If you have nothing to do

Come on over and let’s snuggle up together,

we can warm winter blues out of our bones.

Chat about nothing, catch up on everything.

Better to have company on this gloomy day.

If you are not busy, otherwise occupied,

why not join me, take a break from society?

We can sooth each others pain, ease the worries;

life’s path goes easier with a close companion.

But then again we all have plans laid in

long before, the way people must these days.

So perhaps you will chose not to, and

I will have to be satisfied with your memory.

There are other people, events, goings-on

that will satisfy most of my remaining longings.

But that little crevice, the nook labeled “you”

will just have to sit empty, and I’ll do my best

to overlook that tender gap

left in a small part of my being.

Hot Summer Days

The sun is hot in June,

a good day to seek out the water.

Cool rivers enrapture and sooth,

civil strife and pandemics won’t matter…

Shuck street clothes and anxieties,

cast off inhibitions and wade right in.

Splash and giggle and caper around,

feel joys buried for too many years.

Angry crowds bust out windows,

loot stores and smash out doors.

Teargas and rubber bullets are fired,

Screams of rage and panic combine.

“I Can’t Breathe! Black Lives Matter!”

Refrain echoes and reverberates around

an entire nation – racism no longer supine.

Needles of shame penetrate far and wide.

But today is a day to forget,

time to escape it all to a hidden river,

shucking the shame and feeling renewal.

Today the water, wind and warmth,

Tomorrow, the weight of the world.

Good luck to us all.

Two plus two equals five

What if you could invent your own math?

1+1=0; 2+2=5; and etc, and etc.

Who is to say your results do not matter as much?

What if some odd new math could determine

physical results, maybe bring about new forces to use.

1+1=0; 2+2=5; 3x3=19 and presto: Antigravity!

But there is still causal effect.

Thing A still causes Thing B;

Stones still fall down

when dropped, and water still splashes – downward.

We perceive what happens, but it does not change -

even if we really wish it to.

We can imagine it to change,

water to splash upward, stones to rise;

But others must also see what we see.

If we were a good enough hypnotist,

convince the world that black is white,

2+2=5, then it would indeed be so.

We could dine on our pink elephants and

coal dust souffle, and be completely satisfied.

But some alien from outer space would stop by,

and still see us eating crackers and soup,

think to each other:

‘Those odd humans, how can they live on such things?’

The physical world never changes,

but us wet computing units do – often.

We see a world, label it, interact with it...

Hopefully we do not destroy our

blue ark completely, be set adrift like

cold dead bones in an unforgiving universe.

Here’s two ya, fivers out there.

Have a great life.

Guard Inner Space Too

They are getting ready to launch two US astronauts from American soil again – the first time since 2011. After nearly a decade of relying on the Russians for a ride into space, the US will finally be able to send their own into orbit. Meanwhile, the country is gradually opening up, even as unemployment reaches new record levels. Locally, we make plans, do our shopping as best as we can, and play with our electronic devices. And work with them, and do pretty much everything remotely.

Since here we sit, right in the middle of a worldwide Pandemic.

Seems to me some experts are almost gleeful, since they have been sounding warnings for years. Ebola, Sars, the Zika virus all were supposed to be so bad – and they didn’t seem to materialize over here in the US. Not so the Coronavirus. That went from being a joke, oft-repeated meme on social networks, to a major crisis. Nursing homes and meatpacking plants were and are being decimated.

Hundreds are testing positive here in Iowa, and dozens are losing their lives every day to this. Even though the country is opening back up, there are still dozens of people dying every day. It is as if we didn’t want to acknowledge the reality, but instead turn back the clock to 2019. The virus does not care, it just keeps on doing what it does best – hitching a ride on humans, and then killing them. Wish that it was like Sars, or Zika – someone else s problem. Covid-19 is the whole world’s problem, and will be for the foreseeable future. May not be a case for glee, but perhaps a belated admittance that we let our guard down regarding microbial threats. With the Internet and our devices cocooning and soothing us all the time, who knew that some tiny damned virus would up-end our world so fast?

Now I hear that 100 separate teams around the world are working on a vaccine of one kind or another. No doubt they will find one that works, and can prevent infection, or rather serious illness. Sure hope so. Society in late May, of 2020 has become a grim, masked, fearful place. People are so ready for pandemic paranoia to end – so much so that many are flocking outside again, ignoring social distancing, gathering in bars and other places. They risk killing many more, as that virus just hitches a ride and keeps on spreading. We need patience and persistence more than anything else right now. We will beat it, we will find a solution. Just need to be patient and not throw caution to the winds.

I exist, therefore I can

A tiny thing, just 0.06 Earth’s mass.

Hot and eccentric,

like a fiery lover on a roll.

Water would boil off the surface

facing the sun, but deep-freeze on the backside.

Like a zit on the Sun it appears, then

transits the throbbing star, a tiny black orb.

Why is it still there?

The Sun cannot seem to pull it in, or

at least yank something else to impact it.

So there it orbits in high elliptical fashion.

People probably will not want to visit there,

unless perhaps some adventurous types go,

a thousand years from now,

on some jaunt or vacation lark.

Perhaps it exists just to say,

“look what is possible,

an insignificant little speck can survive,

in the face of an immense gravity well,

burning incredibly hot,

just a stone’s throw away.

If Mercury can put up with all that,

and stay the course,

keep on keeping on,

then just think what we can do

in our insignificant little lives?

Anything is possible,

says Mercury – just look at moi.

Painted Lady

A fiery temptress she is,

swirling with passionate streaks.

Heat and pressure at the surface

eats human spacecraft for breakfast.

At least one managed a few photos,

of a barren and uncertain landscape.

So much study has been accomplished from afar;

Temperatures and pressures at higher altitudes

would support more life forms.

That will be the target of the next probes.

Will she allow this new violation of her privacy?

Similar in size to Earth,

she is yet so different that our home.

Her uniqueness is novel and alluring;

we humans are bound to keep trying

to pierce her veil of mystery,

endure her harshness to attain

some amazing reward –

payback for decades of wooing.

Sure hope she is worth all the struggle!

These neighbor worlds to Earth seem

more trouble than they are worth.

Perhaps the ultimate reward lies elsewhere,

in the asteroid belt or even the Kuiper belt.

Time (and much effort) will tell.

Venus, meanwhile, still sings her siren song.

Ceres and Vesta (virgin real estate)

Twin glimmers in a telescope,

they twinkle a mystery at us:

‘What are we? What are we made of?’

So people just have to take a look.

A few hundred million later,

the DAWN mission orbits and scans one,

then fires up an ion engine to

head over to the other, and orbit that -

for years.

Data and images sent back to Earth show

a round, crater filled ball, typical at first.

Then one shows off a white glare –

What is that? Water ice? Carbon Dioxide?

Many photos are taken, and suppositions made.

A salt deposit, it is theorized.

Impossible to be sure.

To some, it is more proof of

an alien presence –

see, that is their base!

As in most other instances,

the only way to know for sure

is to send people to have a look.

Like always, the refrain sounds:

“Maybe someday, maybe someday.”

Meanwhile many other worlds entice

with just enough details to lure us out.

At least the DAWN mission took Ceres

seriously, and rewarded us with information.

War God

God of War,

symbol of action,

passion, activity, allure.

Promising so much,

delivering a bitter chill.

Irradiated, carved, scoured,

desiccated, dried, exhumed,

exhausted.

Lures innocent Earth-dwellers

so far, for so long, and for what?

To disappoint with what it really is:

Barren, dry, destitute.

“Want to live here?

You will have to bring everything,

and live underground like rodents.

Is it worth it to you?

Honestly?”

“Just orbit and run some robots around

my skin.

Cheaper,

safer,

and just as informative.”

“Save the rest of those tax dollars

for where they are really needed.

To clean up your mess at home.”

“Tidy up your own backyard,

before you clutter up mine.”

Mars has spoken,

better obey that God of War,

lest it get angry or something.

Irritating Presence

How irritable old man Moon must be,

since all he wanted to do was cruise

around the Earth and mind his own.

Not anymore, no way.

Pinpricked and prodded by lots of probes,

scraped and sampled and irradiated too.

No peace any more since human gnats

began to gnaw at his innards and outtards.

Poor old Mr Moon will never be the same,

with colonies and outposts dotting his surface

like so much human acne.

Too bad he doesn’t have arms to deal with it all.

However there are a lot of micrometeors

that impact the surface. Hmmmm.

Maybe if “he” threw up a bunch of rocky debris…

Perhaps it is time for some volcanic action to erupt?

Watch out, humans – the old man may be about to get even!

Of Geese and Humans

Mother goose kept a wary eye on me,

as her goslings waddled around nearby.

I passed and snapped a photo,

she stretched her neck,

and flapped her lips,

on “yellow alert” to the intruder;

I headed on down the trail.

A human boy was fishing along the bank of the lake.

His father, too, eyed me a bit warily, pivoted some,

darted glances my way just in case.

Also on “yellow alert” as a stranger walked

past his progeny.

Just in case.

But he said some nonchalant, vaguely insulting

remark, like ‘it’s just some vagrant.

Nothing to worry about -

I’ll keep you safe.’

Mother Goose was probably honking much the same thing...

Of course I knew in my heart,

I was no threat to goose or human.

I got what I was after,

snapshots of some wildflowers,

taken along a tiny lake in eastern

Polk county on a luscious day in May.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVJdRKmMPE4

Stream of Life

Sometimes it floods over banks,

drops sticks and logs and sand;

streaks side grounds with dark silt,

new fertilizer for bright spring growth.

Elms and walnut and sycamores sprout,

while wizened old geezers lean and topple over,

making new homes and food for many creatures.

Emerald wild grasses shoot up and catch the wind.

The river courses along, nonchalant today;

Tomorrow’s rains will make it swell and rage,

next month’s drought will shrink and wither it;

The water still cool and refreshing to human feet.

Some people were kayaking over, or fishing in it...

A creator of life and sometimes dealer of death,

the persistent river keeps on flowing,

even as shore life keeps on growing.

Human hassles and annoyances are rendered

insignificant next to the beauty and splendor

of a wide, strong, resurgent stream in the springtime.

a bit of verse

That Covid is a total ass,

it keeps us all six feet apart;

we sit home and feel harassed,

we chat online, maybe play guitar.

No going out to dinner with friends,

no hanging out at the local club;

no attending church to make amends,

no close contact, no foreign body rubs.

But we can still get out in our yards,

plant seeds, pull weeds and trim the bushes.

Some parks are open, with distancing guards,

we can feel breezes and hike in green rushes.

Someday soon this isolation will all be done,

The Covid-19 beaten, our victory will be sung.

Even in the darkest times

Nature bursts forth in scintillating spring!

Early violas lead the color charge:

Shooting star and Dutchmen’s breeches

push through leaves and show their stuff.

Columbine greens up to astound later,

Lady’s slipper preps to lure and amaze,

white Trilliums triumph in grabbing your gaze.

Anemone and Virginia Bluebells march up,

Bloodroot and wild ginger flash the standard.

Those lowly dandelions and ground ivy pups

populate the ranks with purple and yellow rows.

Solomon’s Seal brings up a splendid rear.

Despite the quarantine’s daily drumbeat of

casualty numbers crawling upward,

we can at least take hope in the annual glory

of Spring’s color feast she lays out before us.

Better times are ahead, she says,

better things lay ahead.

A case for home robot assistants

     Especially in this time of quarantining and social distancing, now is a good time for Americans to embrace personal robots. Robots can be sterilized, yet can act as our companions and assistants. They can act as security helpers, and answer queries for information, linking wirelessly to the Internet. It is a good time for households to consider adding some kind of robot to their collection of electronic devices. It is also time for more American companies to build said robots for use by the general public.

     It is 2020 – well past the time that many early sci-fi writers thought these would be a common household feature. While many intelligent functions have been built into devices themselves, like TVs and microwaves, there is still a role for standalone robots. An entity that can move about in a physical space, and interact with humans and pets, would be a helpful addition to many homes. They could perform some search functions, and many entertainment functions for the family. At the same time, they could incorporate features now included in smart home switches, voice-operated devices, etc. Like the robot in the original Lost in Space show, they could become a valued member of the family. It should not be very difficult to build in a few different ways to deactivate a mobile robot in case of any kind of mishap or problem.

     A final reason for making a mobile robot household companion is it could be a product built here in the USA, and exported. In these days of everything being manufactured elsewhere, it would be heartening to know that a popular consumer device is made here and exported elsewhere. This alone would be a reason for a government-industry partnership to facilitate bringing these mobile assistants to fruition and to market. It is time to do this. Thanks for reading.

We will get thru

Sunlight will grace trail flowers with bright colors,
Blue lakes will dapple an invitation;
Robins, meadowlarks and finches will sing joyful odes,
even the cicadas and tree frogs will get in on the act;
all welcoming normality once again - perhaps by this summer.

We will make it through too.

     See you on the other side.

Viral Overload

They sit around and decide

how many of us they’ll let die.

This outbreak is the other party’s fault,

Easy to smear them with bloody gestalt.

Panic and hysteria is all this thing is,

no real problem to worry about, Liz.

Heat will kill it, all over by April;

No, folks, wrong, sorry, it’ll be August.

Let’s throw money at it, trillions to disappear,

placate money worries, greed replaces fear.

Maybe dollar bills can replace now-rare toilet paper,

one thing accomplished by our great decision maker.

Outsourcing and lean manufacturing lost our capability,

greedy decision-makers share guilt and culpability.

Now America needs help from many other nations,

humbled and reminded of our new national station.

No longer at the top, we sit closer to the bottom;

when it comes to capabilities, we no longer got ‘em.

This Pandemic may teach us to re-prioritize our thinking,

hopefully before our ship of state finishes sinking!

Where did it go

I skip over years in memory,

was 12 once, 13, 15, 16.

All those characters on TV

(watched by this aging body,)

had something in common with me.

Used to laugh at, mock or impatiently

skirt around people who were older, now younger...

Used to be the smart-ass I now loath.

Several decades sure changes a point-of-view.

That first girlfriend, the fumbling moves,

knowledge won hard, in bits and pieces,

now seems trivial compared to what

has been acquired since those days.

My teen-aged classmates, all loud,

boisterous, and no one certain of their direction?

Now they are doctors, lawyers, mechanics,

all coasting towards retirement – or deceased.

I’ve lived a lot of life, got to enjoy the time,

if “enjoy” is the right word.

Thought I had seen it all, until this

Pandemic reared its ugly head.

You just never know what kind of shit

lies right around the next corner!

So now is the time to sit inside,

and ruminate on all of those years,

good and bad,

rich and poor,

amazing and boring.

Maybe the sixth decade can be a bit more placid,

calming looks back and forward across time.

Any new moves carefully surveyed;

And stable health savored and husbanded…

(assuming that I survive this covid-19 thing)

How many more?

One day at a time.

Civilize - it is awesome

I’ve been watching a program about “preppers” or people who prepare for the collapse of civilized society. It is pretty relevant nowadays with the Covid-19 pandemic. But these folks do things like build giant super-trucks with extra fuel, ammo, food etc, so in the event of a general collapse, they can drive their family to some remote “Bugout” site. There, they are able to defend themselves, get access to water via a well or stream, and generally hold out. For days, months or even years.

Various people have very detailed plans. They have arms and the capability to use them, foods, water, high-tech communication gear, etc, etc. But the thing I never hear them mention is what happens after? What about after the collapse? Are they willing to begin to trade with each other? So one person can grow certain things, another can grow or produce others, and a larger collective can thus re-establish a marketing and distribution system? In other words, a way to re-start an economy?

Everyone is so damn good at preparing for a collapse. But no one seems to be willing to discuss reestablishing an economy! So I sit and wonder, do some people really just want to exist in a permanent collapse, a “Mad Max” world of constant violence and killing and grubbing for survival?

Would it not just be easier to maintain a high degree of civilization like we have now, and avoid all of that hassle, work, and violent action? I suppose just acting and being civilized is too boring for some.

Civilization and trading for goods – much easier than collapse and violence and killing. Let’s try that instead. I would much rather “prep” for a happy future filled with technological delights, than some post-apocalyptic burned-out landscape where all anyone can do is simply survive.

A chant and a rant

Finding things at home to do,

they want us to shelter in place.

Cleaning living room, picking up my shoes,

they ask us to shelter in place.

Checking Facebook for the hundredth time,

they tell us to shelter in place.

Clicking on memes, reading between the lines,

they request us to shelter in place.

I had thought 2020 would see more humans in space,

they keep telling us all to shelter in place;

But now the robotic craft will take their place,

they want humans to stay earthbound, shelter in place.

Hope this all will end sometime soon,

Because me and others are so tired of sheltering in place.

Wal-martians galore

Masked counters have replaced the greeters,

one way in and one way out is the rule.

Everyone keeps their distance,

most wear masks, except a few youngsters.

The fruit counters seem plentiful,

but some freezers are empty.

For the most part, groceries are bountiful.

Why would there be any shortages

in this day and age of plenty?

People have never been through a pandemic,

so the reigning emotion of the day is panic.

“This too, shall pass.”

Like a big gallstone,

everyone is asking,

“goddamn it, but when?”

Hang in there.

Haiku time

Lush buds push out growth

robins hop in underbrush

surprised by snowflakes

new snow frosts old lawns

lily shoots refuse to yield

hide from the virus

shallow stream beckons

a perfect wade in July

mosquitoes agree

Book links for those curious

I got a few books self-published on Amazon.   Feel free to take a look at them.

Future Property – Michael Wilson

https://www.amazon.com/Future-Property-Collection-Speculative-Fiction/dp/147524732X

Experimental Tales – Dycen Alexander

https://www.amazon.com/Experimental-Tales-Enjoyment-Dycen-Alexander/dp/1500992429

The Osmotics – Dycen Alexander

https://www.amazon.com/Osmotics-Dycen-Alexander/dp/1495486575

New Venture – Dycen Alexander

https://www.amazon.com/New-Venture-First-Contact-Kuiper/dp/1508688729

Epic Prime Collection – Dycen Alexander

https://www.amazon.com/Epic-Prime-Collection-Dycen-Alexander/dp/1530631017

Crime Spree – poetry - Mike Wilson

https://www.amazon.com/Crime-Spree-Mr-Mike-Wilson/dp/1535057610/

A Strange Enterprise collection of speculations

https://www.amazon.com/Strange-Enterprise-Collection-Speculations/dp/0615818072

Shadow Intersection - poetry

https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Intersection-collection-Michael-Wilson/dp/1481859412

29 Stories – Kindle Edition – collection of short fiction:

https://www.amazon.com/Twenty-Nine-Stories-Mike-Wilson-ebook/dp/B0714D14JD

Thanks for taking a look-see  :-)     

Dark psychedelia

Dark Energy is a substance proposed by some physicists to explain a discrepancy in calculations involving the known mass of the universe, versus the expected mass.

Dark Energy is known to most humans.

It presses in after an argument,

or propels us to dark affairs in dark places,

Sordid, wild flings of flesh-feast.

It drives us to orgasm, then repeats

because we just can’t resist that Dark Energy.

The correct level of weed or THC high reveals

all kinds of energy to those watching for it.

Flashing colors of pleasure and glee,

foreboding browns and blacks heavy with fear -

It soon is clear whether the energy present is

dark or light.

Mescaline or Peyote or psilocybin can reveal

energy in myriad permutations,

show the past and future in endless combinations.

Multiple universes? You will see them all.

Lambda and 2-pi and X/2 + Y = 0 will be meaningless,

you will just feel-taste the vibrations of everything,

know what God must feel like every day,

assuming there is a God besides you in this trance.

This quintessence that must surround us all

may be harnessed someday by us clever humans.

Then it will be called something else,

Quint Quant fuel pellets, Fifth Force Juice.

But to all other living things on Earth,

the human race has been the Darkest Energy

they have ever known,

or been forced to suffer from.

Imagine that.

We will overcome it

Treatment may become routine,

be great if you live through it;

Stay at home in quarantine,

better to avoid getting sick!

Be great if you live through it,

taking all the needed precautions.

It is easy to avoid getting sick,

just disinfect and practice sanitation.

Take those necessary precautions,

Avoid any large teeming crowds;

disinfect and practice good sanitation,

Stay indoors, stay healthy, stay proud.

Avoid any large teeming crowds,

especially at the busy supermarkets;

Stay indoors, stay healthy and stay proud,

there is lots of food, don’t have to hoard it.

No need to go to busy supermarkets,

you can still order restaurant carry-out;

there is lots of food, don’t have to hoard it,

We will overcome this, there is no doubt.

Government checks could soon be on the way,

stay at home in safety and quarantine;

no need for excessive despair or dismay,

treatment for this virus will become routine.

the Divine Miss D

Forget any fentanyl-laced heroin;

Forego the cannabis brownies or drinks;

no need to smoke joints or bowls, no siree.

Hard liquour or craft beers? Who needs ‘em?

Divine donuts are enough of a treat,

lush with creams and tasty frosting,

oozing with flavorful jellies,

spiffed up with color sparkles.

Long square frosted eclairs,

round, plump bismarcks,

cake rings thick with frosting,

I could spend all day gazing at

these glazed lovelies in a bakery window.

The only law enforcement problem

I might stumble across might be a

hungry, impatient patrol officer,

eager to grab his breakfast and be gone.

Then I would have to stifle my addiction

momentarily, and offer a place:

“After you, officer!”

Never know, might prevent a ticket someday;

Even addicts have to observe protocol sometimes.

Corona Afire

Concerns stack up like bodies at a morgue,

as a virus roams across continents.

Some researchers struggle to make a vaccine,

while others mass-manufacture testing kits.

Stock prices whipsaw up and down,

Central banks take emergency measures

to loosen up the money supply. Can a

lower interest rate help eliminate a virus?

Guess we will soon find out.

Some of this reminds me of the AIDS

epidemic, and how threatening that seemed.

It was a guaranteed death sentence, disability

granted with no questions asked. 30-some

years later, HIV+ people lead normal lives.

Science and human determination will find

a solution, and then a cure. We always do,

sooner or later.

It is the damage in the meantime that is tough.

(Wash those hands, everyone)

Spring Arise

Green is rising up the stalks

of the Spirea I’m trimming;

A peace agreement was signed yesterday,

potentially bringing our boys home;

Forsythia flowers in a neighbor’s yard.

Temps have risen to a balmy 63,

the sun is out and fresh robins serenade.

New weeds leaf out to catch those March rays,

for a moment all is quiet in the neighborhood.

This rare moment of tranquility is savored…

Tomorrow more rain is forecast,

along with falling temps and north winds.

Today’s teaser just whets my appetite,

but I know the main course is coming eventually.

Patience and perseverance and a good yard cleaning

will bring an emerald lawn, and new flowers glowing.

Tulips, hyacinth and daffodils poised for their showing,

Time to get the lawnmowers out, homeowners grumbling.