The Red Pill

Born with the red pill

Halfway down the throat

Taking the utmost skill

Discerning what that denotes

The burden of building bridges

Not moats

Gene G. McLaughlin 2016

Retribution

The dead seek no retribution

They’re gone from hunger

Not from greed

They are appeased from restitution

Of that torn asunder

Not from need

Gene G. McLaughlin 2016

The Search

I’ve not found it yet

Betwixt barroom floorboards

Or Buddha’s verses

Guess I’ll search more

Before early bird specials

Or cold black hearses

Gene G. McLaughlin 2016

News Cycle

Coat news with narratives

Call the stories facts

Get the data in

See how the masses react

Trim the tale to fit needs

Until the lie is intact

Gene G. McLaughlin 2016

Scraggly Haggard Tree

Scraggly haggard tree
Sitting in the winter sun
Sighing out a plea
For the cold to be done
Winter just replies
Grow your bark thicker son
Some might be prone to hurry
But this old man ain’t one
Gene G. McLaughlin 2016

Karma’s Weave

Karma’s not a cruel bitch
It’s a teacher
Reflected in the glass
As times endless needles stitch
A tapestry
Of all moments past
Gene G. McLaughlin 2015

I Google My Thoughts

I Google my thoughts

To known they’re originals

Some are bought

Most are aboriginal

My mind’s fraught

In search of the seminal

Gene G. McLaughlin 2015

June 15th and it hits 100

I got nothing tonight

But the summer heat

No feeling

But pavement burning

My feet

Only the ache

No

Deceit

Flesh singed

Like Meat

Gene G. McLaughlin 2015

9 Dollar Poem

I sold a poem for 9 dollars

Then bought sea monkeys

With the funds

Art, commerce, and life’s miracles

Existing together as one

Gene G. McLaughlin 2015

Bucket List

What I am doing is enough for me
Because it has to be enough for me
Has to have been enough for me
Without a list made out for me
Gene G. McLaughlin 2015