City sidewalks

i used to be the brains
behind the whole damn thing
but the alligators got me
and they stole my wedding ring
every time i get somewhere
i lose my starboard wing
and all the raging elephants
they try but just can't sing

so here here you are again
with those ice cubes in your purse
and your golden Buddha veils
like the curtains in a hearse
and when you come out swinging
time goes from bad to worse
now the big policemans yelling
that we really must disperse

when i try take the sidewalk
its full of broken glass
i need to hurry down the street
but the guard won't let me pass
the church bells loudly ringing
the priest has sung the mass
in a bright Hawaiian shirt
he just ain't got no class

i tried to make the difference
but the moon got in my way
someone said to try again
on a helicopter day
grizzly bears and Hottentots
can't help me i should pray
i'm heading for the downtown lights
with my backpack of dismay

New Years Day 2000

Bread 'n Butter Pickles

Pickles in a jar 2000

Spirit Runners

Once they ran upon the ground, and now they fly upon the wind.
The Spirit Runners Marathonic Era

Doorway to karma

. . .stand to karma
day by day,
as the wheel of life,
composed of unexpected fact,
rolls and turns
from dark obscurity
to profound clarity,
never to fear,
to only meet,
and live with unto the end,
stand to karma
the gift of now and zen . . .

March 1988

Pinkandpurple

Woman in a herrinmgbone

The Egyptian Ring

She wears an
Egyptian ring
that sparkles
before she
speaks . . .

Shes a
hypnotist
collector . . .

You are a
walking
antique . . .

Bob Dylan

Viaje de las fumas (porro de maria)

magic carpet
fly me out
just beyond the fray,

take me to some
far out place
away, away, away,

don't you see
i've got behind
going day by day,

magic carpet
take me off
i want to run away,

wafting smoke
in subtle trails
mysterious and gray. . .

to seek anew
that simple place
my personal soiree

1981

Too late now . . .

What time was it? 1976

Los animales inconcertos

armadillo, 'possum,
elephant or rat,
we are only animals
you must remember that,
we hunger and we tire,
we bog down in the mire,
we win or often fail,
we crawl back tooth and nail,
we sniff and sometimes snort,
our problems we must sort,
we walk beneath the sun,
often searching fun,
we love as well as laugh,
within a photograph,
we growl or maybe snarl,
we wither and we gnarl,
we lay down and then we sleep,
where everything is deep.

August 1978

Blonde on blonde

Blonde on blonde -DNA redefined 2008

Weekend warrior

morning madness, here i am,
you always slow me down,
my time goes by so quickly
on your sunny side of town. . . .

butterflies and polka-dots
will ne'er be the same,
and, you and i, so hidden here,
have struck a priceless claim . . .

1988

Time for bed

Time for bed . . . 2008

night into morning

the sky awakens,
lifts a gray-tinted eyelid,
surveys the scene,
with sky blue eyes. . .
they sleep, the sleepers,
sleep they on;
until the lightening sky
undrowses them,
and the thunder of morning rain
causes then to seek each other
for warmth
and urgent unity,
and in seeking each other,
they lose themselves
together.

1974

un poco loco

just a little crazy
to tell you the truth
a little bit pensive
for the days of my youth

just a little puzzled
when you went away
a little bit wounded
from a heartbreaking day

just a little ruined
from yesterdays rain
a little bit lost
when you tried to explain

just a little crazy
when you said we were through
a little bit wasted
and a whole lot of blue

1980

(found in a box of books in 2007)

All look back . . .

They all looked back to see what it was . . . 2008

Summer of Seventy-eight inside the Texas Brewery

concrete stretches
puddles on the floor
worthless wretches
puzzles on the door

red tiles gleaming
stainless pipes aglow
just a few folks
seem to really know

brown bottles clinking
sliding on their way
people all are drinking
living through the day

white cans are flying
like birds upon the wing
buzzards are lying
mocking birds still sing

frozen frigid cellars
your breath is icy cold
beery fortune tellers
have tales that must be told

torrid killer summer
steaming all the time
what a solid bummer
slipping in the slime

angry people yelling
oe'r the constant roar
the aged soaker smelling
and memories galore

see the rednecks grinning
swatting at their flies
always staring through you
with dense and vapid eyes

August 12, 1978

La vin rose

La vin rose 2008

Thing . . .

crawling, crawling, underneath,
beady eyes, snarling teeth,

moving, moving, coming near,
you never see,
you never hear,

creeping, creeping, just below,
you would not think,
you would not know,

climbing, climbing, very close,
long of tongue,
long of nose,

it will get you, if it can,
be you woman,
child or man. . .

1978