Poetry And Other Musings...

Long Time Running

Thunder rolling on the open plain

Black smoke rising from a long freight train

A lonely rider under wind and rain

I'm a long time running, such a long time running

I'm a long time running from the ghost who'd

have me wear her chain

An old love song on the radio

Black geese flying when the cold winds blow

Summer surrendered to the ice and snow

I'm a long time running, still a long time running

I'm a long time running and I've still got

a long way to go

A lone biker in the pouring rain

Black crows laughing while they steal the grain

A hitchhiker in the breakdown lane

I'm a long time running, such a long time running

I'm a long time running but I'm still

chasing love in vain

Scarlet Rain

In this cesspit of madness where I was reborn

Explosions greet those who wake to face the dawn

Reduced to rubble, an orphan cries in pain

For God to release her from the scarlet rain

We're prisoners of anger, just prisoners of hate

Roll out our numbers and choose for us our fate

Tombstone heroes stretch out in a silent plain

From the daily ritual of the scarlet rain

In a nightmare of chaos, when some civilian dies

We're asked to burn feelings and maybe close our eyes

We're told they're heartless, we're told they have no name

Because their sons dance with us in the scarlet rain

You and I may meet yet

In the scarlet rain.

She Overheard

She overheard me talking to the sky

On a night when all the stars were glistening

Later in bed, she asked me why

If I thought there was no one out there listening

She said it seemed like something odd

To catch me praying in the evening dim

She said you don't believe in God

And I told her I wasn't talking to Him...

She overheard me crying late one night

In a peaceful dream of the old neighborhood

She said when she turned on the light

She saw upon my face my vanished childhood

She said I looked so young and calm

And I said it was all a blur

She said I know you miss your mom

And I said oh I wasn't dreaming of her...

She overheard me singing to myself

In the darkness with a vintage radio

I rescued from a thrift shop shelf

It only played the songs from a long time ago

She said I sang them all so well

But all those old songs made her sad and blue

Sometimes the truth is hard to tell

So I just said but I'm not singing to you

Days Gone By

Late summer breeze blowing hot August kisses

Kids on the block blowing dandelion wishes

A drink of water from a neighbor's garden hose

Creek-bottom mud squishing in-between our toes

And in the evening, fireflies like living embers

We swore we'd never forget, now no one remembers

How it felt to be young, just to run barefoot beneath blue sky

That was the time of our lives, now it's all days gone by

Wind through the trees whispers a chilly warning

Frost on the grass and car windows in the morning

Bright yellow slickers splash through puddles in the rain

Back-to-school blues only children can explain

We loved each other just like brothers that September

We swore we'd never forget and I still remember

How it was to be young, oh so young you think you'll never die

That was the time of our lives, now it's all days gone by

A winter storm and the first snow is falling

In the silence I hear my last summer calling

I build a fire, but I can't keep out the cold

When I was young I never dreamed I'd get this old

Looks like it's gonna be another long December

I swore I'd never forget and I still remember

How it felt to be young, to know love, to be born just to die

This was the time of my life and it's all days gone by

My Mother's Hands

Hers were the hands of love

Hers were the hands of pain

In one she held the sunshine

In the other, only rain

Hands that cooked our supper

Hands that washed the dishes

Sometimes they were empty

Sometimes full of wishes

And I was too young then to understand

That I was seeing time slip quickly

through my mother's hands

Hers were the hands that built

Hers were the hands that burned

In them she held the promise

Of a punishment well-earned

Hands that pulled our splinters

Hands that tied our laces

Hands in prayer to Jesus

Hands that smacked our faces

But I was still a boy, not yet a man

When I saw all the time fall softly

from my mother's hands

Hers were the hands at peace

Hers were the hands at rest

Hers were the hands of death

Crossed over her breathless chest

A Haunted Heart

My heart's a haunted house

My eyes are broken windows

My mind a darkened hall

Down which the autumn wind blows

Through empty rooms like tombs

From which no memory escapes

Where evening shadows gather

Cast in vaguely human shapes

And sing a deathly chorus

A long song of wailing moans

For all the love I buried here

In my graveyard of lost bones

Where you're my welcome guest

And I'm your charming host

My heart's a haunted house

And I'm its only ghost

Second Glance

I'm pushing 60 and it's pushing back

I'm still running hard, but I'm running out of time

Grey is the color of invisibility

But you should have seen me back when I was in my prime

Back when I was long and lean, oh how I could dance

I've lost a step or two, but I'm still worth a second glance

I'm just as handsome as I never was

Even if I'm scarred by time's lines upon my face

Age is the hunter of a man's mortality

But you might have loved me in another time and place

Back when I believed in love and true romance

I've lost a little faith, but I'm still worth a second glance

And if it's true that time is just a line

I'd walk it with you straight on to its very end

Death is the promise of an everlasting dream

One we all dream alone, but right now I could use a friend

Even if I'm old, don't I deserve a second chance

If I admit it's true that I look best at second glance

Nothing More

If I could be uplifted

By the things with which I'm gifted

Satisfied by what I've got

And not defined by what I'm not

That's more than I could ask for

And I would ask for nothing more

If all I'm ever blessed with

Are the clothes that I've been dressed with

Wealth enough to keep me fed

To keep a roof above my head

That's more than I could ask for

And I would ask for nothing more

Someone Knows My Name

Hey all you children, why haven't you been told

That polishing silver won't turn it to gold

You're all facing east with your heads in the sand

Upturned by the duststorm that's sweeping the land

The newspapers say that's it me who's to blame

Somebody, somewhere, somehow knows my name

But don't cast my memory too soon onto stone

You know I move fastest while travelling alone

You talk of commitment with no shoes on your feet

And a one guest reception at the end of the street

You can swim with your demons in a whisky and dry

But when you start drowning, don't ask me to cry

I've loved you for money and chased you in lust

Now my heart's full of feelings that I just can't trust

We sit out of danger and watch from the wall

We die once an hour and say nothing at all

So all you children, learn well from your time

That stealing ideas is no major crime

I've murdered my way into ungrounded fame

And someone, somewhere, somehow knows my name.

Ghost On The Back Of My Bike

She's a ghost on the back of my bike

On a desert highway when the ocotillo bloom

She's a dream in the darkness at night

Shifting shape on the sheets in a cheap motel room

She's a voice on the wind like a whisper

She's a name on my tongue like a blister

Left there the last time I kissed her

She's a cross on the side

Of the road where she died

A ghost on the back of my bike wherever I ride

Nobody's Valentine

All you hopeless romantics

With your bleeding hearts

Don't send around that cherub

With his fabled darts

No lover's arrow finds its mark

On a heart broken as mine

I'm nobody's fool

And I'm nobody's Valentine

I threw down all my roses

Some long years ago

And I drowned all my sorrows

In the tears that flow

Like salted memories that once

Once I knew a love so fine

I threw it all away

Now I'm nobody's Valentine

I Fucked Up

I fucked up a good goodbye

For the sake of being honest

I swore I'd never make her cry

But in the end I broke my promise

I wish she hadn't asked me why

But she did and so I told her

I looked her straight in the eye

When all I had to do was hold her

One last time before I went

And tell her one last white lie

I swear it wasn't my intent

But I fucked up a good goodbye

Child's World

Welcome to my kingdom

See my castles of sand

Won't you stay with me awhile

Draw some friendship from my hand

I wanna give you a piece

Of every dream I own

But their ain't that much

For our feet to touch

Can I give enough

Living in a child's world

Well, they forecast some rain

For forty days and nights

But you rocked me to sleep

And said it would be alright

There ain't nobody getting stronger

In this emotion flood

And come the break of day

As the shadows slip away

It's no curse to be afraid

Living in a child's world

That promise I felt, swimming in your mind

Left me confused with no place to hide

This fairground's a mess, it's rides closing down

I'm a lost boy asleep on some dusty ground

I've always looked both ways

While crossing your street of gold

But lately the drivers who pass

Are getting closer to my soul

Let me drink your forgiveness

I know all it's worth

And if I call for help

As I struggle within myself

There can be no one else

Living in a child's world.

Hellbent For Leather

Cold winter sunshine

Shimmers on the road ahead

I'm throwing sparks leaning into the curves

On a road built for the quick and the dead

My shadow chasing me along the mountainside

Hellbent for leather

Hellbent for leather I ride

Down through a canyon

Burning up a lonesome two-lane

I'm soaked clean through in the heart of a storm

Momma told me not to ride in the rain

Chain lightning flashes all across the countryside

Hellbent for leather

Hellbent for leather I ride

And them I'm flying

Over ghostly trucks and cars

I'm throwing sparks leaning into the curves

On a road beyond the moon and the stars

My demons chasing me across the sky's divide

Hellbent for leather

Hellbent for leather I ride

Snowflakes the size of cotton bolls

Glistening

Under the monochromatic yellow light

I stick my tongue out

To catch the pristine cold moisture

To feel alive

As nothing ever lasts

It just drips and fades away in time

Driving through the ruts

Without forethought

I must be going nuts

I can no longer watch

This idyllic glow of snow

Feeling too decadent

For such fragile beauty

I close my eyes...

We laugh

I run my fingers through

Your ten-day stubble

My body reacts

Inescapable

Trouble, trouble, trouble

Sucker For A Sunset

I'm still a fair shake in a fist fight

But we could talk it out and walk away

I'm a good companion for a long night

But I get sleepy come the break of day

I might not be who you're looking for

And if I am, you haven't found me yet

But you might find me come the evening

on a desert hillside

I'm still a sucker for a sunset

I've been a seeker on a long road

But I might stay and settle down someday

I've lived my life faithful to my own code

But who's to say that mine's the only way

I might not be who you've got in mind

But if you think of me, just don't forget

That you can find me come the evening

watching the horizon

I'm still a sucker for a sunset

Tough Guys Don't Dance

Tough guys don't dance, real men don't cry

But you put the beat in my step and a tear in my eye

And I might fall in love, but I'll go down swinging

You'll know I'm in it when you wake up late at night

and find me on the front porch singing

Some old cowboy song

About the things a man shouldn't do if he wants to be strong

All that macho shit, it goes down hard

But you're still afraid to admit that you've been badly scarred

And you might fall again, but you'll go down fighting

You'll know love's found you when you wake up next to her

and feel like you've been struck by lightning

When you've done enough

Of all the things a man shouldn't do if he wants to be tough