Route 84 would not lend me
the light of a star last night
Radio blazing at 75 mph
nonsense noise to chew gum by
Crackling political commentary
Static of distance and thick clouds
Invisible mountains blocking
Memories seeping through the cracks
coating the music in a film
I rub my eyes
watch myself punch alert buttons
But it’s the angels’ jukebox tonight

Roll down the window
Watch the heat escape

Summer again

I am building a castle of ancient stones
pulverized by relentless tides
Dragged across maps by mastodons
and mammoth glaciers
The scouring hiss
the ocean sighs
Time has lulled these smoothly
rolling them in the softest hands of sand
and gels of life’s comings and goings
tenderly tumbling
in the millionth moonrise—
Time deposits them here
wet and glistening

For the girl with the plaid two-piece to gather
Shoulders sun-burnt barely say
one week only,
one week of the fifty two
“It’s the time of the season…”
and daddies on the beach are watching….

She has chosen yet another stone
And the castle continues—
in oblivion to all but her legend…

     The queen will be safe here
     from the rabble
     The disgraced Tristan will surely seek her
     Among these lofty cliffs
     Between the raging circuit of the tide
     Here winds forbid the vengeful mob
     Here lovers learn
     the debt of love’s bad timing
     “Drink ye all of it!”
     --the potion that assigns our sorrow….
     She will not sleep—
     while I chew this gum--  GUM?

Roll down the window!

Angels escape with the heat
Waking me with the brush of their wings

As that eighteen-wheeler hugs my flank
And leans on the horn
Lights flashing
Rude rumbling under right tires
Tantrum of snow
In the draft of mass and velocity

…and the angels?
They’ve chosen another good one!
They must’ve liked the 80’s
Their wings slapping the windshield madly  
Their hands steady the wheel

And when she cut the radio on
Everything became so clear
I never heard the words to my favorite song; I listened intently.
Not only capturing the words
But this very moment.
Every expression
The amount of thought put into this exchanged gesture.
What was this
It wasn't rock, it wasn't pop
It's wasn't the mellow tone of rhythm and blues
What was this
This explosion that occurred with the next look of her eyes
Like psychedelic euphoria
Oozing from our lips
Erratic heart throbs pulsating through the air waves
Connecting us,
No matter how far we were

You just left on a jet plane,
now the boys are back in town.
I've come down with a sickness,
but they still want me around.
          I don't wanna leave my couch
          and I don't wanna go downtown.
'Cuz without your face, this place is just overplayed.
Just wanna turn the volume all the way down.

I've been wandering old streets,
seeing all the oldest faces
in the places where we'd meet.
When they ask about you, I can't face them.

Now I've looped around this town
about a million ******* times.
Old group's predictable. Those clowns
still have the time of their life.

You're off to better things.
Hope Sacramento's ******* awesome.
Your absence here still stings,
and the radio here's still just awful.

I'm still hooked on old feelings
I was born to not outrun.
I wish I could stop believing
that the past was just more fun.
          I don't Journey off my couch.
         And I'm a Foreigner downtown.
Now I'm broadcasting doubt and my town is played out.
          I wanna drown the volume out.

I've been haunting same old bars,
seeing all the same old comrades,
between same sidewalks and same stars.
They never left and that makes me feel bad.

Now you've been gone 6 months,
and you might never come back.
If I hear "Sweet Home Alabama"
one more time, I'll ******* crack.

You're off to better things.
Hope Sacramento's ******* awesome.
Your absence here still stings.
And the radio's still ******* awful.

oh God*
please don't let that song come on the radio
it reminds me of the curve of his back
and the way his hair curled in the front
of the night he snuck out to come see me
and i was lost for words
but full of kisses
when i saw him standing at my door
messy hair and sleepy eyes at 2am
saying "i just had to see you"
don't let it remind me of
all the nights i cried myself to sleep
hearing his voice on the phone
telling me baby it'll be okay
or the early morning video calls
where he'd wake me with a smile
letting me know that there was reason
to still go on
that song reminds me
of driving through the sunset
turning on the radio
and simultaneously saying
"hey thats my song"
oh God
don't let that song come on the radio
it'll remind me of the way
his tongue slid down my abdomen
and his nails scratched my hip bones
my hands in his hair
don't let that song
take me back to the time
my legs were thrown over his
while he fed me french fries
with his mouth
i won't have any other choice
but to remember the hint of hazel in his eyes
the gaps between his teeth
the freckle near his eyes
the feeling of the summer breeze
when it was just him and me
oh God
don't let that song come on the radio
it belongs to me and him
it belongs to another age
another time
another era
it belongs to
*for(n)ever.

I sat down to watch the radio

There was nothing on TV

I have two hundred channels

But there was sweet F.A for me

I could have watched one channel

And learned to fricasse

A chicken raised on wild grains

By a woman chef named Bea

I started checking channels

But I decided in mid flick

That I was getting tired

And I was also  feeling sick

So I sat and watched the radio

Since there was nothing on TV

I have two hundred channels

But there was sweet F.A for me

I worked on through the listings

English, French and some bad ****

There were movies on one station

That were made 'fore  I was born

Out of all the things I saw on there

The best show I could see

Was something shown in black and white

Made in nineteen sixty three

My TV s high definition

With cables left and right

But to find a show I'd like to watch

Was taking half the night

So I sat and watched the radio

Watching nothing happen fast

But as I sat there watching

I travelled bckwards  to my past

Still flicking through the channels

Trying to find something to see

I thought I'd found a hockey game

But it was all in Punjabi

So, I listened to the music

Watched the radio, passing time

Then I thought, why do I have this?

With what I paid, it was a crime

eleven channels showed the same

times 8 networks made

at least eighty eight tv stations

That didn't make the grade

Twenty two were pay for view

The French networks were ten

Then the networks there in Real HD

And so, it started once again

Pay for **** was fourteen strong

New shows added two

Weather, sports and info shows

Now I was at one eighty  two.

I could have bought alot of stuff

On informercials through the night

I could have bought Pro Active

But instead I watched the light

I turned back to the radio

With the station light in green

It was better than the tv set

And all the crap I'd seen

So, Tonight I watched the radio

There was nothing on TV

But as I sat there bathed in that green light

The music showed me all I need to see.

Francis is calling from Nigeria. Hi Francis.
Welcome to the show, thanks for getting in touch.
I've never been to Nigeria, but I've heard that
it's a beautiful country.
Yes, but...
Have you got
a safari in Nigeria?
Yes but a bit different...
That's cool! I'd love to see that! Francis, what are your
plans for tonight?
We are going to...
Let me guess -
to the party. That's awesome! Have a good time,
enjoy! You are young and free!
No we are going to
the local village, to bury bodies of few men,
they were killed...
Killed? Oh my God that's terrible,
tell us more! Were they killed by wild animals?
No, by...
Hello? Francis? Are you still there?
We've lost our listener, unfortunately. What a shame.

she reads books
that touch her soul
and finds songs
that move her to tears,
but she has yet to find
a book on the shelf
that feels the words
she wants to say,
or a song on the radio
that listens diligently
to the rhythm
of her heart.

black coffee
and
the radio
    and I'm still battling
    my demons
shooing them away
        "give me a break, I'm so young"
        I say
They argue amongst themselves
loudly
                                and  come to no decision
black coffee
and
the radio

"Hear da children crying!
Give thanks and praise to the Lord..."
I don't feel alright.
Not tonight...
When the moon is
FULL & BRIGHT
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