Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
James Daniel Feb 13
There was a man who played the drums
He played them so loud
That he couldn’t hear anything else

Every time I went to his house
I’d cover my ears
And say I can’t hear

I’d go home at night and complain to my wife
“Love, my ears hurt
I think I’m gonna go blind”

I’d be over at his house
Every other night
And his drums just got louder
It was starting to addle my vision
All I could see was Crack Bang Kang Jingle Jang!

This went on for a while
I lost track of time
Then my wife says to me one night
If those drums are so loud
Why do you keep going?

“Crack Bang Kang Jingle Jang!” I replied
James Daniel Feb 6
I’m stepping off one island
Onto another
Reaching and feeling
Hanging in the air
So I just wanted to record some things here

I remember those spaces
When we use to sleep as a trio
In our parents room
The eucalypt humidifier going

Having mum rub Vicks on my chest
Closing my eyes
Enduring still
The completeness of her hand
Pressing down on every nerve

My sister on the red bucket
Playing drums
And me on the Tuba
Calling out music-less directions

Those spaces in my memory
Fruitful magic places
Alive and sunken
Whole, ethereal

I bought an easel for my sister
My father said I was rich
How I wish to be that rich again
My leg hanging in the air
Moving off an island...
James Daniel Jan 31
Why has no-one ever felt me?
Am I a plague?
Won’t anyone say?

It really hasn’t dried up
That well to make the ocean
Look like a puddle

Am I lost in the lie?
Is it pride?
Is that what you’d like to hear?
Did I finally go mad
Out of reach
Made it to the top of the mountain
Upon which to preach?

Why has no-one ever felt me?
Or is that stuff
Just make believe?

Am I too much?
Am I too little?
An atom in a universe
Multi-coloured skittle

To be honest
I know as much as you do
As to why
No-one has ever felt me
James Daniel Jan 31
I’d say I was like a kite
Blowing up and down
Living inside music
Which has no walls to hold
So where am I going?
What will I do?

I miss the sound of magpies
Singing in the morning
It goes right thru to your bones
I want to fly like those guys
All the way home

This isn’t a place for me
To be alone,
It’s a luxury
Not a home

I’ve got to go home
I’ve got to get on the road
Close my eyes
And listen to the wheels
As they turn and go
James Daniel Jan 31
Love has come back to the Earth
And I don’t know how long it will stay
Love has come back to the Earth
And I’ve only got a couple of days


There are a hundred stop signs
All shouting me down
But why would I let that stop me
Hey, let them be
If it all blows tomorrow
I’m still planting this tree


The one green bird sitting in a tree
Suppose to be two
Still reaching
Over the houses
Inside the people read books that made them cry
On and on he flies


Hey you, you know what, you’re good enough
Hey you, you know what, you’re more than enough
It’s goes backwards, forwards and all around
Hands in the air, feet on the ground


Firearms in basinets
And prisoners escaping in a straight line
Stories of victory
Throughout time
There are a hundred stop signs
All shouting me down
But why would I let that stop me


Love has come back to the Earth
And I don’t know how long it will stay
Love has come back to the Earth
And I’ve only got a couple of days
James Daniel Jan 23
Everybody knows the ship is sinking
It’s just that somewhere it isn’t
James Daniel Jan 23
I'm a black king
And at you
I've got this smoking thing
Dance boy dance
Sing boy sing
Next page