On plane

Big crowd

Departure gate

Numbered rows 

Lines forming

People herded

Like sheep

Mindless chatter

Bleating sheep

Boarding starts

Shepherding begins

Plane starts

Consuming sheep

Find seat

Stow bags

Cramped quarters

Watch TV

Boarding complete

Door closed

Plane taxis

Runway roar

Bumpy rolling

Take off

Skyward travel

Climbing fast

Noisy engines

Smiling hostess

Plastic trays

Tasteless food

Guzzle water

Sip wine

Check TV

Eight hours

Before landing

Kill time

Watching movies

Lights dimmed

Nap time

Sheep sleep

Counting humans

Wake up

Stiff neck

Line up

Bathroom time

Smallest bathroom

Ever used

Tiny sink

Wash hands

Climb back 

Into seat

Lost shoe

Under seat

Bumpy landing

At gate

Sheep standing

Clutching bags

Slowly disembark

Sheep bleat

Approach door

Smiling staff

Jet way

Crowded terminal

Follow transfers

Walk miles 

Long layover

Travel fatigue

Tired sheep

Rebook flights

Rebook flights

Modify itinerary

Repack cases

Leaving tomorrow

Last sleep

Own bed

Wake early

Quick shower

Make tea

Light breakfast

Load car

Lock house

Start car

Drive away

Airport bound  

Radio on

Sing along

Long drive

Light traffic

Almost there

Park car

Unload bags

Long line

Slow checkin

Bags dropped

Boarding pass

Security line

Slow shuffle

Shoes off

Pass screening

Shoes on

Take train

Departure gate

Replan vacation

Vacation approaches

Bags packed

Reservations confirmed

Tickets printed

Friends wishing

Bon voyage

Only problem

Health issue

Abdominal pain

Try medication

No relief

Sleepless nights

Extreme fatigue

Travel imminent

Anxiety mounts

Pain worsens

Departure date

Postpone trip

Emergency department

Doctor examines

Nurses probes

Imaging scans

Nothing serious

Medication prescribed

Pain subsidies

Feeling better

Replan vacation

Vacation looming

Vacation looming

Checking weather

Fall temperatures

Take layers

Raid closet

Bed covered

Condemn clothes

Go shopping

Buy new

Not satisfied

Buy more

Preliminary packing

Too much

Discard most

Return purchases

Revisit closet

Ask forgiveness

Old clothes

Join new

Happy compromise

Suitcase overloaded

Remove clothes

Into closet

Closet upset

Asking why

Left behind

Telling closet

Next trip

Closet unbelieving

Rightly so

New clothes

All excited

Italy bound

Vacation planning

Photo by Vlada Karpovich on Pexels.com

Planning trip

Destination debating

Itinerary drafting 

Brainstorming ideas

European adventure

Mediterranean cruise

Departs Rome

Go early

Rome tourism

Explore Tuscany

Then cruise

Onward London

See family

Visit daughter

Hug grandson

Make memories

Return home

Decided itinerary

Cruise booked

Find flights

Hotel reservations

Train tickets

Plans made

Dates fixed

Family onboard

Calendar entry

Counting days

Anticipation growing

Thanks in advance

When I first started to write stuff

It was easy to write a poem

I had lots of stories in my head

They were often dusty but tellable

My well of old stories ran dry

Plagiarism was not the answer

I had to dig deeper

Find new subjects to write about

I started to focus on objects

Imagining that they were alive

The dishwasher had funny stories to tell

My closet was full of gossip

Some days everything goes quiet

The trees stop whispering to me

The clouds are all asleep

Sunrise is aloof and gives me a polite silent smile

In desperation I started to write fiction

Creating characters in my head

I give them the freedom to act

They perform and I take notes

My actors are great for a week or so

Then they mysteriously disappear

I have no idea where they go

The stage in my mind becomes empty and quiet

My feelings are ever so dependable

Take a chair Mr Happiness

Spill everything while your psychiatrist scribbles

The inner peace and love poetry soon goes stale

I desperately want more tools in my writing toolbox

It just came to me in a flash right now

I can write about all the amazing people I know

My next poem might be about you

Live your life with meaning……….SLOWLY

sometimes we move way too fast

running from home to the gym

racing from the gym to the office

not taking a break at work

dashing to the store

grabbing a bite in a restaurant

drinking a quick nightcap at a bar

then home to sleep before doing it all over again

no time to pause or reflect

not stopping to smell the roses

but when you do slow down

it all becomes so much clearer

time slows down too

you realize that you are blessed to have

-eyes for seeing

-a mouth for tasting

-a voice for talking

-ears for listening

-hands for feeling

-lips for kissing

-a heart for falling in love

-feet for walking

-a mind for pondering

memories to cherish

suddenly…..

the roses smell incredible

sunsets look so spectacular

home cooked meals taste delicious

voices sound so sweet

music makes you dance

you can take a walk

while holding hands

and being in love

that kiss under moonlight

makes everlasting memories

you can still dream big

get all your work done

and live your life with meaning

But…………………..slowly

Unsubscribe is my new mantra

My emails are out of control

Around 100 new emails  arrive every day

Mostly unsolicited marketing stuff

I only open emails I recognize as important

The unopened ones pile up

Its too much effort to delete them all

I recently decided to purge all my incoming emails

Opening every email daily and hunting for the unsubscribe option

Its always in fine print hidden away

Often it takes you to a second page to confirm 

After a couple of weeks the flow is starting to subside

New ones still pop up uninvited

My name must be on mailing lists that are being passed around

I will have to make the unsubscribe a daily ritual

Perhaps I can extend it to other parts of my life

When those annoying commercials come on TV

It would be great to have an unsubscribe button on the TV remote

The commercial instantly stops broadcasting and will never repeat

When you answer a robo call on your phone

It would be nice if you could just say unsubscribe

The caller hangs up and never calls again

When at a bar and some really boring guy in the next seat keeps chatting to you

You ask the bartender to unsubscribe you from him

He instantly stops bugging you

When somebody is tailgating you on the freeway

You hit the unsubscribe button on your rear view mirror

Their car is made to slowdown and back off

When you get a pile of junk snailmail

Toss it all into your smart unsubscribe trash can

Where it scans the senders and deletes you from their mailing lists

If your bills are getting to be too expensive for your budget

Hit the unsubscribe option to stop getting them

Unwanted callers ringing your smart front doorbell

Unsubscribe to have them teleported away

Tired of your partner in that bad relationship

Hit unsubscribe and they instantly vanish forever

If you are really old and sick with no quality of life

Hit unsubscribe and go straight to heaven

Unicorn in an Aloft Hotel

In the lobby of an Aloft hotel

Images streaming on a TV screen

A unicorn strutting around

Walking by a building

He goes up an escalator

Sees a mirror

Lays down

A spaceship arrives

Hovers over the unicorn

Beams him up in a bubble

The top of the spaceship is a building

The unicorn appears in a room

Still inside a bubble

He floats higher

The side of the building opens up

To reveal a Starbucks coffee shop

The door opens into the restrooms

The unicorn appears with rockets on his sides

He flies away

I saw all this back in 2019

I am still trying to figure out what its all about

candle lit in prayer

Sick friend

Candle lit

Prayers said

Candle flickers

More prayers

Candle flickers

Hope eternal

Candle flickers

Praying harder

Candle flickers

Thoughts wander

Candle flickers

Memories flash

Candle flickers

Years back

Candle flickers

Friend laughing

Candle flickers

Treasured memories

Candle flickers

Back now

Friend smiles

Candle flickers

Friend fighting

Candle flickers

No surrender

Candle flickers