Sunday, April 26, 2020

waiting for the light to turn green





the great void spins
and spins and spins and spins
who shall say where the void ends
and where it begins?

i had more than enough to drink
and before i had time to think
i accosted a stranger in the street
but he pushed me aside without missing a beat

the question of the void
is easy to avoid
if you really put your mind to it
you can get through it

>that is what i wanted to say
but the stranger went on his way
with my words unappreciated
because they had never been stated

how many strangers have you pushed aside
as you wander through this world so wide
they might have given you food for thought
then again, maybe not

i am waiting for the light to turn green
it’s the loneliest light i have ever seen
the walls of the steeet close in
maybe i will go for a swim



no bail




the mayor would not go my bail
so i am here to tell my tale
and will not let it rest
until i have done my best

roses are red, elephants are gray
everybody should have their say
flowers bloom in howling blizzards
human beings are all really lizards

violets are blue, champagne is bubbly
old philosophers faces are stubbly
if you never learn to stay out of the rain
you will get wet, again and again

grass is green, hay is yellow
my old dog sam was a jolly good fellow
he scratched the surface of the earth
and played the fool for all he was worth

noses are purple, mud is brown
every time i go to town
folks gather round and call me names
but my mama loved me all the same

old man mose is mighty rich
he carries an old curved hickory switch
the devil gave him as a gift
when mose stopped one night and gave him a lift

just a feller walking down the road
with a cat, a rattlesnake, and a toad
the rain was falling, the sky was dark
and he had to find noah’s ark

someone must give us all a ride
or we will be fit to be tied
to the tree from which old mother eve
picked an apple, i do believe

such is the substance of my verse
stranger, i ask you, which is worse
a man who will offer you a drink
or one who always stops and thinks?



Thursday, April 16, 2020

opportunity





i thought i heard sheriff john brown say
this is quality stuff
and he had been around a long time
and knew when enough was enough

and so i could not believe my ears
when he commended me thus
and felt as if i were struck by lightning
or hit by a greyhound bus

but then i looked around
and to my dismay found
he was talking to sad sam smith
who had come in the door with

all the creatures i had known
in my years all alone
on the mountaintop
before it all came to a stop

i thought i heard sam smith say
as they led me away
they gave him every opportunity
is it our fault he didn’t want to be free?

and shirley the waitress said
he should have stayed in bed
whenever you walk out the door
the lions and the oceans roar



Saturday, April 4, 2020

late at night





as the rain rattled on the roof
sidney greenstreet offered proof
to the officer at the station
of his sincere reformation

as the detective waked away
rosalind russell heard him say
these hoodlums before dawn
will lay lifeless on the lawn

cary grant had another plan
it was to confront the man
who had designed the whole frame
and say he knew his real name


but adolphe menjou
would never know who
made the last phone call
and left the message on the wall

after poor claude rains
went to such pains
to include the younger generation
in his address to the nation



Thursday, April 2, 2020

lines





all you lonely hermits
dreaming of endless highways
the road is empty

listen to the rain
and roll over
and go back to sleep

at the end of the road
there is only another lonely room
another empty shack