GOOSE STEP

WOMEN! GO FIGURE

 

Women suffer being touched

By a drunken man;

To be exact: hate being clutched--

Dodge them when they can.

A drunk deludes himself to think

His charms improve with every drink.

 

 

GETAWAY

 

My lover rode my bike down to

The border, 20 miles away;

No adios, goodbye, screw you--

She left early. Why? No se.

Crossing to the other side,

She stole my ride and capped my pride.

 

 

MEN

 

Men go fast and fail--

Reason women take it slow.

Men go fast then sail--

Something widow walkers know.

Meanwhile macho men will say

That men who take it slow are gay.

 

 

BAD ART GOADING LIFE

 

Don't you think by now it's time

For change when doggerel can

Put Marxist theory into rhyme

And likewise make the couplets scan?

You'd think by now the choice is clear.

That, or Armageddon's near.

 

 

ANGER RIDDLED

 

First a contest, then a war--

Couples come apart.

The source of anger is a sore

Spot left by cupid's dart;

Comes from all that we deny--

Comes from never knowing why.

 

 

CONFLICTED DREAM

 

One day there comes somebody who

Seems to get you, and you go

Crazy, hoping (thinking) you

Can tell your story blow by blow.

What happens next is up to them.

You're tied in knots by what they say:

You hope they help, they might condemn--

It's touch and go from day to day.

You can't take your mind off what

You felt the time they touched your arm--

You don't have the nerve to cut

Down to the chase. But what's the harm

In taking chances that might prove

They wanted first, you make a move?

 

 

DANGER WILL ROBINSON

 

I see anger in your eyes,

Aside from your shy looks;

Looks away used to disguise

The sharp and subtle hooks.

You've been hurt beyond belief;

Revenge is where you find relief.

 

 

SITUATION RENDEZVOUS

 

You're going to a playground,

Where you'll play the game you love;

Why think the other way around?

You'll play the game without a glove--

Soft and warm and tender touches;

You won't get hurt unless you think

Love's a gift emotion clutches--

One can't possess a loving wink.

Focus on the future when

You're going to catch my wink again.

 

 

TOURISTS IN NYC

 

Penalty for jaywalking there

Is getting hit in traffic;

Cops ignore it and I swear

New Yorkers' choreographic

Artful dodge and thundering stride

Drive yokels to a subway ride.

 

 

WRITER'S CRAMP

 

Upset a lot of decent folks,

Turned off many of my friends

By talking shit and making jokes

On how this sorry planet ends:

The opportunist pols still beg,

The rest of us on our last leg.

Thinking I should write no more--

Like politicians, just a whore.

 

 

MUSE

 

Drunker I get the more I like

What I type those days I write;

My judgment seems to take a hike,

But I forge on and think I might

Just have something down on paper

That won't blow up as vapid vapor.

 

 

THE FOURTH ESTATE

 

US reporters embedded

With carefully chosen vetted troops:

No matter where they're headed--

The writers are well-vetted dupes.

The fourth estate's been bought by those

Who prim their prose with spangled bows.

 

 

SUICIDE BOMBER

 

Why not? What is there to lose--

A life of suffering, torture, fear?

What else would a proud man choose

Besides a strap-on bomb or steer

A car to blow them all to bits?

He'll soon be kissing virgins' tits.

 

 

PUDDING AND PIE

 

Coward and bully, both at once--

Georgie Porgie, filthy rich.

Teachers in school had prepped a dunce.

Money allowed the boy to ditch

Class and duty. He blithely went

On to become the President.

 

 

LOVE

 

My dog taught me how to love.

I know that's sad--but true.

Patient, trusting, she's full of

Affection all for you.

I'm more patient--learned to trust

What once before turned me to dust.

 

 

DAY DREAMS

 

The sudden, lingering fantasies

Of softness, feeling fingers slide

From top to bottom 'til one frees

The longing shackled deep inside--

Last a moment. But what heart!

They tear your hungry mind apart--

Your fantasy's a work of art,

But do you dare throw Cupid's dart?

 

 

WINNING THE HEARTS AND MINDS

 

Not enough love? I beg your pardon--

Too much forgiveness in my mind.

Rulers twist the love to harden

Hearts and minds until they blind

The people to the things they're doing--

People don't see who they're screwing.

It's not enough to hate a war,

I think you have to learn to hate

The class that we serve and adore--

Get rid of them, lean back and wait

For people to get over what,

Since class rule, has kicked our butt.

 

 

GOOD TIME CHARLIE

 

I don't always speak the truth--

Don't always trust its power;

But times I have it's like Babe Ruth

Turned the last pitch into flour

Blasting it into the eyes

Of people who require lies.

Truth's unkind to anyone

Who's only living to have fun.

 

 

DREAMER

 

Have no clue as who you are?

You want someone else to say?

Dreaming they'll make you a star?

At least, maybe, make your day?

Truth be told that dream is shit--

It's time that you got over it

And take some steps that prove you can

Finish the dreams that you began.

 

 

THE ARTIST'S MUSE

 

Anger spits,

And pain commits

To even up the odds;

Love inspires

Angel's choirs

And you commune with gods.

 

Those devoid of muses such

As those, might summon simpler aids.

They substitute a steady touch

Of drink or drugs or different shades

Of soft surreal happenstance:

Those muses give you half a chance.

 

 

MISS AMERICA

 

She tried her best to get control

Of the splintered life around her;

Burdened to her very soul

She let her weakened will defer

To a cowboy who could take

Charge and promise her a break.

 

 

BEING AND NOTHINGNESS

 

There's a better throw than seven--

Infinity stands enthralled.

There's a finer place than heaven

As nothingness is called.

Don't bother gamble what might be--

Your chances don't look good;

What you get is what you see--

Nothing else is understood.

 

 

PRELUDE TO ADULTERY

 

To be held in arms of one

Who's never caused you pain;

To feel their lips, the warmth of sun,

Open through the pouring rain

Is going to be a dream for life

(One that's hidden, never seen)

Of every suffering man or wife--

Each a wretched human being.

 

 

RESTORATION

 

Found love after stormy weather--

Jagged pieces chipped and small.

What's it take to put together

Love that's damaged from a fall?

Can't watch pieces turn to dust--

Worth the try to build back trust.

 

 

COMMON SENSE

 

No honor with thieves--

Drug addicts as well:

Avoiding the heaves

And poverty's smell

Leads to taking shifty measures

Liberating others treasures.

 

 

DEAR COUNTRY-RAG EDITOR

 

Father confessor, maybe what

I say is going to kick my butt

Down the road, but what the fuck:

I trust you more than trust my luck.

 

 

A DRUNKARD'S CREDO

DRUNK FOR LIFE

 

What's it take to stay a drunk?

Takes God-awful common sense:

Never, ever: drunk as a skunk;

Rage? Definite capital offense;

Pace yourself and don't get stewed;

Be sure to eat, choose decent food;

If you slur, keep your mouth shut;

And never drive, no matter what;

Recall the shit you say and do.

You got that down? Good, here's to you.

 

My father taught me that. He died of cancer from smoking. In the ICU after his last operation, they put alcohol in his IV so he wouldn't go into DT's.     

 

 

COMMON SENSE WOMAN WITH RAMBLING MAN

 

"You can't believe, the way I love you,

Another might take me away!"

 

She's no fool--knows you'll do

Whatever's going to make your day.

 

On that day you fall in love

She'll peel off the velvet glove.

 

 

DRUGS AND UTOPIA

 

If your drugs are not a tool

They're nothing but abuse.

Just getting high? You fucking fool--

Drugs all have their use.

If they're but a cheap vacation,

You know nothing but temptation,

Hedonism, and sensation--

No sense about the situation.

I could not name all the ways

That drugs could make for better days.

And when those days someday arrive,

You won't need drugs to feel alive.

 

 

ANIMAL KINGDOM

 

Holy shit, you're so intense.

But then again, I should have known:

Your green eyes can jump the fence

And chew the meat down to the bone.

A predator, what can I do

Except become a meal for you?

 

 

LOVE

 

What happened? Where did it all go?

The feeling visits for a day

And that is all it has to show?

And then the feeling fades away?

What happened to the time we shared?

I trusted you with all my heart

More than I have ever dared

Before--to make another start.

What's to become of you and me--

Lambs who found their darling pea?

 

 

CARELESS LOVE

 

A rush like that comes to no good;

The feeling's too intense;

A rush like that is understood

To end your common sense.

When you get too soon so close

It's like a drug you overdose.

 

 

SPURNED--

OR MAYBE

SHE WANTS

TO TAKE IT SLOW

 

Hang dog from the kiss I missed--

You offered me your cheek;

On second thought, one time we kissed,

Your response was pretty weak.

What am I doing chasing you?

Will I ever get a clue?

 

 

HOSPITAL

 

Rolled in on a gurney,

They slide your body to the bed,

So begins the journey

That messes with your head.

 

Tell me now, from one to ten,

So how much do you hurt?

The morphine masks the pain but then

Your mind's nowhere alert.

 

You wait, like everybody waits,

On so few who have so much

To do to block the pearly gates--

Sooth others with a tender touch.

 

Or not so tender when a nurse

Lubes first 3 inches of a hose

And shoves it up your nose, and worse--

Works past bends, down throat it goes.

 

Now you wait for all the tests,

You wait for visits from the doc;

For nurses completing your requests;

You've never watched a slower clock.

 

The nurses deal with dirty old men,

Men and women geared to complain;

But please the doctor's first and then

Fill out reports that fall like rain.

 

Sometimes they don't have a clue

Exactly what is wrong with you;

But let you go when you can do

The normal things when you pull through.

 

 

NURSE AIP81

 

Pearly white teeth and pretty smile,

Madonna wearing latex gloves,

Sets you straight on your health while

She makes you think of your past loves.

This Madonna's no recent act--

From Millenniums ago in fact.

 

 

STUCK ON SUSPICION

 

I'm lonely when you're gone.

When you're home--the distance: mine.

You think something's going on--

But I'm home and drink my wine

When you're out with who knows who.

The distance that you feel from me

Is not about what I might do;

And "something going on" would be

Impossible with your keen eyes

Which narrow with suspicion

When you spot my cleanest lies

And beat out an admission.

That's the loneliness that I feel--

Feel like shit beneath your heel.

 

 

MOBILE

 

Walking three feet off the ground,

Trying to cover tracks

Leading to the love you found

That might reveal facts

Used to settle a divorce:

You erase the logs, of course.

 

 

CAT

 

You don't listen, have no clue

About what's going on with me;

You dig, you pry, concerning you--

Not one thought about what we

Have going on, it comes down to

Your pride and your security.

 

 

DIVORCE

 

So this is it, the final straw?

We'll go our separate ways?

Finished with the tooth and claw

That visited too many days?

By the way, they both were yours--

Though my "mistakes" began those wars.

 

 

PLUMBERS' MODIFIED MOTTO:

CLASS RULE, LIKE SHIT,

SLIDES DOWNHILL

 

You will forgive,

If you understand,

What it means to live

Beneath the hand

Of control--both body and mind--

To date, the fate of humankind.

 

 

SPOUSAL ABUSE

 

Imprisoned by a jealous heart;

Judged by an evil mind;

You've no idea as where to start

To make it all unwind

Back to when you felt so free

Before you faced the 3rd degree.

 

 

GANGSTER POP

 

You blew it on the alcohol,

You blew it on the drugs;

You blew it with the wherewithal

To gain some cred from thugs.

Now you've blown it serving life--

Instead of serving kids and wife.

 

 

PLANNING

 

The ruling class has planned it well,

For themselves, that is--

The economy is shot to hell

But they still stay in biz.

The corporations have it made--

Their owners, hey--made in the shade.

 

 

PRIVATE PROPERTY

 

Ownership, lord ownership,

How I bow to thee!

You point the way and wield the whip--

Telling me I'm free.

 

You say you once walked in my shoes,

You say that you have paid your dues;

 

I say your path was paved with gold,

The dues you paid were bought and sold--

Making mine one-hundred fold.

 

 

BRAT PACK

 

It's better than boredom, the trouble I'm in--

Escaping the whoredom of privileged white skin.

One day I'll get out of the trouble I'm in

But I'll never slough off this privileged white skin.

 

 

ESTRANGED BY CIRCUMSTANCE

 

Look at the times we've lost

Because our hearts got in the way;

How much would have one month cost

If we had spent another day

Together, near as reach-out-close--

Once a month, no overdose.

 

 

KIMBER'S BIRTHDAY CD

 

When I heard that country sound

I went to heaven, went to hell--

To the moon, dropped to the ground,

The lyrics threw both punches well.

 

 

FANTASY

 

You've been in my wildest dreams,

So mindless no chance they'll come true.

But every scene I picture steams,

And clouds decisions what to do.

Whatever happens, swift or lazy,

Folks will see it as plain crazy.

 

 

CITY HEIGHTS

 

If there's a party going on

And I'm trying to sleep,

From the deck two cards are drawn--

Invite me now or shut your peep.

 

If it's a party having fun,

I'm there sampling sticky bun.

If there's a fight and drawn handgun,

I'm back home and holding one.

 

 

BROKEN TRUST

 

Call back home to see I'm here--

Pick up the land-line phone.

Since I strayed, you live in fear

That maybe I am not alone--

Dropped my brains--fucking them out:

Something else to lie about.

 

 

SNAKE

 

I made her fall in love with me,

What kind of fool am I?

A broken woman who would be

The apple of my eye

For a moment, in my need

To satisfy my nether greed.

But more than that, beneath the wreck

I found a woman I respect.

 

 

HAPPY TRAILS

 

Her suspicion, jealousy and

Your regrets you treated her

So bad--but still don't understand

About the saddle and the burr

Beneath, that triggers her to take

The reins from you, for heaven's sake.

 

Jealous rage--suspicion now;

Your regrets; betraying her

Enough to make her have a cow

And dig to get rid of the burr

Beneath the saddle and to take

The reins from you, for goodness sake.

 

 

H.D.

 

You lost it: now lose everything--

Misplaced, buried in your stuff;

Piled so high that you can't bring

Anyone over who's not as tough

As nails to witness all the piles

Of trash defining crowded aisles

Leading to the couch, the can--

To bed upstairs, a troubled man.

 

 

WHISTLE BLOWER

 

Use what happened to convict

And flog an honest man?

Honesty that got him kicked

Downstairs was not his plan.

Honesty, it turns out, was his

Struggle with the corporate biz.

 

 

UNDER THE TABLE

 

You're cheating, since if you don't cheat

You're getting beat for naught;

If you don't cheat you'll never beat

The system, likewise if you're caught--

It will likely ruin your life

As bad as cheating on your wife.

 

 

P.I. PREY

 

Wish I were a better liar--

Or kept it in my pocket;

Can't change spots of my desire

That unleashed the rocket

That I rode to kingdom come:

Vapor trails? Sadly, some.

 

 

PRINCESS

 

How absurd

Kicked to the curb,

All because I kissed a nerd;

Forgiven, though,

Because she's so

All that--knowing she's preferred.

 

 

ANOTHER ELECTION

 

Candidates: queue up to shine

Down upon us lesser folks;

Their constellation threads a line

Around another starry hoax--

Astrologers! They chart a scam

Defining who they think I am.

 

 

TIPPING POINT

 

I see you've no way out but down,

And that, my friend, no way at all;

Because you're not that big a clown,

Don't think you can take the fall;

Prepare yourself, the end is near--

You're losing all that you hold dear.

 

 

21st CENTURY POLITICS

 

The best lack all conviction,

The worst are so intense

They redact the truth to fiction--

Corrupting common sense.

The power plays they use to win

(If I believed) I'd call a sin.

 

 

POOR PLANNING

 

Driving me to grab a gun

And put it to my head;

Situations seem to run

Into the ground instead

Of how I planned on getting high--

Sailing off into the sky.

 

 

CHEATING

 

Like I was single, or we're healthy;

As either one of us were wealthy.

We pursued unlikely love

Praying angels from above

Would bless the union we had found

To share that we'd keep underground.

 

 

JACK

 

Co-option is the oldest tool

To get the system back on track;

Heavy-revies weaken, drool

Over all the heavy jack

Offered if they'll lay it out

More gently or, indeed, sell out.

 

 

FIRST CLASS ALIENATION

 

There were times when company

Was all I ever wanted;

When it didn't come to me

I'd leave my house and haunted

Friends and neighbors, kinfolk too,

Mixing drinks and talking shit;

Playing music, smoking boo--

Couldn't get enough of it.

Something happened, I dropped out,

Today I don't go out at all.

I'm not sure what came about,

But don't care when friends don't call.

The solitude I now enjoy,

Makes me a happy, simple boy.

 

 

CARELESS LOVE

 

You made him, let him, fall in love

Now you'll likely break his heart.

No innocent, you gave the shove

Into the path of Cupid's dart.

Now, tell me what you plan to do

With him who fell in love with you?

 

 

CHUMMY RUMMY SOMETIME LOVERS

 

Drunkenness, a state of bliss

Where you fall into their arms;

Tender is the scented kiss

Of fermentation braving charms

Of the other: the courage to

Do the things you'd never do.

 

 

HOPELESS

 

Green eyes staring back at me

Wondering what it's going to be;

Ginger eyes gaze back at you,

Wondering what you're going to do.

Puzzled. The only end in sight

I see is feel the bullet's bite.

 

 

RUNNING DEEP?

 

Talk to me. Talk to me. Talk.

Don't know where you're coming from.

You could be the sparrow hawk

Diving in from kingdom come;

Or you could be the one who shares

My happiness that comes in pairs.

You could be the one who holds

My future what? as it unfolds.

But talk to me. The silence I

Get from you draws a sigh.

 

 

70% OF OUR THOUGHTS

 

Why is love, or sex, or looks,

Always on our mind?

Answer's simple--don't need books

Or experts help you find

The reason why. The reason's clear:

Love, nee sex, provides the cheer

To keep the human race alive:

The orgasm makes sure we thrive.

 

 

SUGARCANE DADDYS

 

Aging beauty drinking hard--

Bored and lonely as can be--

Sips rum in the fenced back yard

Of old men who love to see

Her green eyes and comely form--

And wit that takes them all by storm.

 

 

IRAQ

 

All about oil. Yeah, not quite.

It's all about the profits that

Keep the system going, right?

War will keep it off the mat;

Always: war; inflation; or

Debt to let the system soar.

 

 

99% PROOF

 

Tell me when you're sober--

Describe the problem then.

You're telling me we can't get over

Another business cycle when

The factories, workers, farmland and

Service, product all still stand?

 

 

SINGLE WHITE FEMALE

 

Alone. Afraid to take the trash

To the dumpsters in the back.                            

She's been raped. Her mind will flash

Back to then, and thoughts turn black.

From that, decides she can't be seen

By strangers in apartments there.

Won't let them catch her in between

Her car and her apartment where

She'll live hiding with her dreams

And night terrors--helpless, fights--

Living with the trash, and screams

That punctuate the rented nights.

She stays alive to make it through

Another day of missing you.

 

 

HARD-ON

 

You get me and I get you.

Could be we're a pair.

Before another day is through

I think, maybe, I might dare

To take a chance to ask you if

You see problems getting stiff.

 

 

POACHING

 

Chances taken for a reason,

That would be a guess--

Could be thrill of hunting season

Or could be a mess

If you get caught. But still you try

To get over without a lie.

 

 

COLD HEARTED

 

Where do you go, after you go

To someone and relieve your mind

Of the heavy thoughts that show

You've gotten yourself in a bind--

When they look back at you as if

You've been talking to a stiff.

 

 

MAINTENANCE MODE

 

Give up nothing, not a bit.

I've no clue to what you feel.

Times I nipple on your tit,

You won't even give a squeal.

But you'll go through the motions when

Separation looms again.

 

 

TOUGH LOVE

 

Expectations

From relations

Of a weighted soul:

 

Interventions,

Good intentions--

The family has a goal.

 

Might as well just shoot her dead;

Or put one through his leaden head.

 

 

LEMURIA

 

A civil war is brewing

Between those who want to fight,

And the rest who sit home stewing

Over this world's end in sight:

A civil war no side will win--

And civilization begins again.

 

 

THINKING DURKHEIM

 

He studied rates of suicide

To gauge a nation's mental health;

Who's checking on mass homicide?

Or wars used building up the wealth?

Mental health? A serious joke.

I think I'll take another toke.

 

 

CAPITALISM

 

You think it's drugs? Crime or sex?

Sexual orientation or

Global issues, and what's next

To lead us to another war?

Can't believe we're all so dumb

To swallow everything laid out

On tables of the kingdom come

That feeds us what we think about

The world--while deftly shifting blame

To the world's economy

From those who claim we're all the same--

Not different at all from you and me

And just as puzzled with the world

When another flag's unfurled.

 

 

CITY OF LIGHT

 

A social butterfly getting off

On attention given her;

Chowhounds slopping at the trough--

She takes a silver spoon to stir

Up emotions they'll die for:

The butterfly's a virtual whore.

 

 

GOSSIP

 

No one wants to be viewed as

This or that which someone has

Conjured up from rumor that

Started with a sewer rat.

Regardless, we all suffer it--

We can't rise above the shit.

 

 

KICK ME, JESUS

 

I've never known one so alone

As the one who married me:

Conversations with a stone--

Echoes bouncing out to sea;

Days are shared but bob around

A single voice adrift and drowned.

 

 

COWARD GOD

 

God is hidden. Hiding in fact--

Can't get far enough away

From every vicious human act

God knows happens every day.

God's ashamed to ever have made

Such animals--and God's afraid.

 

 

FUNDAMENTAL CONTROL FREAK

 

Now, all your partner wants to do

Is, find a place away from you:

Takes his chances when he can

To find a place where you can't ban

His sinful pleasures wearing thin

Through your godly, holy skin.

 

All he wants to do's get high--

Can't you give that to the guy?

You've got yours, now tell me why

You're going to make him want to die?

You show him prison for the crime

Of getting too high all the time.

 

Religion gets you high on days

When everybody like you prays.

If he gets high before your eyes

Why not, why not compromise?

What's the harm in that? Can't budge

Off being above the Lord to judge?

 

Give it up, we all get high

One way or another I'd

Have to say--or why not die

From boredom on the other side?

OK, he always went too far--

He's near dead, don't raise the bar.

 

 

A DEATH WISH CAUSING PROBLEMS

 

Drink too much or drop too much

Or spike a sudden thrill through veins:

Problem is, you're being such

A goddamn pain you're wrapping chains

Around your friends and family who

Are slaving now to pull you through.

 

 

ESKIMOS NO MORE

 

It's not like the days of old

When sick or useless chose to die

And walked into the winter cold--

Laid down, staring at the sky

Waiting for the cold to take--

Giving poor kinfolk a break.

No one does that now because

We live over how it was.

 

 

GUN CONTROL

 

Stick gun control into the mix

Of politics on any day:

Sucker issue made to fix

The goddamn world. Uh-huh. O.K.

Toughen up some lame-ass laws

To treat effects and not the cause.

 

 

BURDEN

 

Look what you've done to yourself!

I hate to sound cold-hearted,

But now the laden medicine shelf

Is going to get me started

Because if you had just shown some

Moderation, you'd not be here:

Me over you, to keep you from

The drink and drugs you used to queer

Mind and body from working right:

Eat this pabulum, shut up, good night.

 

 

GIVE IT UP

 

Can't blame God, the Devil or

The skimpy skirted sidewalk whore

For what is going on to make

This world seem such a big mistake.

 

This is it. Hey, this is God--

Nobody else is there.

We're the shit that made this odd

Existence from thin air.

 

 

IMPERIALISM

 

Drawn wire stretching ever thinner--

It's not gold, it's going to break.

Called a bully, monster, sinner,

Imperialism's going to make

The world a happy place when it

Decomposes--and turns to shit.

 

 

DEPRESSION/OPPRESSION/WHIPPED

 

Give one reason you can't be

Engaged with friendly company.

 

I'll give you two: first one's I

Can't wait until the day I die.

 

The other is because of you--

Controlling everything I do.

 

 

FRANK

 

You brought my mother flowers

To the ICU: forbidden.

She hadn't many days and hours.

The rules were overridden--

You bringing color back to her.

Her eyes spoke to the man you were.

 

 

JUNKIE HIGH

 

We're all junkies getting high

On something or another;

Sick or healthy--sometimes die

Taking chances that will smother

Life for thrills that we don't see

For ourselves as such a risk

Delivering us eternity.

Oh, but those good trips are brisk

When the substance takes you where

You hadn't planned and wouldn't dare.

 

 

PURE EVIL

 

We all get high, can't lie, oh my:

Religion is the cleanest high.

Except it causes splits between

Sectarians claiming they're most true

To God, creating quite a scene--

As fanatics tend to do

To prove their faith's deserving of

Pure dominance beneath God's love.

 

 

PARTY DOWN:

HAIL THE CARETAKER

 

You thought you would have the balls

For suicide if came to when

You couldn't stand up after falls

From drink and drugs you dropped again.

Big surprise. You're living still,

Dependent on another's will.

 

 

DRUGS

 

I love them much as anybody--

When they're good the high is great.

But when preferred against the shoddy

Life that you've begun to hate,

You're in trouble. Things get worse--

Drugs become a bitter curse

That drag you down the more you crave

To follow them into your grave.

 

 

MIRROR

 

Catch the look as they undress--

Perhaps you'll see the truth

Revealing secrets eyes confess

When glancing at the wasted youth.

The crow's feet fan the memories

Of disappointments by degrees

Of love that failed when a voice

Had lost its strength to make a choice.

 

 

MENTOR

 

The only person I could tell

Who had some hope in me

Was one I didn't have to sell

My soul or personality

And took me for the one I am--

I opened like a fresh steamed clam.

 

 

RELIGION OF DRUGS

 

I believe in miracles--

Especially when I'm stoned.

Substance generating spells--

Crash when they're de-boned,

Leaving me with flesh and blood

That life can choose to drag through mud.

 

 

FRANKIE

 

Frankie's living on the streets;

Has his buddies--homeless too.

They agree that their life beats

Taxes, rent, and bosses who

Expect a little more each day

And complain how much they pay

To keep you working--Frankie quit

Before he ever took their shit.

He tells me he's fed all the time

By kind-hearted folks he meets--

He says he rarely spends a dime.

Though might sleep between the sheets

Of a bed, the sleep he gets

In 24, despite the threats,

Suits him fine, he gets enough--

The sidewalk, ground, all keep him tough.

That's what Frankie tells me but

The trade-off's hardly even;

Frankie's yet to tell me what

Is so good that he'll believe in

The streets before he takes a job--

No shower, shave, clean clothes, a slob

And smelling bad--but then he's free

Of judgments from the likes of me.

 

 

PLENTY

 

This ugly duck's no future swan.

Got no hopes, no dreams, no shots

At fame or fortune--they're all gone.

But my guts aren't tied in knots--

What I've have's between my legs

For which my darling partner begs.

 

 

BLUFF MEISTER

 

I'm thin-skinned, I shouldn't be--

I've got myself one terrible mouth.

But criticism crumbles me

To send my ego tumbling south.

Keeping my mouth shut is worse:

I've got it figured out--a curse.

 

 

VICTIM TO A HORNDOG

 

She mumbles tending her duress

Which I barely understand.

Rambling on while I caress

Her skin beneath my roaming hand.

She won't say no, she won't say stop--

She chats about what's going on

In her life to stay on top:

I'm wet and she's about to yawn,

Squeezing shut her weary eyes,

Wishing that my fingers could

Soften slick the hope that lies

Within her but I'm no damn good--

Life has stressed her half to death

While my yearning's sped my breath.

 

 

WOMEN

 

The quickie's akin to rape,

When in fact she has been raped.

He moves so fast he's grabbed the nape

Of her neck, and she's escaped

With excuses, chatter that

Leave new boyfriends flaccid, flat.

 

 

BUD

 

Bringing light into the world,

Doing his Buddhist best:

Colors splashed as whispers swirled

Within the ears so blessed

To hear the softness of the light

He brought to everyone in sight.

 

 

DEFENCE

 

She runs a stream of consciousness

Chatting with a man

About inherent wickedness

That she can't understand--

Done to her, like, every day.

He listens, hasn't much to say--

His mind is on important things

Like sex he hopes attention brings.

 

 

JIHADIST WATER BOARD

 

I'll die before they torture me,

Said Ashar Assad Ali.

Martyrdom or suicide?

That's for Allah to decide.

Ali's at Guantanamo Bay--

Should hear the things he has to say.

 

 

REVOLUTION

 

Instead of feeling sorry

For yourself and others;

Or falling into starry

Nights in hopes it smothers

What you're feeling, take a chance

And try to change what no romance

Is going to do to make your place

Cleaner, safer--without a trace

Of exploitation, bullies and

We all enjoy the beach and sand.

 

 

SAVE THE WORLD

 

Save the whale, the spotted frog,

Save the old growth redwood trees;

Save the wetlands draped in fog,

The cypress shaped by ocean breeze.

Right. Business claims you're near insane--

Media shows you're smug and vain.

You've a snowball's chance in hell

As long as Wall Street rings the bell.

 

 

I SEE IT. SO?

 

I don't have the voice to speak;

I don't have the will to take

The steps for helping out the weak;

Absolutely no balls to shake

The system up, I'm just a man--

Watching, doing what I can.

 

 

PSYCHOACTIVE CONFESSIONS

 

What's this water-boarding shit?

I don't believe a word of it.

35 seconds? You confess?

Has to be more to saying yes

Than water going up your nose--

Even from a fire hose.

And then God visits you that night

To tell you that you had done right

By betraying Muslim brothers?

Convinced you're helping them and others?

The CIA is doing more

Than water-boarding--can't ignore

What they've tried out in the past

That's finally working at long last:

The CIA has drugs involved.

Open, shut. This case is solved.

 

 

INSIDE, OUTSIDE,

ALL THE SAME

 

Men have treated her like trash;

She lives with it, the woman drops

Wrappers on the floor; she'll splash

The rug with wine--her body plops

On the couch to watch TV,

Bored and lonely as can be.

 

 

NATURAL

 

I smell you when I walk into

My room--I smell the scent that lies

Soft and warm then wet when you

Allow my lips between your thighs.

 

I smell the comfort scents of earth

Known since I'd been given birth;

You're not here, not in my room--

Instead, I'm left with your perfume.

 

 

SONNET TO THE TERROR

 

We're all human, we all work--

Well, most of us do work at least.

What's the reason for knee jerk

Reactions seen as though the Beast

Is taking over your whole world?

Angry, threatened hands are clutched

To staffs of one more flag unfurled,

Leaving no ones life untouched.

Beliefs become a shrapnel belt,

Wrapped around someone while cloaked

In darkness 'til the time they're dealt

A blow from traitors who have choked

Out of fear and water boards--

Hymns sung drowning common chords.

 

 

LOVABLE WASTREL

 

I've been babied all my life,

Privileged, selfish, handsome, lucky.

Girlfriend, tryst, unlucky wife--

I stay on top, a rubber ducky

Floating on the scented water--

Bathing with a mother's daughter.

 

 

REICH WAS RIGHT

 

Goose step: sex and politics--

Tell me what is going on.

Gander at the rigid fix

Compassion's undergone.

Love and caring aren't the same

Beneath the whip and driven shame.

 

 

DIFFERENT KINDS OF DRUGS

 

Dreaming it. Not doing it--

Diversion's done it's job.

Watching it, pursuing it

Without a chance, will rob

You of life to profit those

Who put the brass ring through your nose.

 

 

MODERN TORTURE

 

How scary would it be if you

Had no clue you're on a drug?

Beelzebub and Allah too--

Will visit you, you're but a bug--

You're going to do just what they say.

Not tonight, tomorrow. Today.

 

 

THE BEST PART OF CHRISTMAS

 

The year's best day is Christmas Day--

No traffic 'til the Christmas lights

Turn on as daylight fades away

And folks hand over driving rights.

Others taking to the streets

Driving beneath fermented treats.

But Christmas Day, ah, what a treat,

Not a soul on any street.

 

 

ROOM WITH A VIEW

 

I'd love to live near traffic

In a room--with view--where sound

Can't reach it: photographic

Situation all around

To let me pick what's going on--

Voyeurism of withdrawn.

 

 

DEPRECIATION

 

How much longer with the fraud

Until the day you're caught?

What's to prop up your facade

That everybody thought

Was real--stories you inflate

While your words are losing weight?

 

 

EGO-CENTRIC

 

So self-absorbed you suck me dry--

Attention that I pay to you.

I'm your drug and I supply

Your habit that'll get you through

Another day beneath the sun

Of you the one and only one.