About a guitar
maybe a man with one?

or better yet
a metallic pigment?

it was

the cut of your jib the tone
of your voice

you wonder why
I did

what I did

I wonder why
you left me no choice

A strong name
to some

but to others
it doesn't mean

well
you know the rest

it took a lot
of it and giant-sized marbles

to get where I am today
though apologies

to those I might have stepped on
and hurt

along the way
I regret it now

and understand that
you meant jack

and more
than I ever knew

Manx
they have no tails

and not much of one to tell
either

just *****
of nonsensical verse

and joy

the mind is best
when the mind is at play

agree?

a bauble
or a geegaw

something to spark
the imagination

to relieve the stress
a release valve

so to speak
mine you

was something
bounced off the wall

stretched
like Stretch Armstrong

and molded like playdough
you were there

but not really
often just a figment

of a magic afternoon
where both of us danced

with crickets lizards
and whirligigs

but now you are gone
one day I cut you loose

by choice and necessity
though you still haunt me

on sleepless
and moonless nights

Ten jokes a day
greasy bacon and runny eggs

at wit's end
of the string already frayed

tattoos and needle scars
cigarette ash and stains

on the table
***** mop water a rag

and ten jokes a day
from pain and heartache

is where the laughs
come from

your's mine
and everyone else's

in between

knee ****
or reflexive
response

by

visual
stimuli
designed

to get a reaction

you always
back
me into a corner

leaving no choice
but to push
to click or flip

whatever is convenient
immediate
expedient

or red

In the sun
and that I have

for my day
in court

not in front
but behind the mic

without it
my voice is timid

my resolve flimsy
and shifting