The blurred wall
of another train
passes our passing train
A synthetic voice
announces our stops (and new
messages on someone’s phone)
A made-up face
gazes at
a magazine
A man with maps
of worry beneath his eyes
stares into spaces between faces
(Each of us eager to be elsewhere!)
A car adrift
on a different tide
floats beside us awhile
A man in paint-stained pants
wears a jacket
advertising a bank
The train’s steel wheels
scrape steel rails
like screaming skeletons
We all have plastic
identity tags
at our waists and necks
(This surge in the brain! This urge to relate!)
Outside shines
a twilit sky
of flaming foil
.
Victor Casino
Under the sky of a smile
I kept my options wild
So did she
We stared down on Las Vegas
From a jet at night
A forest of lights
A jackpot JING! JING!
Gleam of a prize
In the mirror of her eyes
Our YES!
Like a hiss
Of greasy success
Melting into a lava
Of unnavigable horror
In an air-conditioned room
A hateful glare
In the sudden sun
And I chose to run
.
I kept my options wild
So did she
We stared down on Las Vegas
From a jet at night
A forest of lights
A jackpot JING! JING!
Gleam of a prize
In the mirror of her eyes
Our YES!
Like a hiss
Of greasy success
Melting into a lava
Of unnavigable horror
In an air-conditioned room
A hateful glare
In the sudden sun
And I chose to run
.
Fancy Dancer
You’re such a fancy dancer
You’ve got such flash and class
Out on the floor
You never stoop to shake it
With someone starting out
That’s such a bore!
But don’t you remember
That you were once the one
Doing clumsy steps?
Now when the clumsy stumblers
Gain their gliding grace
You don’t dance with them
It’s not a joke
It’s not a joke
A whisper in the air
Is starting to grow
When the whisper grows
Through a cloud of smoke
It seems to say
What you’ve always known
Once upon a time
You saw dancers you admired
They were beautiful
You tried to get it right
You practiced every night
In your little room
Then one magic night
You hit your heaven’s high
In a big dance hall
The best dancers danced with you
You joined their special few
And you’d top them all!
It’s not a joke
It’s not a joke
A whisper in your mind
Is starting to grow
When the whisper grows
Through a cloud of smoke
It seems to say
What you’ve always known
Faces full of voices
A mirror in the sky
A teardrop
And a windy moan
The soul of someone singing
A plot behind a smile
Fierce glances
At another’s clothes
A thirst for something gentle
A thistle in a kiss
Insistence
On your difference
Dancers like an ocean
Music big as love
And laughter
With ev’rybody else
It’s not a joke
It’s not a joke
A whisper in the wind
Is starting to grow
When the whisper grows
Through a cloud of smoke
It seems to say
What you’ve always known
You’ve got such flash and class
Out on the floor
You never stoop to shake it
With someone starting out
That’s such a bore!
But don’t you remember
That you were once the one
Doing clumsy steps?
Now when the clumsy stumblers
Gain their gliding grace
You don’t dance with them
It’s not a joke
It’s not a joke
A whisper in the air
Is starting to grow
When the whisper grows
Through a cloud of smoke
It seems to say
What you’ve always known
Once upon a time
You saw dancers you admired
They were beautiful
You tried to get it right
You practiced every night
In your little room
Then one magic night
You hit your heaven’s high
In a big dance hall
The best dancers danced with you
You joined their special few
And you’d top them all!
It’s not a joke
It’s not a joke
A whisper in your mind
Is starting to grow
When the whisper grows
Through a cloud of smoke
It seems to say
What you’ve always known
Faces full of voices
A mirror in the sky
A teardrop
And a windy moan
The soul of someone singing
A plot behind a smile
Fierce glances
At another’s clothes
A thirst for something gentle
A thistle in a kiss
Insistence
On your difference
Dancers like an ocean
Music big as love
And laughter
With ev’rybody else
It’s not a joke
It’s not a joke
A whisper in the wind
Is starting to grow
When the whisper grows
Through a cloud of smoke
It seems to say
What you’ve always known
.
Let Go
The boss called me in his office
Told me to sit down
I sat and looked right at him
His eyes kept flashing around
He said “We’ve got to let you go
The firm is cutting back”
I can’t really remember
What he said after that
I did not knock him out
I did not jump and shout
I just walked on out
I called up my girl friend
Hoo-ooo-hoo-ooo-hoo!
But a man who’s got no job
Is not at all her type
She said “This just isn’t working
We’re on different paths
You do too much moody brooding
And I’m not into that!”
I did not beg and moan
I did not throw my phone
I just let her go
Collecting unemployment checks
Drinking cheap beer with friends
I just wrote a bunch of poems
It's gotta be my best batch yet
Sending out my resume
Only got a callback once
I can extend my benefits
For just a few more months
I only eat at home
I always sleep alone
I can’t pay off my loans
But I still got a phone
And I still write my poems
My mind is still my own
.
Told me to sit down
I sat and looked right at him
His eyes kept flashing around
He said “We’ve got to let you go
The firm is cutting back”
I can’t really remember
What he said after that
I did not knock him out
I did not jump and shout
I just walked on out
I called up my girl friend
Hoo-ooo-hoo-ooo-hoo!
But a man who’s got no job
Is not at all her type
She said “This just isn’t working
We’re on different paths
You do too much moody brooding
And I’m not into that!”
I did not beg and moan
I did not throw my phone
I just let her go
Collecting unemployment checks
Drinking cheap beer with friends
I just wrote a bunch of poems
It's gotta be my best batch yet
Sending out my resume
Only got a callback once
I can extend my benefits
For just a few more months
I only eat at home
I always sleep alone
I can’t pay off my loans
But I still got a phone
And I still write my poems
My mind is still my own
.
Little Angel Glow
He laughs through a strained face
like wind from an underground train.
“I just boast over the beats, me!
Mix in some funky blips and
talk street and—here’s the key—
stir in girls who coo
like whores in a limosine
parked beside a big church!
You get that little angel
glow in the chorus and ch-
CHING! you got a fantasy
that lets you get rich
off the poor!”
And he winces that grin again
through a face like a map
of a war.
.
like wind from an underground train.
“I just boast over the beats, me!
Mix in some funky blips and
talk street and—here’s the key—
stir in girls who coo
like whores in a limosine
parked beside a big church!
You get that little angel
glow in the chorus and ch-
CHING! you got a fantasy
that lets you get rich
off the poor!”
And he winces that grin again
through a face like a map
of a war.
.
Give It Away
You wake up under a thick
Fog of dream
You tell yourself it’s not as
Bad as it seems
You rub two dim eyes
You sigh and rise
A rather battered-looking
Face faces you
In the mirror that you’re
Staring into
It starts to scare you
What can you do?
Time to go and give it away
Out there faces flash their
Gazes at you
Mostly looking either
Battered or cruel
They start to scare you
What can you do?
Each money-maker makes his
Way through the maze
Doing duties that screw
Twists in his face
It’s not a secret
The deal is real
Everybody gives it away
In the maze you meet a
Man on the street
He stinks and jabbers through some
Black broken teeth
He starts to scare you
What can you do?
He’s what happens when you
Crack up and crash
Who was this man before he
Fell through the cracks?
He looks right at you
You see him too
You know you’ve got to give it away
(They say it’s all a game in the maze
And your place in the game is to play)
A guy at work is looking
Desperate and blue
He groans and curses in the
Cube next to you
It starts to scare you
What can you do?
If you ask him ‘bout the
Trouble he’s in
He’ll never only be a
Colleague again
You rub two dim eyes
You sigh and rise
Time to really give it away
.
Fog of dream
You tell yourself it’s not as
Bad as it seems
You rub two dim eyes
You sigh and rise
A rather battered-looking
Face faces you
In the mirror that you’re
Staring into
It starts to scare you
What can you do?
Time to go and give it away
Out there faces flash their
Gazes at you
Mostly looking either
Battered or cruel
They start to scare you
What can you do?
Each money-maker makes his
Way through the maze
Doing duties that screw
Twists in his face
It’s not a secret
The deal is real
Everybody gives it away
In the maze you meet a
Man on the street
He stinks and jabbers through some
Black broken teeth
He starts to scare you
What can you do?
He’s what happens when you
Crack up and crash
Who was this man before he
Fell through the cracks?
He looks right at you
You see him too
You know you’ve got to give it away
(They say it’s all a game in the maze
And your place in the game is to play)
A guy at work is looking
Desperate and blue
He groans and curses in the
Cube next to you
It starts to scare you
What can you do?
If you ask him ‘bout the
Trouble he’s in
He’ll never only be a
Colleague again
You rub two dim eyes
You sigh and rise
Time to really give it away
.
Memories of a Journey
The twisted hog’s face of the rude old border guard
who looked through the bags in your car.
Driving through the night in the fog and the rain
while the others slept until someone woke and relieved you.
Arriving at the sea at sunset in a town of smiling strangers
who seemed to want nothing from you.
Sleeping like a baby—with hectic intricate world-worried dreams.
The BRAAWK! (ringing long pause) BRAAWK! of the birds
sailing over the roof when you woke.
The churn of the ferryboat through sun sea air
and islands like moon pyramids.
Swimming in a cool salt lake with big-eyed donkeys on the shore
beneath bleached stone hills full of olive trees.
Heavy dark home-made red wine strong as brandy at dusk.
.
who looked through the bags in your car.
Driving through the night in the fog and the rain
while the others slept until someone woke and relieved you.
Arriving at the sea at sunset in a town of smiling strangers
who seemed to want nothing from you.
Sleeping like a baby—with hectic intricate world-worried dreams.
The BRAAWK! (ringing long pause) BRAAWK! of the birds
sailing over the roof when you woke.
The churn of the ferryboat through sun sea air
and islands like moon pyramids.
Swimming in a cool salt lake with big-eyed donkeys on the shore
beneath bleached stone hills full of olive trees.
Heavy dark home-made red wine strong as brandy at dusk.
.
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