becomes a tomb

I lay now in eternal night
awaiting mindless deep
a craving need to somehow get
a decent hour’s sleep

tio stib
2015, 2018, 2025

Unknown's avatar

Flavors of Friends

Some are vanilla,
predictably plain
Dependably true
always the same

Some are exotic
quixotic
sherbets with fireworks lives
occasionally glancing
to check others’ eyes

then the specials
like bubblegum treat
wildly different
sumptuous sweets

Yes, chocolate, strawberry,
and rocky road too
friends of all flavors
some licked and
some chewed

like ice cream
I taste them
each one of a kind
then off on their way
they melt in my mind

Yet over the years
a few friends remain
these flavors I savor

again
and again

tio stib,
2014, 2016, 2018, 2025

Unknown's avatar

Hotel Hypothermia

it was a trip mistaken
for a family vacation
a time so cold
my bones grew old
bundled up in layers of clothes
all that showed, my bright red nose
even when I went to bed
I never shed a single thread
I wonder how eskimos have sex
queried my now recent ex

pounds of fat fell off of me
as I shivered constantly
take a shower?
I think not
in water that was icy hot

and when at night I had to pee
a new resolve came over me
as toes touched the icy floor
I hurtled towards the bathroom door
and in a fit of urgency
dropped my shorts
but woe to me
the thing that used to flow so free
had shrunk down to
a tiny pea

and so it went from day to night
with not a hint of warmth in sight
until we had to say goodbye
a moment when I nearly cried
afflicted now with freezer phobia
I bid adieu,

God Bless

Hotel Hypothermia

tio stib

Unknown's avatar

Excuses

damn sick, you know, that awful flu
slipped and fell on doggy do
triple booked, what could I do
have you met the new guy, Lew
slipped out to sip a little brew
Giants lost, the Seahawks too
burned the Sunday evening stew
blame it on my low I.Q.
what’s with all the ballyhoo
just what did I promise you

really

what else is new

tio stib
2017, 2018, 2025

Unknown's avatar

For Want of Open Minds

He asked my thoughts on politics
but before my mouth could move
he stormed ahead with words of dread
drowning out the room

and on he roared, a raging flood
I chose to bide my time
for it was plain enough to hear
I couldn’t change his mind

no reasoned fact, no cautious note
no plea for honesty
was going to change this zealot’s fears
about humanity

I smiled and offered my goodbye
I scarcely think he heard
for he was talking to himself
since no one else concurred

a sad day for democracy
sad for humankind
when we fail to listen with respect
for want of open minds

tio stib,
2017, 2018, 2025

Unknown's avatar

Doors


mine has been a life of doors
big and small
open and closed
inviting and threatening

each an opening
a passage into possibilities

each time
anxious
hopeful
fearful
I knocked

years later
I smile
remembering those many doors
recollecting those imaginings
those discoveries on the other side

sometimes more
sometimes less
but always a step forward

always an action of consequence


tio stib

Unknown's avatar

Decision

my face begins
to bead with sweat
the time has come
fate must be met

oh, how I dread
times tempest tossed
such moments when
I feel so lost

how can I choose
the path to take
how do I know
what choice to make

the clock strikes twelve
life laughs at me
okay, old man,
what will it be

my stomach stirs
the pain endures
my vision fades
to ghostly blurs

a pleading voice
in front of me
his scoop awaits
what will it be

I step forth
with strength renewed
clear on my path
my goal in view

I know for sure
what I must say

“Give me the flavor
of the day”

tio stib,
2015, 2025