Gravitational.;
Signature of time and space;
It's only the wind.

All the lights came on at once
clear and humbly piercing air
over the fabric of hearing
under the rattling of bones
stirring souls and thrashing hearts
Too many dreams for just one pipe
in and out of consciousness
calling for yet another dance.

A little bit of shameless rhyme
Could be a way to bide my time
Rendition of the muse's muse
Of which I am inclined to choose
Simple words from simple thoughts
Timeless classics I have not
Inside my my mind wherein I try
Carefully, to learn to fly
Serenely through a paper sky

On an imaginary pedestle

before imaginary crowds

I'm astounded that it's taken me so long

to learn to take the hard knocks

and not to cry out loud

and not to make excuses for my songs

but I'm sorry if my sanity

won't fit the mold you made for me

and my manifold iniquities

have exceeded your ability to forgive

Just let me live until I die

let me laugh until I cry

let me stop and ask you "why?"

then interrupt you in the middle of your answer

just an alcoholic dancer

stepping on your toes

I should learn to keep my mouth shut

I should learn keep the peace

I should learn to walk on water

and make the tempest cease

I should learn to be more considerate

torwards a world that's trying to sleep

maintane diplomatic apathy

with right wing fascist creeps

but I'm sorry if my psyche seems a little out of touch

and I'm sorry that I'm sorry that I apologize to much

just let me live until I die

let me laugh until I cry

let me stop and ask you "WHY?"

then interrupt you in the middle of your answer

just an alcoholic dancer

stepping on your toes

Dust dancing on rays of morning light;
she and I, and coffee flavored love.
The silence between the words was heavy
with an undertone of doubt.
Something she was hesitant to say
was fighting it's way from mind to mouth.
lovely lips parted to a broken sound
that became words- that became a eulogy
"I do not want a man who writes poetry"
she said, and sighed a long grasp for words
"I want a man who fights and sweats imported whiskey;
I want a man with diamond teeth and scars that tell a story.
I want a man who can juggle twelve running chainsaws
while riding on a unicycle."
Her wet and downcast eyes were blind,
and struggling with her troubled mind,
she did not see that I took the hint 5 minutes ago.
she didn't see that I had left;
because I am a man who writes poetry.

You hold that glass with an iron grip
as you let the magic pass your lips.
You turn and bend
to the fickle wind
How time shapes your ego trips.

You take and take for all you're worth;
each moment filled with wine and mirth;
the bloom of the rose
draws to a close;
Withhold some time to spit and curse.

It's funny how one soon forgets
the player who always struts and frets
there on the stage
the drama's rage
You double down; you've hedged your bets.

So here you go and there you are
you've seen some sights and traveled far
Don't hesitate
to punctuate
between the fresh wound and the scar.

Here now rest your weary head
and sleep dreamless on your bed
and then incline
yourself to wine
and live your life until you're dead.

If I should die for my country,
and no one comes to place flowers on my grave,
would I make a sad poem?

A real friend is hard to find
someone who will speak their mind
concerning all your good points and your faults
I've known some pain when I couldn't tell
a real friend who meant me well
from someone who really wasn't a friend at all

but then a special someone came along
who took my heart and made it strong
and saw into the center of my eyes
Even though she could see
my childish need for sympathy
You were my Angel when I needed one
and I needed one

I'm not afraid to be weak in front of you
I don't have to explain the things I do
I can't describe the joy that your love brings
and there's no understudy waiting in the wings

You love me right straight in the eyes
So now it comes as no surprise
that I' have come to feel the way I do
and even when you can see
some cracks in my integrity
you're love remains honest kind and true

So here I am and there you are
my angel and my shining star
There's no where that we can't go from here
Even though you can see
the little boy inside of me
You were my Angel when I needed one
and I needed one

Nature or Deity
what petty cruelty
or splendid mystery
that he and she would so distant be
in mind and manner and vanity
This is why they writhe and bite
or love as cold as winters night
We claw and kiss and spit in spite
We rage and pace and fuss and fight
or cut with words or flee in fright
in all of this we find delight
and die together blissfully

I'm left without a single thing to say
You just walked out yesterday
My pride wouldn't let me stand in your way
I'm a little hurt            but I'm OK

Just wonder what it was that made you leave
did you see something that you didn't want to see
some variance or insincerity
a darker side of me

You'd think I would have wanted to steal you blind
Hurt you somehow maybe waste your time
I only wanted to hold your hand
I was hoping maybe you could understand me

So you go your way and I'll go mine
I'm sure everything will work out fine
I know you never meant to be unkind
We're just a question that got lost in time

Things just kind of  took a turn for the worse
It's just a question of who gets burnt first
I'll sit here and try to write the next verse
Saints will pray and sinners curse

but you'd think I would've wanted to steal you blind
Hurt you somehow maybe waste your time
I only wanted to hold your hand
I was hoping maybe you could understand me

Someone tell me where we are

not all that close, not all that far

Marching feet and distant drums

but I can't see where they come from..

Baby Soldier with angry eyes

filling empty space with hate

for fat old men made fat on lies

it's not your fault..........it's just your fate

Baby soldier

Slaughter in the market place

You heard their cries, you saw their face

How then can you sleep at night?

How dare you say, "everything alright"

Baby soldiers with empty eyes

empty minds refilled with hate

for fat old men made fat on lies

while baby soldier licks the plate

Baby soldier

Dancing in a rain of fire

Just one more death for your empire

but baby soldier dies alone

his soul is gone his heart is stone

Baby soldier with empty eyes

filling empty space with hate

for fat old men made fat on lies

It's not your fault It's just your fate

Baby soldier

Baby soldier lay it down

the crops won't grow in blood soaked ground

but baby soldier cannot hear

above the sound of hate and fear

baby soldier with angry eyes

feeding on their hate and fear

while fat old men get fat on lies


everyone dies that's why you're here

Baby soldier

Someone tell me where we are

not all that close not all that far.

I call it bad poetry.
Sometimes it's just stacked lines.
Sometimes it's banal and trite.
I break the academic rules
and write songs to be sung by fools.
Maybe I don't suffer enough
to write about tragedy and love.
I call it bad poetry.
Maybe I'm out of touch.
There is such a thing as too much subtlety,
maybe not enough,
or maybe I impress myself too much.
Maybe I'm insecure and out to lunch
and, although I want the world to hear,
I try to beat the critic to the punch.
I call it bad poetry
manic rudimentary ramblings
of a man child with poetic constipation
and stuck in a quatrain rut.
This feeling is nagging
Is it a love song, or self indulgent bragging?
Set a rhyme up here and there.
words are words and there is plenty to spare.
Mind is racing-  feet are dragging
Just one more rhyme will get me there.
Then freestyle for a while
with that smug self satisfied smile,
and write some more bad poetry.

Bittersweet love, how you warm me
thoughts of you, they cloud my mind
Although I know how much you harm me
I just can't leave your love behind.

When I wake up, alone without you,
I tremble like the aspen tree.
Why do I love so much about you,
while you are slowly killing me?

False courage for the coward.
Synthetic wisdom for the fool.
Staggering aimless..ever downward
Oh how I hate my love for you.

Bittersweet love, you've stolen from me
everything that I've held dear,
but to your arms I stumble blindly
to ease some loneliness or fear.

Sometimes I feel folks eyes upon me
judging me because of you,
but they don't know you're my one and only
and they don't love you like I do.

False courage for the coward
synthetic wisdom for the fool
stumbling aimless ever downward.
Oh how I hate my love for you

I think myself a decent fellow
a few bad choices, a few slips
but when my skin and eyes turn yellow
will I still press you to my lips

So plant for me, a row of barley
pour sugar and yeast upon my grave
and let your children see the folly
of what at last I do not crave.

False courage for the coward
synthetic wisdom for the fool
staggering aimless, ever downward
Oh how I hate my love for you.
Oh how I hate my love for you.

One two three four
Give us the blood we're lusting for.
five six seven eight
watch our fear turn into hate.

You tricked us!
You tricked us!

An injustice here,
a bogey man there,
smoke and mirrors are everywhere!

One two three four
the only answer now is war.
five six seven eight
we'll all be lost if we hesitate!

You tricked us. One two!
You tricked us.  Three four!

should have known all along
that this was all wrong,
the weak and the strong
should all belong

To what?
To what?
Lean on back and strut!

nine to the front
and six to the rear
Lean on back and strut.

One two three four
resources resources we want more!
five six seven eight
There's never too much on our plate!

Your left
Your right
Polarize em and watch em fight!

sound off!  One two!
Sound off! Three four!

You'll never guess what we have in store!
Lean on back and strut.

Ain't no sense in looking down,
globalization's coming round,
If we stay 8 billion strong
Resources won't last that long.

So there's enough to go around
let's bring this population down!

We'll make that riff raff disappear
all we need is hate and fear!

Sound off- One two
Sound off-  Three four
One two three four......

Lean on back and strut!

If you built bridges as well as you burn them
If you had all the friends you've lost
If you sought out your lessons to learn them
If you had at least considered the cost
If you had all the money you've wasted
If you had restrained your addictive life
If you took every problem and faced it
If you avoided dissension and strife
Oh.
It was said long ago
You reap what you sow.
The end.

Come to me my green eyed girl

and give me something

that soothes me like a summer storm

so easily my green eyed girl

sharing my life's burdens

and keeping my spirit warm

We both rode that roller coaster

getting ****** laughing, and getting sick

but now we're home and the ride is over

Lets do it why don't we just do it



Come to me my green eyed girl


and give me loving



that soothes me like a summer rain so easily my green eyed girl

come to me girl and come and come again

I know we've both gone off the high dive

we close our eyes , hold our breath , and go

and I thank God that we're both still alive

cause we never checked the water down below


Everything has a reason they say


I know there's a reason why I'm feeling this way

Come to me and come to me again

The places that you take me

sure better than where I've been

Yeah we both rode that roller coaster

getting ******, laughing , and getting sick

but now we're home and the ride is over
lets do it, why don't we just do it

Come to me my green eyed girl

and give me loving

that soothes me like a summer storm

so easily my green eyed girl

sharing my life's burdens

and keeping my spirit warm.

I've been in touch with the earth
from eight to eighteen
I've tasted the the dirt
Oh, the abrasions I've seen!

I've been one with the pavement
I've been one with the pain
I've contemplated the  gravel
when I jumped from a train

I once communed with an animal
then communed with the ground
When my equestrian skills
were not to be found.

When I channeled the energy
of a poorly taped line
of an aerator machine,
I expanded my mind.

The lessons in life
can be deep and profound,
and, for a blue collar sage
the lessons abound.

I want to be cool  
chain smoking drunk with trash bin
filled with rejection

Unkempt hair sunk eyes
red from cigarettes and *****
suffering for art

provocative  lines
suicide at sixty two
now immortalized

four sweet smiling babies on the front page of the paper;
four sweet little lives that are no more.
My throat is tight My hands are clenched My heart is broken.
My eyes flood as my knees hit the floor.
How in the hell could there even be an explanation?
Could the white dope really bring a man so low?
the pretty lady on the TV says it's a complicated situation
and a bunch of other crap that I don't want to know.
Held in the arms they loved and trusted;
Thrown some eighty feet into the bay.
I'm bitter, disillusioned, and disgusted;
and I'm not the only one who feels that way.

My God it's so **** hard to keep believing.
Is this the way you really meant for it to be?
It's getting dark - a half an hour past grieving-
Lets have a heart to heart, just you and me.
I've found this ******* book of contradictions;
Though I like what the red letters have to say.
I hope I have the strength of my convictions,
but what the hell is free will anyway?

It's easy now to believe in the devil.
It's good to have some where to put the blame,
but I can't keep from thinking we're the trouble;
If we don't own up, How can we ever change?
I want to know if you're tight with the preacher
Who tells us about peace and love and hell?
Have you got some connection with the teacher
who teaches us just how to hate and ****?

This here geopolitical situation
is a little more than greedy cold and hard.
What's all this talk about hell and damnation?
There's plenty of that right here in my back yard;
where four sweet smiling babies are on the front page of the paper
three so far have washed up on the shore.
I guess there must be hell fire and damnation
Cause there just has to be a heaven for those four.

I heard the bad news Monday morning

Everybody's saying,"Wow, what a drag."

Seems the skin heads had some point to prove

Now little Davey's dead in his sleeping bag

so I found myself a spot with green grass

somewhere way on down in the United States

Had a jug of wine, I had some time to pass

I picked up my guitar and I began to play

For the lovers on the on ramp

and the old men in the park

for the bad side of the city

the little fishes and the sharks

and those who give so much to life

and those that take away

and those who work so hard to get by

while Davey..................

Davey found the time to play.

We'd see little Davey up on the corner

playing like he didn't have a choice

we never thought that he'd go anywhere

He couldn't play guitar, he didn't have a voice

but we'd hang out and listen to him anyway

there was something bout his style

You know it wasn't so much the way he played

I think it was the way he smiled

while he sang

about the lovers on the the on ramp

and the old men in the park

about the bad side of the city

the little fishes and the sharks

Those who give so much to life

and those who take away

and those who work so hard to get by

while Davey.....................

Davey had the time to play.

We heard the bad news Monday morning

everybody's saying, "Wow, what a drag."

Seems the skin heads had a point to prove

Now little Davey's dead in his sleeping bag...........

Well I wouldn't want nobody'

to be standing in my shoes

Good Lord I love a woman

with a love that's bound to lose

Ya know she makes me feel so good

Oh she makes me feel so fine

There's just one little problem though

This woman isn't mine

Lord I think it ain't her fault

and I hope it's not mine

But good Lord either way it goes

it'll happen sometime

something bound to happen sometime.

on a dead end road

Sometimes I wonder if it's love

that makes us take the chances that we do

Sometimes I pray "Good Lord above

won't ya make her say she's through."

but when she goes on down with me

Oh I tell ya it's the living end

I throw my clothes on the floor

I kick the dog out the door

I throw my guilty conscience to the wind

Lord I pray it ain't her fault

and I hope it ain't mine

but Good Lord either way it goes

It'll happen sometime

somethings bound to happen sometime

on a dead end road

Oh I can't help but worry some

when she's lying in my bed

When the old man come busting through the door

and put a bullet in my head

I know my common sense and values

more than a little out of place

I tell myself when that day comes

I'm gonna die with a smile on my face

Lord I pray it ain't her fault

and I hope it ain't mine

but Good Lord, either way it goes

it'll happen sometime'

somethings bound to happen sometime

on a dead end road

princess or priestess
one or both
I cannot really say
You have a star on your brow
and your eyes
they just ******* away
Belonging to us is a place
between the darkness and the dawn
perfect love
perfect trust
blessed be
let the moment go on
We could find songs on the sidewalk
and poems in the air
WE could just place
in a space
anything we wanted there
but we both knew full well
that our eyes could play tricks in the dark
three o clock in the morning
in the tunnel
in Golden Gate park

we tried
and we tried
to "break on through to the other side."
but the other side wasn't ready
for you and I
In the Fall
you answered the call
"Death makes Angels of us all."
and the last thing I needed back then
was a reason to cry.

The pretense of circular reasoning paints the eyes
a misty shade of dull.
Eyes that view, from the dragon perch
of a counterclockwise carousel,
imagined scenery with a sprinkling of dreams.

A Gothic vision of crashing waves
against the grayish cliffs
that rise to a foggy grass clad plain
where sits the emblematic gabled home
with ****** in the windows.

The calliope moans a dragging tune
to match it's steady spin.
the sound of wind through tarnished brass
archaic and unsettling, a broken drag
of whiny sounding notes in a symphony of impotence.

You seem to look and dress the part
of the person you portray;
feigning superficiality for acceptance in the world
I, myself, am not for a second fooled.
You are the very essence of substance and depth

The carousel comes to a gradual halt
a hesitant dismount;
back to your prison of practicality and need;
visions pass from ominous to pastoral tranquility
The eccentric dragon of blue and gold awaits your return.

Exquisite sorrow
taste it
I did
bring forth the holy grail of grief
bend and bow the muse to me
to sing of lost loves entropy
let's drink a toast together
from this bitter sacred cup
Exquisite sorrow
the finest vintage
Please don't spill
Don't make me lick it up.
taste it
I did

There are new flowers in the garden
fresh from the black earth
where last years have gone
Don't ever let your soft hearts harden
The darkest night holds the promise of dawn
The show must go on
it's an unending song

winter springs herself to summer
then summer falls into winters arms
and all the green he's taken from her
he will return when he grows warm
there's no cause for alarm
they bring each other no harm

Dry your eyes
pick up your shovel
plant love and memories in the ground
feed the earth, and till the soil
and gently lay your sorrow down

Look with love upon your children
thank God for each and every day
be kind and true, and always willing
to help each soul along the way
to hear each word they have to say
and dance to the music that they play

There are new flowers in the garden
fresh from the black earth
and warmed by the sun
don't ever let your soft hearts harden
leave plenty room for everyone
perhaps a little more for some
Let life's will be done

Dry your eyes
pick up your shovel
lay love and memories in the ground
feed the earth and plow the soil
then gently lay your sorrow down

Leathers ladies and insanity

that's all that old fool needs

ride to hell and **** the smell

living by his own creed

Your brothers belly's are full of beer

their hearts are full of pride and power

flirting with death and crystal ****

and toking on that wild wood flower

but he ain't no different bro's

He justa whole lot further down the line

Just thought I'd call to let you know

He'll be coming in late tonight

Pool ***** are crackin

and the beer is guzzled down

a couple more lines of whatever that was

and he just gonna hang around

Don't know where he's going now

and frankly he don't care

some other dimly lit smoky bar

probably waitin for him there

but he ain't no different bro's

He justa whole lot further down the line

He said to call to let you know

He'd be comin in late tonight

A diesel rig kinda ******* the chrome

so ya lay that mother down

justa couple miles from home

but you're gone before ya hit the ground

Don't where you're goin now

but you can bet your bottom buck

all us earth bound bro's down here

We'll hoist a few and wish ya luck

but you ain't no different now

you're just a whole lot further down the line

I guess I'll call to let em know

You won't make it in tonight,

so tell the operator, reverse the charges

cause the call's on us tonight,

I gotta call to let em know

You won't make it in this time.

So leathers ladies and insanity

is all that old fool needs

ride to hell and **** the smell

he gonna live by his own creed

She saved us all from a life of mediocrity.
silly smart beautiful barefoot dancer in the flower bed
Nurturing to everyone leaving the least for herself
She was my best friend, but we were hell at parties
I remember her in a paper dress that was a picture of a cat
some hippie outfit, with a smile half way out of our house on wheels
Yoga dancing every day doing something for the sun
meeting each and every face of God
more often with the passing years
she would drink a disillusioned toast to lost chances and opportunities
as the medicine cabinet grew in color and content
Taking the brunt of our losses for herself
with inner mingled heaven sent victories and joys
One day she arose yellow as the sun and swelling
she took it lightly as a drop of rain
with one liners we'll never forget
"So much for retiring in Mexico." she would quip with a nervous laugh
It was the pancreas
some say the very worst place
but there's a point where pain is pain- inseparable from itself
I tried to make it home in time to say "goodbye"
I missed her by four hundred miles,
I'll put that in my box of guilt and hide it somewhere out of sight for now. She didn't go easy,
I didn't bother asking God why he would let her go that way,
thrashing holding on to life,
maybe hoping against that four hundred mile gap
that I put on a mantle behind a broken vase
She was my best friend but we were hell at parties.

I hopped on a south bound

with my head in the clouds

thought I'd prove a few wrong

maybe make a few proud

but just like every other time

there's no rhyme or reason

just a reason for a rhyme

I must be out of my mind for crying out loud

I'm gonna get little Lord I'm gonna get small

Gonna keep on shrinking till I'm not here at all

just me and the molecules with plenty to spare

won't take up too much space won't breathe too much air

I never meant to be "touched in the head"

It's seldom clear to me, what i just said

I know I'm better off living and breathing instead

cause I already know what it's like to be dead

The baggage that I carry with me

I just bring along,

for my daily dose of self pity

and the occasional song

Honestly I'd love to be

what everybody wants to see

but all these years have made it so clear

that it just ain't me, it ain't never gonna be

the right, the left , the middle and the status quo

Have in no uncertain terms given me the old heave **

time to go now

I'm gonna get little Lord

I'm gonna get small

gonna keep on shrinking till I'm not here at all

I won't have to hide what I ain't got

won't have to worry bout who I am not

I'm gonna get little Lord, I'm gonna get small

Gonna keep on shrinking till I'm not here at all

Just me and the molecules floating in the air

won't take up too much room, won't breathe too much air.

I hopped on a south bound with my head in the clouds

thought I'd prove a few wrong maybe make a few proud

but just like every other time

there's no rhyme or reason, just a reason for a rhyme

I must be out of my mind for crying out loud.

I strolled among lavendills
in the pithy piney plodding hills
bearing the brunt of burdensome *******
as I garnished  grins of whippoorwills.

On a plateau-ish plain  of prickly peet
I felt the bog beneath my feet
tickling my toes with ****** tainted thorns,
I remembered gnarling days, and stood forlorn.

Pickled poesy pomagroups
foretold of future ladle scoops
in caligrating loop the loops in styles
reminding me of marching troops.

In shifting shylock shapes of time
with ripping radishes of rhyme
I began my daring dew descent
to the lowly muppet mugging climes.

When, on sordid stony steppes I stood,
amid the brash and boorish wood,
wenting where I was, I brought
a hinting hackle pang of good.

I'm sorry everyone.  My dog was killed and I'm having a real hard time with it.  I didn't plan to just come drop a bunch of poems and leave.  I'm just a bit messed up for the time being.  Just about every ounce of love inside me went to my Molly every day.  Now I'm temporarily lost.

Once a hairy neanderthal
whose name we shall call Grom
found a heavy piece of wood
and thought as hard as a caveman could
until at last he understood
to him the role of King belonged

He knew he couldn't hesitate
to split every fellow caveman's pate
till on their knees they would await
King Grom the greatest of the great

but then another primitive man
sat in his cozy lair
and thought in his primeval stew
how old Groms rule he could undo
so through the air a large stone flew
and parted old Grom's hair

It all started so long ago
with poor old primitive Grom
with time and thought there'd come a day
as sinners cursed and saints would pray
humanity could stand in awe and say,
"Behold the Atomic Bomb!"

Did you happen to look at the world with my eyes
so you could inform me wherein beauty lies
Does the sound that you hear fall on my ear
Do you know the message that my word implies
Do you speak with my mouth
Do you feel with my skin
Did I lend you my essence without and within
Does my logic tell you what's false or what's real
that's why you can't say that you know how I feel

Hectic hearts hunt alliteration.
Understanding fear and frustration.
Many a muse will come and go
before you reach your destination.
Live your life and love your lessons
in time you'll have the muse's blessings.
Never say more than you know
Go forth and make your mute confession.

Illusive muse
Where did you go
How long must I linger this time
Cruel sweet Mother of Songs
The wide eyed child poet waits
somewhere in a closet
behind the skeletons
behind the guilt
where confidence was spiders silk
and glistened with geometric truth
The muses danced around me
holding candles
they were dressed in primary colors
they moved the pen
again and again and opened doors of ink
One by one they moved on
each waving goodbye as she danced away
Now I grasp at abstract straws
I milk the thick and drying sap
from strained memories

What was once a labor of love
now struggles to be a love of labor
I stare blank into a starving white sea

It started with a passing thought,
and soon became a word,
and then a series of words
that led to action,
and then a series of actions,
that let to an event,
and then a series of events,
that led to a situation,
and then a series or situations,
that led to life,
and then a series of lives,
that led to history
and now it's too late.
Sorry.
That's just the way
it is.

I believe in love
I've known it
The pounding heart
the butterflies
the lack for breath
the heavy sighs
being alone in a crowded room
falling into her eyes
and drowning forever
Every sensation sacred
to touch her
to taste her
The sound of her breathing
Her voice
Her passion
her smell
The unique mysterious
smell of her body
Her ***
Oh the sight of her!
Breath taking beauty
awesome splendor
Her image imprinted
branded blazoned on the canvass
of my soul
with colors and hues impossible
to recreate or simulate
outside the eyes of my mind

Tragically though
the depth and intensity
of a love that is found
is exponentially
dwarfed by the grief
of a love that is lost
the weeping mourning insanity
of a broken heart
I knew love
I knew heart break
I lost myself
in my yearning for death
I became
a cowardly drunken dog
skulking in the streets
drinking from the gutter
running from everyone
and everything
Licking my infected wounds
choking on the poison discharge
of bitterness and remorse

I know love
Whether by laughter and joy
or with tears of sorrow
Terrible wicked sweet
Mother of songs!
I would gladly endure
one year of your hell
for one hour of your heaven
I lay my torch
at the tomb of our love

Lifeless life sits on the shelf
where dreams and schemes and knowledge dwell
to provide some respite for ones self
a billion squared of stories to tell
Kings and kingdoms are well involved
there are secrets revealed and problems solved
Man and woman and kith and kin
find the time to look within
the lifeless life upon the shelf
where dreams and schemes and knowledge dwell

Sweet lady I remember

doesn't seem that long ago

we were both so young and alive

in love's new born glow

laughing in the sunshine

we could love away the rain

don't you think there's a chance to bring it back again


Started mixing our whiskey

with something much too strong

we both made a turn somewhere

and we both knew it was wrong

I know I left some scars on you

I know how you must feel

Don't you think with some time those scars could heal

but we keep changing like the seasons

and we get uptight for different reasons

but that would make my song too sad

If we gave up on what we had"

Now we both settled down some

and loves' sweet glow is gone

If there ain't some way we can bring it back

I don't know if we can carry on'

There's no fire burning now

but there's still some coals I swear

I know we could get that fire burning

if we gave ourselves some air

So I'm sorry I upset you

I'm sorry that I made a scene

I'm sorry that I got uptight

and said things that I didn't mean

but I never will forget you

and how the time has been

If there was someway I could make it right

I would do it all again

but we keep making up excuses

and it seems like trying would be useless

But I can't picture life without you

I still love everything about you

And we keep changing like the seasons

and we get uptight for different reasons

but that would make my song to sad

If we give up on what we had

sweet lady I remember

doesn't seem that long ago

We know it's light
shining through the natural prism
of raindrops;
revealing the spectrum
of primary colors,
but why do you feel the need
to remind us
and spoil the moment?

We know it is
the sound of air filling
a complete vacuum created by intense heat
ten times hotter than the sun.
when negative charged electrons
are carried down by rain
and ice pellets
Why steal the glory?

In your mind prison
of cold gray logic
there is no magic
no color
no joy or inspiration.
Why won't you free yourself,
and enlarge your world?
Don't **** the wide eyed child
inside you.

The universe loves you
or it wouldn't have used your eyes
to see itself,

Welcome
find within
a carnival of sin
a festival of pain
and a dusty fifth of gin
Watch your step
there is a cleft
of hard knock rocks
and shocks to your left
Hold on
we should wait
and contemplate
the muses fate
cover the children's eyes
as the shadows rise
to thank the night
It's getting late
and the gracious darkness
spares our eyes
from further sight

Sometimes
brevity.

Old scratch walks up and down in this world.
Not some misunderstood romantic tragic figure,
but the father of lies.

Old scratch stands behind the curtain
and raids the caravans loaded down with good intentions
He is the wicked warlord in the horn of Africa.

He is the self serving dictator with ridiculous hair
murdering his family in paranoid fits
while his people eat bark in hungry desperation.

He is dengue ebola, ecoli, the plague..
He is rage and landmines in the soccer fields
He is dysentery and influenza and krokodil.

Old scratch walks to in fro in this land
with infectious breath and violent laughter
He is the womb of grief and lost hope.

twenty thousand crying skeletons
with bloated bellies blinded by thirsty flies
each and every day old scratch ushers them
to the only relief they will ever find.
while another twenty thousand wait in line.

We give it a face, a voice, and a name.
I'm so glad we have old scratch to blame,
otherwise whose fault would all this madness be?

Once there was a man
who had nothing in particular to say.

He forced his stacked lines,
and on occasion, some rhymes
-nothing in several shades of gray.
He spoke of an illusive muse,
and a starving white sea,
things that never were,
and things that used to be.

The word wielding ghost
remembers bouncing checks
and eating roses off the stem
in taverns and bars
that would tolerate him.

and jigsaw puzzle pieces in the sky
and a brandy sniping toddler
who threw his bottle in the fire.

Now the narcissistic saint of wasted time
contemplates the day that he will die.

My feelings are true
They are my life's blood spring
but irrelevant.

Couplets and quatrains
or free form self indulgence
It's my time to waste

Five- seven- five lines
stacked to challenge my ego
poor pedestrian.

Here I go again
my ink is not innocent
my soul is tainted

Why do we do it?
What is there to gain from this?
What is the **** point?

I undress my self,
and Adonis, I am not!
better look away

This is what it's like
to expose myself and dare
to pretend it's art.

The misty sprites in speckled shadows
dance among the ferns on the forest floor.
Hemlock and western red cedar giants
tower above the fungus jungle on the rotting leaves.
The sun alters the smell of rain,
and a light wind coaxes the wet from the branches.
I think as quietly as I can
because I am an intruder.

Let the four line stanzas roll
for all the patches on my soul
Muse I bid you to begin
to gently move the mind and pen.

Imprisoned in this cage of rhyme,
I slowly heal over time,
Although events can take their toll
they sew patches on my soul.

So much more than hideous dreams;
the profaned paper stacked in reams.
Lovers that have come and gone,
circumstance  I stand upon.

Pain of body, pain of mind,
hopes ahead, and loss behind.
I blush as crimson as a rose
for some of the patches I expose.

I feel I should apologize.
All this rhyming seems unwise,
but in all  of this, my only goal
is to show these patches on my soul.

I saw a burning soldier in the sand
I couldn't tell if he was friend or foe
I just stood and watched him burn
my heart and mind accustomed though
to what would make the state side stomach churn
Mothers holding children charred black or sometimes white
faces frozen forever pain and fright
I curse the day my heart grew hard
I still and will obey
I took the oath I raised my hand
I saw a burning soldier in the sand
I hoped he had found peace and turned to walk away

Elusive thoughts
picture word calligraphy
exhibitionist

human absorbing
sight sound senses and minds eye
celebrate and grieve

source of frustration
shameless timeless love for it
blessing of the ******

I'm very sorry
I'm not impressed much either
sacrilege of words

It finishes here
will be forgotten shortly
I'll wash my hands now

Still wet behind the ears

still playing the fool

For God sakes you better wake yourself up

and for a change do something cool

You can do it for money

You can do it for love

for your brothers and your sisters

and the good Lord above

I'm learnin the hard way

don't ask me why

If you don't do a little livin while you're livin

You might as well lay right down and die

lay right down and die

sometimes it seems so silly

I don't know where to begin

what difference does it make

what kind a dirt you're lyin in

You make your money, you play your games

but when you deal your last card

don't it all turn out the same

I'm learnin the hard way

Don't ask me why

If you don't do a little livin while you're livin

You might as well lay right down and die

lay right down and die