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

.