Flashes Five

Controlling your
breath : essence
of self-control

“If you want
to get anywhere
—use your legs!”

Metallic
boyish voices
of two corporation males

Their problem is
they believe
in the world


*

A gang of five raccoons
looting the neighborhood garbage cans
before dawn

Stand stone-still
by a tree
on a hill

Monks
in saffron robes
on your subway car

Groups
of ghosts
heading your way

Games
that tear holes
in yourself

*

A day
to crease
your face

To be away
from the world
a while

Notice
and adjust
yourself

To be
a proper instrument
of this


.

Cold Water Blues

Cold water in the morning
Splash your face and face the day
Cold water in the morning...

Cold water in the morning
When you wash your face and hands
Gotta face the world again
And damn it’s bad

The groaning of a train
With a shriek of steel on steel
A moaning in the rain
That speaks just what you feel

A splash of cold water
Straight in the face
Crash in the hollow
Of the same empty place

But you try
And you know why
Your face before you were born
Might have been the sky

We hustle like apostles
Just to make a rich man more rich
We fight and we die in wars
For some son of a bitch

A splash of cold water
Straight in the face
Crash in the hollow
Of the same empty place

But you try
And you know why
Your face before you were born
Might have been the sky

Something shakes the silence
Just before you go to bed
Gotta dream away the world my friend
Or you’ll go mad



.

Brother We

Brother we
Have got to go
They’re gonna get us brother if we don’t

Brother
They don’t love us
Oh no

O my brother
They’ll lock the door
O my brother
We’ve got to go
O my brother
They don’t love us
Oh no

Brother we
Are running low
We’ve gotta be as good as what we know

Brother
They don’t love us
Oh no

O my brother
They’ll lock the door
O my brother
We’ve got to go
O my brother
They don’t love us
Oh no

Brother we
See below
The glossy show that only bosses own

Brother
They don’t love us
Oh no

(If we take the shapes they give
They are gonna do us in
If we swill their medicines
They are gonna do us in )

Brother we
Are on a roll
We’re never gonna let ‘em get our glow

We're never gonna let ‘em get our glow



.

Honey Bee Blues

Mary Mary sure looked good to me
She was a yellow flower and I was a honey bee
She knocked me so far out that I couldn’t see

Mary Mary lived high on the hill
She could be as sweet just as sure as her looks could kill
She could make me crazy for another thrill

As soon as it seemed
She wanted to be with me
I flew on a breeze
Of what she could be for me

A dream
A destiny
I could only see what I wanted to see

When we walked into bars people stopped and stared
Mary always chose the boldest clothes to wear
I but I didn’t really care I was glad to be there

When I met Mary man I swear I saw
An angel of a woman good god who had no flaws
I was too drunk with dreams to ever see her claws

As soon as it seemed
She wanted to be with me
I flew on a breeze
Of what she could be for me

A dream
A destiny
I could only see what I wanted to see

I could only see what I wanted to see



.

Flashes Four

Tired of this world
and ready
for the next

Poverty:
the shadow
of the marketplace

“You can’t be
disappointed by
no miracles”

The history
of humanity
is a whisper

*

Economy:
this rigged game
we’re all trapped in

In the hills
a cloud
of chiming cowbells

“They blow
a lot of air
out of their faces”

All the best
action
is off the map

*

Handsome men
with big
noses

Conversations
that keep us
trapped in the world

“Everybody’s trying
to get to first base
and there is none”

Wine
like a swirling
kiss



.

Goodbye Goliath

Goodbye Goliath
You block my view
You’re high and mighty
Clumsy and crude

Something tells me now
This is bad for you
If you don’t turn around
It will swallow you

Goodbye Goliath
Your breath is bad
Your eyes are tired
And you never laugh

(Goliath going down down down
Goliath going down)

Goodbye Goliath
You’ve got no friends
Just ties to liars
You can’t defend

Something tells me now
This is bad for you
If you don’t turn around
It will swallow you

There is a garden
Under your feet
There is a garden
Under your feet



.

Guiding Line

Do you really dare
To ask that fat priest there?
He’s got his hands full

You want to tell your boss
You’re alone and lost
But it’s no good

All the folks you know
They’re playing out their roles
And they won’t budge

If you do something wild
You’ll end up at a trial
With an old judge

He’ll say there’s no
Place for this in the grid
Didn’t you know?
When you came into this
There was no hole to go
When you got lost from your soul

You don’t want to buy the hype
That you witness every night
On your flat screen

But it’s eating up your time
And it echoes in your mind
Like a bad dream

The murmur in your nerves
That mostly goes unheard
Is growing louder

You wish it wasn’t true
But you can’t find any proof
That let’s you doubt it

(Let me out!
Something’s shouting inside you
A faceless crowd
Watches all that you do
You dig deep down
Inside yourself for an arrow
To lead you out
Of this whirlpool...)

They say there’s no
Place for this in the grid
Didn’t you know?
When you came into this
There was no hole to go
When you got lost from your soul

Ever get the feeling that
The world has got you trapped
In a bad place?

With a bunch of little spies
Who are perpetrating lies
In a rat maze?

There are people on the street
Who can also see the cheat
They’re not blind yet

Buried in your mind
Is a kind of guiding line
That can find them



.

The Face Of Yes

All the flash and dazzle that’s behind your face
Gives a glimpse of...what could it be?
The rumble and the clatter in that silent space
Speak of secrets deep in a dream

Your head’s hot humming soundless sound
Can’t be contained in a town
And maps can’t capture the face of Yes
All we can do is just...guess

God you know you’re so exposed
A soul in the glow of love
Knowing you’re going to go
Down that open road

A star up in the night is like your own life
It shows the glow of its history
It glimmers like the light that’s behind your eyes
A flashing glance of a mystery

The thoughts that flicker through your mind
They fall and they rise like a tide
Sometimes they seem like they’re not yours
As though they started before you were born

God you know you’re so exposed
A soul in the glow of love
Knowing you’re going to go
Down that open road

Doing what you want when you know it’s right
That’s happiness, that’s freedom, might,
Wisdom, love, power, grace,
The highest heights of the human race

Tap dat!



.