The old man sat in the darkness
Taking in what he could see
He smiled, although slyly
And he leaned in close to me

He said the air is different
You can taste it here abouts
Listen close to what's around you
The air is different...there's no doubt

I didn't understand him
He spoke in concepts, not in words
He talked of feeling the emotions
Of people running 'round in herds

He said, I've been here sixty years now
Seen people come and people go
I used to be the barkeep
But, then that's something that you know

I've seen Elvis and The Beatles
Seen Presidents and Kings
I've seen hearts torn all asunder
And the pain that a war brings

I saw Kennedy on that TV
That, one behind your head
I watched him drive on straight through Dallas
And moments later he was dead

This place was just dead silent
On the day that that man died
And hand to god I'll tell you
I was all torn up inside

I saw soldiers in that Vietnam
Fighting for what? I don't know
I saw them on that TV there
I watched them lining up to go

I saw them having rally's
Taunting those who had the guns
I saw them bringing back the caskets
Of the now dead, teenage sons

That TV showed me lots of stuff
It never strayed far from the news
It always shows the Tigers game
I turn it up to hear the boos

I saw King and Bobby on that set
Taken way to young
God, it would have been a different world
To see what things they might have brung

I sat back and I listened
The old man, went on a while
He waved ******* skyward
And said, two more beers ...with his smile

My life has been a good one
I've been alone, except for here
I watch the outside on that set
It was then, we got our beer

I remember back when Elvis died
He was the best back in the day
But, me I liked Sinatra
Dean Martin, Bob and Ray

There was folks in here all crying
singing songs, and holding hands
on various occassions
from Lennons death, to Bobby Sands

I never really took part
In the lives of those who came
To spend their time here with me
I only knew a few by name

My job was just to serve them
Not to be their new best friend
I guess that's why I sit here still
Watching, waiting for the end

That set has shown me good and bad
That one, behind your head
It hasn't worked for fifteen years
We got a new one in instead

It's there as a reminder
more to me, than those still here
That life is for the living
And I'm alive while I am here

He rose and turned back to me
Said, it's time for us to close
I'll be back again tomorrow
To watch more highs and maybe lows

I watched the old man shuffle
To his room, and to his bed
Past the TV he saw life on
On the wall behind my head.

I need
Some Me-time.
So, I must
Turn this off,
And this,
This too,
This as well,
And this, and this...
And the TV.
And finally,
The light.

Kids compare their love to the stars. Citing celestial forces in their rooftop, late night, parents-can't-hear, stolen-beer vows. They compare the way their hands combine to constellations ever present in the night sky. I trashed this misconception in the back of a Chevrolet with the married man I was with that day when he compared our love to the moon and sun and how ours was a forbidden one. There wasn't a notion of poetry in his slurred words, just a man so scared of growing old he needed the comfort of a child, to soothe his soul. You and me, you and the person I am trying to be, don't need the sun or the moon or the stars in the sky, we just need the TV set on a Tuesday night. We fell in love in the daylight, in parks down the street. We fell for each other, not the universe, that before you, had tortured me. We don't need space suits to look into each other's eyes and know that it's here, right here, on this couch where we first made love that we call home. The kids can keep their zodiac signs and universe themed metaphors because our love can't be illustrated with astrological analogies. It's complicated and messy and hurtful and hard, but loving you is the best thing I’ve ever done, right here on earth.


-bcg (we fell in love in the daylight, so what happens when the sun goes down)

OK, let me seem to be the one "devil" not to honour,
A man is great enough to get the "universe's message" out,
More than 200,000,000 tune in every Sunday
To hear him, the great works fools fantasize about.

"Informing" people why they were born, what the powers are,
Tell us all about these three kings/wise men following a star,
"It's all mind candy, I tell you!" But then I'm silenced,
These people are at the top for being ignorant near and far.

They give us these messages, love each other, don't ****,
Then they bring the Saviorettes out, lambs off of battlefield,
And they bury them with gun in hand, Davy Crocket style,
There is some sort of irony in this, one that is in denial.

So I ask you why these people will spend millions,
Will fall upon their knees in front of a stupid T.V.
This farm slop, this pig wig god, in the endless billions,
To tell you what became of what you call "true history?"

Parents, please tell your Children
How special they are
They ain't  gotta be on tv
To know They're a star

-Lynn Legend

I take my seat upon the couch
and hit the power buttons.

Blue-hued light washes over me
in beautiful cascading ignorance.

I mindlessly flip through channels,
briefly stopping to look at cars.
And cheeseburgers.
And movies.
And Bowflex.
And lawyers.
And jewelry.
And petfood.
And starving african children.
And starving animals.
And cellphones.
And service providers.
And medications.
And disorders.
And maladys.
And sales.
And beautiful people modeling clothing I will never wear.
And stores I won't ever shop at.
And lives I'll never live,
only dream of.

Because commercials are now more entertaining
and more relatable than the shows between them.

Something I wish I had.
I can only watch
And pretend it's real.
Laugh along with them,
But they don't see.
Are they even real?
Maybe they once were...
It happens before me,
I see their lives play out.
Life goes on.
They will never understand,
I mean nothing to them,
But they're everything to me.

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