Poetry And Other Musings...

Riding And Crying

All my favorite songs are the ones somebody dies in

Is that too much to ask from rock and roll

The greatest western movies are the ones the cowboy cries in

An outlaw ought to have a troubled soul

All my life I've played that lonely role

I've been riding and I've been crying

There's something out there on the highway dying

You can hear it rising on the hot wind sighing

I've been riding and I've been crying

My favorite writers are the fearless independents

The ones who leave their blood on every page

The young romantic poets rhyming of love and transcendence

The dreamers caught up in this dreamless age

All my life I've set out to outrage

And I've been riding and I've been crying

There's something out there on the highway dying

You can hear it rising on the hot wind sighing

I've been riding and I've been crying

Too Young To Know

First time I saw her, she was sitting at the wheel

A blonde-haired freckled beauty in a yellow Oldsmobile

She was leaning out the window, she was laying on the horn

I was pissing in a field of young Nebraska corn

Come on and get a ride, boy, if you want one

I didn't ask her where to or how far

I was hitching east and she was driving west

But I crossed two country lanes and climbed into that big old car

We rode together, singing with the radio

She said, boy, you're singing songs you're too young to know

Somewhere in Utah as the sun was going down

She pulled off the highway in some small four-corners town

All the streets were dark and quiet and the moon was in full bloom

We ate pizza from the box in a roadside motel room

Come on and get a kiss, kid, if you want one

I asked her if she heard what she just said

I was just nineteen and she was thirty-nine

But I strippd out of my jeans and slipped into that big queen bed

We moved together with the lamplight burning low

She said, boy, you're doing things you're too young to know

Last time I saw her, she looked like a lonely ghost

Dancing barefoot in white linen on the California coast

She was golden in the sunshine, twirling in the crashing waves

I realized in that moment, life's a dance upon our graves

Go on and go your way, kid, if you want to

I didn't wait for her to say it twice

I walked the beach road until I caught a ride

And I left her out there dancing on the edge of paradise

I might have loved her all those long, long years ago

But in her eyes I saw all I was too young to know

My Low Life And Times

I killed a man, that's what I did

And really he was no more than a kid

But he threatened me with a cold blue knife

Said he'd have my money or he'd have my life

Down a dark dirt road, all for twenty bucks

In a graveyard for old rusted pickup trucks

He had black eyes and a face cold as stone

All I had was fear and a blade of my own

And I left him there with a long bloody gash

That boy lost his life and I kept my cash

And if I've not paid for my crimes

In all of my low life and times

When I leave this world my sentence begins

One day we've all got to pay for our sins

I shot a man, that's what I've done

But he was the one who pulled out the gun

And he said I'd do just as I was told

Or I'd die that night at just nineteen years old

Down an old bone road, all for a cheap thrill

With a hard-on so hard he was willing to kill

He had snake eyes and a grin of dark lust

But I grabbed his gun in a moment of trust

And I left him bleeding but nowhere near dead

Zipped up my jeans on the run as I fled

And if I've not paid for my crimes

In all of my low life and times

When I leave this world my sentence begins

One day we've all got to pay for our sins

OVER THE YEARS AND FAR AWAY

If our lives have all been pre-ordained

Where does that leave a lucky guess

If possession is nine tenths of law

Then I don't want to know the rest

We take our strength from the ones we love

When all is said and done

We face the grind of the everyday

For our one moment in the sun

When yesterday is all that's left

Don't let the picture fade

Remember me how you feel best

Over the years and far away

Travelling south on a long highway

Towards the promised greener grass

With a suitcase full of uncertainty

And a shadow from the past

There's a free wind blowing through my hair

There's the stretch of the open road

But like all good things, the story will end

When the writer is out of prose

When yesterday is all that's left

Don't let the picture fade

Remember me how you feel best

Over the years and far away

Don't judge my deeds in too harsh a light

Stones never hurt as much as words

There are things I've done I now regret

But they were done on my own terms

There's an order in the chaos that we call life

Just look into this mirror of truth

And when you accept that there are things we can never change

My reflection will stare back at you

When yesterday is all that's left

Don't let the picture fade

Remember me how you feel best

Over the years and far away.

A corny one about a story my mom used to tell me.

Raised On Rock And Roll

Momma taught me how to dance

Before I learned to walk

I knew the words to Love Me Tender

Before I could even talk

And I remember how she cried

On that August afternoon

When Elvis Presley died

The King is gone, gone, gone too soon

And we stayed up all night dancing

We did The Madison and The Stroll

She came of age in the nineteen-fifties

She was raised on rock and roll

She was raised on rock and roll

And she always used to say

"When I was seventeen..."

She knew a boy who drove a hot rod

He had hair just like James Dean

And if he only hadn't died

Then she would have worn his ring

She always thought of him

When she heard Frankie Valli sing

Late one night I heard her praying

Father, please receive his rebel soul

He lived his life like a teenage movie

He was raised on rock and roll

He was raised on rock and roll

Momma taught me how to dance

Before I learned to walk

And I could sing Be-Bop-A-Lula

Before I could even talk

I've got a hot rod heart and a jukebox soul

I was raised on rock and roll

I was raised on rock and roll

The Last One Home

Who told Momma where I went

That night I stayed out long past dark

She found me crying in the cold

At the empty baseball park

Her winter coat around my shoulders

Her fingers through my hair like a loving comb

She said I could run away when I get older

She knew I would always be the last one home

Who told Momma where I went

That day I played hookie from class

She caught me wandering in the woods

And she whipped my little ass

And now she's three years gone and buried

An orphan nearly grown, I was free to roam

A backpack and a broken heart was all I carried

I knew I was born to be the last one home

No one came to meet the train

That night I came back into town

No welcome home, I walked alone

In the soft rain falling down

I went out to the cemetery

I climbed that hill and stood over her stone

I came to her at last, not in a hurry

She knew I was gonna be the last one home

The Stake

Hers was white magic and a strong love potion

As sweet as wine, nothing bitter did she pour

She filled my cup and I grew drunk on true devotion

She forever mine and I am hers forevermore

And on the streets of town men talked of her in fearful whispers

But they never spoke her name, only quiet words of blame

All the ladies of the church cursed her as a weirdling sister

And they chanted shame, shame, shame as they put her to the flame

Drunk in some back alley, I hung my head and cried

My soul without its mate, my spellbound heart did break

I hid like a coward on the night she died

But I swore revenge on all who set her burning at the stake

She was a woman of divine perception

If a witch she was, nothing evil did she host

Among that kind, she was a beautiful exception

I saw her last night and I danced with her lovely ghost

And on the streets of town the children sing a rhyme about her

But they never say her name when they play their silly game

The townfolk stare at me and say ol' Joe can't live without her

And they say she called my name when they put her to the flame

Early in the morning, before the sun arose

I stole the streetlamp oil before the town did wake

I slunk like a coward in my sleeping clothes

And I took vengeance on all who set her burning at the stake

Good Enough

She was never too good for me

I just wasn't good enough for her

And we were never going to be

Anything more than we ever were

In those cheap motels on the weekends

When her kids were with her ex

Friends when we weren't fighting

Fighting when we weren't having sex

And that should have been good enough for me

Just like it was good enough for her

But I wanted more than we would ever be

And she wanted less than we were

Doo-Wop Kids

Well, I was born too late to be a doo-wop kid

But I combed my hair back just like the greasers did

I wore a motorcycle jacket and pressed blue jeans

I was too young to drive but I read hot rod magazines

On the corner smoking cigarettes and drinking soda pop

Me and my best friends singing Elvis songs and doo-wop

A woman hollered out a window, you kids better stop

All that caterwauling or I'll call for a cop

And when the cop came round, down the alley we hid

We were born too late to be doo-wop kids

But I was brought up right on old-time rock and roll

My momma loved country music and blue-eyed soul

She used to play those old records on the stereo

And I stayed up late at night listening to the radio

In the evening in the summertime outside the pizza shop

Me and my best friends singing boogie woogie be-bop

An old man shook his fist and shouted, you kids better stop

Standing in my doorway or I'll call for a cop

And when the cop came round, down the sidewalk we slid

We were born too late to be doo-wop kids

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.