"Werewolves Of London"

I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand
Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain
He was looking for the place called Lee ** ****'s
Going to get a big dish of beef chow mein
Werewolves of London

If you hear him howling around your kitchen door
Better not let him in
Little old lady got mutilated late last night
Werewolves of London again
Werewolves of London

He's the hairy handed gent who ran amuck in Kent
Lately he's been overheard in Mayfair
Better stay away from him
He'll rip your lungs out, Jim
I'd like to meet his tailor
Werewolves of London

Well, I saw Lon Chaney walking with the Queen
Doing the werewolves of London
I saw Lon Chaney, Jr. walking with the Queen
Doing the werewolves of London
I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's
His hair was perfect
Werewolves of London again
Draw blood

Close these weary of mine,
Play the Bad Boy's Having a Party,
I can indulge in delights so fine
Of Friday in Civics that are sweet.

Oh yeah!

Mrs. Chaney and that radio of hers,
Both tuned to the oldies Hot 105;
Luther starts to plays as it recurs,
And she smiles, she dances, sings live.

Well, all right now!

What joy to witness her really bask
Is such a relief from the workweek;
Her daily struggle execrated at last,
As she swings, dwelling in melody.

Oh yeah!

We would just sit, listen, and learn,
Finish the week test quickly to survey;
Our weekly burdens were burned,
Ash like hers burned away in a way.

Well, all right!

I hed aced her class with all the lesson,
Yet words may never suffice gratitude;
That strong Black woman was a blessing,
First to see my strong sense of negritude.

Oh yeah!

Thank you, Mrs. Chaney

Werewolf.
My cousin Floyd was one.
He would prowl the night spots
When the moon was full.
One minute. Shooting the breeze

Next he would excuse himself to use the facilities and sneak
Out the bathroom window.
Quiet as a weremouse.

They say he was smitten
And bitten by the girl next door she

Was a bit hairy but.that's no reason to
Jump to confusions.

what about the gent in sheep's clothing.

When I was a kid if you were accused of
selling wolf tickets, you had a
poker face while holding a bad hand
Or.
Feeling froggy but having no hops was another
Lycantropic adventure.

Lon Chaney JR.
howled at the moon in black and white

In that case his howl was worse than his bite.
this poem is lacking in teeth.
goodnight.

You
Were so much more interesting when I thought Bela Lugosi was your uncle
And though the tales of summers spent in the company of Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney Jr. were not true
You had me goin', man
You really had me goin'
Until eventually you drifted your way and I shifted mine
You pimped Kiss while I paraded the *** Pistols
You never told me those stories were lies
Then again I never told you that I thought they were ******* either
I can't help but wonder two things
1.) Do you think I'm so naive as to still believe you were related to Lugosi, Karloff, Chaney Jr. (and MORE!)?
and
2.) What if Bela Lugosi really was your uncle?
No matter, we never could have remained friends
I can't stand obsessive Kiss fans

There's a party going on upstairs,
your invited, to come and have a scare.
H.G. Wells, will meet you at the gate,
costumes required, hurry don't be late.

Vincent Price will be tonights D.J.
Halloween is his favorite Holiday.
He's spinning "Thriller", while dressed up as "Kiss".
Watching Claude Rains do the "Transylvania Twist".

Steve McQueen came dressed up as the "Blob",
he's serving up the zombie shish-ka-bobs.
Elsa Lanchester placed real bats within her hair.
While Marty Feldom keeps yelling "Frau Blucher".

At the stroke of the witching hour,
St. Peter amps up all the power.
A disco ball drops down from a cloud.
Out on the dance floor, forms a massive crowd.

Michael Jackson then leads them all in dance,
while Lon Chaney and Karloff take their chance,
to join the angels in harmony,
While "Monster Mash" is sang by Lugosi.

Even the Devil made it through the door.
He's the one sporting an Elvis pompadour.
So much fun is had by one and all,
at Heavens Annual Halloween Ball

I'd call you both my North Stars,
but then Trish would point out
there's only one,
and Chaney would argue
that if that's the case,
it would have to be her
and I would pull up images
of night skies in Calcutta
and Jo-burg and Rome
to prove that different views
show different stars,
so you two could agree I'm wrong,
something we all know I'll never admit.

So I'll squeeze your hands
and keep quiet,
looking up towards the sky
for guidance and light,
a constant reminder
of how to find home.

This gallery of shape-shifting souls
Has become a theater of the obvious

Token observations presented as
Extraordinary divine revelation

A parade of window-shopping prophets
Pointing, praying, "oooh, I want THAT one"

Stuck in a mold, how many don't know any better?
Confined to their emotions

It's All they've ever known

But that's all it takes to get your foot in the door
Of this funhouse mirror maze

Listen now to the laughter echoing against the glass
Lon Chaney guffaws at all who got lost

Hopelessly walking in circles
Hungry snakes chasing their tails

I think I'm Durante, in a previous life I
could have been Cagney or being fine
and debonaire I could have touched the floor
and danced like Ginger Rogers kissing
Fred Astaire,

I might have been Monroe, I'd prefer her
to Castro,
I Could have picked Pickford, Lon Chaney and
Hitchcock or even Rock Hudson
it would be a dream if only
it did not seem so real to me,
who was I then or was I meant to be
the supporting cast
in the stars of the past?.

I think I'm Durante
I've got the nose and the voice
and if I had the choice
I'd be Jimmy Durante.

Ebenezer is alive and kicking
stamping his brand of misery on my
Christmas tree,
picking the bones of last years lights
ticking the box for boxing day.

I wish the ghost of what is to be and what is to come would pick up a gun and blow him away,but
perhaps the ghost of the present will let that be,because he is the ghost of insanity.
I saw him once played by Lon Chaney or it may have been Charles Hawtrey putting a present under another tree
or maybe it was in the Wizard of Oz
I can't remember because
I'm old now.

Oh Dickens, how you shot me down with your insights into London town
there's a miracle to come on 34th street,BBC One, or so I'm told,personally I don't hold out much hope
so I sit by the radio braiding rope and drinking some dope kind of *****.

I suppose it's in the City and the people one knows that the miracles occur,
I sometimes wish I was there
an Ebenezer sticking it to the masses,
the thought passes
time ticks by.

The date was June 21
In 1964.
Three men° had no idea
What would be lying in store

When they drove through the South
In efforts to promote
Equality by helping
Register Blacks to vote.

They were in Mississippi,
A place that was known for attacks
On basic human rights--
For disenfranchising Blacks.

Arrested and jailed for speeding,
They should have been alarmed.
The locals were working against them.
Of course, the three were unarmed.

After they left the jailhouse,
They were abducted and killed
And buried in an earthen dam--
Their goals as yet unfulfilled.

Two months later the men's
Bodies were found at the site.
Compassionate people were shocked
As details came to light.

The KKK, the sheriff,
And police were involved in the crime.
All but one of the killers
Served very little time.

After years of struggle
And much to our dismay,
We can see voter suppression
Still occurring today.

Why when we seek fair treatment
Are we up against a wall?
Will we ever secure
Equal justice for all?

-by Bob B (6-22-21)

°James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner