They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swinging hot spot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone?
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
They took all the trees and put 'em in a tree museum
And they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them
No, no, no
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone?
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
Hey, farmer, farmer, put away your DDT
I don't care about spots on my apples
Leave me the birds and the bees
Please!
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone?
They paved paradise to put up a parking lot
Listen, late last night, I heard the screen door sway
And a big yellow taxi took my girl away
Now, don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone?
They paved paradise to put up a parking lot
Hey, now, now, don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone?
Why not? They paved paradise to put up a parking lot
Hey, hey, hey, paved paradise to put up a parking lot
I don't wanna give it, why you wanna give it?
Why you wanna give it all away? Hey, hey, hey
Now you wanna give it, ah, she wanna give it
'Cause she's giving it all away, now, now
I don't wanna give it, why you wanna give it?
Why you wanna give it all away?
'Cause you're giving it all, giving it all away, yeah, yeah

Desperation dripping
Something is crippling
Obvious to see
We may not know what they are
But issues a-plenty
You can choose to ignore them
You still look good in a
Bikini

If God really liked humans best
We would be able to fly
Yeah, we’ve got these incredible brains
But God clearly loves birds more than you or I

Random bird outside
Amidst the chatter
Sings a glorious song
No other bird
Could’ve sung along

You punish me
Unintentionally
Make me believe you do not care to see
Me
Allow me to walk down this path
Alone
Won’t even throw me a **** bone
Letting me wonder what do you see
Or if you even notice me
Effort and honesty
I present to thee
And you present to me
Empty
I do not know what to perceive
Am I getting on your nerves?
Do you wish I would just leave?
Stop stirring things up unnecessarily?
Throwing flailing, foul curves?
Taking you through uncomfortable swerves
I set myself up for this punishment
So now I can’t complain
But here I am
*******
And I probably will be
Again

I judge people for little things
And I judge myself for this
I can be a nasty *****
I am working on it

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free
Blackbird, fly
Blackbird, fly
Into the light of the dark black night
Blackbird, fly
Blackbird, fly
Into the light of the dark black night
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Blackout
From you
I know you don’t do it on purpose
And maybe you don’t know I notice
You have no idea
How your presence effects me
And your absence too
I prefer it that way
There are no reins on you

Mississippi in the middle of a dry spell
Jimmie Rodgers on the Victrola up high
Mama's dancin' with a baby on her shoulder
The sun is settin' like molasses in the sky
The boy could sing, knew how to move, everything
Always wanting more, he'd leave you longing for
Black velvet and that little boy's smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring ya to your knees
Black velvet if you please
Up in Memphis, the music's like a heatwave
White lightning, bound to drive you wild
Mama's baby's in the heart of every schoolgirl
"Love Me Tender" leaves 'em cryin' in the aisle
The way he moved, it was a sin, so sweet and true
Always wanting more, he'd leave you longing for
Black velvet and that little boy's smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring ya to your knees
Black velvet if you please
Every word of every song that he sang was for you
In a flash, he was gone, it happened so soon
What could you do?
Black velvet and that little boy's smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring ya to your knees
Black velvet if you please
Black velvet and that little boy's smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring ya to your knees
Black velvet if you please
If you please
If you please
If you please

Black velveteen
Simple and clean
Oh what a bad machine
Black velveteen
Supple and plain
The 21st century dream
Ready to please
Free from disease
She's waiting on her knees
It's not a sin
Titanium skin
Just take her for a spin
Black velveteen
Simple and clean
Oh what a bad machine
Black velveteen
Supple and plain
The 21st century dream
Nice piece of kit
Electronic ****
Just sit down for a fit
Ready to trip
A guarantee hit
She's all you ever wished
Black velveteen don't give a **** she'll do dishes
Black velveteen knows all the night spots in France
Black velveteen's cat smells like strawberry kittens
Black velveteen always is ready to dance
She's ready to
Black velveteen
Simple and clean
Oh what a bad machine
Black velveteen
Supple and plain
The 21st century dream

You probably hear it
Often, and over again
How special you are
True, and deep, and aware
You make me see things
That never before were there
Thank you for the vision
Increase my field of view
The sight not otherwise seen
Except through knowing you

My weakness is people who feel sorry for themselves
I don’t like to see it in me
Thus
It annoys me in others
I also dislike those
Who don’t appreciate their blessings
Particularly
When they are particularly
Blessed
The particularity
Of it all
Blessings are not overly
Particular
About who they visit

Blinded by the light
Revved up like a deuce
Another runner in the night
-     -     -
Madman drummers bummers
Indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat
In the dumps with the mumps
As the adolescent pumps his way into his hat
With a boulder on my shoulder
Feelin’ kinda older
I tripped the merry go round
With this very unpleasin’
Sneezing and wheezing
The calliope crashed to the ground
The calliope crashed to the ground!

Mister
I'm not sure how you don't
Appreciate
The wonderful wacky
Being that is me
I suppose I could try harder
But it's not my fault that
You can't see

You jumped to conclusions
And landed in delusions
And there you stay
Sinking in deep
I don’t think you’ve even
Accepted the **** your standing in
You don’t look before
Or after
You leap

The chain of events
Sometimes unpredictable
But often not
You knew what your actions were leading to
It’s no surprise to anyone what you got
That doesn’t mean we don’t wish it went down differently
But when you keep your eyes closed
Don’t expect us to feel sorry that you cannot see

Happy poetry
Cannot be
What you don’t wanna see

Wake up, Boo
I wanna tickle your brain
Tease it and please it
Til you feel insane
And give in to
The madness
With gentle refrain
Bliss can be true
If you let the madness
Encompass you
What other option
When only a dream will do

He has blocked me
Probably permanently
I deserved it, too
The awkward part is
I keep talking to him
And it will continually be
Something he never knew

I ask him for what I want
And he will not comply
That’s what I get
For falling for such a hard headed guy

My crazy is harmless
To everyone, but me
I don’t usually suffer
But I always bleed

I thought
By writing poetry
I'd be using words like iridescent
Or inevitability
But I'm just a blue collar girl
So I use glow
Or surely
To portray the same words
Less glamorously

I should be embarrassed
Standing here naked
For all to see
But nobody is paying
Any attention to me
So here I post
Determinedly
Someday
Someone will see
Whoever it be
The right one for me
Will
Tie me up
While setting me free

You know when you get the perfect boogar
Long and wet
Pulling it through
Tickles your nose to your brain
That's you
Until I realize there's a huge issue
Because I don't have access to a tissue
Yeah, it felt great at first
But figuring where to wipe you off is
The worst.

I’ve
Started a poem
Then picked a boogar
On a two year old
It could have been an interesting poem
But the boogar was more important
And maybe it boils down to
A boogar on a two year old
Few more things are more pressing
Than a boogar on a two year old

One day
He will notice
You just wait and see
How he notices me
So boombasstickly

I think you're gorgeous
So if I know you're interested
In something
I try to take interest, too
But why can't you just be
Easy
And be interested in
Interesting stuff?
Business, finance, math
And such
I can't possibly crush on somebody
That much

I was born in Massachusetts
But you put the Boston in me
Adventures by land and by sea
You’ve been gone a while
But the Boston in me
Will always be

Unimpressed
As she was
By all the things
He had commonly
Stood out about
He rose higher
And stood out more
Many an otherwise
Unremarkable
Unimpressed girl
Brought about
Genius
In some bozo on the bus
Still on for the stop
Anonymously
The spark which started the fire in he

This must be what awe feels like

The thought of you makes me sneeze
It’s not that I’m allergic
It’s because my brain is having an
******

I’ve figured out the formula
To be widely liked and known
If I was willing to sound like a teenager
And forget that I am grown
Corny is craved by the crowd
Something immature and loud
But formula’s not what the crowd needs
How do we get those humans
To breast feed?

I have a super power
Invisibility
Nobody notices me
Trying to see the bright side
In current realities
Which is probably a super power too

I love my poems
I cannot help but feel they are
BRILLIANT
Rationally
The sane part of me
Knows they’re high
Mediocre
But the dream part of me
Wishes the word could see
The BRILLIANCE
Of my poetry
Maybe it will someday  
After I’ve written so many
A huge anthology
Upon which experts agree
Is BRILLIANT poetry
In my hopes and dreams
That’s how it’s gonna be
Long after I’m dead
My great-great grandkids are gonna be
So **** proud of me

I suppose I deserve better than this
A man who doesn’t care I exist
All gurus and such will advise me give up
Knowing this don’t change a thing
You the one who makes my soul sing
Whether or not you’re listening
Rather praise my deaf king
Than anyone or anything

A brittle thread
Holds you to me
Not at all
What it used to be
The more I look
The more I see
Most of it is
Imaginary

Connection abruptly paused
Neither at fault for the cause
I dwell for days
On the things I wish I could say
Wondering if you’re
Wondering what happened to me
I know you’re not taking it personally
It’s such a **** shame
The internet isn’t free
But here I am today
Temporarily

You didn’t have anything to do with it
You’re not the guy she’s trying to forget
But you carry his burden, too
That broken heart he left for you
You’ve left a few burdens, too
Had a couple left for you
Through
Burden chain
We’re all a link
Some more than a few
Each of those links
Have their burdens too

You want to focus on minutiae
Who said what
And in what way
Each word picked apart
And thrown
In the middle
Overblown
You want to continue down this road
Bickering all the way
Sorry buddy, It's not my thing
Imma leave, and you can stay

Did you know
And pretend to not?
How much guilt have you got?
Did you look the other way
Or justify
“Well, they want to play?”  
Are you mad at yourself
For what you didn’t say?
Would it have helped
Anyway?  
That thing been there
******* out all of the fresh air
Eating away at the game you love
All that **** you could never scrub
Is that why you walked away?  
Burdened with too much weight
Of all those things you couldn’t say
“Games” you didn’t want to play
And if that be the case
Will the justice long delayed
Have any effect on
Your decisions from today?

Neglect precedes
Abuse
Busted wagons mostly go downhill
Horseless
And often driverless
Too
But sometimes
Depending what passenger do
Busted wagons have been
Known to come through

She told me to pray
It is some kind of cure-all
At least according to some
Who suffer through whatever it is
While praising the one
They think gave it to them
Because He can take it away
If they only remember to pray
Wouldn't it be perfect
If it really worked that way?
Maybe if God was a girl
We'd get a lot more of what we're asking
Clearly we need a God
Better at multitasking

You came for a while
Sat on my shoulder
Enrapturing to my eye
I wanted to keep you nearby
But it’s wrong to rip the wings from a butterfly 🦋

She was searching out drama
And wanted to pretend
I did something to offend
Not sure why
But it would seem
She searched out a beef
With specifically me
And so she imagined it to be
I’d behaved offensively
And with a few twists on the real story
She created a fantasy
That she seemed to really believe
In which I apparently
Did her *****
And now she’s gone from my vicinity
No hard feelings on my part, really
Good luck to her, but stay the Hell away
From me

He does not want my attention
Avoids it, actually
He don’t come around no more
So he doesn’t have to see
Me
I must completely remove myself
To set that man free
Beautiful human being
I am gone from thee
You are free

We have gotten quite accustomed to being
Strangers
I only think of you once in a while
I prefer it
Than to forget you, entirely
The good things about you
I try to take with me

I might be too happy
For poetry
Bemoaning the past
Just isn't for me
I don't happen to have a tortured soul
With demons hiding about
I laugh and cackle
Like a witch with no cares
And scare all those demons out

It’s not over
Though it should be
It may be finished for you
But it’s not over for me
For now
I sit back silently
Watching, wondering
What will be
It’s still a prison
Even after I set myself free
I’m locked in this cage
Mentally

I gained
And maybe
So did you
My gain is obvious
At least to me
If you gained anything
You won’t let me see

I would take you seriously
If you were capable
Of seeing me
Selective blindness
Reversed kindness
Knows only hatred or love
There’s no moderation
Of imagination
In humans who cannot rise above
It’s all either so wrong or so right
To those incapable of sight