There’s lots of hurt to go around

October 18, 2025 







She scrambled up my insides pretty good
I drank myself past crazy, knock on wood

I grabbed my hounds and packed my sled
And prayed for better days ahead

I never cared for that old town
There's lots of hurt to go around

I thought she'd be the one to make me true
I end up sad no matter what I do

The best laid plans don't guarantee 
A life that's free of misery

I tried so hard – I let her down
There's lots of hurt to go around

We did the Tallahassee do-si-do
Then she left me bleeding in the snow

My chariot is flying low
I guess it's just my time to go 

Harps and horns make lovely sound
There's no more hurt to go around 

by Richard W. Bray 






				


				
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The bee and the butterfly and the breeze

				October 12, 2025 

				

					





















In the name of the Bee—
And of the Butterfly—
And of the Breeze—Amen!
–Emily Dickinson

Big ugly buildings don’t do much for me
Walking in the woods is my favorite show 
The bee and the butterfly and the breeze

Dogs and leopards and bobolinks agree
Give me a mountaintop slathered in snow
Big ugly buildings don’t do much for me

No more bosses and timeclocks to appease
No one monitors when I come and go
The bee and the butterfly and the breeze

Hugging a rainbow – talking to a tree
Sipping on the sunshine – living real slow
Big ugly buildings don’t do much for me

Overcome by joy – overwhelmed with ease
Sing with the flowers – listen to them grow	`
The bee and the butterfly and the breeze

Daydream and become everything you see
Take a deep breath – your body feels the flow
Big ugly buildings don’t do much for me
I’ll take the bee and the butterfly and the breeze

by Richard W. Bray

				


				
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Rimsy Rosey Dipsy Dapsy Dozey

				October 3, 2025 

				

					












Rimsy
Rosey
Dipsy dapsy dozey

Brizzy
Brayzee
People think I'm crazy

Hipsy
Hopsy
Flipsy flopsy frozey

Dimby
Damby
You really understand me

Ohzee
Nosey
Tipsy tapsy toesy

Freedoo
Weedoo
I really wanna see you

Bimsy
Bamsy
Boomsy woomsy toomsy

Meedope
Beedope
You sunshine me with hope

Richard W. Bray

				


				
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A little heaven big enough for two

				September 28, 2025 

				

					












A funny movie on a rainy day
Things we’re feeling but we cannot say
 
I say goodbye to all the gloomy doom
Just by knowing that you're in the room

A gentle symphony of you and me
Dissolving into simple melody
Greatest beauty that could ever be

Like a fire on a frozen night
You bring the heat and keep it burning bright 

So many hurts and stings and scary things
Shelter me with all the love you bring

A gentle symphony of you and me
Dissolving into simple melody
Greatest beauty that could ever be

More contentment than I ever knew
A little heaven big enough for two

A gentle symphony of you and me
Dissolving into simple melody
Greatest beauty that could ever be

by Richard W. Bray

				


				
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can we listen? can we talk?

				September 17, 2025 

				

					












can we listen?
can we talk?
can we walk around the block?
can we solve our problems
with words instead of rocks?

can we listen?
can we talk?
are we able to be free?
can we plant a garden
without a Poison Tree?

can we listen?
can we talk?
can we ever be certain
it's not a big lie
not the man behind the curtain?

can we listen?
can we talk?
can we walk around the block? 
can a man have an opinion
without losing his job?

can we listen?
can we talk?
frustration festers below
keep it out in the sun
and let your flower grow

by Richard W. Bray

				


				
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Resentment doesn’t age so well

				September 5, 2025 

				

					
















Resentment doesn't age so well 
Torn and tattered like a shoe
It has a rather nasty smell 

Grit your teeth or share your hell
Curse the things you did not do
Resentment doesn't age so well 

Can't escape the morning bell
Facing facts and coming to
It has a rather nasty smell

Sagging hopes and cold farewells
Less and less in front of you 
Resentment doesn't age so well 

No one’s buying what you sell
Still sucking on the residue
It has a rather nasty smell 

I have no comfort words to tell
I cannot paddle your canoe
Resentment doesn't age so well 
It has a rather nasty smell 

by Richard W. Bray

				


				
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Ain’t nothing on the outside that’s gonna make you whole

				August 21, 2025 

				

					











To fight aloud, is very brave —
But gallanter, I know
Who charge within the bosom
The Cavalry of Woe —
–Emily Dickinson

You always loved the thunder 
And you're scared of the light 
Hiding from your insides
So you pick another fight 

It's time to shut up 
And listen to yourself 
Your neverending squabbles
Are ruining your health

Scrolling through the profiles
And it makes your body burn
Life is not a scrapbook
Some people never learn 

It's time to shut up 
And listen to your heart
Stop flailing around
Or you'll tear yourself apart 

You're over there and everywhere 
You're talking on the phone
In everybody's business
You can't stand to be alone

It's time to shut up 
And listen to your soul
Ain't nothing on the outside 
That's gonna make you whole

by Richard W. Bray

				


				
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we make up crazy shit and call it Science

				August 5, 2025 

				

					












everything you love must be renounced
friends and neighbors double-cross and pounce

reality is just a point of view
we decide what is and isn't true

we demand commitment and compliance
we make up crazy shit and call it Science

we fill you up with bitterness and bile
and send you off to murder and defile

we change the rules and kill the ones who try
to live for love and look beyond the lie

we make up crazy shit and call it Science
the public has to pay for its defiance

by Richard W. Bray






				


				
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Little Demons Scamper

				July 29, 2025 

				

					
















Sordid 
Little
Secrets
In a room where no one tells
Money
Greed 
& Power
And a host of ugly smells

The object of possession
The tinsel and the town
The only joy you have
Is knocking people down

Huge hatreds boiling up
Underneath the skin 
Don't know how to walk away 
Don't know how to win

We can never stop
Being what we've done
Little demons scamper
In the light of the sun 

by Richard W. Bray

				


				
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The world is full of love

				July 21, 2025 

				

					












Cold comforts set between us, things to share
Gleaming in a bucket of clean water.
–Seamus Heaney, When all the others were away at Mass

The world is full of love 
Gleaming in a bowl
Epic in the moments
Miniscule and whole

The world is full of love
Melting into drops
Transferring timelessly
It never really stops

The world is full of love
Together in a task
Fluent in our motions
And questions never asked

By Richard W. Bray

				


				
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