Chess and Schlitz 1970

 

Blue Guitar

thebluestrain
is always rolling
down its dismal track

the bluestrain
is always steaming
never gives no slack

the bluestrain
powered by a sadness
and sad remembrance

thebluestrain
makes some music
but no one ever dance

the bluestrain
has no depot
it never ever stops

the bluestrain
is a drama
its curtain never drops

1999
 

Blue Amoebae

 

Loyal Hood McDermand 1930

 

the gone side of town

how you doin'
on the gone side of town. . .
still gettin' on
still gettin down. . .?

anything new
on the down side of now. . .
wonderin' when
wonderin how. . .?

its still the same
everythings loose. . .
nothing matters
i guess i'll vamoose. . .

whatever happened
will we ever know. . .
a race never run
no win, place, or show. . .

2003

Art Show in the Big City

 

Stripers

They live in the places
Where light is the brightest
And also in places
Where dark is the blackest. .


All of their world is
Stripey and streaky
So they must be
Stripey and sneaky.

2005 

Thoughts and Meditations

In one atom are found all the elements of the earth;
in one motion of the mind are found
the motions of all the laws of existence;
in one drop of water are found
the secrets of all the endless oceans;
in one aspect of you
are found all the aspects of existence.

Kahlil Gibran 1883-1931

Reflections

we are our own
reflections. . .
swimming in
pools of thought. . .
keen and clear
our element
is now. . .
time by time
we slide
into the future. . .
and we know
we are the many
among the few. . . 

siempre azules

i ride my blues
like a lonesome cowboy
saddling up his bronc,

i know these blues
are as likely as not
going to throw me,

the blues are just
the price you pay
for all that ecstasy,

nothing is forever
and its never free
the blues are always costly,

always blues
is just a line
always blues
is how it is.

2004 

SPRAWL

 

Thr red vase

 

only time will tell. . . .

stand to reason
its not forswore
though the crowd
may scream and roar
what we hear
may be a lie
orators are
often sly
think about the
words they say
they could be
leading us astray.

Mao cross-eyed and cross-hatched

 

The Mirror

the watchers are staring
through the door we left ajar

i guess they see it coming
they say it is'nt far

the watchers are in hiding
in the forest of their thought

they look at us and wonder
if it all is done for naught

tunnel vision of the mind
moving on so fast

the future slowly changes
the present to the past

we see them looking in
and know the're seeing through

but its really just a mirror
of ourselves in close review.

1992

Stainless Steel Jungle

Rattle, jingle, hiss and bang
Whistles, pops, and roar,
The noise is endless
All day long,
The din is evermore.
Beer and oil,
And label glue,
Lurking algae slime,
Familiar scents
Wher'er I go
It may be
Back in time.
Conveyors dripping
Soapy foam
As bottles tinkle by,
This is the Brewery
Where I must roam,
Never mine to reason why,
Only just to do or die.
(from the soaker discharge at Stroh's Brewery)
1991

 

zentraveling

nothing is important
nothing is more important than nothing
only the cup that has nothing in it
can be filled
with the wine of life. . .

RUNNING AT DAWN

i run the silent streets
at the edge of dawn

in the clean silence
of early morning

before man's clatter
or the sun's hammer

when cool airs
rush soothingly

across my skin
like the familiar fingers

of an almost
forgotten lover. . . .

1987

ATexas Dog on Pensacola Beach

 

"Poem in eighteen-time"

unless i hear from you
these lines will be
the last thing
between ourselves

i came to you
with too many dreams
and you left me
with too many fears

my worst offense
was wanting you
if thats a crime
then i convict myself

i'll nudge you from my mind
and then someday
you'll only
be someone i know. . . .

January 1987
eighteen syllable stanzas

The Wall

The meditation of running

heavy thoughts
are lost to me

like mirror-sided fish
or images of air

the vast and panoramic
horizon stretching

viewing farness
no complexities

mile by mile
it goes away

easier to lose them
than to keep them

blue skies and clouds
are all i need

2004

The ivy basket

 

a pig for Pauline

 

Jellyfish

 

Blueplate Special

the sky was
a cobalt blue plate
heaped with cottage cheese
and a sunnyside up egg
laying on a nest
green lettuce
floating on a
dark and oily dressing.

the boat was
a familiar woman,
a willing partner
to touch and feel response,
fullfilling my desires;
we smartly spun
and heeled away
on the sudden edge
of wind and water,
a tight embrace
of eager lovers.

(sailing alone on the lake)

October 1983

Beism

i am what i am
i am where i am
there is no past
there is no future
there is no beyond
all that i am is
what i now am
at this moment

and nothing more

to be
and
to let be
and
to meditate
on the
perfection
of nothing. . .

1994
 

Dream

it seemed,
with dejas vu
rippling through me,
along with the
physical
and mental
rush
of your mouth
and mine,
that i had
become the prince
who awakened
Snow White . . .

1987
 

groundhog philosphy

hibernation's not a
winter thing,
escape is what it's all about,
dodging trouble
as a matador
sidles from the bull,
or a small and scurrying mouse
that holds the shadows
as his own;
i am the groundhog
who comfortably
awaits a better day or time
inside my fortress of solitude,
or perhaps
the willow bending to the wind
as the mighty oak
falls to crashing death,
resisting to the end. . ..

1982

S.R.O.

i guess its
standing room only
in the movie
starring you
and yourself
with a
cast of thouands
filmed too
close to home
in living color
and sterophonic busybodies. . .

February 1987

Siamese Mao

 

fem de bleu

 

Self portrait 1975

screaming dragons
fly my way
dragons I might
never slay. . .

sailing o'er with
pungeant breath
they fear their life
but not their death. . .

perhaps someday
they may depart
until they do
I guard my heart. . .

December 1975
 

"bluesrainsong"

(chorus)
its gonna rain
its gonna rain
and rain and rain and rain
gonna rain sometime
gonna rain sometime soon. . .
(verse1)
its gonna rain
the day you leave me
gonna rain when you depart
gonna rain so much
gonna drown my awful feelin' heart
(verse 2)
its gonna rain
the night you leave me
gonna rain when you are gone
gonna rain so long
without you
gonna rain on, and on, and on
(verse3)
its gonna rain
gonna rain forevermore
gonna rain so much
between us
gonna be tears from shore to shore

2006

Beatles

 

Giraffes