Poetry

DESPERATE ANNIE'S

Now Desperate Annie calls you
from halfway down the block
and when you walk into her open arms
she wishes you good luck
there's a boozed up burnette pool shark
who can smell blood from her throne
and the irish boys trade war stories
of going home alone

"so come out and play
its the end of the day"
is what the lonely sing
at the top of the hour the midnight crowd
is wasting the night away

and the shady unshaved groping old men
are scattered all around
Annie says there not welcome here
so Brutus throws them out
he seems gentle but he is nine feet tall
and his fists way three hundred pounds
he could probably bench press a Mack truck
but your not about to find out

And she'll drown you in a sea
of empty rambling
and the college girls with there thrift store pearls
will make the jukebox sing
the locals hold to the fooseball table
as the grateful tip bell rings
and the bartenders don't care if you curse
in the presence of a lady

at the foothills of the "barkeaters"
is where you will find her
in the party town of horse loving crowned
gambling armatuers
she is not the kind of girl
you would want to wine and dine
but if you find the time she's located
on a street named Caroline

"so come out and play
its the end of the day"
is what the lonely sing
at the top of the hour the midnight crowd
are wasting the night away

ANTHEM

All hail the underdog
the liar, the thief, the hobo, the dying
The whore on her knees
The petty, the full
Those who just want relief
And the guilt ridden madman
who implodes once a week
The anarchist slacker
who hasn't a goal
The rats in the cage
The fish in the bowl
The drunken old man
who has drowned his own soul
And the mutated nomad
With his begging bowl
And the hopeless romantics
Frustrated with the world
And the broken heart poets
that write for us all
The angry and bitter
who saw they were dying
And any poor fool
that has been caught lying
Any person that wears
theyre heart on theyre sleeve
To just have it stolen
in someones time of greed
All those who fight
to have nothing to need
Its the lonely and guilty
I'll forever salute thee

Some gypsy junky poetry these idle hands are choking me
Yall never be in empathy till everythings in jeopardy
Your giving into gravity your holidays a fantasy
The new Romes growing into a home for the elderly
And now your loves enemy as you rise above your casualties
The echo of there memories found there way into your dreams
Swear you hear there prayers on the stairs of you recovery
Share but no one cares about your nightmare in serenity

Ya not alright with ya life so you been taking hostages
Every soul that you could hold you glued yourself and bonded with
You know your no one from nowhere and you mean nothing to nobody
And in your sleep you greet the king who put the ink in everything
But today maybe hopefully youll be hearing me through poetry
Metaphorically flowing out of me and into you unconsciously
This is for the minority that I speak to need accordingly
I am you as you are me, I see and hear you Feelingly

Now you can taste it with your hatred
as your waiting for a train
In a station with your patience
as your soaking up the rain
And you cant feel it as it heals it
but youll never be the same
So you do it cause you shouldnt
and youll probably do it again
And you save it as you crave it
cause your greedy with your needs
And you play it with the favorites
on a list of all that bleeds
And its beauty feels like cruelty
and it bites the hand that feeds
But youll kiss this loving darkness
as the light begins to breathe

Like your sweet breath in the wind
Find your soul in the world
As you cheat death again
till maybe tomorrow
And the moon will follow you wherever you go
And wherever you roam theres that bright grinning rose
Tell your love and your blood how much you respect them
And never forget to write yourself an anthem
An Anthem

ABOVE AND AWAY

It comes like a train,
that some have named fate.
You can't navigate,
there is no escape.
The nightsmares awake,
and it needs to play.
The games have begun.
It's all or nothing.
In your lonely kingdom,
no dreams of freedom
Or means to get some
and it seems to add on.
but sleep will not come
till you eat the gun.
or become the one
that God is afraid of.
Your world is a prison,
what is more -- your victim.
The record is broken,
you are forced to listen.
The storm is coming,
the gods are laughing.
The clouds are roaring
like crowds applauding.
And here the train comes,
it follows the crumbs
to where they came from
it knows where you've gone.
So it is time for treason,
it's a crime to write songs.
With rhymes like war drums
and cries of passion.
It has gone beyond love
to almost become
what you have always dreamed of
and hoped would happen.
So fuckin' hold on,
you're riding the storm
And all that it wants
is for you to wake up.

Beware, my friends, it is not safe.
From down out here, you seem above & away.
And when it ends, will you then pray?
Or will you remain
above and away?

So come down, wake us up,
and flow through us like blood.
turn us like a clock
till it burns us like a cut.
Wind us like a knot
And tie us to your flood
And spill into our hearts
And fill us back up.
It's already in your home
it's bleeding in your bed
it's breathing on your phone
it's leaving you in debt.
You're sleeping in your fears
you're dreaming you woke up
as we shout from down out here
can you hear me now, God?

Beware, my friends, it is not safe.
From down out here, you seem above & away.
And when it ends, will you then pray?
Or will you remain
above and away?

SANGRIA

Now the mountains are hazed in a vanilla cloud
The suns coming through with a burning to be proud
The breeze like a sigh breathing on her neck
As the smoke seems to hang from her sanguine lips

Like a stage, on a bench, off in the distance
a chisled faced man covets a cigerrete
Her body a tease as she gestures a kiss
To be blown away by her sanguine lips

And there’s music in the air and there silence is strong
Heaven only knows this is there song
Tapping the tune with his calloused fingertips
As she mouths the words with her sanguine lips

Saying “like a vine we can climb into the shelter of our arms
They’re where the rain can do us no harm
Safe in our love away from the storm
And the sangria will keep us warm"

Sanguine lips on no other
Oh my Sangreal
My darling Dulcinea
You’ve left me in hell
Insane and alone fighting windmills
Soaked to the bone
In Sangria

And his hands find her hands and her heart beats with his
And he holds back her hair and she lays on his chest
And he hopes to have everything that she is
Most above all those sanguine lips

And they dream of the day when the world is okay
With the love of each other and the calm it creates
He glares at the ground and pounds down his fist
Then she lifts his head up with her sanguine lips

And her eyes catch his eyes and then meet within
The snake found its tail the puzzle piece fits
Off you go my pirate back to your ship
She says so softly with her sanguine lips

And the world is there for him to conquer
But at sea he can only seem to dream of her
No treasure on earth was better than his
Lovely little girl with the sanguine lips

So he yells to the crew turn this ship around
And he searches for her but she can not be found
And as the story goes you know there’s no end
He’ll always be searching for her sanguine lips

THE STAR BALLERINA

Now the star ballerina comes to you in whispers
And she makes up the scenery with her foot tapping hisses
And she eases your greed with her smiles and teases
And all the drunken lonely are singing to please you
Where is the ring that we polished in pain?
Where is our dancing beauty has she ran off to play?
Are we under the same sun or has that to gone away?
If so, Where is the coldness that froze you to me?

So with his arms open and dirty fingerprints
Has anybody spoken to that gypsy prince?
His castles in ashes and clothes are all rags
But platitudes and poetry still ring in his head
And wars will be fought and innocence will be caught
Up in the storm now that everything gone
Its compiled itself with the books on your shelf
Like an old memory that brings visions of hell

And so god and you have been at war
God calls you a liar you call god a whore
After an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth
Your now wearing glasses and gods feeling used
And so you crawl into the ballerinas arms
Begging her to keep her little prince warm
And she knows you’re a risk but that’s not who you are
The keys in her fist and loves a used car

And the wound’s are still open and everything’s gone
And your gravity’s broken and your rights are all wrong
And this carousel’s playing that sinister song
The theme of your life as you try to hang on
One more unforgiving waltz that’s devotedly sweet
One more gift to the world planting its seed
It was written in love but it wants you to bleed
For you are its dreamer and this is your dream

CHURCH

Well I guess several thousand years ago
I suppose there was this one man show
Some say that he even glowed
Most just like the way he spoke
I wonder if he enjoyed telling jokes?

And four thousand years before him
Rose from the earth the dawn of man
Tempting eve and dumb Adam
Feeling all ashamed in gods garden
Should I keep snakes and apples from my children?

And I know a lady who helps god sing
About fire and brimstone, his sons rising
How ya’ll burn if ya don’t believe
She is saved and we are all missing
I wonder if she needs god or therapy?

She says “god aint here he is far”
He don’t care about me only her
Cause I like Jews gays and playing guitar
Having sex and going to bars
I wonder if he put breathing holes in her jar?

Well I tasted your forbidden fruit
then ate the tree from limb to root
I did it with the help of my greedy hands
and then thanked god for giving me them
Congratulations ya’ll finally made it
the lousy little poets have graduated
no longer need your diaper changed
ya made it to the first grade

This is for all you homophobes
You religious right fanaticals
You war hungry savages safe at home
You abortion clinic bombing psychos
When will you learn to leave the rest of us alone?

THE MINNEAPOLIS SONG

And who are these pirates singing for nothing?
Hailing from freight trains like demons in heaven
And who are these mothers praying for something?
To take home from the bar and abuse there loving
Be you a gypsy or Russian at home or squatting
Just ripe or rotten or lost and forgotten
The winter is perfect if you like the arctic
The state birds a mosquito and summers a bitch

Minneapolis means whiskey and dreadlocked women
staying up all night blowing smoke in your face
Minneapolis means whiskey and dreadlocked women
full of lovely anecdotes and missing teeth

You’re making love in your kitchen you feel lost but not missing
The hung over television makes your home a more prison
And your tongues in a knot and rant like a zealot
as you instigate riots swearing your gods’ pilot
Blushing with sarcasm do what you will have it at em
As your minds having spasms spouting words like a fountain
Like “don’t ya know?”
No I don’t
I know dead bodies float and the live sink for the whole world to quote

Well I call it as I see it
I’m sorry, didn’t mean it
Just don’t cut it or make it like it did in my teens
And if you are taking offence I must be making sense
I plead innocence or guilty by circumstance

Minneapolis means whiskey and dreadlocked women
staying up all night blowing smoke in your face
Minneapolis means whiskey and dreadlocked women
full of lovely anecdotes and missing teeth

THE RED BANDANA

If you don’t follow the rules
Were gonna put you in our cage
And if you’re the color of the earth
We will teach you how to behave

The new york city lights are so pretty and bright
From this graveyard in Brooklyn
And I cant understand why I try to pretend
That below isn’t my friend
And all I can remember is your bandana
waving like a flag
in the middle of nowhere and without a care
of where we were going
and you said
lay down your compass, your crew guide, your whiskey
Dump forty ounces in the ground for me
don’t you know you can sleep when your dead

And if you see the others up there
Tell them fuck you from me
Ya didn’t hear there mothers scream
Ya havnt seen what ive seen

and in the echoes of my room
i hear you call my name
and in the subways downtown
i swear i see your face

THE BUTCHER

I am sorry said the butcher to the lamb on the counter while lighting up a cigarrette
a mans got to eat so a lambs got to die forgive me if it don’t make sense
Ya see, between me or you I am gonna pick the one who can weave a cleaver with his hand
I am sorry said the butcher to the lamb on the counter while cleaning off his apron

And he might write you another lullaby
Something to keep you warm at night
Something to turn off the lights
He is his own alibi

And how he came to you crawling, begging to hold him, drunk as an out of tune violin
Saying “why wont you come to me, you’re my mine you’re my everything, I am different I swear I have changed
But you know this pattern you’ve seen it all happen somewhere before in a dream
And tomorrows forever and you know there’s no never, white knuckled you pick up your pen

He’s a snake charming knife sharpen cold headed motherfucking crabby ass son of a bitch
He is your butcher and ya need him ya aint gotta feed him just eat your meat and be quiet
His silver tongue is polished he smells of licorice when he leans in to give ya kiss
He is your butcher and ya need him ya aint gotta feed him just eat your meat and be quiet

And he might write you another lullaby
Something to keep you warm at night
Something to turn off the lights
He is his own alibi

KNIVES AND LIES

Lost amongst the poet’s choir the conductor must be hung
He is high on song and drunk with power I say we string him up
It is freezing out lets have a fire the kindling is this town
We can laugh and dance and aspire to burn the whole world down

Well I got nothing left to lose so I think you should to
And if you agree with me you deserve what I will do
First I’ll start with your heart then slip into your shoes
You’ll think you know who/where you are, but this dog is walking you

%^$Pouring from the poets mouth
%$#As the words come flowing out

Prophet sneezing, asphalt preaching soap box medicine
Fever dreaming heartbreaking snake oil in a pen

Like autumn leaves the carpet is pulled out from under us
Groundless as a coma victim trying to wake up
Hopeless as the love affair of god and religion
Aimless as the words that are rolling off my tongue

And if we find ourselves able to write the right words down
Through the hoops and obstacles that comes with music now
Riding rhymes like writing rails through the beat of a mainline
Dancing through the sweat and mess of the poetically sublime

RAPUNZEL

Well you say you found love in the land of the lost
And you opened your heart like the oncoming frost
But where are you now my smokescreen my liar?
Where are you now my young gun for hire?

So Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your hair
At least let down your guard and pretend to not care
You seem lonely in that tower I am tired of climbing
Four stories to go, I suppose it’s worth trying

In the panic of guilt you are sick to your stomach
In this life that you’ve built you’ve obtained nothing
Your masterpiece is broken at best poorly drawn
Oh Rapunzel, Rapunzel where have you gone?

And your mother lives her life in a bullet proof vest
Like us all she prays for a quick painless death
But where is the fun where is the romance
Oh my dear Rapunzel would you care to dance?

So Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your hair
At least let down your guard and pretend to not care
You seem lonely in that tower I am tired of climbing
Two stories to go, I suppose it’s worth trying

Well the sails are on fire the ship it is sinking
Some blame the pilot and accuse him of drinking
I blame the captain he should’ve known better
He was locked in his cabin writing Rapunzel love letters

We’re all butchers and beggars in this deck of cards
And us Jokers are wild like the King of Hearts
And this black cloud will follow me to the end of the earth
Cause when it’s hot it burns and when it rains it pours

So Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your hair
At least let down your guard and pretend to not care
You seem lonely in that tower I am tired of climbing
Well I fell 15 stories and now I lay dying
Oh Rapunzel, Rapunzel, now I lay dying

Oh...THE LITTLE TAVERN

Well there’s nobody here only us thieves
All the rest are long gone or with god sleeping
In the filth of our guilt we are cleaned by the grief in our tales

And these long winter nights will make you feel old
As the wind cuts your skin and swims in your soul
And the fireworks in your heart are duller than a cold day in hell

There’s an old black cloud hanging over this awful town
And the streets are asleep as dead leaves roam the ground
And us squirrels collect shells as we search for the nut in your skull

Gods not dead if you have spirit, he’s drunk again, oh cant you hear it
Where the lotus and the locust gather with the hopeless kids
He’s in the gallows with a bottle and he’s strumming the piano for the world

My condolences dear friends, it appears to be the end
It is time to sink or swim, so I hope you like drowning
And there is no higher ground because the sky is falling down as well

Like teeth on lingerie I want to hear you call gods name
I want to love you in my sleep and dream you in my wake
I want our laughter to turn heads I want to love you until it is unbearable

DON'T FOLLOW

one night looking at the stars
and i realized they were greedy
taking up the whole sky
leaving nothing for you and me
so i asked god
if I could have that place between the stars
the place that nothing wants because its empty and dark
I'd call it mine , fuck it,
give it dirty looks
show everyone my treasure
put it on the cover of books
one day someone would want it
and i would say i am sorry it's priceless
i'm gonna keep it forever it's my darkness
then on an off white autumn day a something crept over me
and whispered like a storm about how it all came to be
and with a message like a mirage like a mirror of this moment
it filled out into the world and this is what it said

Dont follow your imagined friends or hope for things you cannot have
find yourself in someones dream wishing you could forever stay
in the arms of the one you love who cant love you, your dangerous
unpredictably careless, emotionally handicapped

well theres many formulas of failure
i've tried most of them out
like running on top of lilly pads or speaking my mind out loud
shitfaced on my doorstep singing along to Leonard Cohen
you know the neighbors loved me almost as much as i love them
they say "my god, what a mess
what a stranger to happiness
if suffering played a game
then it surely met it's match
in the world of the defeated you must understand where you have been
to surrender what you believe in and begin what has no end
and i will laugh and cry and sing for forever and again
for all those lovely lonely thoughts that get lost inside my head
and the words will flow out of me like a burning derailed train
in the panic to undertand what it is i need to say