9 Haiku

Dark fingers gripping
sunburst-colored coffee cup—
train to work at dawn

A burst of pigeons—
sudden wind in the crosswalk
when the light goes green

Foggy lamp-lit street—
silhouette of a dog leashed
to a man who coughs

*

Cafe at dusk:

Tiny neon script
glows in the shiny dark pond
inside my wineglass

Under a half moon—
I don’t want to fit words to
anything right now

Snake of light at night—
lamp-lit electrical wire
twists in rainy wind

*

Down in Baton Rouge
the wooden telephone poles
are shaped like crosses

Long line of light slides
slowly on the horizon—
huge cruise ship at night

Framed by the window
figures pass on the footpath
in the milky fog



.

Faces In The Sky

I’m a busy guy
And my life is flying by
But I’d rather spend my time
Gazing at faces in the sky

I’m waiting for a wave to
Wash this world away
Or a roaring storm to
Blast us into space
Where we won’t be working
Just so we can pay

To stay another day
And we won’t have to worry no more

The madness of this business
Twists its way into my mind
It fogs my thoughts with poison
And has me groping blind

I’m waiting for a wave to
Wash this world away
Or a roaring storm to
Blast us into space
Where we won’t be working
Just so we can pay

To stay another day
And we won’t have to worry no more

(Men who sell tobacco
Look like cigarettes
Their faces are all mashed out
And so dead)

A huge and hazy halo
Hovers over the full moon
And the eyes of burning stars are calm
And stare down through the roof

Of a sky that shows no limit
But still holds us to this place
Where we’re spinning in a circle
Through the emptiness of space

Stars are not so far once
You fall through the floor
Of a world where we whirl
Round and round some more
Circle after circle
Through the endlessness

Until there comes a day
When we won’t have to worry no more



.

Antenna

You’re an antenna in the blithering air
You’re getting messages there

Scrambled signals coming from everywhere
They’re getting lost in the blare

You’re getting tired and you’re head is a mess
Brittle metal in the storm and the stress
Your antenna’s getting banged up and bent
You’d better get out and untwist it again

Ever get the feeling that it’s all gonna work out right?

You hear it humming on a low frequency
Like a rumbling boom

A signal singing through the shivering breeze
It comes tumbling through you

You’re getting tired and you’re head is a mess
Brittle metal in the storm and the stress
Your antenna’s getting banged up and bent
You’d better get out and untwist it again

Ever get the feeling that it’s all gonna work out right?



.

Flashes Eight

Those who’d steal
the music
from your soul

At work I’m a
paper-pushing
people person

“The shortest distance
between two points
—is a point!”


*

Suddenly
happy for
no reason at all

The world
looks terrible
when you’re broken down

A white-haired
pink-cheeked
old lady!

*

Sometimes friends
recommend works of art
to future versions of yourself

Those who run
the world
and those who live in it

Man
that doctor
is sick!

The best way to
disempower celebrities
is to ignore them

*

Christ!
The son of God
is Humanity

Almost always
people
are bluffing

Each day is a spell,
a chime
in a churning universe



.

Sister Sister

Sister sister here comes the night
We can fight it with all of our might
We’ll still lose
Some things you can’t choose

Stars almost whisper from their places on high
The moon is shining like dazzling eye
A cool jewel
I’m a happy fool with you

I love this leaping lifting up my life
A single simple sigh
Both of us breathing here beneath the sky
It’s all right

If we’re kissing an our lives leap like light
We’ll know this moment like a shimmering chime
And we’ll fly
Riding on a rhyme

Sister sister this is our time
A glowing poem in an ocean of night
A design
Tying your life’s light to mine

I love this leaping lifting up my life
A single simple sigh
Both of us breathing here beneath the sky
It’s all right

Oh you know we’re both strangers in this world
Oh you know we’re both strangers in this world
Oh you know we’re both strangers in this world
But you know
Now it doesn’t seem so cold



.

Got To Go

So many places I don’t want to be
So many faces I don’t want to see

I wish that I could be a spirit
Floating in the sky
Listening to the wind whisper advice

Wither in water and burn in the air
Cough in the fog like I'm murmuring prayers

Wishing I could be a spirit
Floating in the sky
Listening to the wind whisper advice

Oh you’d better know
Something’s gonna find you out
You know you’ve got to go
But you can’t find your way out

When you’re feeling low
You know there’s always further down
A gravity below
Tugging from the underground

We’ve heard it before and we’ll hear it again
We’ve all got to go but we’ll never know when

We will fill the air as spirits
Floating in the sky
Swimming in the winds of paradise

You have always known
Something’s gonna hunt you down
A gravity below
Tugging from the underground

All that you’ve been shown
Is all that you have come to doubt
You know you’ve got to go
But you know there’s no way out



.

15 Haiku

Gang of five raccoons
looting neighborhood garbage
in the lamp-lit street

“The fans in the stands
of the team that just lost look
like peed-upon plants”

The cat steps outside
and scrutinizes the world
through its little nose

*

The complications
of these electrical wires
under empty skies

What haunts a house worse
than the heavy tick-tock of
a grandfather clock?

I bother a bug
so I can watch it scurry—
why not let it be?

*

Early evening train—
man staring blankly into
newspaper comics

Plotting and planning
amidst the calm ripe stillness
of a green garden

Dim subway platform—
sudden glint of a wristwatch
on a man who waits

*

Off work, on a train—
an entire car to myself
one sunny Friday

Crisp autumn evening—
warm sweet smell of soap floating
from a laundromat

Swimming like a smile
in autumn skies before dawn—
silver slash of moon

*

For Hazel Dickens:

After the party—
apartment full of phantoms
and leftover wine

Early autumn— I’m not
ready for dark heavy pants
yet, I tell myself

Get up. Work all day.
Go home. Eat and dance and play
guitar and sing! Then sleep.



.

Saint Ignominius

Climb on this crowded bus
Ride to your job with us
We’re all aboard on this cruise

And on this morning’s trip
Stare into a comic strip
That shows what you forgot you knew

It’s true
Too true

It shows a clown made of clouds
Floating over busy crowds
That never bother looking above

At that jester there
Hanging in the silly air
A goofy dude adrift on a puff

Enough
To love

Wish it whispered through me
Night by night

My life is light
The world is fine
I’ve got time

I’ve got time

Saint Ignominius
Sketched a funny place for us
Fit us in his little cartoon

What’s he gonna do with us?
Hope he isn’t through with us
Bet we’ll never guess his next move

And who
Is who

But we’re in his comic strip
Our lives inhabit it
That’s what’s got us laughing right now

He peppered the plot with what
We want but haven’t got
Graced us with a place in the crowd

Without
A doubt

Wish it whispered through me
Night by night

My life is light
The world is fine
I’ve got time

I’ve got time

So climb on this crowded bus
Ride to your job with us
The joke isn’t only on you

Our clown is smiling down
Blessing all this battered ground
And he found a place in the news

His truth
Slipped through



.

Rain

based on a song by Free

Rain is falling
Falling all around
I’m a thousand miles from home
Don’t know where I’m bound

I’m out here on the road
Just roaming on my own

The lights in the homes
Glow like gold

I’m cold and alone
And I don’t know a soul

And the rain is here
But soon as it clears
I’m gonna go

Rain is falling
Falling on this town
I’m standing still and listening
To that gentle sound

And I’m dreaming of a day
When I have found a place

Where I’m calm and I’m strong
And I know I belong

Until that day comes
I’ll be roaming on my own

Lonely and rough
Looking for love
But all I’ve got is rain

Rain is drumming
Drumming on the ground
I’m so tired of running
I’ve got to settle down

(Stuck in a moment when you wonder
What it is you’ve got to do
Whatever made you run and wander
Where’s it gonna lead you to?)

Rain is falling
Falling all around
I’m a thousand miles from home
Don’t know where I’m bound



.

Flashes Six

Amazed
by the stillness
of an animal

Faces in the trees
and the rocks
and the sky

Despairing
because you can’t
set the world right

Drinking
dazes
me

*

My friends—
please forgive
my foolishness

Scars of tears
on an old
man’s face

His mind—
a lumpy
diamond

A life
like riding
waves

*

One of those days
when the sky
hurts your eyes

Flute:
epitome
of music

Two men with the same face
emptying
their dead father’s house

The holy
loneliness
of self-discipline

Worlds where
monkeys roam
the streets



.

Happened To Be Here

Happened to be here
When the big board went berserk
All of us panicked
The old tricks wouldn’t work

Heaven was hidden
A ceiling stopped the sky
We were all ruined
We tried to run and hide

It burst in a flash
All of us crashed
What are you worth when the world you know is smashed?

Happened to be here
When a fever hit the air
We were all shaken
From our usual despair

Something was singing
In the center of our heads
Something forgotten
Was starting up again

This is our chance
Get up and dance
This is the moment we’ve been waiting for my friends

(You are here and so are we
Secretly we see)

Happened to be here
When history was made
It was all twisted
Into a different shape

What really happened
Didn’t make the news
We carry inside us
What we know is true

Stories from them
They’re all a sham
The world to them is not the world of men



.

The Whisper

I’ve got a secret
And you do too
I’m gonna keep it
Hidden from you

I can imagine
The things you do
So you can keep it
Buried in you

Gotta keep this thing rolling along
Gotta keep this thing rolling along

We’re loud and shallow
But it gets out
Leaking from somewhere
Underground

We razzle dazzle
With all our might
We drown in shadows
Alone at night

Gotta keep this thing rolling along
Gotta keep this thing rolling along

(“Man it’s just...”
“I mean it’s like...”
“My own best essence...”
“Is a whisper...”)

Our laughing faces
Crack like masks
Against a question
We won’t ask

Under the bluster
Of all we say
There’s something humming
That won’t go away

Gotta keep this thing rolling along
Gotta keep this thing rolling along



.

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!



.

Flashes Three

Edible mushrooms
with poisonous
twins

The forest
is full
of faces

“The fans in the stands
of the team that just lost
look like peed-upon plants”

For forty years
my feet were retarded—
shoes made them dumb

America
mistakes the marketplace
for the arena of dreams

*

The lust
that blinds you
to beauty

The birth
of birds
in nests

Can you grow a rose
from a broken branch?
Yes!

A bunch
of dopes posing
as heroes

Kept awake
by the bitter persuasion
of coffee

*

“If you’re so shy
you’ll just die
of hunger!”

Razzmatazz
Americans:
like leaky circuits

Zen:
another way
of saying Yes

“Oliver! It's Frank!
It’s only eleven!
God!"

Suddenly liking
all the people
on the train

*

The lantern eyes
in the swirling face
of a tiger cat

The sign on the front
of a rusty old bus
said SIMPLIFY

We live as if a disaster happened.
But it hasn’t touched us yet.
Not quite—right?

The Andrews Sisters
were the Yankee Dollar
they sang of

*

Driver
Remember
You’re rolling

Guitarist wisdom:
If you hit a bum note
—bend it!

Cynical thoughts:
let them breeze
through your mind



.

One Thing We All Know

I woke up in the morning
In the fog of a dream
All those faces and voices
Were still buzzing in me

I could feel myself sliding
Back down into the pool
But then something inside me
Said “Get up right now you fool!”

You had better know
It’s gonna go fast
And it won’t last
So get going

I knew I must do my duty
I caught a train to my job
My pressed shirt and my necktie
Let ‘em know I’m no slob

Next to me sat a fat man
Talking into his phone
What he said was important
I could tell by his tone

He said We both know
It’s gonna go fast
And it won’t last
So let’s go

I imagined that fat man
Running down a dark street
He was ragged and sweaty
He had no shoes on his feet

He was stuffing his pockets
With coins that kept raining down
But they slipped through his pants and
Clattered back on the ground

He seemed to really know
It’s gonna go fast
And it won’t last
So it goes

My little fantasy cruelty
Touched a trigger in me
And as if it just happened
I remembered my dream

I was down in the country
There were fruits all around
Everybody was out there
Pulling all of them down

One thing we all know
It’s gonna go fast
And it won’t last
So we go



.

This Is Paradise

I was boss of the office
With a huge view of the bay
A pretty girl brought me coffee
I didn’t bother learning her name

And I said Hey hey hey
I do believe I’ve got it made

A goddess stood on the sidewalk
The urge in me was ready to burst
I had no nerve to make small talk
It felt like I could drown in my thirst

And I said Hey hey hey
I can’t keep freezing at these gates

I went down to the devil
The first thing I felt was afraid
He had a face like a tunnel
And I knew I had made a mistake

And I said Hey hey hey
I sure do miss my better days

(I fell low enough to know
The pit where evil grows
That’s what my weakness showed me)

I met a man like a ragmop
But he had incredible eyes
And even though he did not talk
He made a point I recognized

He seemed to say Hey hey hey
There really is no better way

Open your tired eyes
This is paradise



.

Haven't Got A Name

I was outside on a lunch break
In the financial part of town
The streets were shadowy canyons
Between the buildings all around

I was standing at a stop light
And across the street from me
A woman stood there gaping
With eyes like tv screens

She’d heard some shocking gossip
Through the cell phone at her ear
OH! MY! GOD! she kept repeating
Each word so fierce and clear

The light told us to cross the street
And as we passed I watched her face
Chanting OH! MY! GOD! and gawking
And my mind began to race

I haven’t got a name
For all we’re doing
But it seems insane
And so unreal
I haven’t got a name
For all we’re doing
I haven’t got a name

She’s an idiot! I told myself
An American idiot who wastes
Her free time watching other people
Pretending to live on tv!

And when she gets a tiny bit
Of liveliness in her own life
She hypes it into a huge flashing jackpot
To match the dazzle of her screen!

And then a breeze between buildings
Whispered into me
And something soothing in that wind
Almost seemed to speak

It told me I was foolish
To rant behind me eyes
And I should take the meanings I’d made
And toss them into the sky

I haven’t got a name
For all this beauty
But I feel as sane
As this is real
I haven’t got a name
For all this beauty
I haven’t got a name



.

Power

Standing on the corner
With nothing to do
For hours

Staring while the clouds are
Making faces at you
Like flowers

If you stand still
You will be filled
With Power

Driving through the night when
There is no one in sight
You’re prowling

Feeling all your feelings
So incredibly bright
They’re howling

When your road is clear
You’re gonna steer
Toward Power

Breaker, breaker, Rocket Papa
This is Tarwater Catcaller
Howlin’ on your line, over!

Ten-four, Tarwater
You’re blockin’ Papa—
This best be good, over!

That’s a big ten-four, Papa
I have to honk my heavenly horn
Because I’ve got the Great Current
Flowing through me like a mighty sea
And I’m gliding down the line like flying, over!

Hey now! I do believe
You’re grazing grace, Tarwater
Amen and Godspeed to you—
And if you do see Smokey
Smoke ‘em for me, over!

That’s a big ten-four, Rocket Papa
This is Tarwater Catcaller
Howlin’ over and out!

Sitting in the silence
Just surrounded by air
Is Power

Breathing so your breath can slow
The noise in your head
Is Power

If you shut your mouth
Your belly with growl
With Power



.

Shadow Battle

Do you see the moves we’re making
Out here on the street?
Do you see the shadows shaking
Underneath our feet?

Ev’ry shadow’s a trapdoor when we
Forget about our feet
Can you find me a map for where all
Forgotten footsteps lead?

I saw a shining face who
Sang inside a dream
I wrote a poem that strained to
Capture what it means

Like a smile invites you sometimes
To the other side
In a jungle of shadows somewhere
Something rumbling hides

A shadow battle
You battle shadows

I can’t pretend I understand them and
I can’t remember when

I can’t remember when



.

Flashes Two

I love birds!
(he said with enormous eyes)
They fly!

The devil
whispers louder
when I drink

You are
always among
equals

Here
God
Is Totalitarian

That guy’s smile
is a strategy—
it lies

Leering
as if he were drinking
through his eyes

Generosity
comes
from the belly

The flight
of the shadow
of a bird

*

I don’t want
to press my
face in a book!

A tree
growing
in a dancing way

Shark-shaped
bath toys
that squeak when you squeeze them

In our eyes
the truth
of universes

*

Man
paused on the sidewalk
in a cloud of cigarette smoke

Give this a try:
God is looking
through your eyes

Fame and the national scene
have nothing to do
with what’s really going on

Forget it.
Go to sleep.
Nothing can be done right now.

That black garbage bin
with the trash-lifted lid
seems to be singing

Males
waking in the barracks
and scratching themselves

We cheered the sun
sinking
into the sea

“All I’ve got
is here and now—
and it’s too much!”

*

Men gather
around her
like bees

Botox can erase
all evidence of life
from your face!

Crowding our brains
with historical
noise and discouragement

The beach
not blocked
by walls and windows

*

Worlds built
on the assumption
of cars

Not the kind of man
who’d hide in a mansion
doing drugs

Unglamorous older
working woman
clutching a Betty Boop bag

*

I told her in a dream
I need to be less busy!
She told me You need to do everything!

One must feel
one’s death in such
rough coughing

Exercise—
otherwise
your heart will die in your chest

And on television
only advertisements
for toilet paper

Mountains jutting through
pools of clouds—
like islands

Groan of steel
in the distance:
train

Watching people
pretending to live
on tv



.

It Could Be Your Soul

I was staring at the sky
From a bed of green grass down on Earth
And a glimmer caught my eye
A gliding white shimmering bird

It could be my soul that’s up there flying
Up in a great sea sky of blue
It could be my soul that’s up there flying
Over the roof of a world so blue

It could be my soul

(How do you know
What you know
How do you know
You do what you know?)

If you’re glaring at a guy
‘Cause your after something he’s got
Steer your stare up at the sky
And remember what you forgot

It could be your soul that’s up there flying
Up in a great sea sky of blue
It could be your soul that’s up there flying
Over the roof of a world so blue

It could be your soul

(How do you know
What you know?
How do you know
You do what you know?)

If you’re muddled in your troubles
Working for your worth in the world
You can recover what’s been smothered
And hover brother over the Earth

It could be your soul that’s up there flying
Up in a great sea sky of blue
It could be your soul that’s up there flying
Over the roof of a world so blue

It could be your soul

(How do you know
What you know?
How do you know
You do what you know?)



.

Just Over Your Head

I’ve been filling your orders
And it’s been getting me down
I’m making dates with your daughters
I’m gonna show ‘em around

I’m gonna show ‘em around

We’re gonna drive to the border
Out on the far end of town
We’re gonna dive in the water
We’re gonna swim in the sound

We’re gonna swim in the sound

There’s a popular doctor
Who's dealing drugs you don’t need
They are all made to stop you
From being able to see

From being able to see

(Clouds in a clown’s mouth overhead
Just over your head
Whispers twisting through the wind
Just over your head)

There’s a glow in the twilight
Like a hole in the sky
There’s silence at midnight
Stars are shimmering eyes

Stars are shimmering eyes



.

See The Sky

Wake
The sun is low and glows in both your eyes
You see the sky

Wait
And watch the glowing globe so slowly rise
It’s growing high

The sparkle of a star is a
Flashing little spark in your eyes

A star’s an eye

Breathe
These waves of wind that you can almost see
You drink the breeze

Speak
Release your laughing breath into the breeze
A deep relief

Your giggle makes a ripple in the
Swirling windy inconstancy

A wind’s a sea


Trace
The power lines that twine below the sky
They light the signs

Chase
The rails of trains you ride with men in ties
Your lives are twined

The top of the train rubs a
Wire and we hum down the line

Our lives are lines



.

You Can't Do That

Son you’ve gone too far
You have smudged our star
We have raised the bar
Against what you are

For all we think you’ll do
We’re gonna punish you

Our aim is true

We have a plan
We are the man
You make a stand
We take your land

There’s nothing you can do
Once we’ve laid our hands on you

Our aim is true

We are not men
We are management
We will not bend
Until the end

Nothing that we do
Is ever done for you

Our aim is true



.

Recyclink!

Machine makes metal

Needs metal it made

To make metal again



.

Above The Boulevard

My pipe’s smoke makes the face of an angel
Drifting through my little room
A black hole splits the lips of this angel
And sweeps me up through the roof

So I float like a ghost
Who’s been shown where to go

There’s a sea of stars
Above the boulevard
Things are sharp and hard
On the boulevard
Always on your guard
On the boulevard
There’s a sea of stars
Above the boulevard

The hot gaze of a man who’s leering
Like he’s drinking you through his eyes
Shows a hole that’s as big and empty
And as black as a midnight sky

And you know you can float
Though that hole like a ghost

There’s a sea of stars
Above the boulevard
Things are sharp and hard
On the boulevard
Always on your guard
On the boulevard
There’s a sea of stars
Above the boulevard

The calm flash of a stranger’s smile
On a crowded noisy street
Throws the glow of an open blossom
Into your uncertainty

And you know you can float
In that glow so you go

There’s a sea of stars
Above the boulevard
Things are sharp and hard
On the boulevard
Always on your guard
On the boulevard
There’s a sea of stars
Above the boulevard



.

City Minister

City minister!

I wake up in my big bed
Scratch my belly and get up and shave
Two dim eyes in the mirror
Appraise me from a twisted face

City minister!

My nerves are sizzling wires
Rumors hum behind my eyes
My heart starts its anxious stutter
Under my bright silk tie

City minister!

I’m meeting with the mayor
He hardly gives me any time
His hair is always perfect
His friends are so much richer than mine

City minister!

If he will endorse my
Plan for a casino uptown
The owners might finance my
Re-election bid a year from now

City minister!

(A project for the public
I’ll propose today
I’ll smile like a star and speak
As solemn as a saint

It isn’t in your interest
But it’s all that I can do
While I work for you)

City minister!

I haven’t bought a meal in
So long I don’t remember when
But I sure pay for sex boy
And tonight I’m gonna do it again

City minister!

It’s never how I want it
It never gets me what I need
All that matters is status
Once you finally reach your peak

City minister!



.

Shake Them Blues

I had better remember
That fog can lift up its skirt
Sometimes some better weather
Throws a glow on the dirt

When I fell down
I almost drowned

I couldn’t see the sea
That was right in front of me
And something in me started to scream

Hey you!
You choose!
Shake loose!
Or lose!

Do your duty dude and shake them blues!

Once I complained to an angel
And when I stopped jabbering
She said You think you’re too busy
But you must do everything

‘Cause if you go too slow
Your soul goes broke

When you don’t use your life
Your life looses its light
And you go groping blind in the night

You fool!
You knew
What you
Should do!

Do your duty dude and shake them blues!

My friend’s grandfather told him
Boy you are what you do
And when you’re moving your body
Life is moving through you

When you stew and brood
You do no good

Your mind is dazed with lies
God’s looking through your eyes
Let go of all this “I ME MY”

It’s true
You choose
What you
Should do

Do your duty dude and shake them blues!



.

Goddamn Money

“Goddamn money. It always makes you blue as hell.”—The Catcher in the Rye

I hustle down to the corner

And order me a coffee to go

The cashier’s smile is tired

Everybody knows what I know

She hands me back my change and then I drop my tip

A trickle of her wages just a drip drip drip

I wander down the counter in a stupid spell

Goddamn money make you blue as hell

This barista is strictly business

There’s somewhere else she’d rather be

She’s got an air of refinement

I wonder what she does when she’s free

Coffee-making lady serves a burning kiss

I dip dip dip deep down into this

My job is like a rock that’s a-rollin’ downhill

Goddamn money make you blue as hell

A dim grey man at a table

Tells a silent guy about better days

When he was boss of the office

Now he’s camping in cafes

(Once he had a dream that he shot

Somebody who was not to blame

His soul flew out of his body

While somebody screamed)

My glance meets the man’s at the table

His eyes shine right into mine

Without words he plainly tells me

Something you might say with a sigh

You give it all you got and still they get you for more

It’s so damn easy just to fall through the floor

It’s hittin’ me so clearly that I want to yell

Goddamn money make you blue as hell

.

Red Bow Tie

Her red bow tie

Grabs your eye

My...what a treasure...chest

A delicious rush

A flood that must

Burst...before it lets you...rest

This little darling here

Has got to take me there

She’s got to AAH-AAH!

Her gleaming skin and hair

Just magnetize my stare

I’ve got to AAH-AAH!

‘Cause I’ve gotta GOTTA I’ve gotta

Oh I’ve gotta GOTTA I’ve gotta

Have!

The snake deceives

Makes you believe

She...is your kingdom...come

The snake’s made you

His slave and fool

You...who were sure you’d...won

She’s the foxy witch

That’s got to scratch my itch

She’s got to AAH-AAH!

I wish that I was rich

So I’d be sure to flick her switch

I’ve got to AAH-AAH!

‘Cause I’ve gotta GOTTA I’ve gotta

Oh I’ve gotta GOTTA I’ve gotta

Have!

That missing kiss

Of gentleness

Slips...from your lips and...sings

A song that you

Always knew

True...and as sweet as...spring

O angel! O angel!

O angel! O!

.

Ache Like An Indian

I ache like an Indian sometimes

Thinking ‘bout the ways we fail

Carving a scar in our harvest

Pouring poison down our well

When we woke up in a war that’s for

Feeding some big monster’s thirst

We shook and shivered with a lust that must

Blind the sky and eat the Earth

(Down in dusky places

That mostly go unseen

A face becomes a trumpet and then

Screams)

Isn’t there an Indian in you

Weeping for a ruined way

To be true as a sunrise

A sky of life betrayed and slain

Can’t you feel that it’s here somewhere

Like shadows in the desert hills

Hear it hissing in the dice you toss

Groaning in your gambler’s thrills

(I know you know the notion

To give them all they’re owed

But all you have to give to them is

Soul)

Spirit laughter lingers after

Body loses life (HA HA HA!)

Souls among us soon become us

No thing ever dies (HA HA HA!)

.

Sweep Me Up

I’m getting tired

Sometimes it’s sad

There is a wire

I’ve got to grab

It’ll tug me through me troubles

It’ll get me past

That crack that’s always smiling

In the broken sky

Sweep me up and let me loose

I’ll fly

A cloud of sea birds

Swims in the sky

A flock of surfers

Flies on the tide

I float in flowing motion

It’s quite a ride

The wind is thick as water

The water’s smooth as wind

Sweep me up let me begin

Again

Sweep me up in the breast

Of the sky when I die

And I’ll fly in the soul of the wind

When I see how the birds

Surf the waves in the air

My guess is heaven is this

That crack is always smiling

In the broken sky

Sweep me up and let me loose

I’ll fly

.