I don't remember passing out
The barkeep nudged me twice
I'd been out at least an hour
My drink, it had no ice

He told me I was finished
He said "Boy, you are done"
"You're playing roulette with a pistol"
"With six bullets, not just one"

"There's a taxi on it's way boy"
I took in every word
But in truth, my head was spinning
What he said, I never heard

Way back in the corner
Sat two vultures watching me
The barkeep saw them watching
And he said "Son, the taxi's free"

"There's a cot just off the kitchen"
"If you'd rather stay inside"
"You won't throw up in the taxi"
"It saves me money for the ride"

I nodded I'd accept it
He told me, "good, I hoped you would"
"The way your night is going"
"It just won't end up good"

"You're burning both ends of the candle"
"You're lighting the middle part as well"
"You may think you're off to heaven"
"Drink like this, you'll end in hell"

He said "out back there is another"
"Fought the bottle, fought it hard"
"He was lost, but came back stronger"
"He's doing well, but he is scarred"

"Tomorrow, you'll eat breakfast"
"Go out back, and talk a bit"
"Now, off to bed directly"
"I need to think a bit, and sit"

I thanked him, though I mumbled
The words were clear inside my head
But, the words that I said to him
Made no sense, so....off to bed

The next morning, over coffee
He told me, "I've watched you every night"
"I've woken you before, you know"
"What you're doing isn't right"

I told him of my troubles
He shook his head, and said "so what"
"We all have troubles sometime"
"We make the best with what we've got"

"You can come here if you want to"
"But, if you drink, I'll cut you off"
"This is your only chance son"
He said the last line, through a cough

He said that after breakfast
After I'd done the washing up
I was to head out to the alley
With fresh coffee, in a cup

He said "out back there"
"You'll find a man with a guitar"
"Give him the fresh coffee"
"He won't come here inside the bar"

I went out in the alley
And there exactly as he said
Sat a man, singing to no one
With a old ball cap on his head

I listened as he sang out
A voice as harsh as glass and sand
Playing guitar in the sunshine
Keeping beat, a one man band

He finished, and he saw me
Smiled as he took the cup
He said, "You don't know me"
"But, I knew you'd look me up"

The Bluesman drank the coffee
Told me to sit and stay a spell
For each minute that I listened
Was one less I was in hell.

The sun was shining brightly
My eyes could not adjust
My eyelids were not working
My eyeballs felt like rust

The night before was over
But, still it lingered on
A new day was beginning
And yesterday was gone

I can't tell you just what happened
Where I went, or what I did
That memory was missing
It had all but gone and hid

Was my mind just in denial
Hiding thoughts within my brain
Or was it just that all this drinking
Was slowly driving me insane

I would wake up tasting yesterday
In a place I did not know
Sometimes with another person
Looking for a way to go

The sunshine could be painful
Reminding me a day had passed
I just never could remember
The thoughts would leave so fast

Maybe it was self protection
But, if I bet, I'd say...it's not
I know I went out  drinking
But just how much, or really...what

Tonight, I'll repeat all  my actions
It's just a habit, I can't break
There's no way to fight this devil
There's more than just my soul at stake

The devil drives my ride now
He sitcks around, just for a while
But. I know he's in the darkness
Watching his work with a smile

The sunshine hurts my skin now
My eyes are squinted shut
In my head I hear the rumble
Of empty blackness in my gut

Another day of sorrow
I just can't change the way I live
The devil takes from deep inside me
And what he takes...I freely give

One day, I'll wake up sober
I'll remember all I have done
But, if I don't survive the battle
Can someone please turn off the sun?

Happy Birthday Heather
I will not state your age
If people want to know it
They can go visit your page

You run a band of poets
A band of Lunatics at heart
But, you saw something in us
And you saw it from the start

We all write different styles
Some are funny, some morose
Some of us have stories
And sometimes, we get gross

But, Heather, you're our leader
And on behalf of all us vandals
Don't put the fire brigade to work
....so don't light your ****** candles!!!

Happy Birthday Hev! Best wishes
We share more than just a last name in my book.

All the love

Roger and Megan Turner

I remember when you tucked me in
and would kiss me on the head
you'd leave the bedroom door just so
the hallway light just touched my bed

The monsters would all stay away
While the light was on you said
They were stuck behind the closet door
And if they touched the light...they're dead

Now, the years have passed us by
And our roles are re-arranged
Now, I do the tucking in
But, the story hasn't changed

I tuck you in, and kiss your head
And then you go to sleep
The monsters all are hidden
In the closet....so so deep

There's times you may remember me
But, many times...there's not
Your eyes will barely flicker
You can barely hold a thought

The monsters are inside you
From the closet, they have come
You may not know just who I am
But, you'll always be my Mum

Now, it's time to get tucked in
And for me to kiss you on the head
I'm gonna pull the door just so
The light....protects your bed.

there are people i've forgotten
some for better, some for worse
in places i have been along the way

some were good and some were rotten
some sow's ears and some silk purse
there are many that i think of every day

Take the time, give everyone a chance
Take a stranger, and treat them like a friend
Life is nothing more than a big dance
And you just don't know when the music's gonna end

i've had meals with lowly beggars
I've sat down with queens and kings
Life's  funny ...if i really had to say

that the people i remember
of all my time here on this earth
are the sow's ears,
and the beggars come what may

Take the time, give everyone a chance
Take a stranger, and treat them like a friend
Life is nothing more than a big dance
And you just don't know when the music's gonna end

some have angels on their shoulders
some have devil's in their heart
but, you will not know, until you let them in

but of the people i've forgotten
and those kept close in my heart
the best ones never care what might have been

Take the time, give everyone a chance
Take a stranger, and treat them like a friend
Life is nothing more than a big dance
And you just don't know when the music's gonna end

i remember riding shotgun
between my ma and pa
mom had on the radio
dad chewed on his chaw

I always rode the middle
Every time in that old truck
I could feel each bounce and bump
Somtimes I had to duck

Ma would play the radio
Jesus music filled the air
Daddy, turned and looked away
Just like he didn't care

Daddy was in Vietnam
He met Ma when he got back
He lost ******* in the war
From a sneak enemy attack

Ma grew up in Jamestown
A small town in Tennessee
Nothing there but the old mine
Nothing much for one to see

She went to church on Sundays
Listened to  WCLC
Jesus music all the time
For the folks in Tennessee

Each Sunday after service
Pa would pick us up at church
He never went inside though
He didn't quite like Pastor Birch

Daddy only owned one suit
He'd had it since the war
He wore it to get married in
It didn't fit no more

The sleeves had gotten shorter
The chest was far too tight
But, since he didn't go to church
To pa....it fit just right

Ma would sit and listen
And I would watch my pa
He'd make faces out the window
Never ever to my ma

Pa had faith, but different
He believed in what he saw
And what struck his eyes in war time
He could never tell my Ma

So, we would go to market
After church, each Sunday morn
Ma would go in shopping
We rush her with the old truck horn

She'd cuss pa when she got back
He'd just smile, enough to say
Let's get home, daylights wasting
There's still chores to do today

When I was nine, well almost ten
Ma got sick, I mean, real bad
She was being called to heaven
And I remember that my Dad

Took me into town to shop
To get a suit and shoes
Before we went he sat me down
And told me the bad news

I cried, for near an hour
Funny thing, my pa did too
I'd never seen this happen
To me, well...this was new

He said, you're ma's a fine one
She's the best person that I know
Now, she's wanted up in heaven
That's all...we need to go

Ma died three days later
Pa phoned up Old Pastor Birch
He told him what had happened
And made plans to use the church

In all my life, I'd never seen
My pa dressed up so good
He said, I don't look perfect
But, I done the best I could

Pa's been gone for thirty years
And you know, I've got his suit
Not the new one that he bought that day
But, the one...he gave the boot

It reminds of the better times
When Ma and Pa and me
would ride out on a Sunday
I'd be shotgun, just to see

I remember riding shotgun
With Ma and Pa, and it was good
Jesus Music on the radio
As I think back...it was good

I believe in a world where you can be whatever you want to be,
Live free,
Don't fit in,
That's the joy of choice,
I believe in a world of acceptance,
Accept what is,
Embrace difference,
That's the joy of choice,
I believe in a world of humankind,
Be a happy human,
Be a kind human,
That's the joy of choice,
I believe in a world of choices to make,
Accept a choice or don't,
That is the joy of a choice,
What you choose is yours and yours alone,
Take it, make it and enjoy every bit of it,
That's the joy of you and your soul.