he said
“i’m not litigious”
and kept a straight face
and so i felt a little bad
choking back a chortle
“when people are injured
they deserve compensation”
simple as that
fairness
justice
and a one-third contingency
Original Poems
The poems and lyrics included here have been written in the 21st Century. They are presented without context or unifying theme, other than my own halting pen, eclectic interests and prodigal nature.
Many, though by no means all, of them were written using Burroughs' cut-up technique, which is one of my favorite tools for getting my ego out of the way of the creative energy.
Here’s What Happened
frankly
it’s none of your god-damned business
and it was a long time ago
but if you must know
i could no longer endure
the sight of her
nor the sound of one more lazy
ignorant
word
i cried for help
and she slept right through it
when it was time to wake up
In The Rainsong
When the dawn breaks
And the day begins
With your first breath
You will know me
I am rain song
I am turning twig
I am blood and stone
I am journey’s rest
In the rainsong
In the stillness
In the stillness
In the stillness
In the stillness
You will know me
With each new breath
In the stillness
I am star dust
I am circles
I am humming
All around you
I am hiding
In a moonbeam
In the stillness
I will find you
I am lambs’ tears
I am barleycorn
I am mother’s milk
I am broken
I am hopes and fears
I am things to come
I am in the cards
They do not see me
Will you see me?
In the stone and fire
In the tears and mud
In the daybreak
In the rain song
In the lamb’s tear
In your last breath
In the morning
In the stillness
In the stillness
In the stillness…
Surface Area
The surface
of a
queen bed
is about 33 square feet
A human body
takes up about
nine
Less than that on her side
How can it be
that it still feels too
close in here?
In the Morning Sun
Her blonde hair
and drooling grin
Make me want
to run
Somewhere Else Eyes
Eyes in the Mirror
Look so very far
away
Somewhere else
today
I’m always somewhere
else
With Each New Lunacy
to call that man
a lunatic
is an
undeserved insult
to lunatics
we are caught
in an entertainment endeavor
that is fueled by outrage
i used to be outraged
now i am mostly sad
disoriented
a little confused
and more than a little frightened
because there is no normal
to get back to
that’s showbiz
On Seeing a Tripod Dog
We pause at a stop sign on the way to school
Here comes a little black puffball
Skipping and hopping on the end of his lead
Dancing like popcorn in a hot skillet
As he and his tender approach
We see that he is missing a left front leg
Nonetheless whole
Joyful, he is
The Kid smiles broadly catching the man’s eye
And he smiles back
Joyful were we
Sat Nam
Gentlest breeze and sweet smell
of incense
I am
the silent sentinel
at breath’s gate
Before the seat of the soul
mandalas flow and resolve
the orbit of a far off prayer
wheel their motive
the True Name
the Holy Name
is revealed once more
Have Nots After Ten
it was one school drop-off that set me back
the entire week stopped at the grocery store
the car pulled up, and blocked my delicate balance
i remembered
several things happened
remember
distributing might be easily upset
my mother always bit, despite working
people who do, and who are
tire others among us
just at the end of just down the road a ways
he made eye contact
being silently filled with rage at symbolized justice
I watched him walk on people who possess it
He Smoked Luckies
He smoked Luckies
And he was a Dodgers fan
I remember watching him shave
With an electric of some sort
And he was a Protestant
And a Kentuckian
And a Democrat
Beyond that I have no idea
Did he shoot Winchester or Remington?
What was his aftershave?
His reels, I’m sure, were Shakespeares
After he died, Mom sold most of his tackle
My sister watched me salt a beer once
And said
“Daddy used to do that.”
It was then that I realized
I’d spent fifty years
Chasing a ghost