Why?

Why are races always run counterclockwise?

The Unblinking Chain

We are what we do?

I am a musician, but only when I'm playing.
I am a dancer, but only when I'm dancing.
I am a lover, but only when I'm kissing.

When the dance is over, I SAY I'm a dancer
But right now I am a sitter and a typer.

How are these moments connected?
What is the glue that holds me together?

What is it that makes the ME of 20 years ago
The me that is here today?

Surely there is some consistency beyond the process
Afer all, I do remember those 20 years.

While it is impossible to crawl back along the line
It is also impossible to erase that trail
Leading "down from the door" as old JRRT would say.

The tuesdays and februaries go in a circle
But it is sort of an expanded slinky kind of circle
The point of return is actually a new point entirely
Just as there are many different Johns in the world,
There are many different tuesdays
In fact, they are all different

So, it would seem to follow that each one is a separate event
Which somehow comes into existence exactly at the destruction of its past
And is destroyed immediately at the creation of its future
But not without passing on all the important information
In a split-second handshake and a how-to manual

Read quickly.......don't blink.

Oxidation #1

The engine's rust crumbles in my hand
Forgotten sound in my AM memory
Orange stick still moves along the numerals
But no Howl of the Jack broken dial
Only the wind rustling in my rumble crate

There Once Was A Gal Named......

No limerick for you....sorry
As tempted as I was
To revel in stupidity

Instead a simple thank you
for being a friend
Trying to keep me sane

No matter that
The cause is lost

The Itch

Feels like home
Low and powerful
Feet on the ground

But not for long

The NightLamp

Dim light burning in the glass
Nascent flood of whitening noise
Still and low now behind the window
Fluttering in the evening breeze
Dreaming of the night

Open full bore of copper pipe
The smell of not right air
Burning at the end of a tube
Charring soot the midnight glass
Dreaming of the night

Choking valve gasping breath
Morning peeking over the rim
Noisy street begins to breath
Headed post to sleep again
Dreaming of the night

True Love

Walking Franklin
Wearing a cutout mask
"Hey look"
"It's my ex-Ben Franklin"
24/7 ATM chump motherfucker
in his oversized shoes
digging in the trash
for his dinner
while I take a vacation
from my new car
new husband
Stop your digging in the trash!
Stop your limping on that foot!
Stop your looking for a job!
an give me my god damned motherfucking money now!!!!!
Go sell some blood or plasma or something
Stop breathing and fucking die
but make sure I get the money first

God Damned Shooting Stars: I heard from a friend about it

Nice that you can have a laugh about it
in your private way
Nice that I am good for a laugh at least
That's what clowns are for

Second runner up
Parading around the ring
in all my glory
and oversized shoes

Point and laugh

Go ahead

Cold Darts of a Beatnik Aquaintance

You toss them out carelessly
At everyone who passes by
You must've sharpened them
so you know

There isn't much to understand
Each dot a little hole in my heart
You are obviously done with it
so you know

It's the line between saying
What you feel, or not saying
What you feel. The silence
is cold and sharp and real

A flor y espino

Saturday

Rushing branches
Scratching softly
Against the fence

Muffled Mexican
Bass booming
Laughter next door

Humming Machinery
Whirring, hissing
at my hip

Peanuts, too old
Now to eat
Jar on my desk

Saturday

Sweet

One last sweet in the jar
Blue and shiny wrapped
Calling with its muffled
Voice for freedom now

The tense sucking sound
Of the lid's clinging edge
Resisting my pulling hand
With a final Popping defeat

One last sweet in the jar
Sliding along the glassy
Edge toward my waiting
Open eager shaking hand

Quick to peel the wrap
Hastily discarded garment
Of my tiny blue love
Leaning in for the kiss

But wait

There is an imperfection
Chipped on the side
My wounded prize
Bleeding in my hand

Where is the little piece?
I look agin in the wrap
Hoping to save the sweet
With surgeon's hands

But the paper is empty
The missing shard is
Nowhere to be found
Even in the empty jar

My frown is pulling down
With a wieght all its own
Dragging my very thoughts
To the floor of dispair

There is nothing for it
Wrapper, fractured body,
Lid and Jar, hopes and dreams
Into the waste bin

Now I can only try to forget
My sweet blue love

I Know

Lord knows

Lear knows
and Sam Cooke knows

Natalie knows
and even Kerry Campbel knows

Gordon knows
and downtown cowboy knows

Talkin' Dave knows
and Donnie Finnell knows

And I know too

But I,m not talkin
That's what I got to say
Gonna keep it press to my chest
Like a prison lunch

With that crazy look that says
"Keep away from me mother fucker"
Don't look me in the eye
Don't walk on by baby
Walk on by, do yourself a favor
and walk on by

Whatever you may think

I know

The Pack

Five wolves snarling, drooling
An arm here, a foot there
Not enough of me to go around
There is no taming this pack
The smell of blood, driving them
Not enough of me
to go around

Bubble

My thought bubble is dark
No need to wonder why

Women and chaos go hand in hand

Walk

Now there is a tourist walk
It used to be an eroded hill
that I would shamble down
after the drive and the sunset

Lovers, drunks, and misfits
prowling the coast in search
of solitude, watching the waves
grow and diminish by hours

I imagine the silence
slowing in the moonlight
now interupted by the rich
and beautiful boring people

safe on their pavement

Cipher

Can you find

the

HiDDen meSs age

iN thIs pOem?

If not then KEep lookinG.

Beautiful Lie

Hypnotized, you've got my eyes all glazed over
Bouncing on the end of your string like a puppet
Down to size, cut me over and over again now
Dancing on the end of your string like a puppet

The string's too tight now it feels like a noose
Need the right thing, just say the right thing now
The thing is the air but you just won't do it
Feed the demon and keep it close to your heart

Hypnotized, got my eyes all glazed over
Drooling in my chair in a dream of the real thing
Mesmerized, to keep the money flowing
Cooling in your pocket but you just don't care

It's a beautiful lie
It's a beautiful lie
But now it's over