Yeah ,
you shiver in the dark
Your shadow hugs you tight
As in the meantime

You get a colored drink
In a crowded bar
Where you are nobody
Nobody is your name

The band is Dixie
line 'em up and down
Four time and rhyme
Loud !Loud ! Loud !

The pixies ply
you for their drinks
Sluring filthy things
You cain't help but crack a smile

There are
white breasted women
stepping up to the microphone
Sing ! Sing ! Sing !

The hour is getting late
Looking for a mate
So you slip off
a golden ring

Competition is ways and mean
Way down on southside
When they play under the lights
On Friday nights

Love
is a beauteous thing
It overcomes evil
It forgives all sin

Man
cleaves to women
together
they embrace the end

Death
is an open door
step within
for truth and more

Time
is a fickle thing
it will run out
while your still standing

Love
is a beauteous thing
It destroys all evil
it cleans all sin

And love
I say again
overcomes all
there at the end

You get off work on a Friday eve
The backed up traffic is your pet peeve
You stop off at the local bar
Run into friends as you park your car
You drink import on American dream
Hey there's Mary , ain't she a scream
Someone slips you some super daze
Your out of it for a month of days
You dance now with every smile
Got you running fifteen miles
Long ago you heard last call
On the way out you stumble and fall
Passed out inside your car
Wake up behind the bars
Gee you think it was so much fun
Cain't wait till the next week's done

In this hollow space
I hold before the rising sun
In duty the greys will fade
as the sky shifts into it's run
I hold the hallowed word
and embrace it's lifeless eyes
Looking for a pulse
but there is none in it's disguise

Before the song comes tolled
by the early morning bird
The poet twists agony
seeking out a perfect word
The hollow echo of love's dust
is knocking at the door
Your hearts a cenotaph screaming out
Please ! Let there be no more !

The sun's rising red as an
evil eye of dread
Cold sweat is dripping now
from the brow of you head
The night's effort lies
at the bottom of the pool
All of your creations
make you look just like a fool

Now the rays of light
penetrate my aching head
This hollow empty feeling
compares to being dead
I toss my papers
halfway  across the room
The all but hallowed
are replaced now by the gloom

Every night tastes cold coffee
leaves you feeling grim
The half eaten papers
where the ink has run on thin
My emotions have all turned to lead
it's my time to go to bed
The midnight's voice is screaming
like a nightmare that hasn't been fed

Hear the emptiness deep within
There are echos of grief and sin
All the petals now are finally gone
The thorns rip like the words to a song
And all that is sacred is bled
And it's dead  
No one cares  
And nothing's said

The moments are boulders in your head
Avalanching from the lies you said
And the winter's warmth is false comfort
The winds chide and howl in retort .
And all that once was you
Has flown
South by Southwest
Now is unknown

And the children laugh and play
Oblivious to the pain's display
And you wonder of a poem in Blue
A distant path you once knew
And the tempuous
Tides have changed
For the once courageous . . .
Now deranged

I think I'll take a trip to I don't know
So I can sit back and whistle low
Thinking about all the loves I've come to know
Thinking about how they go

I'll sit warm with morning sun
Kidding around can be so much fun
Golden rays upon my plate
Eat up my waffles , it's getting late

I wondered where the pale moon went
He's out moonlighting is what I think
All last night he was certainly a no show
But who am I to even know

Somewhere there's a distant dream
Hiding behind the unsewn seams
There's a tear in the universe
I guess it could be so much worse

The clouds are playing tag in the sky
Fumbling around , putting on a show
Watch out as one falls down
The tears are falling , I might drown

I think I'll take a trip to I don't know

I paint my windows black
so I can't see the sun
I have no feelings now
since you said that we are done
I run through the hours
searching for our abandoned days
These feelings inside
are simply driving me crazy

I paint my front door black
so everyone can see
You meant more than life
to the sane man inside me
Now I hide inside
the darkness of my room
I cannot stand this awfulness
of the encroaching doom

I paint my windows black
so you can surely see
There is no reason now
for plans of eternity
You crushed a heart
that was infinitely so kind
I don't know
I simple lost my mind

I paint my soul in black
as it is no use now to me
I sweep out the past
so useless can't you see
Everyday is Hell in here
I can't take a second more
Paint it black now
as you walk out the door .

I paint my love in black
it's no use now to me
There is no use
in pretending tomorrow will ever be
I cut the rope
You can hear the fall
The story's over now
it was time for my last call .

Yellow , glowing
Softness , soothing
There . . . never a sound

Somewhere between
A cloud and ground
Between lips and thought

Somewhere , where there is a nowhere
Somehow when we don't know-how
Somewhat of an after thought

As silently as a whisper
From an owl
In the darkest reaches

Of loneliness hidden in the
Corners of sorrow
Hide tiny tears

Painful tears
Too small to see streaks
Upon those cheeks

The cloud is all fluff
Vapor and dust
Come cloud my memories away

She's late as usual
no I'm not ******

It would do no good . . . anyway
(inside I know I would wait an eternity)
. . . or more

Hey ! About done ?

. . . no response . . .
now you done it. . . she's mad now . . .
or just doesn't care . . .

I rustle some papers . . .
straighten up some pens

Oh ! I forgot , she's more the text type thing

fresh off her lips . . .
click , click , click . . .

So goes my mystic muse

It has begun
Off to my right . . . dancing
Thumbs snapping
Music thumping
In all intensity
We are looking  . . .
Looking into the ways

Swaying ,
Chills surging ,
Together saying . . .
Power be to my sunset's moment
Don't steal it away

24 left
No more sound ,
Dancing done
But no less aware
We are not devided in two
As we wait for our sun to rise

12 . . .
When to live
When to die
Sacrifice the truth ? ? ?
Ha !
We paid our dues

Dance now again
Dance like it was an Irish jig
To the last second
Shed not a tear
Nor give in
Wail not , nor whimper
. . . But be brave

Coffee in the mornings
******* afternoons
Smoking joints in joints
Listening to music
Every night by moon

My youth went up
As another puff
As another sniff , a wiff
And before I knew it
I was looking very ruff

I can't even remember
If I slept at all
Or who I was sleeping with
For all I see are faces
Their names I don't recall

Rosebud tripped on the step
Coming out the entrance door
She fell into my open arms
I would never be the same man
As I was just before

See most women
Leave their jewelry
Rosebud left her name

Rosebud loved the thunder
Rosebud loved the rain
She scared me like lightning
Laugh at all my pain


She never asked me if I loved her
She never said the same
She laid her head upon my shoulder
Said when you're gone
I will be sorely pained

Rosebud tripped on the step
Coming out the entrance door
And fell into my open arms
I would never be the same man
As I was just before

See most woman
Leave their jewelry
Rosebud left her name .

If in nothing
   then in all
Must I sin
   to be saved
Must I wrong
   to be absolved

Forgiveness comes
   at such a cost
Must I pierce the heart
   to come in lost

In the darkness
   in the light
In the confusion
   of the night

You can call it incoherent
   incompetence
You can call it a
   deterrence
  
Just don't call it a
****** innocence

The cold snow
fell upon the memories
and whited out the pain

The hungry wolf looks out
across the frozen tundra
and forgets his pain

Dreaming of a warm
summer rain
only to go out
and **** again

Knowing inside
is trapped
the lamb
in wolf clothing

Dream ,
     after dream ,
          caught me dreaming

I dressed reality
     in dreams
As flesh and skin
     on bone

And my only crime
     was never beyond
          skin deep

"In silence I listened to the sounds of silence"

"I fumbled futility and it fell on a field as faultless as sin"

"Perfection was mine to make and along the way to lose"

"Anguish was the name of every moment we remember , regret his brother"

The sadness
     was a completion
            a satisfying thing

The emptiness
     was all embracing
            and held me tight

And in nothing
     I found all

When finally you've
     Lost everything

You've got everything to gain


And when I awoke to my morning
The sun was setting on all my pain

up the hill I go
on and on
up and up
I can't see the top

but that's not important
the journey is everything

by the campfire
alone in the night
with starry blanket
draped around me

looking down upon  the lake
I'm looking into the dreams
and the sadness
and the feelings

in the cold I shiver
in sadness , emptiness
I shake
Hush ! Lay down , go to sleep

Hot !
   it was delta hot

With only two choices . . .

   for breakfast we had scrambled eggs
   toast and hate

The postman waved as he
   brought more papered threats

Taking with him all the promises of a better
   day

The cut took 21 stitches to heal but it
   let out all your will

Overwhelmed , the stars have all fallen
   out of the night sky

The street sweeper comes and
   washes them down the gutter

When I was small
   and I knew it all

When life was fast
   and nowhere to go

I just see myself looking back
   through the rear view mirror

And : When "Then" turned into "Now"
And : I'm not so sure about anything now
And : I want life to slow down
And : Last , taking forever to get here

   It was fear looking back
   In the rear view mirror

Slowly all the questions

Turn into lingering reflections ;

And all the petty and the worthless

Have become the most precious .

     and , "This we do in remembrance ,"
              "Lest we forget ,"
              "Takes place in eternity ,"
     are but not as dramatic :

. . . . . . . . . only greater . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . .The acorn than the tree . . . . . .

Accept these seconds for what they are ,
       (Sunlight filtering through the
        grates of life deep into the soul's eye)

Man asks questions
Therefore he thinks that he exists

No other animal asks questions
Therefore they do not exist

Existence is the question
That no one has the answer to .

God gave us the ability to ask questions
Let's not question our ability to answer too .

A touch of sadness
               ten years gone
Like a midnight's voice
            of a far away song

Caught me unaware
              when I thought
I no longer cared

A sudden spark
              that flew
                    into eternity

A dance done then
             now done
                    in effigy

A poetic terse
              taughtly strung
                    deligently

At first dawn
           fades away

Doing rhyme
     is doing time

You commit the crime
     they hang you out on the line

When all the crystaled dreams
     come crashing to the floor

When it's your turn to walk
     but there's no door

You tried and gave your all
     And the promises have just stalled

. . . I thought I'd call . . .
     and was put on hold . . .

Feeling my age , getting old
     realizing my mortality

The essence of truth
endures evermore

There is death
As seen like a door

on this side it stays
Always unlocked

On the other side
It's locks for ever more

I reach out -
- twist the **** -

and . . . .

Blue :
     surrounded by black
     for the emptiness
     a night sky

Red :
     for nothing I have
     that I could have had
     today

Green :
     was followed by a rain
     the pain - while subtle
     was the cause for insane

Purple :
     a royalty proven
     the queen called
     a falsity - the King folded

Clear :
     the sky after a rain
     the heart after the last tear
     the crystal everywhere

A Major's contribution
A personal Private's affair
The Colonel that blossomed
Into a General's sense of scandal
Catching all Lieutenants unaware
Then came a Corporal punishment
And Mastered the Sargent
With such care
Limiting the whole base
To all and much despair

When I find myself reaching back
Willing to taste the yesterdays
When all was good
And all the bad I now wear as a badge
For all that made me glad
I now reflect feeling sad

. . . standing in front of a picture window of a house in the nineteen fifties , watching life flash on by , 57 , 60 , 64 , 68 , 70 , 74 , 80 , 88 , 93 , 01, 08 , 15 . . .

all the unanswered questions
the feelings that I never belonged
like I am from somewhere else
another universe , somewhere gone

I arrived ,
     the narrow ,
          the unnerved ,
               and unwavering ,

Never was I any of these .

Instead I arrived like
a cold soaking rain .

As everyone was looking
for a change .

The sparrows huddled together
and talked cheap talk
with hushed cheeps
and eyed me
suspiciously

Cloudy tonight
With chance of fear 70%  
Tomorrow tears likely , 90% chance
with thunderpoems possible
by evening , some severe
Emotional downpours may occur
Those living with low lying esteem
Should seek higher ground

"My name is Ligion , for we are many"
    Luke 8:30

Every Sunday we went to church
Never really thinking what was it for
Always wore our best shinny shoes
***** slacks , and who was it for

After church we would always eat out
Get lucky and have trout Almondine
Spanish Mackerel fresh off the grill
It always gave me a thrill

Couldn't wait to jump out of those clothes
Put on shorts and go outdoors
Collect toads right about dark
Put them in the bathtub
Mother looked so stark

Everything was going just fine
Then we moved to the heart of Dixieland
Home to more Bible Thumpers
Than a toad bops his ***
Told my ways must change
Or I hadn't a chance

So I was graced by the light of the Lord
Baptized in the holiest of ghost
Dwelt on a heavenly high
But things changed for the worst
In the by and by

Once saved always saved say they
That's not true oh by the way
I fell into repute , became angry at all
I no longer heard the voice
Of God and his call

I got worse , let evil come on in
I became gaunt , more bone than skin
An evil presence I projected like *****
People stepped back
They didn't want any of it

I was one ot the many
I was surely destined for Hell
But like a new copper penny
Two sides are there to tell

I was struck down
And my ways were clipped
My boat was cast out
Someone had cut all my slips
I floundered on the fast rising seas
God had knocked me down onto my knees

I remember you as a boy
Captured toads and did so much more
Then you changed and walked out of my door
Have you ever even thought about
Coming back for more

You became evil , deep in wicked sin
Over and over you sinned again
You mocked me , my son
And sacred holy of ghosts
I ought to make you into
Blackened burnt toast

But I see one glimmer of hope
If you return to your former post
And repent , no need for forgiveness
It's already spent , come now it's all for the best

The wicked whip of word
Lashes welps upon
The starved psyche
Of the errogenous mind

Indeed the moment rises
In smoke and indigo sheets
Of layered heat pressing down
Into the flesh of desired
Impunity , iniquity , liquidity

Happy is a framed stated stanza
Of thine behind plastic cups
Of wine in sheds
Of gray aged wooden shingle
From long long ago

Was it "Bored-dough" or "Shabby"
Time will consume
But the experience
Leaves you panting
Thirsty for more

Ah , those waterfront alley cats
Full of scars and paws
Fip Flip Flip , go the blades
Around the Heart's hub
As transon's go , they do
Take a beating in the ruff
And your spinnaker flurls
To the magic winds of
The long lost voice of midnight
No need to tack
All is "Flying"
And the Sphinx
Is smiling in silence

She's pure alley cat
With fur and fluff so soft
She let's me pet her
If I put a hundred in the cuff

She dances like a pole cat
Around and around she swings
Up and down the bar
Spreading her butter flying wings

She can screech and howl
She's got the sharpest nails
When I  jump on her back
She really gives me Hell

She's every boy's dream come true
She every boy's nightmare
She's purely into herself
She's a wink and your last prayer

I dined on eternity and got cavities !

Good night ! I can't take anymore
Poem after poem has blessed my core

I found memories numbering by the scores
Awesome words I soaked up until I can take no more

Now it's time to let the day end
So I can come back and do it again

So good night HP to all of your words
Some of the best that I've ever heard

San Creation
Regeneration
Altercation
Explication
Duplication
Mystifi­cation
Explanation
Stuplication
Devination
Jubillation
Terminatio­n
Dumb Found Nation

six string serenade
she smiled
she played
as her fingers bled

cool blue in shadow
a memory flees
caught sipping China tea
all the way from Spain

if I call
on a phone
hung on a wall
can I call
in all my memories
of tomorrow
. . . collect

(follow anybody , every grain of sand has destiny . . . and a duty . . . every single separate , meaningless , grain . . . of futility)

I was searching for God

And he came to me

"Hello" , he said

I asked , " Have you seen God ? I'm looking for him ."

He sighed ; "No" and he walked away into eternity

The sea beneath
the sea within
the hollow feelings
from there to then

As the thought breaks
parts the clouds
As the light comes
within allowed

I touch your lips
you gentle thing
you touch my heart
oh hear it sing

The sun beneath
as far as be
the sea within
sets sails on wing

There go no
red day dawnings
there are no
red flag warnings

Only reflections on the iris
of the eye
only purest warmth
over oceans glide

Lefty , I can't imagine how he got his name
Always did things backwards . . . so . . . . .
I was not surprised when he up and went away

Never said why , when , or where he had to go
Now he is growing old where as they say
"Only God Knows"

What are clouds anyway ?
Water vapor in the sky ?
I think it is so much more

I think they are recycled tears
Of every broken heart that ever be
Falling to a desert below

My cactus flower
Blooming in the night
So none will see

She keeps her love close
Protected by her needles

I sit and watch her bloom
And before the sun has begun
I leave looking for lefty

And the reasons I quit
Are the excuses I choose

Between the desert and the sea
Where the cause will be
Clouds keep winking at me

The circle is broken into pieces
I speak in deserts of sand
Drown in seas of lingering waves of pain

And I have no clue where lefty went
Only remember a cactus flower blooming
Without the thorns between the two

Dancers must have two extreme qualities
Intense desire , gritty fortitude , and raw courage .
. . . one two three , OK  , dancers must have three extreme qualities .

Dancers actually do break a leg upon the stage

At parties they are the flight of the hummingbirds . Amazing what they do .

Their tight limber bodies often make me wonder how I would do in bed with them

My ambition was always tied to a rope that held me back
Because  when I danced (after twenty-four bottles of beer)
It was on my face I always fell flat

Sargent Wilford Niles
        March 9 , 1888 - June 18 , 1918
          Buried somewhere in France

I gaze into the sullen dreams
I wonder about his shallow age
So far from family and all his friends
Did with God he make amends

What a journey did he make
When he left home he made a stake
Left to go fight in a foreign land
So far from these United States

Only thirty years so long
Thirty Happy Birthdays for a song
He hopped the train and then was gone
And left us wondering , right or wrong

The loneliest sunset
The cold with a chill

The link between night . . . day
Dark and nil

The chain that is life
Fused into links with death

Desolving into
A meaninglessness



Happiness and sadness
Go hand and paw

Frozen stiff now
Too cold to thaw

Bye , bye ,
My once sweet soul

Once so frisky
Always so bold

May you journey
Forever on

Because time won't
Break our eternal bond

Well you twinged my nerves
as you may be swell
but your words sure taste
like the floors of hell
So how are you ?

You make me sick
with your chameleon schtick
You come on hard
and you leave too quick
So fine you say ?

You're a dull moon hanging
over a fetid swamp
You will o'wisp
as you begin to taunt
So good to here .

I is the first word
from your mouth
Aye I say ever
tis thee out
So kind of you .

Green grounds
out the sills
as you have to say
What's mine is will
No other way .


Here's the bag
of bones you save
the flesh ripped off
the barrel's been staved
So bye bye you .

There's a moment
I take to pause
to pass some more
of  Murphy's laws
So I'll not be seeing you .

I'll not , I'll not , I'll not
be seeing you
Goodbye , Goodbye
to all and you
to all and you
ALL OF YOU !

I forgot what BTW stands for . . .
. . . between the wines ?
Oh yeah ! . . . by the way !
Yes !

Too much of yesterdays
and hangover today
Oh yes enough to **** a teenager

Once you start questioning your poetry
you'll be listening to teenagers ,
"You are not using rhyme !"
"Your muse is a dummy ."

You don't write poetry . . . your muse does
Your just the leaky pen
Or in my case the timid typist

First mistake :
Listening to other people
tell you how to write

Second mistake :
Self doubt
Who in the world cares if your poetry
is good or bad  . . . that is not
the point anyway

You don't write to please the Queen
You write to no one out there
who might be listening

You write to the shadows
You write to the physical ghosts
that never existed

It is not your purpose to write
anything that pleases anyone else
Yes is best

Just write and write to your hearts delight
Poetry is measured by years
not by the poem . . . bye now

. . . . . . . . . .  Silent
                    fog
                    eases
   ­                 in . . .

                    "Enveloping"
                    softening­
                    jagged
                    boulders

       ­             on a mountain top

                    Silence
                    descends
                    deep
          ­          into my ways

                    Numbing
                    away
      ­              caustic
                    pain

                 ­   of hollow victories

                    Buried
                    deep
  ­                  vapid
                    vapors

                    Lockout
        ­            Sun's
                    rays
                    Bl­ack hole

                    Massive attack of Heart

You can't lie like you used to
Your eyes do give you away
So your going out for something
On this bright and beautiful day
But I have known for a long time
Another heart has stolen you away
It grieves me so but what can I say or do
When you're making me feel so blue
And it hurts to see you lie to me
When once we were so close
So go . . . go on. . . now be on your way
Your heart sheds not a ray for me
The Sun burns the face of the moon
And leaves wasted traces of love
I'll be on the darkest side in grief
Where I wish the stars above

Yellow sunshine sad
almost glad
almost . . . .

I can feel you touching me
after all these years
I wonder how you are feeling now
I wonder where you are

Behind which star are you hiding
are we playing hide and seek ?

25 years ago gone , goodbye
Like a knife to my heart

But I bleed not . . .
Long ago . . .
Lost the last drop ,
a long time ago

And I will not discuss evolution
Or fairytales with you
You are much to important to me
To be monkeying around with
And I would go bananas if I lost you
And I swear by my ancestor's bones
I will not provoke you

Waah , Waah , Waa Waah !
Ooh ! Ooh ! Ooh !

Translated means , "I've gone ape over you !"
Come swing with me on the vines of life
Everyday will be bananas and honey
We can sleep in the tree tops
Gaze at the stars
And pick each other's fleas
Come on baby , Please !

*** is a four letter word
Flaunted by very bad vowels
Fevered to ecstacy
By tangled adjectives
And pounded
Into submission
By perverted nouns
That take their free liberty
Of the subjective
Once surrounded by
Iniquity of the parenthesis
You will only utter commas
In Benediction

She entered through the back bedroom window .
She said she had my key
When I foolishly asked her
"Why you crossexamining me ?"

I dropped out of the University
I got myself a steady job
Working part time on the weekends
It had benefits without the friends

Then I spent the coldest winter
Without any heat or bread
I microwaved Idaho potatoes
They called me "Tater Head"

Now didn't anybody see
Now was there anyone who cared
Sunday was just another Monday
When is a rabbit not a hare ?

Well I found myself another girlfriend
I was sure now of her honesty
I came home from work one evening
To find my microwave wasn't there

Now I could have sat down and cried
But I never had a chair
Just some cushions on the floor
Hot and cold roaches everywhere

Now the future was looking bleak
Winter turned to spring you see
A thunderstorm turned tornadic
Took my apartment away from me

Didn't anybody see
I'm sure that nobody cared
Sunday turned into a Monday
All I said was,"So there" . . . oh , my .