When the dead come back to me
It’s because I can’t forget
The gifts they gave me, and
Ones I haven’t gotten yet.
It’s not like I’m having tea with
Some undead moldy skeleton.
Just listen closely and you will
Understand it all when I am done.

As it’s not all Disney roses
When these spirits come to call.
I think they come back to haunt
Whenever they feel the call.
It runs about fifty-fifty most times
Between the horrors and the glories.
Everyone from my past it seems
Wants to share with me their stories.

Some of them are active now
And alive as they can be
But they left me and went away
So, they are as dead to me.
They come to make me question
Issues of what’s wrong and right
When the dead come to talk
With me alone, in dark of night.

I used to fret and wring my hands
And try to decipher their signs.
But now I accept it as what it is
And today I feel it’s all just fine.
I am sure it is worth more to me
To understand what has gone by.
So when the dead come back to me
I have begun to understand why.

I pity anyone visiting us with
A language besides English;
Who tries to understand the words
We like to use with relish.
We seem to say so many words
Just to keep our lips busy.
It occurs to me the so much of it
Has never graced a dictionary.

Upscaling, downsizing
Offloading the whole magilla
The whole nine yards, bottom liine
The big honcho, the whole enchilada
I was completely plussed and then
I had my self a hissy fit
I didn't know I had a flabber,
'Til someone went and gasted it.

Hanging out, kicking back
Into myself and whatever
***** it, man. I am like, wow.
And y'know, yodda yodda yodda.
Some mean kinda fudpucker
Betcher bippees, yabba dabba doo.
Mazoomas and headlights,
Totally hyped megabitch, too.

Talkin' about 'sup bro
Stufflike windas and winders.
Jammin and gittin widdit
And sumpinbout pillas and pillers.
So, I goes and he goes,
And I'm all jazzed and by golly.
It really rocks, rad to the max
Get down to some serious party.

Sixes an sevens, p's and q's
What's your point? Get real!
It's pretty much a ******
So, what's the big deal?
Too much, I mean it's tough,
And stuff, and really far out, man.
Twenty three skiddo old bean.
Just a flash in the pan.
It *****. It blows, It bites, big time
A wicked righteous mindfuck.
Get jiggy with it. Kiss my crank;
Slob my ****, Lord Love-a-duck.

Here’s my question:
Don’t daughters lope their mules?
However non-existent
They too surely must bend the rules.
Surely it’s not only guys
Who secretly, daily slap their laps.
If so, would you bluenoses
Quickly and firmly shut your yaps?

There are so many things
Boys are not supposed to ever do
Like farting and belching
And all kinds of gods to apologize to.
We have to fold napkins
And keep our elbows off the table.
The list seems to grow.
I’m not sure I will ever really be able.

Adhering to what it takes
In life to keep myself perfectly decent
Seems to involve rules
Both ancient, ecclesiastical and recent.
I must put the lid down
Because, it seems, women can’t do it.
Hold the door open for them
Because, alone, they can’t go through it.

Give your seat up on a bus
Because even if they are younger than I
Women are the weaker ***
And I must be much stronger, I’m a guy.
And there literally hundreds
Of words I can’t say and shouldn’t think.
Now if only the women of the world
Would outlaw me getting near the kitchen sink.

Jackie come sit with me
I have been waiting so long.
Come hold hands with me
Then I’ll know nothing is wrong.
I will try to do better this time.
Jackie please try not to be
Seethingly angry and snippy;
Completely ******* at me.

I know I should have thought
Before I laughed loud like I did.
Now I wish I had closed my mouth
And had gone someplace and hid.
But, can’t you see that sometimes
Not laughing is quite a hurdle?
Especially the way you look when
You wiggle into your old girdle.

I’ve told you many times before
I prefer your body without one.
But you insist on wearing the thing
And won’t quit until you are done.
So, that’s all fine and very good
If I am not in the room with you.
You insist on dressing in front of me
And you can’t claim you never knew.

Because I giggle and laugh at it
Every time because it is funny
And I can’t help myself, even though
I know your mood won’t be sunny.
Telling you I have never liked girdles
Or things like those awful ***** hose
Doesn’t seem to mean a thing to you
So, that’s just how it all goes.

Every time you put that thing on
And when I laugh you get mad.
And I am ashamed to admit it
But it’s the best time we ever had.
You wiggle and I giggle, and then
You finally get it on and glare at me.
It makes no sense that you insist
On forgetting our marital history.

Hundreds of years have gone by
Since some guys in America
Wrote down some words, then gathered
In armed hordes; resisting, insisting  
On the rights of common liberty.
These centuries later, greater men and women
Have fought for our freedoms;
Written documents and laws
But still I am not free.

Life is still without certain kinds of liberty.
I am still stopped from being what I want to be.
I am still commanded,
It is still demanded
That I ignore the concepts we defended,
The ideas our founders intended.
Instead I am ordered to comply
With a religion that I do not worship.
I am not of their fellowship, no matter how many
So, accused of calumny, I am harassed,
Forces amassed so I finally am denied
The very freedoms inside our constitution.
Intuition alone should dissuade them,
Those ignorers of truth, but they oppress.

They chose to forget the mess this country created
When the land and courts defended
And supported the enslaving of humans.
Is this so different in a land dedicated  
To keep government and religion separated
Is it so noble to allow this social elitism;
The strong voices of the wealthy  
Tell our society what they can do with their bodies?

I will trust you.
I will believe in you
That you have my heart
And my best interests
Firmly in mind
That you will look out
For me and defend me
And will not be tempted
By the many distractions
That life can offer.
That you will not succumb
To the call of power
That my trust gives
And you will not mislead
Or lie, or betray me
Instead will work with me
To improve what we have
And work toward the future
Without measure or deceit
With complete integrity.
That you won’t mess with me
And tell me one thing
Then do a complete other.
That our relationship together
Will be as valuable to you
As it is to me, today
And everyday.
I don’t want to have to
Ask you for all of this.
It’s like a loving kiss.
It doesn’t work if
I have to ask for it.
But it hurts if you ignore it.

And in this way, love
Is so very much like
How we see the people
We elect to serve us.
If we are this blind
They deserve us.
And we deserve them
If we elect them
On some romantic whim
That everything will be
Just fine if it is a mystery.

We met and then
We went to bed.
What romantic
Things we said.
And knowing from
The way we kissed
That this was all
Very worth the risk.
That very week we
Moved in together
Think as to how
It would last forever.
We bought the stuff
For our love nest.
No questions asked
That was for the best.
Then conflicts rose
The other’s style
Our feelings hurt
We stewed a while
And I decided that
It would simply do
If I simply agreed
To give in to you.
From that we had
Things I didn’t want.
But really did wish
You wouldn’t flaunt
That everything was
Due to your taste
And implying mine
Was such a waste.
The same was true
Of your fidelity.
Dancing with others

(This is only autobiographical if
we go back forty years. And I have
been married for twenty five, so
this isn't about that.)
Without asking me.
So, being the nice guy
I didn’t complain.
I cleaned up after, but
Some dancers remained.
You complained that I
Wanted a standard marriage
With white picket fences
And a baby carriage
But you never agreed
To that limiting kind
And I felt I had been
Very dangerously blind.
After a week of living
In a marital twilight zone
You had packed up
And I was living alone
With no furniture or
A bed I could lie on
I realized how little
I ever had to rely on.
After a while I went
With friends to dance
Giving love another chance.
I met a person that night
And everything seemed
To be turning out right.
We liked the same tunes
And so we went to bed
With visions of forever
Dancing in our heads.