Love is a misfit gambol
A blind "hit me"
When you're holding eighteen.
Twenty One seems so far away,
Gambling a small tomorrow
With stolen chits.

Here's a poem for all concerned about the ***** words I write/
Every night I wrestle with them, all the filth which I have learned/
All the strife I water down to soften up the reader's eye/
Trying not to bug or bother anyone with pristine ears/
I have years of cursing loudly/
I have scars to prove that's true/
Snotty women so offended, Bar-room tables up-side ended/
Walking home without a ride/
Deep in angry mumble walk/
Spouting each and every letter/
Feeling better as I vent/
Where I went or what I'd done/
All my sins were fun, it's true/
Hence I've put them down prosaic/
***** words from me, to you

Here's a little ***** ditty-
Ain't too long, or sweet, or pretty-
Kinda' short, won't take much time-
All about a gal I knew/

She was tall, bout' five foot nine-
Met me in a ***** alley-
Up there in that cold-*** city-
She was half as drunk as me/

What occurred then I'm not privy-
I woke up with sirens blaring-
Handcuffed in my skivvies, moaning-
In the lock-up. without pants/

Now I do a shameful dance-
wondering who just bailed me out-
Out there sits a hungry Chevy-
(better than a ***** alley!)

Should I write a poem of sappy love/
Teenage emotion gone on a sneak-away ride/
Visigoth hormones usurping my pen, again/
Sad memories of those girls, oh, those girls/
High School dances like small caliber holes in my heart/
No exit wounds, the lipstick bullets fester in me/
Music so loud I can not hear her giggle to her coven/
About the way I tried to kiss her/
In the gym, in public/
Where all the Cool boys might see?
Or Should I, forty years later, just walk my dog/
And whistle as I bag up her ****/
Enjoying the evening as we walk/
While she wags and is happy to be here/
Beside me, regardless of my haircut/
Or the horsepower of my car?/
Why start now? I never cared then/
About them, the Loud Pretty ones/
With the guns aimed at my heart/
The only thing they knew how to do was shoot and run/
Where's the fun in that?/
Come on back, ladies.../
I have years of dog-**** waiting for you.

Funny how these small things happen
Little ripples in the pond
Spooky  turtles poised for snapping
Just beneath the sweet reflection/

Funny how we seldom notice
What we do to cause reaction
What effects we leave behind us
As we blindly stagger on/

Funny how the Big Things linger
All disguised as normal silent
Meanwhile little ripples grow
While we lean back, smiling, napping/

Meanwhile all those spooky turtles
Gather down there in the cold
Surfing upside down to bite us...
(Little things get bigger....  Honest!)

Funny that.
As the end nears
The music gets big.
When I should be paying attention
To the *****
And not
The noise...

Life is funny
Hurts to get into it
Hurts to get out of it
Hurts a lot
In the Middle
Of it
Hurts to keep it
Hurts to lose it
It's always
A struggle
Just to hold
Onto it
We sleep
Through
A third of it
Eat to ****
Then eat some more
Because of it
And yet
We desperately
Seek to
Keep hold of it
Funny or not
It's all we got

To sew a shoe
A simple thing
To do
Or to stitch a sole
And nail a heel
For a Gentleman's
Stroll

A thimbled poke
A tug of string
A knot
A dozen brads
And a hope
A whisk of shine
For some Lad's
Trot...

Upon this bench
My tools of trade
I work
To ****** a soul
One shoe, by shoe
They all walk down
My road.

A Lady's boot
A slippered foot
Some lace
I'll fix them all
I have the time
They all pass by
My place.

What internal music played
As he drew his brush
Softly saturated
Across the Wait of White?

How did he slow the wind
And tease it
Lure it
Into the pale cerulean wash?

What power did he possess
To stop the Sun
To halt the spin
Of the world before him?

What fierce invisible nail did he use
To affix his Now
So long ago
To My Now?

There is quantum stillness
In the flow
In the ebb
Of this flat dimension.

There is distance unreachable
Behind his eye
Beneath his hand
Proffered to us.

There is a God-Wink presented
Intangible, firm
Solidly translucent
Within this window.

Who was this mortal Creator
With Birth-breath
Of colored magic
And patient soul?

This wall is a cathedral
To His cathedral

Through his honor
He honors us
With one note
Of his internal hymn.

I promised that I would wait for you.
Hurry up.
I'm hungry
And weak
And I was never good at "saving"

There are stairs
And sloped roads
And hills
And blind curves
And switch-backs
And dead-ends....
Sometimes.
Sometimes there are
Twinkies and hot chocolate.
And comfy chairs.
And Pop-Cycles.
And low-gravity days.
Sometimes "Sometimes" is
Worth it.

If you could count all the stars
Every one
You would still be shy
By a few
Even the far away ones
Of how many times
I think of you
Shining.

Bite me, Baby.
Take me down
Into your viral, hungry Limbo.
There we'll eat
The noisy neighbors
Wander through the streets
All night.
Naked but for
What cloth hangs on
To our slim decrepitude.
Bite me, Baby.
Hell don't want us.
Heaven's iffy
Anyway.
We won't need no shoes
Or money

There is no speed
There is only fast
Here in this Empty
Nothing passing by
To delineate movement
No stars
No dust
Bent-time left behind
Only dwindling Self
Only Not Yet
In a hurry

There is no time
There is only when
Here on this Maybe
Passing by Nothing
A calcified moment
One star
One wish
True Self swept aside
With the mingle
Not quite there
In a hurry

There is no point
There is only why
There on that hollow
No one reaching out
To slow this progression
No hand
No You
Just Past catching up
Laughing with Fast
No speed at all
In a hurry

There is deliciousness in this empty
This warm hollow
This Sun-Blanket nap
With distant High Speckles
And clouded Moon song

There is sinful patience here
With Dream-scare
With loud slumber
With Baby Death looming

There is Ghost-Waltz here
In the snuggled sheets
In the softened fade
In the parade of wink

Take me, Night
I will pass through you
As you pass through me
Counter wise til Dawn

And in the Bright of Day
I will remember you
Long for you
Yawning and Bluish
On my next horizon.

Daily practice was my Catholic Regimen
On those strings
Blooded fingertips
Evolving into
Callused hammers

D 5th augmented, 7th
A transitional dilly
Will be
The end
Of me

It's always simple
Eventually
The reasons
Add up to one

The door leads
To the
Road
And to your
Tomorrow maybe

Your pained trail
Will fade
With a borrowed ride
Windows down

There is happy
In dog face wind
Leaving buried bones buried

That wind buffets
Slaps you
And you wake up
Towards your Not Yet

Off to the left of my inner sight
I spied a withering shadow
With hope for a
Long-lost dance.
Was it just a wind,
A willow-whisper,
A light trick.
Or a chance
To waltz
A lost soul
Into
the
Into?

I've got everything I need
Satisfaction on my knee
Ain't no place that I can't go
With these six strings and a hole

I can strum some clouds on high
I can strum an Angel's cry
Pick my way through any day
I could pluck your Blues away

Just an old brown beat-up box
Seen its worst of dings and knocks
But it still sings true to me
I'll never let it go.

Should we add the words together
Counting up the wrongs and rights
All the sweet, entangled nights
And all the sorrowed mornings?
Or can we simply start anew?
Let loose all those anger-moorings
Tying us to pain-gone-by...
I can try, will you?
See, here, see my open hand
Sweetly offered, angered not,
Gentle callus on the palm,
Strength of Love within it...
See, here, see my open heart...
Throwing words away.

Have you ever been to San Francisco?
With no money?
It's like going to the Moon, Honey,
Without oxygen.
The Moon with palm trees
And a beach.
The Moon with tasty tasty treats
On all the streets
And pretty girls (?) all in a row
And Dark Delights
Even in the daytime
Waiting to take
That last nickle
You don't have.
Yeah, I left my heart there.
Just like the song...
Traded it for a bus ticket
Out.

I have been tethered
Weathered and withered
Blistered and bled
By these strings round my heart.

Six little strings
Keyed up and tightened
Heart-to-the-head
Til my fingers attend.

I do not need to know
How far or why
Just push me
And I will fall
Quite high
I will go over what
And under if
With room to spare

God cut Existence into eight even slices.
     God was Italian, after all...
     Rome, and all that...
     Jesus was a fluke...
But the wine trick was good.

So God passed out the pizza to the worthy:
     A slice to the Needy-
     A slice to the Humble-
     A slice to the Rich
(But he picked off the pepperoni.)

God gave a piece to the dour, unbaptized;
     A slice to the children-
     A slice to the Fallen
     On their way to Hell
(It's a long ride, and God is Forgiving).

God looked down into the box at the Last Piece:
     Angels hovered, drooling...
     Seraphim, Cherubim,
     Arch and minor-winged First Born
Salivated above the Cardboard Holy of Holies.

God just laughed and shoved it into His Omnipotent Mouth.
     And He Screamed!
     Rivers ran dry!
     Oceans parted!
"**** cheese is HOT!"

Eight beers down
long hallway to my room
Zoom!
Fury Furry Tail Jet squeals
between my
sunken knees
with OUT! OUT! OUT!
on her NOW agenda.

Twenty dead minutes later
her nails scrawl blackboard pain
to be let in.

I wake up standing there
where  I started.

She beats me to my bed.

I thought I had lost you.
I looked everywhere.
You had been here, then,
In that Good year.
I sometimes thought
I could hear you
Laughing
Singing
But no...
It was only the
Hollow of my
Heart.
But then, today!
Today I found your old hand-mirror,
The small silver one I gave you
Which you left in a forgotten drawer.
And I can almost see you,
Your sweet reflection
Through the dust.

You have been the engine
I have been
A small part
Of your
Exhaust.
I have been
The breather
The intake
Giving you
Air
To
Burn
To
Run
Right
Over me.

I like trees, so lush and green
( Ghosts of  Winter, Dark, and Mean)
Tall and stately, steadfast, true
( Phantom bones all  cold, and blue)
Reaching up to Touch the Sky
(stealing children walking by)
Apple blossom, Maple branch
(Midnight's when they walk and dance)
Oh! Their whisper-windy song!
(Snag you as you walk along)
Tender saplings stretching wide
(Swallow you down Deep inside)
Climb them, build a home-up-high
(Children missing, my-oh-my)
Touching God with tender leaves
(Hell-deep roots down low beneath)
Guardians of Earth and Time
(Come on up.  Enjoy the climb...)
Ash and Elm and Pine and Oak
(Quiet sneaky Forest Folk)
Mom, and Dad, I'm off to play
To climb a Tree I met today.
It's so big and tall and round
(Mom and Dad won;t hear a sound)

Do not go there
Daughter Dear.
He is rough and
Smells of beer.
And I would not
Want you seen
On his loud
Two-wheeled machine.
He is not your
Type at all,
He's too handsome,
Strong and tall..
What would all the
Neighbors say
When they see you
Ride away
With your skirt all
Cinched-up high
With that Dark and
Handsome guy?
What? You say he
Has a job?
Educated?
Not a slob?
Well, I guess then,
Just one date.
I'll wait up though,
Don't be late.

I thought I heard you
Last Night
In the wind
Outside
An engine
In the Distance
Slicks-on-wet blacktop
No radio on
Just the engine
Just the Rubber
On the road
In the wind
Racing
Against the Night
Or with It
Speed-Love-Crazy
One hand
Wheel-tight
And one
Waving
As
You
Flew.

It is not so much
That you have
Let go of me
As it is
The
Fear
Of
Being
Caught
By Someone
Else.

After all
It's
Not the
Fall
But the
Landing
Can
**** you.

No poem.
No song.
Just the title.
That should be enough.
Six words.
Two more Than your last four-
"I love you, goodbye."
I can't even find
Rhyme
Nor reason
Why.
Oh well.
So long.
No poem.
No song.

My favorite song
On vinyl
Side B
Third track in
It was spinning
About to play
For me
Its sweet
Melody
And
OH!  NO!!
The Cat!
The Cat!

Eventually
Everything
Will be said
And written
In every language
By everyone
In every possible
Combination
Of beat
And meter
And ...  
...pause.
Eventually.
Then
What will
Poets do?
(And then
God whispered
In my ear
And Said
"Silly...
They will
Invent
New
Words".

Honey won't you take me home?
I've been waiting all night long
Out here on this cold and lonely highway-
Open up your Buick Darlin'
Let me get warm.

I must be a sight to see-
In leathers and these ripped up jeans-
Won't you let me inside
And take me for a ride
Down your Dark Ohio Road?

I've been standing here for hours
Watching all the cars drive by-
Don't you think Baby that I've suffered enough?
Pull on over
Let me crawl inside.

I promise I won't ask for more...
And I won't tell a single soul...
If you pick me up and let me
Go for a ride
Down your Dark Ohio Road.

I will roll myself one more Cowboy Smoke
Risking spilled tobacco
And ride into the
Valley of your words

I will leave my six-gun on the bar
Daring brave young Hooligans
To draw on me
As I seek you out.

These are dangerous trails you've mapped
With Lost Canyons
Deep
And
Dark
Replete with cause to worry.

But I am in no hurry, Madam.
Let them have at me.
The brigands and
Foul desert
All of your
Dark Designs.

I still got me
One good
Cowboy smoke...
I can walk
Into your words
By that
One
Weak
Light.

Did I miss a turn?
Are those
Your lights shining
Past  the
Next curve?
Over the next hill?
I can't see this map
On the back
Of the letter you sent.
With the
Sharpie kisses
Dotting
All your
I's...
A left at what tree?
Let me turn down
The Radio
Radar Love
Has confused me
Again.

I cover my eyes
So You can't see me
Hiding here
Hoping
You'll stumble
And knock
My arms
From my face
So I can
Catch you.

I hold my breath
So you can't hear me
Breathing in
Your air
Your exhale
I hide
From you
In plain sight
So you can
Find me.

Oh, Dark Science
Mysterious Gravity
I am moving
Nothing slows me
Towards that Center
Newton laughing
As I plummet
Up and outward
Her black heart
Heavy, waiting
Fractal Love
Never changing
Time slows down
I keep falling
Forever.

There it sits
Hollow
Mildly reeking
Of yesterday's fare
Teasing me
(like that **** squirrel)
With empty promise
With hope that You
With your thumbs
Will soon see fit
To fill it

I will wait
Wagging
I'm still waiting
Do you see me here?
Being good?
(Unlike that **** squirrel)
Yet still it sits
Licked clean empty
Unholy vessel
Staring at me
Here I wait

Horrid Bowl!
Old crock!
I will move you
With my nose
And my paws
(Oh!  That **** elusive squirrel!)
Yet there it sits
I should leave
Go smell something else
As foul as you
To roll in.

There are no monsters neath your bed
They are all inside your head
When you sleep they all come out
Singing, dancing all about
When you wake they fade from sight
(But they'll be back Tomorrow night!)

Well let me tell you bout' Amazing Grace
A Devil body and an Angel Face
When she kneels down on the barroom floor
She offers up forgiveness and a whole lot more

If it's redemption that you're trying to find
Her Absolution is one-of-a-kind
And I can attest that She can Blow Your Mind!
My Sweet Sweet Amazing Grace.

Her Patent Leathers are a sight to see
(If you look closely you'll know what I mean)
Her double pleated plaid skirt can knock you down
But then she'll raise you up boy
Without a doubt.

   She's such a Cutie
   A real Beauty but
    You wouldn't take her home to Mom...
   Daddy wouldn't mind it
    If you thought that you could find it
    To sneak him in the backseat and tag along...

So let me tell you bout' Amazing Grace
A Devil body and an Angel face
She'll let you baptize her all over her face
My Sweet Sweet Amazing Grace
(Gimme an AMEN!)
My Sweet Sweet Amazing Grace!

Ages ago
There was magic
In that Lovin' Spoonful
Song
There had been
Magic
In that
Life gone wrong
The wife
That Life
But...
But...
Somehow
Years and stone
Got in the way
Rolling on
Right back

Don't Read my poem
Your eyes Will burn
Your children
Will melt
In
Sulfurous
Squamous
Pools
Of Lust
Denied
Or torrid pages
Of words
Worth
Looking
Up.
Danger
Lurks here
When hearts
Speak.

Want.
Starve.
Is.
Love.

Word.
Thing.
Stuff.
Trouble.
Heart.
****.
You.

I can not touch you from here.
What?
You want a rhyme
To go with that?
Is it
Not enough
To know
That
I have been
Stretching
Trying
To Reach you?

You always insisted
That
"You"
Was a proper pronoun
But
That
"We"
was not

This clears up
Much of the
Mis-identification
I had
Mistakenly
Believed
About
Love

Religious in essence
Yet so secular
And so widely applyable
Viable and undeniably
Sharp
Hard at both ends
A forged utterance
It holds a myriad multitude
Of Rude in its
Four little letters.
Oh, it can be used
In connection
With other invectives
Paired off with
Other Nouns
Like
God
It
You
But in truth
It stands tall
A giant hammer
Alone
By itself
It does not force
It
Simply
States