Hashtag:weirddreams
In a dream I looked upon a world like this;
The future was here. It was today. It was now and
the wings on birds had malted, and
the atmosphere was spent.
Spent, because currency had proven
worthless.  
Hashtag:firstworldprobs
(piles
on top of
piles of    washingtonsjeffersonsandgrants    now sat        
                                    stagnant,    Hash­tag:getmoney            
devalued over time by the American glutton who had paved our roads with imported plastic,
cheap polymers to build empires quickly, since we were so young with so little history so little culture and so little ritual. Hashtag:omgsoboring.
We played catch-up
by simply investing very little effort,
and paying very little respect,

With expectations of getting really *******
Big).  Hashtag:sorrynotsorry
Which didn’t end up working. Hashtag:whoops

And so then we just burned up all that money, quite literally, ignited by the last few drops of oil we could manage to squeeze from Earth’s stones.
And its smoke, smelling faintly of our forefathers’ intentions, turned the turbines for our televisions and deep fryers while we sat and felt ourselves getting smaller and smaller.

Then I woke up, and realized it was only a dream.  

Hashtag:

Their are times when I wish I could recapture some of the past
and have good memories that would always last and not fade over time
There are times when I can recapture something if only for a moment
A taste a smell, reminding me of a loved one lost, but for a little while at least I feel happy and content and in a way feel somehow transported back in time.
I call it the tastes of childhood, like when I was in Grandma's kitchen I remember the smell of her M&M; cookies, I have never since tasted cookies so fine
I remember my Dad making polish sausages bought fresh from the local sausage house, my mouth just waters just thinking about it even though I just ate.
Then on Sundays we would all gather around the table together as a family and eat together which was quite a feat, considering a family  of nine children, and everyone seemed to scream out I want a leg all at once, which was a problem being chicken fryers back them did not consist of all legs; I still don't know how my parents managed the chaos of all us  children

I also remember my dad smelling of Old Spice and I think it was nice
I wonder if you to will be transported down memory lane, if only for a moment
What are your tastes of childhood? feel free to share

A few years ago at some point in a day
I remember sitting on a bay
A bay that was a tank holding fish
So many fish that I wish I had not eaten from my dish

I’ve had my fair share of meat
And I wish that instead I had something made from wheat
I wish I had just ordered garlic bread
Instead of something that was already dead

Every year cows pigs and millions of others
Are taken to the slaughter away from their mothers
Away from their small cages and all that they’ve known
Away from their friends and what they call home

Every year pigs and cows
Are raised to have their necks broken like bows
Why does everyone just this occur
When harmless animals are sent to the slaughter

Why don’t people just go vegan
And help the animals that are gonna get eaten
We need to change from societies meat filled plate
And argue the toss put up a debate

Why don’t we just tell them what it is
Even if some people wanna take the ****
I am a vegan, that’s what it is
I am a vegan, and I am disgusted

I am disgusted that society thinks its okay to eat meat
Something that from birth only gets beat
So instead I eat food made from wheat shred
Because I don’t want to eat something that is already dead

Animal bodies are casted aside into meat pans and fryers
Advertised by KFCs top of the range liers
It is not finger lickin’ good
It’s something that should not have been murdered before its adulthood

Now some people think it’s okay to pay 15 quid
For something that makes me wanna cry and it’s fried squid
Now they might say “I only have it on occasion”
But that squid had a life, plus its Asian
Why not just let them be where they’re meant to next to China
Instead of eating them in some chain restaurant diner

All of these animals are meant to have different life styles
But all it says on the packet is turn on the oven and twist these dials
We need to change what society tells us to eat
And we need to stop eating meat

Because if we don’t change
Then society will stay deranged
I don’t care if you say “but Tom its free range”
Because if you eat meat you don’t use your brain

At least not to its’ full potential anyway
And I hope you at least think about this all day
Because I want you to change you ways
So don’t take the cows away from their grass
And do something other than sitting on your ****

Stop and Think
Before you pick up the milk to take a drink
Because these cows pigs and millions of others
Are raised to be slaughtered and are taken from their mothers
I’m sure if you had a daughter
You wouldn’t want her to be taken to the slaughter
Because these cows, pigs and millions of others
Just remember all of them had mothers.

Advent at the Dollar Store

The *****, roachy desperation of
the unswept dollar store’s cellophane dreams
At Prices You’ll Love boxes of oilless
popcorn poppers deep-fat fryers massagers
to sweeten generational desperation
behind the counter cigarettes locked up
We Cash Work And Welfare Checks can’t afford
Lives collapsed so we console ourselves with
electric hair-curlers and boxes of chips
singing NFL coffee machines
shiny new bicycles to be stolen
before the end of January or
left out to rust in the February rain
dusty plastic holly shiny CD
players for the administration of
anaesthesia Jumbo Bargain Gift Wrap
for Your Happy Holiday Shopping Pleasure
No Shirt No Shoes No Service No, No, No
Hyphenated Industries of Chicago,
Tokyo, Seoul, and Taipei wishes us
a Merry Christmas

Looking through the window,
there she was,
behind the bar,
tending to the locals.

She herself,
my friend,
had become a local.

I wondered
if she begrudged
Hiawatha Kansas
the local-ness
that it had ****** upon
her.

I decided
that it would be better
if I didn’t ask.

Because my own hometown
was still home;
still feeling like someplace
That could be,
maybe do better,
but would rather not.

Choosing instead
to smoke cigarettes,
drink ***** and Red Bull,
while waiting for tomorrow.

Tomorrow would always show up,
looking just a bit more hopeful than yesterday;
remaining less motivated than we’d anticipated
last night.

I drove 39 miles with a belly full of
ate-at-home food,
leaving the house in favor of the blues band
playing downtown.

After their set,
I lost interest,
seeking something beyond the proffered
Friday night loudness and parking-lot
Mexican food.

I decided to see my friend, Abigail.

39 miles of ink-black nothing,
speed-trap smallness,
a couple of Casey’s
with
their lights shut off;
pizza ovens and donut fryers
gone cold for the night.

Red’s Alehouse looks like
It could actually be a house.

(there’s not much to it.)

The Budweiser sign,
neon.
the OPEN sign,
flashing.

Peering,
entering;
she screams in delight.
we laugh.
I sit.
we talk.

She dutifully fills new glasses,
washes those abandoned.

Someone puts a twenty-dollar bill
in her tip jar.

It was a good night,
a fair adventure.

I drove home again in the ink of the Kansas night.

36 HWY,
through the same speed-trap towns,
those convenience stores still
locked tight.
It was fine,
there in the dark.

Neither hungry nor thirsty,
I was sated.

I’d met ****,
Steve,
Jared,
and
George, who’d wanted a sandwich and some potato chips
where there were none to be had.

I laughed with my friend, Abigail.

We’d spoken of dreams long-abandoned
to work and changing circumstances;
finding satisfaction in simplicity and our own
intellects;
sometimes feeling that smartness
is in short supply in our
separate Red-State lives.

I pulled into my driveway
grateful for minutes spent,
memories shared.

I’ll stop in again
saying hello sometime
before the winter sets in
to stay for a while.

Maybe George will be there.

Perhaps I’ll stop by one of those Casey’s
before it’s shut tight or gone cold.

We can tell more stories,
sharing slices of our lives
along with
greasy pizza.

*
-JBClaywell
©P&ZPublications 2021

An academic of high proportions is sweeping across the nation
Chicken restaurants have closed doors no ones at their frying station
If you want chicken that is fried I'd advise you of hesitation
And don't make Kentucky your port of call choose a different destination
Don't be upset with Colonel Sanders with his limited creation
Just because you can't get your fix of chicken spiced sensation
I know that you're not happy but its not worth the frustration
It doesn't make much difference with no chicken designation

Okay I can understand the disappointment that you may feel
When you can't obtain a Bargain Bucket or a Zinger Meal
With chicken stuck in warehouses due to D.H.L's stuck wheel
But the lack of chicken delivery is really no big deal
What's the point in calling the cops come on folks get real
What do you expect them to do go on a chicken steel
There meant to be the boys in blue it's not for them to heal
The restaurants will be open soon there's no need for you to keel

I don't know why your so upset with the closer of KFC
With restaurants closing in the U.K. and across the whole country
Their only shut for a few days so there's no need for your plea
Fried chicken will be back soon at least to a degree
The lack of chicken shouldn't ruin your night why don't you let it be
There are other places you can eat so it doesn't bother me
The fryers will be fired up again just you wait and see
So there is no reason for this outcry I hope you will agree

Why are people driving miles just for the taste of a finger licking
There's more to life than spicy wings or pieces of fried chicken
Don't waste time on closed chicken shops your launch times are just ticking
Give Pizza Hut or Macdonald's a chance there's more restaurants for the picking
People trying to charge large amounts with Bargain Bucket tricking
Don't try and rip people off with fried chicken Ebay clicking
Isn't there more to worry about than Kentucky chicken sticking
Don't be a silly Turkey or Bernard Matthews will come back kicking

Chocolate, bear claw, Bavarian cream,
Am I really here or is this a dream?
I can smell coffee and fresh baked goods,
Swaying in line where so many have stood.

The lights are too bright, they’re hurting my head,
Can someone just give me some jelly filled bread?
And three apple fritters, a cruller or two,
At this point, any old fry cake will do.

Rev up those fryers and ready the glaze,
As I’m very drunk, and just as amazed
At the flavor they pack into frosting and dough,
Now stand the hell back and watch my bill grow.

Dozens or hundreds, I can’t get enough
Of these twists so sublime, ah, that’s the stuff.
The driver is ready, it’s my time to go,
I think I’ll just grab a half dozen or so.

We get in the car and start to head home,
What’s this in the bag? A bagel!? God, no!