older than my age
younger with rage
musty haze
sweeps all that's sane
from the page
now the idiot's words
are the words of the sage
come watch me rattle
the bars of my cage
trying to create beauty
in a place and time
with a race
of hollow eyes and ears
who savour destruction and
ugliness
who favour factories over
open fields
who slave for years
to buy a better coffin
than the man next door
come watch me rattle
in wide-eyed infant wonder...
Friday, December 29, 2006
Monday, December 25, 2006
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Uncle Tug's Chirstmas Necktie
My Great Aunt Cleo was married to a fellow named Elmer Ray and being that he was never jazzed about the name 'Elmer' he aquired the nickname 'Tug' when he was a young man...Uncle Tug was an interesting character who made his living as a rare coin dealer and never had a 'day gig' as long as i knew him and he and Aunt Cleo always seemed to have a comfortable lifestyle, so he was obviously good at the coin biz and as i got older i came to find out that he was of international renown and a contributor to many coin collecting books...i always loved going to their house because it was like a trip to a museum...Uncle Tug would always break out the his latest aquisitions to show me...gold dubloons retrieved from sunken Spanish galions, Roman coins, carved pieces of amber that were used as currency in ancient Persia, one never new what new treasure would be pulled out of his safe...actually more of a vault i guess since you could in fact walk into the thing...his basement was like a fortress and the alarm system was wired directly to the police department since there were priceless pieces of history there...
...anyway...the whole family used to gather on Christmas Eve for the stereotypical Norman Rockwell sort of event...copious amounts of food and beverage would be consumed, including the famous Tom & Jerry's, which always was a laugh because my dad's brother, Uncle Walt, had two sons named (you guessed it) Tom and Jerry...and every year Uncle Tug would wear the same silver necktie with red reindeer and as fate would have it, i am wearing that very tie as i write this post and i will continue to sport this worn old piece of silk every Christmas Eve in memory of Tug and Cleo and the rest of my clan, most of whom have passed...i think of you all often...especially on this night...Happy Christmas all...
...anyway...the whole family used to gather on Christmas Eve for the stereotypical Norman Rockwell sort of event...copious amounts of food and beverage would be consumed, including the famous Tom & Jerry's, which always was a laugh because my dad's brother, Uncle Walt, had two sons named (you guessed it) Tom and Jerry...and every year Uncle Tug would wear the same silver necktie with red reindeer and as fate would have it, i am wearing that very tie as i write this post and i will continue to sport this worn old piece of silk every Christmas Eve in memory of Tug and Cleo and the rest of my clan, most of whom have passed...i think of you all often...especially on this night...Happy Christmas all...
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
winter solstice
draws days short
brings quiet
and cerebral life
to the night
floating
rolling
sliding into dreams
dreaming nightsongs
sing silently
sing on
sounds soothe
wounds and weariness
bleary eyes peer
into the new year
year of the snake
enter the snake
singing
slide on strongly
bringing grace
to a clumsy world
tune inner space
and sound
to perfect pitch...
draws days short
brings quiet
and cerebral life
to the night
floating
rolling
sliding into dreams
dreaming nightsongs
sing silently
sing on
sounds soothe
wounds and weariness
bleary eyes peer
into the new year
year of the snake
enter the snake
singing
slide on strongly
bringing grace
to a clumsy world
tune inner space
and sound
to perfect pitch...
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Friday, December 15, 2006
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
...was in one of my favorite eateries last night and was standing at the counter, having ordered my raspberry chicken salad, waiting for my change...much to the chagrin of the young man waiting on me, the cash drawer had run short on needed denominations...after apologising for the the delay, he slowly moved the last several crisp one dollar bills from the cash box up to his nose and inhaled deeply...this he did again...and again...i thought that his eyes were going to roll back in his head, so i broke his reverie and told him not to bogart the bills and give me a hit...
...nothing quite like that fresh printers ink...
...nothing quite like that fresh printers ink...
Friday, December 01, 2006
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
The Desert...Part 2
...in northern ohio for some gigs
and thanksgiving
and re-inforcement in why
i live in the desert
because it's really freakin' cold here
that's why...
been here for twenty four hours
and can't wait to see cactus and
blue sky...
and thanksgiving
and re-inforcement in why
i live in the desert
because it's really freakin' cold here
that's why...
been here for twenty four hours
and can't wait to see cactus and
blue sky...
Sunday, November 19, 2006
drastic haircuts and instant karma
...two completely unrelated and yet totally related tales...just recently i had occasion to cut my lengthy hair for the first time since 1975...at that time it was a quite profound Robert Plant sort of mane which of course was the fashion of the day...however, my father-in-law Howard, a crusty but lovable ex-Marine (ok...i know, once a Marine always a Marine) hated my hair, though he grew to like and respect me...early in '75, Howard received that sort of news from his doctor that no person wants to hear...cancer...a virulent, inoperable form...as many folks have had to do, we watched him grow weaker and thinner and of course, less quick to flash his big toothy grin...a few weeks before the inevitable end, i was wondering what i could do that would tickle the shit out of Howard, sick as he was...so i fell upon the plan of cutting off my treasured rock'n'roll locks, an homage to this man who had become my second father...so...i did the deed and the day came to drive the two hours to Cleveland to visit him in the hospice center (some of the most caring people i've ever met) and reveal the newly nekkid noggin...walked into his room, cap in place for the dramatic unveiling and got the usual brave smile and wave...as i said, always the Marine...went to his bedside, yanked off the hat and said , "Whattaya think of the new 'do', Howard?"...he immediately got a shocked and puzzled look on his face and said, "What on earth did you do that for?"...to which i answered, "Cuz i love ya, man...he clouded up and started crying, and of course i had to join in...then he started chuckling and made me promise to grow it back...just the sort of guy he was...and so i did, grow it back that is...for decades...but in recent years, the ravages of time began to show as my hair started the migration from my head to my back and shoulders and other areas best not mentioned in polite society...anyway...rather than eventually deteriorate into looking like a new millenium Ben Franklin, it was "scalp, meet Wahl clipper with the number one guard"...this haircut is for you, Howard...
...tale number two...
...played a show today in one of our favorite northern Az. music venues and noticed right away that one of our faithful and ardent supporters was hobbling about on crutches with a large hinged metal support device on his knee...of course, asked him what was up and he sheepishly related the following...he was coming home late one evening recently and turned onto the country lane where his house is...on the corner of the road is a church that had cut down a number of pine trees that were stacked as firewood along one of the fences of the church property...he thought to himself, hmmm...no harm in getting a little free wood for the firepit...so he hoped over the fence, hit a hole of some sort and blew out his knee...broke bones and other gruesome shit...couldn't get up to walk back to his truck...had to call 911 and wave his lighted cell phone from the ditch where he was lying so they could see him in the dark...
...i asked him the obvious question..."Do you think that God/Godess smote you for stealing from a church?"...i was not the first person to ask him that question and most certainly won't be the last...the police were so amused that they didn't write any citations...small comfort...
...he's still formulating an answer to the question...and i'm still formulating more questions...as always...
peace/out...
...tale number two...
...played a show today in one of our favorite northern Az. music venues and noticed right away that one of our faithful and ardent supporters was hobbling about on crutches with a large hinged metal support device on his knee...of course, asked him what was up and he sheepishly related the following...he was coming home late one evening recently and turned onto the country lane where his house is...on the corner of the road is a church that had cut down a number of pine trees that were stacked as firewood along one of the fences of the church property...he thought to himself, hmmm...no harm in getting a little free wood for the firepit...so he hoped over the fence, hit a hole of some sort and blew out his knee...broke bones and other gruesome shit...couldn't get up to walk back to his truck...had to call 911 and wave his lighted cell phone from the ditch where he was lying so they could see him in the dark...
...i asked him the obvious question..."Do you think that God/Godess smote you for stealing from a church?"...i was not the first person to ask him that question and most certainly won't be the last...the police were so amused that they didn't write any citations...small comfort...
...he's still formulating an answer to the question...and i'm still formulating more questions...as always...
peace/out...
Saturday, November 11, 2006
The Desert.
I live in the desert.
I need to be in it more often.
It is so close... but it feels so distant.
Healing is there.
In.
So.
Many.
Ways.
Love.
I need to be in it more often.
It is so close... but it feels so distant.
Healing is there.
In.
So.
Many.
Ways.
Love.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Lenny
...when not playing music, i happily build electric bowed instruments of all sorts, violins, celli, basses and such, in a nondescript little shop with other fellow wood elves...
...shortly after starting work there, i came to notice that tools and other items would mysteriously disappear, only to turn up elsewhere in the shop...mentioned this to the head elf and he said, "That's just Lenny...our resident ghost..."
...i was relieved to find out that i wasn't just losing my faculties to early senility and have come to enjoy the pranksterish antics and just recently while working alone on a saturday afternoon i got one of those feelings...like someone was looking over my shoulder at the wood i was shaping...and i turned to see an old man in gray coveralls standing about six feet behind me...we made eye contact...and then he just fuckin' disappeared...
...our fearless leader has informed me that he has seen the same apparition a few times as well...
...fun stuff...i've always been a spiritual thrill seeker...
...shortly after starting work there, i came to notice that tools and other items would mysteriously disappear, only to turn up elsewhere in the shop...mentioned this to the head elf and he said, "That's just Lenny...our resident ghost..."
...i was relieved to find out that i wasn't just losing my faculties to early senility and have come to enjoy the pranksterish antics and just recently while working alone on a saturday afternoon i got one of those feelings...like someone was looking over my shoulder at the wood i was shaping...and i turned to see an old man in gray coveralls standing about six feet behind me...we made eye contact...and then he just fuckin' disappeared...
...our fearless leader has informed me that he has seen the same apparition a few times as well...
...fun stuff...i've always been a spiritual thrill seeker...
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
...it's funny how a small piece of gold
with a few tiny jewels
so old and so delicate
can mean so many things
can conjure so many memories
we all have a Great Aunt Cleo
or someone just like her
with a voice that was a cross between
Julia Childs' and a rusty gate
bright red lipstick lovingly
smeared on young cheeks
dodging in vain again and again
on birthdays and christmas
bearing neatly wrapped boxes
that contain another in the long line of
cardigan sweaters
like Fred McMurray from My Three Sons would wear
i still have one hanging on the wall
an object d'art and homage to the past
moth holes and all...
and Great Aunt Cleo's Hat pin has survived
many years
from hat to hat
doing years of dangerous duty
in the beret of a sometimes gruff, but kindly
wandering electric minstrel
...now the magickal pin rests
in the loving hands of it's next
caretaker
ready to log more miles and memories
and store more love
in it's fragile core...
with a few tiny jewels
so old and so delicate
can mean so many things
can conjure so many memories
we all have a Great Aunt Cleo
or someone just like her
with a voice that was a cross between
Julia Childs' and a rusty gate
bright red lipstick lovingly
smeared on young cheeks
dodging in vain again and again
on birthdays and christmas
bearing neatly wrapped boxes
that contain another in the long line of
cardigan sweaters
like Fred McMurray from My Three Sons would wear
i still have one hanging on the wall
an object d'art and homage to the past
moth holes and all...
and Great Aunt Cleo's Hat pin has survived
many years
from hat to hat
doing years of dangerous duty
in the beret of a sometimes gruff, but kindly
wandering electric minstrel
...now the magickal pin rests
in the loving hands of it's next
caretaker
ready to log more miles and memories
and store more love
in it's fragile core...
I read selectively.
I cannot wrap my head around being a member of a particular "political party". I live in the grey, I think in the grey, the black and white scare me to death; in fact, the black and white represent heaven and hell to me. But that's another topic for another time.
Today I read something posted at an "intimate gathering place" I happen to adore. You can see the post in entirity, HERE.
The 'anology' that most struck a chord with me was:
That made me crazy out of mind to put it mildly.And here we go (oh, and welcome!)
Soul Pumpkin: In 1975 we were in the middle of a civil war in southeast asia that we had no business ever being involved in...domino theory my butt...fast forward to now...another civil war, one that's even older than the Vietnamese conflict...those tribes have been fighting since the days of Mohammed and will continue fighting long after we leave...i think some historians need to remove their blinders...would you not agree?
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh: A lover turns his back on his pregnant girlfriend who is pregnant by some other man and won't quit smoking crack and drinking to save the child... plus, she continues to fuck around with other men while he's at work trying to keep himself and his family sane.
Today I read something posted at an "intimate gathering place" I happen to adore. You can see the post in entirity, HERE.
The 'anology' that most struck a chord with me was:
Given the monetary and military investment in Vietnam, former Assistant Secretary of State Richard Armitage compared the American withdrawal to “a pregnant lady, abandoned by her lover to face her fate.
That made me crazy out of mind to put it mildly.And here we go (oh, and welcome!)
Soul Pumpkin: In 1975 we were in the middle of a civil war in southeast asia that we had no business ever being involved in...domino theory my butt...fast forward to now...another civil war, one that's even older than the Vietnamese conflict...those tribes have been fighting since the days of Mohammed and will continue fighting long after we leave...i think some historians need to remove their blinders...would you not agree?
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh: A lover turns his back on his pregnant girlfriend who is pregnant by some other man and won't quit smoking crack and drinking to save the child... plus, she continues to fuck around with other men while he's at work trying to keep himself and his family sane.
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