Musical Interlude...

Saw the Boys of Summer
   Down by the River,
   Pulling Mussels From a Shell...
Says I, "Feeling Alright?"
     and they said
     it was The End of the World as We Know it
     or at least The End of the Innocence
     and the Life in the Fast Lane
     had turned each of them
     into a Desperado,
     Bad Company
     and Bad to the Bone...
So this being The Year of the Cat,
     I hopped the Last Train to Clarksville
     which just happened to be
     The Wabash Cannonball,
      with ol' Casey Jones conducting
      who said we could go Truckin'
     over to Brownsville Station
     and board the City of New Orleans,
    switching later to the Peace Train
    heading to the Last Resort...
Well, saw a Rockin' Robin
     and felt I Can See Clearly Now
     and here came Willie and the Hand Jive
     and Can't You See
     the Blue Sky ahead
     and Everything is all Right?...
                 November 29, 2009

Momentary Distractions...

Let me disappear today
    that is, in fact, if I ever was...
Give me little rhyme
    and less reason
    for once, let's just say...
because...
I'm tired of the tears
     and the fears turned to phobia,
     the jeers down the years
     from strangers
     never taking the time to know you...
Snap judgments, books and covers...
Traumatic changes,
     just how does one recover?
 How many time must the door
     slam in my face
     before I turn away?...
I am always forgiving
     but I can never forget
     but what I tire of
     is the helplessness and regret...
Foolish words and foolish temper
     when it is all as simple
     as picking up a phone to say,
     "Hey, how have you been?
       You know, I have missed you..."
             circa unknown

Resolution...

I have to sustain my life,
     maintain and even keel
     in the midst of all this strife...
Attain my goals,
     but at what cost to my soul?...
Remain true to myself
     as I continue to grow,
     contain my doubts
     while letting my fears go...
Detain my enthusiasm,
     temper it with concise thought,
     see what pertains
     and what stories
     should not be bought...
See what became of
      the lessons I've been taught...
Realize that no two anythings
      are the same...
Remember we have nothing
     if we don't have our good name...
Understand feelings in others
     and mine are the same,
     just born of different experiences...
For the happenstance of life
     is as flickering candlelight,
     keeping darkness at bay,
     but a fragile delight...
          June 23, 2010

Time Will Tell...

Coming back from the valley,
     been down for so long
     forgot what up looked like...
Thinkin' that I might sally forth
     and slay a few windmills or so
     cos' i'm an anachronism,
     should have lived a long time ago...

Looking down from the mountain,
     wondering about Leaps of Faith...
Gazing at the Fountain of Youth,
     wondering if I should have a taste
     'cos i'm living life by the moment
     and I haven't got time to waste...
 
Swinging from the treetops,
     a monkey man is all I am...
I'm no King of the Jungle,
     but beginning to know
     just who I am
     'cos I'm going through
     my own evolution
    and the solution seems near at hand...

Coming back from the valley,
     been down for so long
     forgot what up looked like...
Thinkin' that I might sally forth
     and slay a few windmills or so
     cos' i'm an anachronism,
     should have lived a long time ago...
               June 18, 2014



   

 

Ageless...

A smile that warms the heart,
     with an honest and open face
     where you can read every emotion
     as if were written on vellum   
     by an Egyptian scribe...
Beauty as timeless as the Nile,
     the Fertile Crescent of your mind
     is growing and coming to know
     the things real, the emotions you feel
     have been unchanged since Time began,
     since the Sphinx yawned in the hot sand...
Una de La Raza, gente de mi gente...
No importa donde voy,
     siempre lo encuentre...
Digame en nuestra lenga
     que ambiciones tengas
     y adonde te va llevar la vida...
Yet again, the decades loom
     seems I am always the oldest
     in any room...
Just want to let you know
     not quite ready for the tomb,
     these eyes recognize beauty
     wherever I find it...
           June 16, 2014

Daydream...

Ebony perfection
     with an island gait...
Steps slow and measured,
     graceful as a feline,
     slipping in and out
     of her world and into mine
     and that is where I find her
     on the edge of indecision,
     fearful of the derision
     that may follow,
     the chance that should not be lost...
Hope in the irreverence of time,
     age means nothing,
     it is the years that are sublime
     and with each lesson comes awareness
     that one must reach for the ring
     lest you travel in circles,
     all your life for nothing....
For what it fate but chance taken?,,,
          May 10, 2104

Firmament...

The lights that are always on,
     the doors that never close;
     a tired familiarity
     to the sights, the smells...
Just close you eyes,
     cover your ears,
     still, you would know
     where you are
     by the contour of the chairs,
     the antiseptic smell in the air,
     the taste of alcohol in your mouth...
Magic doors and there's always chores;
     no one's standing still,
     even the ladies
     behind the reception desk
     swing their seats slowly
     side to side,
     one foot on the ground,
     the other on a rung...
Early morning calm
     before the storm
     after the night's shower
     washed the streets clean...
Now they sparkle and gleam
     in the early daylight...
Angels, arise...
Resume your fight...
          June 9, 2014

In Your Arms...

Sometimes I wish it would rain forever
     so I could build an ark...
Sometimes I wouldn't mind it
    if the World had a brand new start
Wouldn't need a car,
    wouldn't be a place to park
    and planes would not fall from the sky...

In your arms, sweet Jesus,
    we will be set free...
In your arms, sweet Jesus,
    Lord, is there another way?
In your arms, sweet Jesus,
    we will be set free...
Lord, is there another way?

Wish I could go wearing bearskin
    and trample through the woods,
    living off the grasshoppers
    but that wouldn't do any good...
Never been one to set examples,.
    even if I could,
    but, man, what I way to go...
In your arms, sweet Jesus,
    we will be set free...
In your arms, sweet Jesus,
    Lord, is there another way?
In your arms, sweet Jesus,
    we will be set free...
Lord, is there another way?

Can you imagine dying on the cross?...
What a way to treat your son,
     but it's not just his cross to bear,
     it belongs to everyone...
Could it be that God's so cruel,
     or is it he's just dumb,
     deaf and blind
     like all of us...
In your arms, sweet Jesus,
    we will be set free...
In your arms, sweet Jesus,
    Lord, is there another way?
In your arms, sweet Jesus,
    we will be set free...
Lord, is there another way?
        circa 1979

Water Brothers...

Along the river bank,
     a stone's throw
     from the City Green,
     I took a step down
     and a step back
     into the time of Earth, Stone and Water...
There, where babbling brook
     laughed its way to the river,
     a shaft of light pierced
     the greyish-white blanket of sky
     on a cool-to-cold spring morn
     and shone upon a quartz boulder...
Sitting upon the rock,
     nestled within the sharp edges,
     lay a snake like none I've seen
     in my years meandering
     through track, trail and stream...
Black, with brown markings,
     like Australian aboriginal drawings
     of spirits from the sky,
     with a band of white around
     each ghostly figure...
Sluggish from the cool day,
     he did not move as I approached
     and took him from the cold
     into my warm trench coat pocket...
To the pet store to discover
     he is a baby Ball Python
     of about a foot and a half long,
     eaten well and in good health...
He began to circle my wrist
     and we became friends...
Since he was found out of his element,
     I have named him such...
E.T., we've many years ahead...
          May 24, 2014

Spare a Cup?...

An act of kindness
     is not soon forgotten,
     the memory remains
     and the smile returns...
A keepsake, like a locket,
    a remembrance
    of the milk of human kindness,
    of acquaintance
    turned to friendship...
It is the simple things,
    often the easy things,
    no more than a moment
    for the non-egotistical instincts
    to take over,
    to do for another
    for the pleasure of a smile...
This is how the world should be
    thinking of and helping each other
    hang on to the branches
    of the Earth, our Family Tree...
A small act blossoms
    and its memory lingers,
    the fragrance invigorates...
Breathe deep,
    take in the humanity...
The simplest things, the simplest things;
    sometimes it's all it takes...
            May 30, 2014

   

Have You Seen?...

It's what i do,
     as if i ever had a choice...
How much more insane
     would my life had been
     if i had not heeded,
     once in a while,
     my inner voice?...
Fighting doubt and temptation,
     torn between the paths
     towards destruction and creation...
Wondering if it is the height of conceit
     to dare these dreams;
     to speak the truth plainly;
     to plan but not scheme;
     to be exactly what i seem...
My mentors from centuries past
     were true to themselves,
     the proof being their words have lasted
     as empires rose and fell.
     as pilgrims prayed
     and Messiahs fasted...
I, too, will go unto the desert,
     if that is what it takes...
Never said i knew the Truth
     but perhaps i might get you to see it
     then tell me, please,.
     i may have missed it...
           June 8, 2014




  

Time Tunnel...

If i could go back
     to my earlier life
     could i go back and change?...
You might think it strange,
     but now sure
     what i lost or gained
      along the way to get here...
And if i were to rearrange
     the tiles of the paths i chose
     would i make the same mistakes
     or different ones than those?
For it's from our mistakes we learn;
     we all learned not to play with fire
     by being burned;
     you remember the way
     when you have to turn
     and go back...
Slower than most in the simplest ways,
     learning to deal with myself
     a little easier these days...
It took such a long time
     to learn what i already knew;
     that you and i are no different
     we're all doing the best we can do
     ... almost...
          June 8, 2014

Clearing...

A change in life,

     a different angle

     to the sun...

Nothing's changed but me

     everything is new again

     as though my life has just begun...

Have been crawling for so long,

     rising from my knees

     surprised at how much farther you see

     when you look into

     the faces you see...

A change of heart,

     too many times broken...

Indecision and regret

     over words i should have spoken...

Folly follows fearful thoughts;

     every thing goes south,

     self-fulfilling prophecies,

     curses from witch's mouths...

A change in luck;

     we make it for ourselves...

Ah, what the fuck

     if it can't hurt, it might help!...

Take a moment, then decide;

     determine best for you,

     live your life - don't run and hide

     'cos you already know

     that just won't do...
            June 8, 2014

The Belles of St. Mary's...

Angels under the fluorescents
     gliding noiselessly
     in their sneakers...
Taking in their charges,
     some old friends.
     D.O.L.L.s and such,
     and others not so dear...
Scrubs of many colors,
     a rainbow surrounds me
     as they float and hover about me...
Feverish though I am,
     cannot help but notice
     never having seen so many
     attractive women in one place
     as I turn my eyes slowly
     from face to face...
Thank you, Clara Barton,
    this I call a bargain,
     if I should leave this Earth today
     I was helped along the way by cherubim,
     Hippocrates daughters,
     the ones who are there
     first and last...
A large shadow to cast,
     if you have the heart and soul
     to separate the tempest and find control
     for to heal is to know what's real
     when you hold another's life
     in your hands...
           June 69, 2014