Never

Never

I'll never be that girl,
That makes the men fall upon their knees.
I'll never be that lady
Where the gent is begging "please".

I'll never look down upon
The skewered men in dust
Who fell upon their blade
Who gladly did so for love and lust.

I'll never be that woman who 
Sends men away
The lady in high waiting 
Who still cries today

I'll never be the one
That you want to hold real tight
I'll cling so hard, you'll lose yourself
And you'll still go on, into the night.

Daily Blues

The brothers and the sisters

And all of the well wishers

The bastards and the legitimates too

The slow ones and the smart ones

And all of those who own guns

They’re all waiting for their next cue

The pool sharks and the owners

And all who push lawn mowers

The too many and the too few

The lowly and the highly

All of those who follow blindly

They’re all singing the daily blues

                You sing high, you sing low

                You carry on, say land ho

                You do what you do ‘cause you do it so well

               

                You try hard, not so much

                Some say it’s  go, some say it’s touch

                You do what you can ‘cause you got a story to tell

The misters and the misses

And all the little kisses

The spinsters and the bachelors woo

The sinners and the saints

And the ones who say they ain’t

They’re all waiting in the next pew

The slow dogs and the cool cats

And all the hungry street rats

They’re all trying to get a view

The blessed and the meek

The ones who seem so sleek

They’re all singing the daily blues

      You sing high, you sing low

                You carry on, say land ho

                You do what you do ‘cause you do it so well

               

                You try hard, not so much

                Some say it’s go, some say it’s touch

                You do what you can ‘cause you got a story to tell

Down

Growled and grunted and groaned

Went down the rocky lane

To the valley that moaned

Like a mouth that is swallowing a pill

The valley was deep

Just waiting for the kill

                Down, straight down

                Bend at the right

                There’s no turning around

                Down straight down

                Keep walking straight

                You know where you are bound

                               

Darkened, dampened and dense

The ground was soft

The pressure was immense

Down in the bottom of that hole

The air was thick

The earth greedy for souls

      Down, straight down

                Bend at the right

                There’s no turning around

                Down straight down,

                Keep walking straight

                You know where you are bound

Walking through upstretched hands

Nails are black

The fingers begging for command

My hope, my charity, my gain

They all went to hell

When I wandered down that lane

      Down, straight down

                Bend at the right

                There’s no turning around

                Down straight down,

                Keep walking straight

                You know where you are bound

The Darkness

The darkness has seeped in

Like coldness through the bones

Like fog rolling off a lake

Like music with flat tones

That darkness has come fast

Like a cold and bitter wave

Like a sudden dreadful storm

Like marching to the grave

The darkness grabs the heart

With fingers as sharp as knives

With eyes as red as devils

With hands that reach for lives

The darkness grabs the soul

With weights too leaden to bear

With a crushing force of power

With no hope left to spare

The Ladies

Dresses tattered.  Eyes vacant

Hair matted.  Souls ancient

To the touch of a man, their bodies yielded

Their hearts away, barred and shielded

Love an illusion, a poets dream

A haunting phantom, a cruel scheme

Shoes battered.  Gaze blurry

Nails glittered.  Memory murky

In exchange for themselves, given to coin

Their senses stolen, their innocence purloined

Happiness a devil, a smile that stings

A thief in disguise, a taker of things

Beauty shattered.  Features sunken

Bones jutted.  Selves shrunken

Thrown away by the world, in nowhere land

Life dealt them a cruel, a deadly hand

Existence a sentence, for a mortal sin

Playing a game they never can win

Fool's Gold

I’m plasticized wood

A grinning wolf in a hood

Waiting at Lil Red’s door

I’m a snake oil salesman
A good luck talisman

I’ll give you some, you’ll still want more

I’m fool's gold and ivory soap

A maker of horoscopes

Taking what I can get

I’m a preacher and savior

I won’t judge your behavior

As long as my needs are always met

I work at the carnival

No sweat. I’ve seen it all

Seeing the people take their ride

I stand in the shadows

With the broken down scarecrows

I’ve watched you walk, I’ll make you stride

I’m a ghost from your nightmare

A smile from your worst scare

A shining light that lies in the dark

I’m plasticized wood

A grinning wolf in a hood

I’ll give you some, you’ll still want more

I Wonder

I often wonder

You, the man who stings

If you were to have a daughter

Would that somehow change some things?

Would that awaken in you

Memories when you did great harm

Would you feel a painful shudder

As she nestles in your arm?

Would you recognize your actions

Understand your guilt

Would you promise to try harder

Tearing down what you have built?

Would you own up to your transgressions

Try and be a better man

Would you take the steps you need

To fix what you still can?

And so I’m left to wonder

You, the man who stung

Now that you have a daughter

Have the changes at last begun?