The escape

He desperately wanted to feel better

Lose the hurt anger and hate

Go back to normal times

But his feelings were unshakable

Clinging to him with a vice like grip

They had taken over his body

An unwelcome invading army

Living inside him like a parasite

Dictating his thoughts

Leaving him powerless

He was just a passenger

On a runaway emotional train

Too dangerous to jump off

Equally afraid of the inevitable crash

He went into the bathroom

Splashing cool water on his face

It felt soothing

As he spread his fingers slightly apart

He caught sight of a reflected prisoner 

Peering through the bars of his hands

His desperate eyes begging for release

As the mocking guards jeered

He seized the opportunity

Punching the mirror hard with his right fist

It shattered instantly but stayed on the wall

He followed through with a second punch

His left hand aimed at the largest slivers

More punches followed

The mirror was destroyed

Replaced by blood stains on the wall 

The bars were no longer to be seen

The prisoner was long gone

The occupying emotional army drained from him

As his blood dripped from a thousand cuts

He quickly wrapped his hands in a towel

The price for freedom was high

He knew he would survive

His captors were no longer chasing him

Party time for Olly the olive

Olly the olive lived in a jar

He only came out at parties 

But most times went back in the jar

This evening he was out again

Next to Percy the peanut

Alongside Barry the breadstick

Close to Harriet the Humous

Olly had been here before many times

Olly warned Barry to watch out

The ladies are most likely to pick you up

They might dip you in Harriet

But they will hold onto you all evening

Olly told Percy his days were numbered

The guys always dive into the peanuts

Scooping dozens with their unwashed hands

If you do not get eaten this evening

You may well be coated in germs and get sick

Watch out said Olly here come the ladies

Sure enough they all went for the breadsticks

Barry saw his friends picked up one by one

The ladies all held their cocktails high in their left hand

The breadsticks stayed in their right hand

Used as a conversation conducting stick

Pointed towards other ladies across the room

Directing the gossip about those unfashionable dresses

Hang tight said Olly the guys are coming over now

Percy winced as unwashed grimy hand scooped up his companions

Hurling entire handfuls into their open mouths

Some peanuts bounced off faces and fell to the floor

They were soon crushed by overweight size ten shoes

They others had a quick ending in those beer fumed orifices

Harriet was appalled that some guys dipped a finger in her dish

These men are so uncouth she complained

This is just the start said Olly

Once the guys get drunk they eat just about everything

Olly watched Barry get snapped in two by a bearded drunk

His crumbs falling into a beer soaked beard

The last of Harriet was licked clean from her bowl by a very drunk man

Percy the peanut was the next to go

Leaving Olly and a few of his brothers and sisters

I think we are safe now said Olly

They are all heading towards the dinner table

We will soon be back in the jar

Until the next cocktail party

pain + c = panic……. panic + dem = pandemic

pandemic panic

panic buying

masked panic

panic lockdown

panic curfew

panic pandemic

panic social distancing 

somebody coughed panic

viral infection panic

scrubbing hands panic

panic sneeze

panic testing

panic waiting

panic panic

panic panic

result negative

stopped panicking

started living again

took long walks

smiled at masked strangers

from behind my mask

wore my mask in a bank

just for fun

decided not to rob it

rode my bike a lot

stopped buying clothes

bought a new bike instead

had endless PJ days

learned to cook again

organized every closet

fixed everything broken

binged on Netflix shows

took YouTube trips around the globe

met up with family and friends on Zoom

cocktails every evening

stopped dieting

explored new wines daily

had romantic dinners with the wife

fell in love again and again and again

took the panic out of the pandemic

enjoyed dem days

Me rabbit too

Rupert the infamous drunken randy rabbit

Had a well known but very unpleasant rabbit habit

Of chasing pretty young rabbit girls

And pulling their cute furry rabbit curls

Forcing them to have his wicked rabbit way

Ignoring whatever rabbit words of protest they did rabbit say

Every evening at the rabbit bar drinking his rabbit ale

Rupert told rabbit tales about chasing another rabbit girl rabbit tail

But Rupert did not have a rabbit clue about what he should rabbit do

When one brave rabbit girl started shouting “me rabbit too

Next time randy Rupert rabbit went out on the rabbit prowl

He was arrested by the local constabulary patrolling owl

No longer boasting his rabbit conquests while guzzling rabbit ale

Rupert was locked up with other delinquent rabbits in the county rabbit jail

Now the me rabbit too girls frolic in the rabbit fields without any rabbit fear

Rupert is behind rabbit bars without rabbit access to rabbit girls or rabbit beer

I wonder no more

I wonder how different it would have been today

if I had made different choices all those years ago

I wonder if I would I be living in the same place today 

I wonder if my situation would be much different

I wonder if the world would be exactly the same

I can remember wondering back then

wondering if I was making the right decisions

wondering if I would have regrets

wondering how my future would be

wondering if I would be happy and secure

wondering if I would be healthy

wondering if I would ever find love again

wondering how the world might be

I am now wondering why I wonder so much

it soaks up too much time and energy

it is surely time to give up all this wondering stuff

leave it to the universe

let fate decide my fate

take my chances and roll with it

wondering is for wondering wanderers

pondering is for pontificators

worrying is for worriers

life is here to be lived

people are here to be loved

health is here to be treasured

security is here to be acknowledged

happiness is here to be enjoyed

doing it is for the doers

no more wondering

just live it

You should never judge a place by its appearance

We were invited to dinner by dear friends on Friday 

They suggested authentic Mexican food in Miami

A place they had not been before called Don Maguey

It was recommended by others

They knew it was on W Flagler Street

But nothing else about the place

Somebody googled the Don Maguey Mexican Restaurant

Pulling up the menu with glee

Reading out all the delicious meals

Salivating over the options

Discovering they even had a happy hour

With a wide range of cocktails at their well stocked bar

We set off early all excited

Finding the place easily in a strip mall

It looked nothing special from the outside

We walked in to find there was no bar at all

Just a counter like a cafe

The waitress smiled and we sat down with the menu

The dishes were nothing like we had read online

We must be in the wrong place we said

Lets check the address and go there

Maybe just have one drink here

We sipped on cold beers 

While searching for the correct address

Which turned out to be in Wisconsin

Obviously not where we thought

Same name but 1500 miles away

Lets just try this place anyway we agreed

The food turned out to be fantastic

The service was friendly and helpful

We were pleasantly surprised by the reasonable pricing

The owner/chef came to chat with us

Thanking us for supporting his newly opened business

Serving us complimentary fresh oysters

We hugged the staff and owner as we left

Agreeing it was a fabulous experience

Vowing to return soon

To think we almost walked out at first

You should never judge a place by its appearance

Do you come here often?

its a bright sunny day in the year 2095

the city of New York is quiet at street level

few vehicles travel on roads and most are pedestrianized

everybody has access to a fleet of personal flying taxis

John decides to visit his brother in Boston

he tells his watch to book him a flying taxi

go to bay 7 on level 104 flashes on his watch

he takes the high speed elevator and steps into the four seater vehicle

there are no controls because its totally automated

John fastens his seat belt as the electric motors hum

he does not bother to look out of the window

the novelty of flying from a rooftop was long ago forgotten

John talks to his bother on the video screen

40 minutes later his air taxi is docking

moments later he is with his brother Gerald

there are no windows in his apartment

the walls are all giant screens that can produce any vista

today it shows tropical beaches and a deep blue ocean

let me get you a cold beer says Gerald

he simply barks his order to a dispensing machine

nobody buys ingredients or makes anything themselves these days

food and drink items are assembled instantly by atomic 3D printers

lets watch the game now says Gerald

the screens on the wall transform to show a football game 

the virtual realty is indistinguishable from the real thing

crowd noises are piped in with aromas of stale beer and hot dogs

people used to drive cars through traffic to watch these games

the players still perform at a stadium

with only cameras and drones watching

Gerald and John cheer as their team scores

after the game the room is transformed into a night club

3D images of pretty girl robots dancing fill the screens

she looks gorgeous says John pointing to a tall girl

lets invite her to join us says Gerald

a door opens and in walks a beautiful humanoid robot

she smiles as John passes her a glass of champagne

Gerald asks her do you come here often?

Squeezing and walking

we like to hold hands when we walk

it keeps us connected

striding at the same pace

we take turns to squeeze

our silent invisible caress

I squeeze the hardest

to remind her I am the boss

she squeezes the longest

to let me know she is really in charge

we squeeze together

to be as one

walking

holding

squeezing

loving

Its not only cars that need regular maintenance

Sometimes we get into bad habits in our relationships

Not checking in with each other often enough

Allowing bad communication to create conflict

Bickering at each other instead of discussing solutions

Relationships need regular maintenance

Working on things does not mean they are broken

Just like cars need servicing and homes need TLC

The problem is that its ever so easy to neglect your relationship maintenance

It only takes a few minutes to check in with each other once a week

Put it on your calendar as a weekly event

Pick a subject that needs resolving

Try to reach a mutually agreeable compromise

Then agree which aspect of your relationship you will work on next

Giving you both time to think things over

Follow your successful check in meeting with a date night

It will make that date night so much more enjoyable

Long lasting love requires persistence to keep it on the boil

Alice Part 5 Finale

Alice sent the selfie with three heart emojis 

the detective said the gang will be checking the metadata now to verify your location

a few minutes later the gang called the bank to verify the wire transfer

the call was picked up at police HQ

the skilled operator pretended to be from the bank

he was stalling to keep the call open as long as possible

Alice was surprised that the caller sounded just like her

and equally surprised that she answered all the bank security questions

the patrolling SWAT team locations were on a huge screen

soon the police traced the calling cell phone

they dispatched the nearest SWAT team

who arrived minutes later to arrest the entire gang

They also arrested satellite teams who were roaming in vans 

printing out stolen ATM cards and withdrawing cash

the detective thanked Alice for her help

he said they had been trying to catch this gang for months

Alice wanted to understand how the gang got all her information

the detective explained how they work

Dave is an experienced actor and con artist

he targeted you as a wealthy single woman

while you were dating Dave he was recording all your conversations

to build up a voice profile database

the gang used that with some sophisticated software to call your bank

Dave got to know you well enough to answer the bank security questions

Dave probably used your computer sometime with your permission

he then installed spyware to record all your keystrokes

when the boys came they accessed the spyware to obtain all your passwords 

the wire transfer requests came from your computer to make them appear authentic

the boys probably copied your credit cards while you were asleep

do not feel bad said the detective many people have fallen victim to this gang

luckily we got them before they they stole all your money 

Alice declared she was done with online dating