There is a highway
They call Eighty
Used by those
Heading east from
The Martian colony
To get somebarbecue.
But many choose instead
To play and sway
On the Martian stream.
The river rolls with twists
And turns
Often carrying tubers
[Not the kind you eat]
Making merriment
As they pass the Martindale bridges
Heading east to
Staples with its own Staples Center
Fentress with its own post office
Yet born in the 1800s as Riverside.
Prairie Lea, first settled in 1839,
Named after Sam's bride Lea
And home to Scott H. Biram
Who is claimed by Fentress too.
Yet City Market is the spot
Where the firesare always hot
And thesausages have a flavor
People drivehours just to savor.
The town gets an annual bump
From Luling's famous
Watermelon Thump
And on the outskirts lie
Lavender Fields with a big wide sky
And a view of the world's largest
Gasoline mall and maxi-mart
The beavers ’delight they call Buc-ee's.
Now Martindale was born in 1855
Miss Nancy kept it dry
And people grew seed corn
And cottonseed for oil.
But today the town
Is back to 1923
At least on future TV.
Yet it is the spirit of music
Cultivated by Kent and his kids
That is its life's breath
And not even death
Can break the bonds
That have forged a strength
To face the future with amazing hope.
There are also stories
Of a great darkness
Tonkawa and Comanche
The fight at Plum Creek
The bad blood on both sides
The Buffalo Hump raids
The betrayals that did not end well
But helped forge the Texas spirit
Chronicled in song and story
Where all the gory past
Has morphed into a glory
Where yellow roses
And bluebonnets
And majestic oaks abound.
Highway 80 runs through
Hallowed ground.
The dead will rise
That was the promise
And though it seems
Impossible
There it was in the bones
The dead must live again
Or we will all die soon.
The spirits of those long gone
Seethe moral decay
And grieve
And pour their broken hearts
Into the fires of resurrection
To save tomorrow
For the children of today
Whose souls were slaughtered
Maimed and reprogrammed
To respond to the culture of death
Or just beaten towards
Submission.
Butunbeknownst to the evil ones
Inthe hidden crevices
Inunseen places
Thereborn are growing.
For the sacrifices of the dead
Have triggered a regeneration
And the children of hope
Are singing Hosanna
As they feel their new legs
Standing tall
Their new hearts
Beating strong
Their new minds
Obedient to the Voice
That leads them through
The wilderness
Into freedom.
As I watch such a resurrection
Knowing the Hand at work here
Is guided by the prayers
Of ones lost too soon.
I marvel at the handiwork
And quietly rejoice
Thatte gift that comes
Only from giving
Is now living
Resurrecting the love
Resurrecting the joy
Bringing peace
As the preparations
Are being made
For our own tomorrows.
Y'knowthat feeling
You spent HOW MUCH
Keeping that old dawg alive
That last six weeks
When if it was a horse
In the Old West
You'd a shot it
Ending its own misery.
She must have known
The junkyard grave
The cannibalization
Was just around the corner
But those last rides together
Meant way too much
Couldn't throw in the towel
Until the doctor pronounced
The end had come.
The mourning began
The very next day
How could I let her die?
But then you knew
The old girl had a good life
Lots of adventures
And I mean LOTS!
And after all you once thought
She had died young
Bu tthe doctors brought her back
With a new heart and nervous system
New pipes, too.
That was in Michigan
Long after those wild nights
In Napa and Big Sur
And the endless trips
To Big Shoulders
For the pizza and "potilics"
The My-T princes
And the angels of mercy
The shadow boxer
The theater buff
The Micks of Naperville
So many others
The nights she drove
To Nashville for eclipses
And Independence parties
And hangs with the homie
Who delivered the free shoes
One cannot forget
The poster maker
Creator of the imagery
That fueled many stories
And the candlemaker too
And that day at Manuel's
So many good times
So many more to come
Florida too was in her sights
Those breezy April nights
The salty air the reggae fair
The reunions galore
Lattes with Lotte
The Moral-ity days
The songs of TayTay
No cryin with Ryan
And two nights
With the JV squad
Wildest of all though
Was the winter in the Valley
With the pizza chef
And the carnies
And the best tea shop
That also sold coffee
St. Louis with the Mud Queen
Denver with the carpenter
Amarillo by very early morning
After a Colorado sunrise
And other Colorado days
And very cold June nights
When the dance hall doll
Lit up the Telluride skies
That darkest day
When Baltimore
Was too far away
To save the swan
From Jason's wrath
Yet out of that gloom
And the electoral doom
New life emerged
I was on the verge
Of a brand new career
At an age when others
Were shutting down operations
Eage rfor the joy
Of bouncing children's children
I was sailing into
The greatest adventure
Since meeting my Champagne lady
And all that went before
I could finally adopt the moniker
The New Jim Bishop
Op ed writer to the world
And Sunny D
May she rest in peace
Was there for it all
Just as my Shadow
Had held my hands
During the hardest years
Of all.
PORTS IN A STORM
Wildwinds raging
Thewaters coming up
Thefloorboards creak
Lightningcuts a streak
Butwe have power
Evenin the darkness
Evenwhen the cell tower
Isblown far away.
Nightbecomes day
Asthe fires begin
Andyou realize
Thatacid trip
Maskeda very different
Reality.
Thetrue storm is strife
Andthe taking of a life
Ispainted as a cheap trick
Asif that one fatal click
Hadnot scattered brains
Andleft the remains
Shroudingthe little chicks
Likea mother hen.
Andthen
Theyrealize
Hecan't get up
And hislife as we knew it
Wasover.
Youread the news
Andthe morning views
Bringback the storms
Thewind, the rain, the fire
Mockyour very desire
Toget out of bed
Defeatthe dread
Plungeright ahead
Andscream.
Whileothers gasped
Themockers laughed
Orsmirked “he missed”
Buttell that to the one who died
Hiskiller now a suicide
Bydesign if not intent.
Theywatched him die
Andhundreds fly
Surrealturned all too real
Andnone knows why.
Butthe other guy
Lives
Andgives
Yourheart a boost
Yetfrom their roost
Thesquatters howl
Fakenews most foul
And thedead’s survivors
Mockedas they mourn
Feellike they were hit
Withanother round.
Thescene’s too big
Tocomprehend
Butin your dream state
Youtake in
Theheartfelt pains
Thescattered brains
Asall that remains
Arelifetime memories.
Andyou mourn
Notfor the lost love alone
Butfor those who drone
Asif it was just a scripted
Lie.
Life just happens that way
The Light was bright
The sun was high and mighty
And I was in awe.
Stairs we climbed
Were not on this plane
As the great Southwest
Came into view
Wall after wall
Room after room
And outdoors the party
Never slowed down.
It was a celebration
Dates figs figments
But no prunes or kumquats
Lots of colors lots of shades
And one Bright Shining Star
A never-ending Roman candle
Sparkling like great champagne
Overwhelmed
That so many
Heard her call
And saw the glory all around.
Vendors galore
And every store
Just fit.
And the band played on
And off.
Night rose and the moon
Gave rise to an intermission of song
That led to a grand finale
And then the cool down
The denouement
The breathing slowed
As we took in the majesty
And the immensity
The future holds
As we stilled ourselves
To receive having given all.
Lying out in the yard
Far from city lights
On a clear night there are
Stars
And they flicker and dance.
And for as long as we know
And likely longer
We have told stories
And created fantasies
That somehow ring true.
Castor and Pollux
The Dippers and Orion's Belt
And our favorite candy bar.
And we let the energy of the Stars
Revive our souls and heal our hearts
As we realize
Or rather recognize
The troubles of the day
Disappear into the ether
Or maybe just escape
Through the ozone hole.
It's not that different
From watching the clouds
Drift
We think aimlessly
Across the great expanse
And imagining elephants
Or trees or any number of shapes
And while admen want us
To see commercial angels
We know the true angels
Move about in another plane.
Unseen but surely felt
If we have listened to the Stars
Time is relative
Even though measured
How many days of drudgery
Fade
When we feel the touch of love
And bond with the eternity
We see in the clouds
And in the Stars.
Yet how rare the day or night
When we reserve the time
To look for four-leaf clovers
Or even smell the roses
Right under our noses
Or visit a friend
Inconveniently far away
Right down the street
Long enough
To go lie in the grass
And just look up?
Listening to the lute I wonder
What did instruments sound like
In the millennia before
Manufactured strings?
What was the standard
Of excellence
And how often did their
Strings break?
Voices, too, evolve differently
And tones that once were
Thrilling
May differ from what we
Cheer today.
Justice too has changed.
Brutal justice rarely denied
But often in error
But the error was often
Just not running fast enough
From greed and lust.
How many innocents today
Have to die
Because our strings are tied
To missions of death
When other paths
Were deemed unprofitable
To those who spend
What we had held
But they took
From our strings and wallets?
George warned against
Tying ourselves to strings
But like the Hebrews
Who demanded a king
We did not listen
And now their strings
Tie up even those
We thought
Spoke for us.
The puppeteers rarely
Show their faces
But the traces
Of their control
Are there if we kick up the dust
And yet we never look
Out of fear they will be
Watching.
In the beginning we are One
One man one woman came next
And over time the multitudes.
So we divided, or were divided
BaBel, Ba'al, Babylon ...
But in the early days after
We set rules
Based on the revolutionary idea
That if “God don't make junk”
Then every human life has value
If only the rest of us do not crush
The life gift within our neighbor
Or poison it with envy, lust, or hate.
All humans are created equal, yes,
But more to the point
All humans [even twins] are unique
And when they discover their ears
That hear the Voice
Saying Go this way or that
Trust this one not them
Love each and all
But let only the purest hearts
Become your soul mates.
When however we let bullies
Or con artists
Overpower or beguile
Or when sirens blinded but "special"
Persuade us to follow their lemming path
And we fall off the cliff
We may realize they knew
The secrets about our true selves
We hid or did not even know
And used them to manipulate our hearts
And as we awaken in our haze
We find our gifts perverted
Misused, abused and broken
Our very purpose put on hold
And, we may think, made useless
They tell us that as well
Make our lives a living hell
We may take as “normal”
Our gifts are locked
Our little puzzle pieces for peace and life
As they turn one up, another down
Chaos rules not serves us.
And we implode.
Not all, nor really any, is fully lost
We just need revival
Which means a community
Where each one sees each other
As adding value to their lives.
Freedom of association is not
To be but rarely used
But is the way we keep up
Knowing when to speak
To the things that matter
We solved problems together
On the frontier
But today
We want others
To solve our problems for us
So that we can be self-righteous
Not realizing we are alone
And enslaved like Edmond.
So humanity began without law
Or even the need for law
We could talk and act
In harmony
But oh so quickly
We fell into factions
Followed leaders
Despite Dylan’s warning
Became the rah rah squad
For tyrants, traitors, and trillionaires
Who only pretend to care.
For the law is death
To community
To honesty
To humanity
Much better is grace
Which the bitter call privilege
And the loveless luck
But which simply means
Seeing our own frailties
And following the example
That set us free from faction (us v. them).
Once the law is used
To advance a faction
That action only leads
To more and more
Power grabbing
Kinda like they never stopped
Killing pigeons and buffalo
Until for many it was too late.
The taste of blood
Whets the appetite
For more of the red sticky stuff.
And brothers fight
Even to the death
And in some the hate
Consumes their entire families.
But how to corral a lawless “Law”?
Who will stand the abuse
Run the gauntlet endure the shame?
Aslan arose even stronger
And so shall we who stand
And remind the world
Of our unique valuable amazing
Humanity
That shines forth
When we water our neighbors' hearts
And let our neighbors water ours.
Pampered or pummeled
Life got you here
Wake up the day is in gear
Chimneys are puffing
Sidewalkers are shuffling
The trees they are blooming
For a sneeze or a smell
People are waiting for you.
Even if you are just
A walk-on for their stage
Sometimes a one-line wonder
Steals the show.
[Tho when misspoke
Becomes a pinprick
That bursts the whole balloon.]
Be chill
Be a thrill
Show your skill
At turning on the lights
Changing dread to delight
Listen to their hearts
Feel the rhythm of their souls.
But how do you know
Before or even during the show
Which words or non words
Will turn on the lights
And not the screaming sirens?
Be chill
Listen
Feel
And breathe.
Those who
Demand
You be like them
Or die
Or just be shunned
Abused
Deemed as animals
Or Zombies
Or just The Borg
Fulfill Rousseau
A governing by polls
And when the polls fail
The ruling classes
Do what they want anyway.
I mean who can stop them?
It's not like it's 1215
There is no new Magna Carta
Even the Declaration
Is called Abomination
And calls are growing
To bomb our nation
But why?
The looters, like rats
In an abandoned grocery,
Are taking everything
Off the shelves
Trashing our sacred places
While demanding their own
Safe-from-life spaces
The true pandemic
Was not a Chinese virus
Or even the Salem-ish response
But the apathy, the excuses
For exiting a world far too corrupt
And too sophisticated
[ And what is sophistry again?]
And as they have been lied to believe
Too dangerous
So they bought into virtual unreality
As a better, less risky substitute.
Video game kills don't really kill you
Like stray bullets ... or knives...
But the siren songs and catcalls
On the spinning web
And in the daily jail sessions
Where dissent gets you expelled
Blackballed, de-platformed
And you already did not really exist.
On this Day long ago
Was born a man who
Said
Dude, we live by a different code
We have a different abode
You enrich yourselves
We enrich those around us.
That inner voice
That tug of heart
That says
Heed not the sirens
For they bring death
And steal your essence
And hold you captive.
Like the dancing cobra in abasket
You are spellbound
Captive
Though you have the words
To break the spell
To leave the cage
To live free,
Captive only
To the voice
That guides you through
The darkest valleys
And frees you from being
Just another brick in their wall
Trust them not
Their plans are not The Plan
Their rule of fear and lies.
And you can do much better
Living free.
Corrosion sets in
When the winds of change
Are barred
And the dew seeps through
Infinitesimal cracks
In your impenetrable armor.
But it is that armor
That blocked the wind
And sowed the seeds
Of its own destruction.
And yet that shell
Is not your true self
And though you have forgotten
How it feels to be
Truly free
The memories return
Now and then
Aahhh
And the sad eyes blink
And the unreality returns
Yet you see not the cage
For you have reduced your world
To its tiny dimensions.
And then ....
One day the light hits the cracks
And the wind blows again
And you realize
The jacket's corrosion
That began with your tears
Is complete
You feel again
You breathe deeply
And you step timidly at first
Not ready to run
Getting your legs back
And discovering people
Who once were but shadows.
Life
Revisited.
HIGHWAY SIGNS
September24, 2023
Slow Stop Yield Merge
And things like cattle crossings
Highway signs ignored?
Crash ouch omg death
Or maybe just aticket
Or a big "whew!"
Listen Look Love Join
And things like dishes or laundry
These too must be heeded!
Tears Shouts Withdrawal Breaking Glass
Or maybe just Dear Joan
Or "I'm so sorry."
Too many times we bail
And leave a chip unhealed
Too many times we fail to see
The sacrifices made to bring us joy.
Oh, boy!
That one hit home.
Kindness is in short demand
Instead we cheer for misery
As our own needs company
And she loves company too.
And you
Pretend you are strong
When all you are is brittle
Scales protect your heart and lungs
Tho they really just
Keep a lock on the real You.
The path to joy begins with
Forgiveness
That detoxifies the poison
Each grudge holds.
Be bold
For only the brave
Overcome their own shadow.
We are brave in our secret hearts
But when we face the music
Out pour the excuses
We never even rehearsed.
Life is a highway, the poet said
Miss too many signs
And love, like life, is dead.
How Why Who What?
Are you really there?
Did you hear me?
Do you fear me?
We don’t really pay attention
Until we realize
Weare not the only ones
On the road.
Traveling through backroads
Heading to Lockhart
Dusty winter fields
Empty but alive
Power lines overhead
The sunny sky above
And in your head
And in the car as well
All is well
When the sky is clear
But a cloudy sky laments
The ghostly absence
And you are unsure
You believe in ghosts
Even though they haunt
The ones you love.
Suddenly the rain
Comes down
And the windshield is cloudy
And the sky turns gray
And the day
Seems over
The celebration abruptly ended
When the raven failed to fly
And I
Shut down the engines
Waiting for the storm to end
The rainfall slows
The drops grow soft
And slowly rewarm
The extinguished heart
The sky reopens
And joy floods the room
And the gloom
Falls away.
Didn't catch the nameWell, not true
Caught ... and released
Alas who was that unmasked
Soul
Who thinks I know
At least the name?
That name is the key
To being recognized
Not just Bub or Miss or worse
But then it hit me
Some of us hear at different speeds
And so Go slow
Is not too hard to ask
Not an admission of guilt
Not a handicap
Most, maybe some hear
At different brain speeds
Their listening is enhanced
Not just by concentration
Though concentration matters
Yet some who hardly seem present
Remember every word and gesture
We all run at different speeds
We are not carbon copies
We adjust as best we can
To intertwine our lives with others
And that is a great portion
Of our human journey
Just as we adjust our hearts
To the wind and the smells
And yes the creepy crawlies
As we leave our cages
And reconnect with Home
The Earth that brings us food
And air and water and joy,
And so (rather than be rude)
We admit
We consider each person we meet
Worthy
We want to write their names
In our Book of Life
And pray ours in theirs
As if we were in a scavenger hunt
To find as many others
And so we stop and say
Hey
I want to know enough
To always remember you
In that shared adventure
That uniquely curated scene
In our long-play lives
So that when we meet again
Our joys will hold our hearts
And we can live in peace.
Did I catch your name?
Wanna?
The 911 call brings the EMTs
They rush into battle
For the fleeting lives
Wounds, damaged organs
Even restarting hearts and lungs.
The massive attention needed
Is for the moment yet
To ambulance junkies
It is an everyday 24/7 high.
TV shows are like that.
Magic happens in 39 minutes
Credits and intros included
Gotta pay those bills.
Actors aren't cheap.
So too those who rush in
To revive the lonely
To breathe life into dying souls
Create massive energy fields
As virtue is pumped
To rekindle the faded embers
And at that moment
The one in need
Is the VIP of your whole world.
The urgent gets the headlines
Well deserved and grateful
The important though
Is often overlooked
Mundane
Boring
At least to the speculators
Those who see from the outside
Those whose perspective
Ignores the glue
That the important provides.
Being there in time of need
Bringing that word of faith
To an unstable friend
The little things few notice
Often done in secret
Without fanfare
Things that, not done, might create
The headlines the urgent
Find as their reward.
The urgent is important
Yet the need to remain
Important
Even when ignored
Is always urgent
Though we only realize
Just how much
When the one in ten
Says thanks.
Yesterday was mybirthday
There was nocelebration
No party, not even aphone call
Which is not to saythat no one cared
But no one dared
To create an event
But then
There is no home forthe homeless
And while there is aroof and a bed
A home is more thanthat
A home is a center oflove
And love lost and notregained
Leaves one on thefringe.
To be sure there arefriends
Still around, stillcaring
And there are many joys
Almost nightly
But in the morning
I rise to an empty room
And the gloom
Pushes me into the car
To travel afar
In search of
Someone
Somewhere
Anywhere
That love can be shared
And breakfast made
And memories and dreams
And hope.
I would love to go home
But I don’t know wherehome is
Anymore.
Sounds like a toddlers cup
Or a married hippie lady
But we're not supposed
To use that old binary code.
Tall pines, tons of rain
Southern food galore
Black-eyed peas please
Rooting for rutabagas
And yams not sweet taters
Cos flavor and texture matter.
You can drive from Natchez
To Nashville on a 2-lane road
Without a Trace of a red light
Or even a motel
Unless you need gas
Or food
Or conversation
But that's the rub.
Faces without names
Order please, keep that mask on
Keep your distance
Intimacy might be deadly
But casual chat is safe
Or so it seems.
Life is on SloMo
Even the mail
Takes a week or so
But that's everywhere now
And we wait
For the Apocalypse
Or maybe a newer song
But no cigarettes
And no sex
No touching at all
No sharing even a lighter
You might die
Or so we are told.
The stories are real
But it all seems surreal
As if universal cryogenics
Is our only hope.
Was Rip vW a pioneer
Or a prophet?
Meanwhile
Ol' Man River
Keeps on rollin'
The deer and the alligators play
And we all are living
In a virtual reality
Except for those
Who aren't.
You started out hot
Played some early roles
Bright star of the fam
Sorta
Little professor
Sportscaster
Freak
Friend to the famous
Father
Fathead
High energy editor
Broadcaster
Husband
Dad
Collaborator
Catalyst
Creator
The list goes on.
And as your real life ended
The role that mattered most
You became the lordly host.
Lots of roles opened up
Travels with Bernie's boy
Chicago Cancun
Venice Beach Napa Oakland
Memphis New Orleans
Even the Atlantic beaches.
And the wisdom flowed
And you rode
All the way to the top
Your name again In the papers
And then the rapers
Brought their rapiers
And sliced and diced
And took everyone away.
Now there is nothing
Or so it seems
The good roles are gone
The joy extinguished
Death awaits but
Not of the body
That's a given
Its the sadness of the soul
That says
You won't be missed
Not really.
Are there no more roles to play?
Is there no more today?
Has despair become
The highest emotion left?
In these dark days
We must find ways
To keep alive the flame
To gather around the Name
Tend our flocks
Wind our clocks
And build an army of songs
And stories to remind us
We are all people
We are all essential
Our gifts remain.
The Voice says quietly
"Well done"
And what says it better
Than the mighty Atlantic
Watching the waves flirt
With the sky
As the sun fades away
(No ocean sunsets here).
Sometimes the smallest things
The most mundane
The least glamorous
Make the most difference
Make lives last longer
Make human bonds stronger
And even those dainty things
Are part of the great adventure
The discovery of infinities
Identities we never imagined were ours
How to comprehend
Events unfolding severing ties
Strange goodbyes
Joyful Hellos
New players on the stage
We are living in an age
Of endless tomorrows
Yet focused on todays
Because today is in our hands
To build or quietly watch
The stars and clouds
And even the waves.
And as I remember
One adventuress told me
Always remember holds the key
While never forget blurs your focus
The words of the Teacher
Before Abe was, I AM
Reveal an equal truth
Before our todays, WE ARE
Grafted into infinity
And with that knowledge
We truly can heal the sick
Give sight to the blind
As we wash each other's feet
Or just clean their house
Or whatever our energy can supply
To turn a watery broth
Into a hearty soup
And after bowls are emptied
And bellies are filled
We look up and say
Well Done.
You didn't know
Whether to laugh or cry
Leaving looms
But tonight breathes
And in our tribe
No one leaves
Without a party.
We celebrate life
Each day a brand new
Adventure
Like Fifty First Dates
Not Groundhog Day
The videotape in your head
Is enough
You know your yesterdays
But you don't
Live in them.
And everyone you meet
As your minds and hearts
Sync up
Has a puzzle piece
You might recognize
If you remember why
"Two ears, one mouth."
You know your heart
Has its plan
Your head has
Objections
You gotta You wanna
But is anything fixed
In place or time?
And eternity is both
Timeless and instant
Which is why
Leaving
Is just another step
Toward saying
Hello again.
Midnight in the country
The rain hits the roof
The tin reverberates
The staccato sound ofthe raindrops
Falls upon my head
And through my ears
Into my soul.
Rain makes us whole.
Brings the water oflife
Refreshes all livingbeings.
Brings sometimesrainbows
If you are in the rightplace
You might get even atriple arc.
Magical runs and slideson the grass
Or (barring lightning)into the water
At the beach or on thelake
But not at the pool
You might slip andslide
KAPUT!
The rain washes awaythe past
The detritus of ourlives
Thirsty new lifeemerges, grows
And shows
Its gratitude (not anattitude)
By blossoming andblooming
As we sometimes stopand watch
In amazement
At the skill of theartistry
That has whittled yourrougher self
Into a warming calmingbeauty.
Rain falls
And we arise.
The Flyboys sang
Of an artificial energy
That left them high
And dry.
The FDA and NIH once lauded
Artificial sweeteners
And downplayed
Their side effects
Just as their owners do today.
7-Elevens and their clones
Stock their chill cabinets
With Monsters and Bulls
To augment coffee's natural highs
As drivers cruise
On double speed.
Plastic surgeons promise
Paradise
As they nip and tuck
But often
Their advertising campaigns
Yield unhealthy results.
So too artificial "friendships"
Open us up to calamities
We never knew existed
Where lives get twisted
And hearts broken
As words never spoken
Enjoin our souls
To the true nature
Of betrayal.
And yet we all too often
Want the sugar high
That fades
Even degrades
While the pure and natural
Seems mundane,
Insane.
I mean, how dare we
Walk through dark valleys
Looking for the guiding light?
Trust in a promise too good
To be politically true?
If only we can believe,
We are destined to receive
The daily signposts
Placed by some hole-y ghost
That lead us to a life so new.
Take us out of the black
And into the blue.
With thanks to Darwin from 2149 the Aftermath.
Busy little town on theriverbank
Lotsa people out onFriday night
Willie and the boys arewailing
Songs from years goneby
With lots of brasstracks
And the svelte sisters
Who struggle to makeends meet
Know this town won’tlet them down
Are beaming ear to ear
As each new set ofpatrons appear
Bottles and brewsflowing
Sliders, slices, andsweets
And the specialties ofthe house
The citizens and guests
Puffing out theirchests
And for some, cigars
And bragging rights.
Good company at ourtable
Good seats for the show
And that full moon
Make this night thebest.
Why must I
Continue
Living alone
Apart
Exiled
From loved ones
Whose love died.
Is it pride
Or politics
Or perception
That old is bad
No not really
Just that tomorrow
Will always be there
And though time is
A mirage
Doors do close
Thar cannot be
Reopened.
How sad
That our futures
Are missing
The relevant past
As we ignore our Fathers
And mothers
But this is nothing new.
Worse may be
The public show
For the credits
Or the cash
Bought with bitterness
Swallowed
Souring stomachs
With the bile
Of resentment.
We clear our arteries
But clog our hearts
And cloud our minds
With imaginary
Grievances
Over trivial pursuits
That rob our lives
Of meaning.
And yet the truth is found
The prodigal reunion
But that story
Is unfinished
The joy
Diminished
Until brothers
Remember
Their love
Matters more than
Their way.
We used to think in words.
Writing was our passion.
Aeschylus, Shakespeare,
TS Eliot, Voltaire
And even Zane Grey
We sang in words
From chanting to the Beatles
We argued in words
Does anyone still know
Lincoln and Douglas?
We fought in words,
We cheated and stole
Twisting language
In print or face to face.
We even used words
As a covenant to trust.
Then some were entranced
By the movie romance
And soon we wanted
Our own lives
To be just like the movies.
Today though
Our children live in
Images
Subliminal
Or in your face.
The image, the app face,
No need for thought
Nor even dreams
No plans or schemes
You do just as your
Memes, mimic and mock
Those they know
Are their enemy.
Eight hours a day
For 12, 15, even 18 years
And those best programmed
Get another 4, 6, or 8.
One voice one image
One message:
Good or Bad
Us or Them
Pro [gressive] or
Con [servative]
No need for argument
No need for words
No need for love
No need for life outside
No.
Putting on too much weight
Is like
Putting on too much world.
To find out just how much
You get on the scales.
People who want to know
Actually read the numbers
And avoid that second dessert
Or that late-night pizza
The scales keep you honest
And on the proper path
Only if you read the numbers
And do the right things.
Ah, but the scales of God
Are different
Belshazzar found out
The hard way
The writing on the wall
Said Daniel the Prophet
You have been weighed ...
And found wanting.
His day did not end well.
But our story is not about
Falling short
“Discern the spirits”
Said the Apostle
And walk by Spirit
And you will know
By the trail of LIFE
And so tonight
It was a Gristmill dinner
And two ladies in front of me
Waiting in line to wait longer
It was Two Ton Tuesday
And they were out to dance
While I
Was headed to the Speakeasy
To meet friends who sing
Songs they wrote
[Or sometimes interpreted}
And so we parted ways
Or so it seemed.
Long hours later
KD and Marshall and I
Were headed out to refresh
Our energy and wisdom
When
All of a sudden
There they were
And we stopped to talk
About the music we had heard
And some of us had played
And next we knew
Twenty minutes had passed by
And I
Was stunned to know
[As they were both from
Adam Schatz’ Washington State]
That of all things
They loved the musicians
Who had graced my home
Been my friends for years
And I thought
The scales of God.
Music by --
Marshall Anderson (211) Marshall Anderson - 'Marigold Bloom' (Official Video) - YouTube
Bill Whitbeck (211) RIP Levon! Bill Whitbeck - Man Behind the Drums - YouTube
Kassy D [Daniel] (211) Enough by Kassy D - YouTube [retitled as Jack's Song]
Keith Michael Kallina (211) Keith Michael Kallina - Can’t Take It With You (Live Acoustic Original Song) - YouTube
Landlady [Adam Schatz] (211) LANDLADY- Washington State Is Important @ PIANOS - YouTube
Two Tons of Steel (211) Two Tons of Steel - Not That Lucky - YouTube
Acoustic Minds (211) Acoustic Minds - Undertow - YouTube
La Fonda (211) La Fonda - Time (OFFICIAL VIDEO) - YouTube
I thought at first
It was just me
Getting old
And I am of course
But No.
I am busier at work
With exciting projects
Daily.
I still ramble about
From town to town
In search of
Community
And I am blessed
With family and friends.
I cook, clean, entertain
Myself
And I would still
Entertain others
If only they
Would come out and play.
Was it COVID
Or video games
Or just the malaise
From a world turned ugly?
The climate fear
The war that robs our treasury
The hatred spurred by
The struggle for power
The censorship
The deplatforming
The name calling
All and more isolate
Separate
Inculcate us
With a sense of NO.
No I cannot be your friend
No, gas and everything
Cost so much.
So we have forgotten
The simple joys
Of just hanging
Crafting our own days
With that reckless abandon
That joie de vive
That our podworld
Cannot
Will not
Must not
Let happen.
Gone are the days
Of shelling peas
And butter beans
And shucking corn
And playing cards
And quilting together.
Gone even are the memories
Of 'the good times we had'
The raspberries strawberries
The cheap [good] wines
The little gatherings
That celebrated our need
For one another.
And our thankfulness
For those with whom
We could share
Life's simple pleasures
That made it possible
To endure the heartache
The suffering
The diseases the deaths
The inevitable time
When some of us
Are no longer around.
Perhaps
Economic collapse
The end of hope
The fulfillment
Of the media's dark tomorrows
Will lead us back
To interdependence
To true friends
No matter their opinions
Their pronouns politics pods.
Or maybe such revolutionary thought
Will displease the powerful
And turn freedom of assembly
Into a criminal act.
The intolerant demand
That others tolerate
Their abuses
The tolerant soon become
Slaves
If they allow intolerants
A different code
A different mode of behavior
Than "Do unto Others"
Or "Be Excellent."
For unchecked abuse
Creates monsters
Those who mutilate
The young and old alike
Those who force feed drugs
They do not take themselves
Those who prey on
Other people's children
All the while saying
"It's good for them."
But once the intolerant
Gain power
The only way to restore equity
The only way out of hell
Is to make intolerance
Untouchable
And the only ones who can
Are the intolerant themselves.
The risk however
Is that once made gauche
They retain sufficient power
To like Samson
Bring the walls down
On friend and foe alike.
Sodom was intolerant
Arrogant, insistent
And even Lot's wife succumbed
In its utter destruction.
Babel too was intolerant
Of any who did not speak
The praise of its majesty
And like the naked prince
Its fall was immediate
And Earth scattering.
Yet Noah tolerated
All the laughter and mockery
Until the rains came
And like the little red hen
Fed only those who had believed
And earned the golden ticket.
Intolerance is an affront
As it by nature breaks
The Golden Rule
As if there were no authority
Big and strong enough
To pull the plug and the rug
To champion the meek
Make strong the weak
And remove the blight
With the writing on the wall
Or Herod's worms.
Yet be not one
To fight the intolerant fire
With dragon's breath
Of your own
For by so doing
You have joined them.
The blameless leave judgment
To the judge.
Have I said enough?
Have I done enough?
Is my book complete?
Yet I sense
There are more chapters to write
More adventures to live and share
More days
And more ways
To bring Life to lives.
The inadequacies
The lacks
The quacks who promise
Yet do not deliver
The emptiness of loneliness
That brings me to surrender
To find the path through weakness
That reveals real strength
And changes outcomes
Without misdirecting glory.
The story
Has to be told
By the ones delivered
Not by the agent of deliverance
Who is merely playing the role
Cast by the Director
And produced by the Ghost.
The Host
Not the invited guest
Must be the focus of the Plus 1.
And there's the fun
The joy comes
From the introduction
That brings explosions
Of creative energy
That reveal the Life
That rekindle stars
Long blurred or dimmed
And the Lamplighter's aide
Basks in the plethora of stars
He has watched turn bright
And so did I ask
Are all the stars relit?
Are all the lives made new?
Surely there is more to do.
Whaddya do when
The desire of your heart
Is far away
And does not even know
You had a vision
Because she will only know
When she receives the same
Message.
If that is to come at all.
For the heart must be won
Before the word is spoken.
"Love the one you're with,"
said the Still man from NOLA.
But what is love?
Not possession, domination
And abandonment
Of body or soul .. or both.
"Love is gentle, love is kind"
Love is never being blind
But aware with care to share
The ups, downs, and easy rides
To stand beside whatever betide
To hear the heartbeat
An echo of your own.
And so you ask
How great a task
How many days
But then you gaze in the mirror
And though you are nearer
You're still in training
Or rather being molded
And given the tools
That only fools
Would fail to see
We're an absolute must
Before one could trust
That you had what it took
To write in down in the Book
And the other as well
Had to grow for a spell
To ever believe
There was no need to grieve
And there's air to be breathed
And a life full of giving
From the love you'd receive.
Dedicated to Susan Flanakin [07-27-79 -- 05-22-02]
Out of your darkness
I called you into My light.
Now you are the light of the world
As you reflect and show forth Me.
You may well be unable to see
Because My light in you is bright
And you may look out and not know
From your vision where you should step.
But take heart,and heed My voice.
And hold my hand
And I will direct your paths.
And you shall walk in My light.
By My words in your heart.
Yet not by your own sight,
Or your own wisdom...
That you might know that I AM the Lord
And that you might hear
How others follow you to see Me.
Trust then not in your own vision or understanding.
Just Follow Me.
If you like what you see and want to work together, get in touch!
dflanakin@gmail.com