Sugarloaf

Attachment

A big sister or very young mother
watches herself in the storefront glass
arms freshly tattooed, dressed in
tight fitting tank top and pants
walking tall and proud

She meets all the watching eyes
and seems to drink the attention while
behind her a small, thin boy speed-walks
struggling to stay within  the range of
what might be considered a respectful
distance

Blank Generation

Significance

Dark night, wet road
walking in a crosswalk talking
The on-coming car with one
working headlight approaches
too fast and misses you
by only inches.

You see the side of the driver's face,
and your presence - the near fatality of
his proximity - doesn't register at all there.

 

Was He Ever Alive?

Sometimes Prison Is Home

Sometimes I like you better
when I cannot see your face
or observe what you do
or hear what you might say
and how you might say it.

Sometimes I wish I could.

Joe Frank: Reality Check - UnFictional on KCRW

Joe Frank: Reality Check - UnFictional on KCRW

The ever outstanding Joe Frank. For many years, his was the voice in the darkness that I heard while  driving or laying awake..

Here's A Link To The Whole Cast Iron Hike Reunion Show At Ralph's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jwj7tqdh60&feature=share

Sam Amidon - As I Roved Out

Old sounds from a young man.

To Live Is To Fly

Fathers' Day

The kids, with them I'm better.
There isn't much more I can define
Right now

Sometimes hearing music
Sort of frees it up
Like right now

I wish someone would say something to me
That only I understand

And then we would look at each other the way
People who understand each other completely
Might

But then there are too many words
And the melody is no longer beautiful
It's a commercial- clever, manipulative

And then everything shuts back down.
And I am left alone again
With the Echo

Cast Iron Hike

My brother's the drummer of this band. They're playing a reunion show tonight at Ralph's in Worcester, MA. I believe they played their first show as a band at that club 20 years ago. What a power house they are live!

Get Something Down

Both restless and tired
a hint of life weaves
it's way through this dullness
another night of rain
we practice patience
with no idea at all
of what we're waiting
for
 

Yulunga - Dead Can Dance

Dehabilitation

He's twenty-five and standing on
not much of a foundation
comes in for help - unspecified
because he's not used to asking for it
he doesn't know the language

The problem is no job, no income, lives with an aunt
a four hour walk from his girlfriend and their one year old son
no car, no driver's license, no health insurance
not much of an education, no visible prospects.

I need some guidance, he said.

Our solution  - sell him on the idea of
a voluntary admission to a psychiatric hospital,
witness the genesis of a mental illness
he never had until he came and stood before us.

And then we go home
feeling like we've helped
I guess

Backwards

Anti-evolution traveling petting zoo
ulterior motives, grooming techniques
a partial definition of history might be
adults doing bad things to the minds of kids
again and again

I feel a little nauseous
most days

White Camel

Low Pressure Swirl

Let's laugh ourselves
past the horror of what we hear
and see, let's generate the joy we need to
overcome our visions of doom and dimming
futures, there's a market for this type of thing.

Unplug these eyes and ears from the news cycle
shelter this brain from the carving wind and waves
of fear and terror and envy and from the influence of gods
who stunt and sanction systems of one over another.

Refuse beards and tattoos and too-tight shirts, you crotchety old bastard,
get back in the house, peel an onion, listen to the rain and pray for the people
in public places trying to impress while boring each other silly .

There are pale creatures beneath the crust of the earth
biding their time and rallying their forces.

Seluah - The Other Side of The Gun

After Sleep

Silence of the absent friend
Terminal, ominous, sacred
Whispers the power of death
Echoes the power of Love
Remember the foolishness
And the laughter, honor your lost friend
By laughing again one day
Soon.

My Brother The Wind - Fire! Fire!

Dreaming The Thing

Am really having difficulty waking up
but when it begins to stir
the brain dreams of going,
not to flee, just to be
in motion
a trail, a bus station, a camper-van...

I'd like to walk away
and find that thing again
magic, music, youth, luck
or whatever
you call that thing
I've lost

Front

The foot is lifted
and now the world is different
clear, breezy, starlit
and you will make the
mistake again of thinking
it's for keeps