When the strings stop strumming
Where does the music go?

"HELLO DARKNESS , MY OLD FRIEND"

As the radio spewed out the words
To the "Sounds of Silence" an old
Simon and Garfunkel song

"I'VE COME TO TALK WITH YOU AGAIN"

And Mary would turn the volume down
Quickly and explain

We were maybe upper teens but Mary
Had an understanding
Beyond the prophets vision
She would explain the hidden meanings
Of the songs to me

"BECAUSE A VISION SOFTLY CREEPING
LEFT IT'S SEEDS WHILE I WAS SLEEPING"

At the time the Viet Nam war was raging
And our friends were dying for nothing

Jake my best high school friend
Had died at nineteen
Mary's brother was listed as missing in action
And never came to a conclusion

After that Mary sort of lost it
And acquired her nickname
But we both learned to cope with it
And music was the cure we both sought
For healing

"AND THE VISION THAT WAS PLANTED
IN MY BRAIN STILL REMAINS"

Mary grew up , older and married
Some pseudo fake frat guy
Who remained 18 for the rest of his life

Mary turned into a pill dropping alcoholic
And one night went to bed and never
Woke up again
And I can hear her saying ,

"DEEP WITHIN THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE"

There’s a “Y” in sanity, why can’t I find it?

© Matthew Harlovic

We live
            to learn
                       to crash
                                     to burn
                                                 to earn our stripes
                                                                ­                 as the world turns

© Matthew Harlovic

There’s pills, potions
but nothing truly can cure my emotions

© Matthew Harlovic

In their eyes,
retirement is more important
than college funds

© Matthew Harlovic

i just have to believe what you say, stranger
because your words are all i've got

i just have to believe your name
though there were no results in facebook or google

i'm just believing that you like me
and that you really would analyse my handwriting
and that you live in the place you're living

but i will never know
if you'll come online
again

Whether we're  positive or negative
opposites attract despite their irrelevance

© Matthew Harlovic

I opened my eyes
And looked up at the rain,
And it dripped in my head
And flowed into my brain,
And all that I hear as I lie in my bed
Is the slishity-slosh of the rain in my head.

I step very softly,
I walk very slow,
I can't do a handstand--
I might overflow,
So pardon the wild crazy thing I just said--
I'm just not the same since there's rain in my head.

Well, my daddy left home when I was three,
and he didn't leave much to Ma and me,
just this old guitar and a bottle of *****.
Now I don't blame him because he run and hid,
but the meanest thing that he ever did was
before he left he went and named me Sue.

Well, he must have thought it was quite a joke,
and it got lots of laughs from a lot of folks,
it seems I had to fight my whole life through.
Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
and some guy would laugh and I'd bust his head,
I tell you, life ain't easy for a boy named Sue.

Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean.
My fist got hard and my wits got keen.
Roamed from town to town to hide my shame,
but I made me a vow to the moon and the stars,
I'd search the ***** tonks and bars and ****
that man that gave me that awful name.

But it was Gatlinburg in mid July and I had
just hit town and my throat was dry.
I'd thought i'd stop and have myself a brew.
At an old saloon in a street of mud
and at a table dealing stud sat the *****,
mangy dog that named me Sue.

Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
from a worn-out picture that my mother had
and I knew the scar on his cheek and his evil eye.
He was big and bent and gray and old
and I looked at him and my blood ran cold,
and I said, "My name is Sue. How do you do?
Now you're gonna die." Yeah, that's what I told him.

Well, I hit him right between the eyes and he went down
but to my surprise he came up with a knife
and cut off a piece of my ear. But I busted a chair
right across his teeth. And we crashed through
the wall and into the street kicking and a-gouging
in the mud and the blood and the beer.

I tell you I've fought tougher men but I really can't remember when.
He kicked like a mule and bit like a crocodile.
I heard him laughin' and then I heard him cussin',
he went for his gun and I pulled mine first.
He stood there looking at me and I saw him smile.

And he said, "Son, this world is rough and if
a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
and I knew I wouldn't be there to help you along.
So I gave you that name and I said 'Goodbye'.
I knew you'd have to get tough or die. And it's
that name that helped to make you strong."

Yeah, he said, "Now you have just fought one
helluva fight, and I know you hate me and you've
got the right to **** me now and I wouldn't blame you
if you do. But you ought to thank me
before I die for the gravel in your guts and the spit
in your eye because I'm the nut that named you Sue."
Yeah, what could I do? What could I do?

I got all choked up and I threw down my gun,
called him pa and he called me a son,
and I came away with a different point of view
and I think about him now and then.
Every time I tried, every time I win and if I
ever have a son I think I am gonna name him
Bill or George - anything but Sue.