Veins

mainline feels fine
when it's heavy fare
'sokay, it'll go away
I'm already halfway there
and soon I'll need some more
it was never this way before
virgin veins in ecstasy
pierced by heaven's artillery
I became god on command.

Can't You Feel

Can't you feel the wheel
rolling over you?
Can't you feel the steel
that is ripping?
Won't your dough even grow
in the oven... hot?
Don't you want to know
if the weed you smoke is pot?
Does it make you smile?
Make you grin?
Are you imagining
your tummy full of gin?
Can't think straight?
Better watch yourself.
There are those outside that hate you,
gonna make you lose,
gonna get you,
gonna get you
in those disco shoes.

I've been hit and run so many times
it isn't funny
but in the end
yes in the end
it's kinda intangible.

Look at me
I'm just a kid;
never had a chance
caught me with my pants
down.
Somebody get the number of that truck.

Flood

Lady in black,
stop the rain.
The river's rising,
fields are flowing.
Muddy water's lapping at the levee,
Families fleeing floodplain for the bluff.

Dark mother,
sky is crying.
The wind is rising,
night's full of tears.
Centuries of sorrow blowing on the storm.
Mommas need a dry place for their babies to be born.

Coal-dark soul,
full of sin.
I am rising,
no roof over my head.
Raindrops make soft patter,
gently rock me down the river.

Starman's Guide Part 2

Protein factors stare me right in the face
The tapes roll by of the human race
One man's infinity is just another's empty space
Here where uncertainty quivers
At the eighth decimal place.

And lace curtains add the little touch
that, except for the fusion drive hum,
lets you almost imagine you are home;
the smell of home cooking
on the front porch
and a generation's lazy dreams
of flying mother nature's silver seed
to a new home in the sun.

Next Door (from Glen)

Randy's got his Model T torn up again,
balanced on blocks half-out, half-in
of the garage under the house.

Rear axle and drivetrain
draw hopscotch lines
where he lay them on the driveway.
He crouches under the car,
contentedly tinkering at midnight.

He's hung his workman's light
below the rear right wheel
and shadows of the spokes
project a giant Japanese fan
against the garden wall.

Randy's black hands probe
the known beloved bearings,
vital greasy gears,
casting shadow characters
on the stage-fan of light.

The Fall of the Roman Empire

Kiss me

I speak Latin

Kill me

I worshipped false gods

Sex  money  power

You know what they say

Autant d'hommes, autant d'avis

Whatever that means

It means

I'll bet any scholar

Up to twenty dollars

That I know the real reason

That the Roman Empire fell:

Keeping track of emperors

Was hard as hell.

The Poetry of Dying (from Glen)

A few final drops,

then the crickets start up.

The night storm has stopped.

Light is still far off

somewhere beyond house and clouds and silence.

A shade hangs in the window.

There is no way out

just a drawn breath of waiting

and praying for angels to sing me to sleep.