You can lay down all the money you like
on redwood gazebos, those big platform feeders;
put out the best blend of customized seed,
and he won't show a figment of interest.

Cut up fresh fruit and array it on saucers,
crumble up corn bread and leave it for hours;
sit there stock-still, either morning or evening.
He'll twitter from above on the wire.

But if you leave the backyard, or a portion
of it, to grow long and fill up with black crickets
and hiding grasshoppers, then spend a half hour
of afternoon mowing, he'll come.

The moral of this tale is that happiness follows
your action, not waiting. It prefers live bait.

26 JUN 2006

We exchange pleasantries online or on the town;
you've read my poetry and perhaps you have found
some similarity between yourself and me,
but you don't know me.

We talk of politics or turns that life may make;
something I say perhaps prevents a new mistake;
but nonetheless it's wrong, because you've heard my song
to think you know me.

How could you think you know unless you've felt my pain,
stood in my burning sun or in my pouring rain?
So much of "know" depends on this experience;
and we are not quite friends without this evidence.

We've shared a meal or two, maybe a glass of wine;
not quite enough to know just where to draw the line.
I've not been in your shoes; you've never sung my blues,
so you don't know me.

Almost acquaintances: that's all we really are;
I wouldn't push the definition all that far
without me cheapening what should be deepening:
no, you don't know me.

How could you think you know what makes me tick inside
after an afternoon or two, an evening pleasure ride?
There's so much more to me than shallow "seem-to-be's";
you've not spent time enough with my reality.

We've only just begun to plumb the hidden depths;
as far as I'm concerned sometimes, it seems we've barely met.
There's so much I don't know about you, and I know
that you don't know me.

My number's on speed dial, and yours is likewise stored;
but it's a simple truth, and cannot be ignored:
you want to call me friend, but just "sort of" pretend.
Well, you don't know me.

26 JUN 2006

Got up before seven, fed the dog and combed my hair,
put a pot of coffee on to brew;
spent no time deliberating what clothes I would wear:
some jeans and an old t-shirt ought to do.
Stood out on the back porch smoking my first cigarette,
watching as the sun began to shine
on grass that needs a mowing, still all glistening and wet.
A simple life? Maybe. I like it fine.

I was never quite expected to
be the one deemed "most likely to"
discover the great secret of our age;
so disappointment's never come
(well, truth be told, perhaps just some)
and I've never been trapped inside that cage.

There's always somebody smarter,
who'll work a bit harder;
someone who'll want it more than you, somewhere;
there'll be someone who's louder,
who seems a bit prouder
of where they are on some great corporate stair.
You can spend all your moments
in great angst and torment,
and call what you end with sublime;
but if you can't just leave it,
you'd better believe it:
you've done nothing but waste your time.

Freshened up my coffee, scratched my head and wrote these lines;
it took me about six minutes to do.
went back out to the deck, took a moment to reflect,
the sun's heat like intoxicating brew.
Watched the birds and smelled the flowers; it seemed like endless hours,
but it wasn't even a ten-minute span.
And the world? It kept on spinning, turning losing into winning;
like it turned what I once was to what I am.

I was never the one chosen to
be "first among the great ones who
would change the world for better or for worse";
so it comes as no surprise at all
like summer leading on to fall
that a blessing's just the flipside of a curse.

There's always somebody smarter,
who'll work a bit harder;
someone who'll want it more than you, somewhere;
there'll be someone who's louder,
who seems a bit prouder
of where they are on some great corporate stair.
You can spend all your moments
in great angst and torment,
and call what you end with sublime;
but if you can't just leave it,
you'd better believe it:
you've done nothing but waste your time.

21 JUN 2006

Thinking of two things in particular: Kris Kristofferson's "Blame it on the Stones" and Joe McDonald's "Fish Cheer" ...

This used to be a quiet place northward from Baton Rouge,
a sleepy set of boroughs where no one became confused;
but now the world is changing thanks to Katrina's deluge
and Louisiana's really learned the blues.

It used to be there was a place to send off ne'er-do-wells,
that deserved all our outcasts who were surely bound for hell;
but now who's right and wrong it's getting very hard to tell
since the levees let the water come and swell ...

The zipper on the Bible Belt has rusted, that's for sure;
and the muddy water's backed up all these troubles to our door.
Where will we send our deviants, our crazies and our poor,
since we can't count on New Orleans anymore?

This used to be safe place, even-keeled and quite discreet;
when someone got an urge, we sent them down to Bourbon Street.
Their systems purged by Mardi Gras, they were docile and sweet;
but no more -- now decent people must retreat.

We gathered in the money from the bars and tourist trade;
now that our golden cow is gone, we really are dismayed.
And what about the music? Some of us are quite afraid
that our towns will need more places it is played ...

The zipper on the Bible Belt has rusted, that's for sure;
and the muddy water's backed up all these troubles to our door.
Where will we send our deviants, our crazies and our poor,
since we can't count on New Orleans anymore?

This used to be quiet place, a tidy Christian spot,
we'd send our heretics off to the place that care forgot
but now it seems our apple cart is suddenly upsot ...
will Louisiana all now start to rot?

In Shreveport and Monroe, they wonder, how will they survive?
Will folks out in Coushatta have to learn how to speak jive?
How will we pay for schools, and jails, and roads in Lafayette
now that the state's big moneymaker is all wet?

The zipper on the Bible Belt has rusted, that's for sure;
and the muddy water's backed up all these troubles to our door.
Where will we send our deviants, our crazies and our poor,
since we can't count on New Orleans anymore?

P.S. ... now we won't miss the Saints, because they never were much sport,
but what about the income from the world's third largest port?
And those artists, intellectuals and tarot-reading sorts?
We don't want them back up here skewing our demograph reports

So what's the best solution to this problem that we've found
now that the water's pushed our trash back up to higher ground?
We've tried reaching the Lord but he's not uttering a sound
and doesn't seem to mind these heathens back in town

The zipper on the Bible Belt has rusted, that's for sure;
and the muddy water's backed up all these troubles to our door.
Where will we send our deviants, our crazies and our poor,
since we can't count on New Orleans anymore?

18 JUN 2006

I could be bitter about all this shit
or at least, start to doubt a benevolent universe;
whine on in rhyme about storm clouds and sunshine
that doesn't come out 'cept to drink up the water.

My angst could flower under its own power,
give me at least something to call creativity,
some kind of edifice, beautiful, more or less,
a place to lead willing lambs to the slaughter.

Nobody wants to hear you're doing fine
Thinking your happiness is just a line
To sell them something which they are inclined
to believe could end any old time

I could be bitter, and perhaps I am;
but Goddamn, what's the point if your grief isn't endable?
drown in your own tears, and you die expendible
one more pathetic and troubling statistic.

The blues could cover me beneath a shadow,
give me some shade on these hot summer nights,
some of kind of protection from clear understanding,
but would my demons be more realistic?

Nobody wants to hear that you're OK
without a care for their cares and dismay
working through your special brand of malaise
seeing both colors and grays.

I could be bitter about how things are;
find a bar serving solace and fade from the light;
sing out the changes in slow minor modes:
let my mood fill darkness around me.

My holocaust could be compared to your own;
let us groan 'neath these chains here together,
spend our time looking for some life beyond
and pretend it's all inclement weather.

Nobody wants to know your life is great,
instead pretending we share the same fate,
wanting to think that the reason you're late
is the same trouble piled onto everyone's plate.

12 JUN 2006

If these are our salad days,
when does the entree arrive?
Pretending that greens are a meal
sounds contrived;
and furthermore, not quite enough
to survive
throught the supper tonight.

If these are the best of times,
why bother with vintage wine?
Pretending that grape juice has legs
may be fine;
but nonetheless, they're bound to stop
at the spine,
leaving your drinking crippled.

What about moving beyond what you know,
finding a place where you don't have to go
planting a seed and then watching it grow,
wanting something more
than becoming a vegetable?

If these are our salad days,
how long before the main course?
Pretending the apertif's filling
sounds forced;
how long can you keep beating
on a dead horse
and hope to arrive?

If this is the best that it gets,
why keeping hoping for more?
Pretending you've won, but still
trying to keep score
is like loving the ocean
but hating its roar,
its interminable drifting.

What about letting illusions decay
When they've no purpose but stand in your way
Seeing the fall come as early as May
Knowing the cycle is more
than your part of it?

If these are our salad days,
what kind of diet is this?
Pretending it's all there is to it
seems a bit remiss;
and furthermore, while ignorance
may be bliss
it's not very filling.

If these are the golden years,
why bother when these days fade?
Pretending it's worthwhile
is just a charade;
and furthermore, seems just a bit
overplayed
to a crowd that's not willing.

What about tasting the rest of the meal
seeking beyond the orange to the peel
gathering experience of what is real
living and dying as less
than a superstar?

12 JUN 2006

What was it that Garcia said?

"There'll always be those in the crowd
that want the beat and nothing more":
repetitive, and fast and loud,
so they can dance. No need for words.

Besides, a lyric can erect
a barrier that separates
those wanting something circumspect,
who are expecting something great,
from those who simply wish to move,
who see in music an escape:
as if mere motion served to prove
a journey made from place to place.

It doesn't matter what you say.

What message you may seek to send
is lost in murmurs to the sway
of raging hormones, in the end;

and though at times the music seems
to change the world, it's just pretend.

We don't share the same dreams.

08 JUN 2006

There are times when I'm determined
(or at least, some times I feel)
that my life should find its purpose
in constructing something real:
an edifice in marble, some landmark
of stone and steel,
so that my passing leaves some sign.
Such thoughts have their appeal
when I imagine that my hands
are tight upon the wheel,
and that this life is more than just
what cards the world may deal.

To leave a mark upon this earth,
to feel a sense of pride;
a man seeks to find meaning
where two roads may coincide:
to make finite steps forward,
rather than to merely slide
along inside the slipstream,
carried onward by the tide;
to know that one has gathered up
enough good sense inside
to choose the path their feet would walk,
one's wisdom undenied.

Yet other times, it seems to me,
I think with greater sense,
and ponder with less confidence
my whole experience:
a lifetime spent in wondering,
in straddling the fence,
denying often greater truths
for lack of evidence
(at least, the kind that leaves its spoor,
some fleeting track or scent)
and feeling lost inside a maze
of moments, gained and spent.

So then what does it matter
whose hands are upon the wheel?
Both journeys planned and unrehearsed
have proven their appeal.
Too often my decisions
(or their counterpart, no choice)
result in finding chaos
where I cannot hear my voice.
What destination beckons?
Let the universe decide;
for I am just a passenger
come along for the ride.

02 JUN 2006

What a record label's looking for I haven't got a clue;
it doesn't really matter any more.
And who's at number one or rising up to number two?
I've stopped pretending that I'm keeping score.

I don't expect the radio to leave familiar ground;
they'll play what advertisers think they need.
And the movers and shakers never stop here at my door;
I'm guessing they prefer a faster speed.

The nightclubs and the bars will cater to a younger crowd;
that's where they think the money's gonna be.
They'll want it new and trendy, and they'll keep it fast and loud
and look to get it cheap or nearly free.

It doesn't bother me that some things never seem to change;
some folks will always take what they can get.
But every now and then I take another look around
and see again what I tried to forget.

It's not the song that matters, or the singer, anymore;
and no one cares if either lives or dies.
Unless the numbers add up to a profitable score
only the writer's tax accountant cries.

No matter what you're saying, you're forgotten in the end
and no one wants a has-been or maybe.
The truth is, you're expendible, based on the latest trend,
in a world where even free love isn't free.

01 JUN 2006