Men made from Play-Doh
good to go

steam punks in plasticine
a ******* for a dry day.

what a state we're in
deeply submerged
sunken in sin.

I need concrete
dry powder
underneath
my feet

but the sand on the street
is shifting

new forces in play.

Growing up's a bit like when giants chase you
it happens
and you never know what you're going to do

We do it anyway

Play-Doh
good to know
good to go.

Dropping it for the first time
lysergic acid diethylamide
there on
Pescadero's beach
with night hunkered down
in the dunes

We howled at the waves
of the wild Pacific
stamped our feet
on the dense moist sand
and miracles radiated outward
from each footfall

uncounted stars
galaxies somewhere deep
in that gritty sky
the sand alive
with phosphorescent life

Oh and we laughed
swore oaths to each other
spied the turbid moon
as if for
the first time
her hair in a mess
of wind-torn cloud

It was perfection by the sea
until
some wise old hippies
alerted us to our danger:
"The heat's in the parking lot, man."

Panic.
Crawling like drug-addled moon dogs
on our bellies
through the dunes
to find a near-empty
parking lot.
No heat.
No hippies.
Only the wan moonlight
vacant pavement.

And so in our glorious excess
to a sandstone cave
where a box of whispers
was found
and poetry invented.

The handwritten card reads,

'Help Me
suffering from Hepatitis C'

which to me is a cry
from the heart,

but he's just one of many
in the city,
doesn't anybody care?

the card could of course be a lie
and the man sitting there
could be
as healthy as you or as I

wonder why he wrote it?

while
I think inoculation,
half of the population have
never heard of hepatitis

the liver might as
well be something to eat
not a disease for someone to beat

I admire him however grim it may be
to sit and bare your medical history
begging for charity
it's certainly something you
don't see
every day.

I decided today was a good day to pray
For forgiveness all around
For those who need to forgive others
Along with those who need to forgive themselves

When it comes to the heart of the matter
I believe that's where we're all at
Holding onto the thought that rots the heart
That unforgivable circumstance

Can we not see what it does to you and me
As layer upon layer unforgivness unfolds
Like the grip of a vice squeezing out all that's right
A deadly hold that won't let go

That's why today I decided to pray
For forgiveness all around
For those who need to forgive others
Along with those who need to forgive themselves

The day that God died
was a Thursday
not one in the congregation tried to save him

perhaps they expected a miracle
which would have been a
miracle
had one happened

Now God had been a smiter
and done his fair share
of smoting
I'm
noting here
that this was acceptable
for the one
indivisible.

I'm just miserable
we never met
but
if it is as they say
that heaven's
just a moment away
there is hope
that we will.

and if hope survives
all is not
lost.

Eight lines.

Scratch out your name for me
in a heart on the old oak tree.

The forest was cut down to make way for the bypass
bypassing the needs of the heart.

I wanted a new start and got six lanes of traffic
I wanted her name in my heart to remain

and so I crane my neck forward to get a better look at the past
she passes in front of my eyes.

Reassembling the pieces shattered on inconvenience,
Smoking my lucky,
Trying to imagine what the taste of your lips would be like against a shattered nose,
Blacking out and bleeding profusely for my beliefs and opinions,

What a time to thrive,
What a time to thrive,
WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE, MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

Waking up on the floor with a black eye, holding on to the floor; the only solid thing left in my world,
To the progress made and to the progress I have left to make,
Sipping fine wine and then chugging what's left of the pack of PBR,
Getting wasted on my youth and everything involving it,

A drunken recipient of happiness and sadness all at the same time,
What a ******* mess we have made,
I just hope the cleanup doesn't take as long as the mess did to make,

Even if you don't look back, be sure to know who was there and where they've gone now,
******* white and pitch black,
My worst fears, my worst fears,

I am just learning,
I have given so much hell,
Don't stop talking to me, I haven't been listening

I'm ready to give it away
Turn in the key
Take this last breath
On the air that I breathe

Blow you a kiss
As I wave goodbye
In the middle of it
Wink of the eye

Give a shrug of the shoulders
Like I don't care
Go out like young lovers
On a breath of fresh air

Taking into account
Of where I have been
Leaving none of this out
A wisp on the wind

Melt away from this moment
Blow the candle out
One puff like I own it
Not making a sound

Let go of the hold
I have on myself
Add the stories I've told
But this time leave out the doubt

Give it all up
When it's all said and done
Because I've had enough
Thank you very much