heartworn & weary
Current mood: productive
Category: Writing and Poetry

heartworn & weary
July 7, 2008

I could tell you some stories
and I probably will
though I should shut my mouth
and let you like me still
oh, you'll know me too well
by the end of the night
you'll be wonderin' to yourself
"does he know wrong from right?"

I'm a bad proposition
with a tough disposition
I'm a most honest guy
even when I should lie ~
I'm a glass bound to shatter
a truth too pure to matter
a damn good man in theory
who'll leave you heartworn and weary.

I could enlighten you
about my dark past
that was so ugly at times
that it simply could not last
you can carry my cross
'til your back starts to break
I won't hold it against you
when you can't take the weight.

I'm the kind of acquisition
that no one would requisition
I'm loyal and I'm true
still, I'll break your heart in two ~
I'm a glass bound to shatter
a truth too pure to matter
a damn good soul in theory
who'll leave you heartworn and weary.

and when you're lost and frightened
at the center of my storm
I can look you in the eye
and say that you were warned.

***********************************************************************
with any luck, this is the newest Death Valley Strays ditty. Today is also our dog Scout's 9th birthday. I didn't have a good canine birthday song bouncing around my sorry head, so I wrote this thing instead.

Currently listening : No Destination But Heartbreak Avenue By Dylan Kight Release date: 2006-08-22

1:13 AM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

estranged reflection
Current mood: awake
Category: Writing and Poetry

estranged reflection
1999

she gave all she had to each of them
now there's nothing left to give
a memory
of any one of them
can spark a tear
but they aren't who she's crying for
there're only two people in her bedroom
two voices intertwined
one's the woman she's become
the other is the girl she used to be
and neither one of them
are what she had in mind.

Currently listening : Vicious Circle By Zero Boys Release date: 2000-10-10

5:11 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

have a nice day
Current mood: cynical
Category: Writing and Poetry

have a nice day
January 2001

saw a man fire three shots
into a blind woman's chest
and when I asked him why
he simply shrugged his shoulders
as if to suggest
man, what excuse would you accept?

seems like each new day's a reason
not to love the world I'm in
but it's the one I'm promised to
until Death says that that'll do.

there's a candle in the window
and the wax has ruined the sill
sometimes the most peaceful solution
is to grab a gun and kill.

Currently listening : Love and Danger By Joe Ely Release date: 1992-09-29

2:24 PM - 6 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

James & the Giant Breach (for Jim Thompson)
Current mood: enlightened
Category: Writing and Poetry

James & the Giant Breach
for Jim Thompson
June 20, 2008

so Lucy Boomer shot you down
when you were young enough to dream
naive enough to still believe
that it would somehow all work out
though you sure paid her back in kind
with resentment barely hidden
in the guise of so-called fiction
when, with a pen, you'd bleed your mind.

in that cold place, you chose to be
I see shades of you in tones of me
between perception and reality
you built your life within that breach.

so dear old Daddy wasn't proud
when you were young enough to need
always performing for that ghost
standing alone, beyond the crowd
though you sure got some sweet revenge
rewrote his life to suit your wont
through your hands, it's you he'd haunt
you embraced his judgment when you'd binge.

in a loveless tomb, you chose to be
but that's not what I choose for me
between perception and reality
you found no peace within that breach.

Currently reading : Jim Thompson: Sleep with the Devil By Michael J. McCauley

6:28 PM - 3 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

the last valentine ~ a Death Valley Strays "lost" jewel
Current mood: productive
Category: Writing and Poetry

the last valentine
music: Mark Bishop ~ summer 2001
lyrics: Johnny Roulette ~ May 4, 1995

you're the moment that I waver
when the firing squad takes aim
the trigger that is squeezed
the click before I leave
when I was just getting out of the gate.

you're the worthless feeling
when the rent is spent on heroin
the darkening of the light
the sorrow all night
that I just can't drink away.

and I'll be your
last Valentine.

you're the scars there to remind me
of how I suffered yesterday
you're the guilt that swallows
me when I see
that all of our crimes are real.

you're the secret in my veins
that will take my breath away
you're the game I fight to play
that I cannot win
but I play it anyway.

and, babe, I'll pay you
back in kind.

you're the emptiness remaining
when promises evaporate
the height of hard depression
the comfort of a needle
and the shame I'm married to.

you're the bullet in my head
from when I was shot, but didn't fall
you're a murder uncommitted
just a matter of time
the hourglass is out of sand.

the ambulance won't
come for you in time.

Currently reading : Jim Thompson: Sleep with the Devil By Michael J. McCauley

7:09 AM - 4 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

semi-automatic ADD
Current mood: contemplative
Category: Writing and Poetry

semi-automatic ADD
June 14, 2008

Shakespeare can keep the words
they can only be recycled now
and Barry Bonds is our Babe Ruth
'til the Salem Feds did shut him down
old folks preach of better days
but don't discount the younger ways
Gene can't fly, but he sure can dive
off the Golden Gate, a tragic life.

I ain't no Robert Frost
I just recount the things I've lost
yeah, Bob Dylan's a better scribe
though I'm more honest when I lie.

Krakauer can have his Mount Everest
my disaster's cost me less [monetarily]
I'm still looking for a place to step
from the corners into which I paint myself
I could see Sean Penn as a friend of mine
though, to Chris McCandless, he was too kind
yeah, I could have been so many things
but my attention span has busy wings.

I ain't no Edgar Allan Poe
I just write the shit I know
and Townes Van Zandt's seen more than me
but never say my heart's not deep.

Cassanova can have a thousand girls
found the one for me in this mean world
an' my voice may not be the one for you
but to offer another would be untrue
an' fuck you for giving us McCain
I'm a Hillary man, so I'm not to blame
hey, I don't mean to piss you off
but the lessons of Jonestown have been lost.

Currently watching : The Bridge Release date: 2007-06-12

5:40 PM - 2 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

goatsongs for the stylistically impaired
Current mood: awake
Category: Writing and Poetry

goatsongs for the stylistically impaired
with apologies to Dan Baird and the memory of Larry Brown
May 1, 2008

love may well be the answer
unless, of course,
you're diagnosed
with small cell carcinoma
then chemo & morphine
might work a bit better
but do not discount
the healing powers
of that aforementioned Love
for it can make the fight of your life
entirely worthwhile
even if
you always are aware
that, with what's ailing you,
you can only die
and that it will happen
much sooner than later.

and some stiffs have been heard
advising you to turn
the infamous other cheek
to claim the inheritance
of the celebrated Meek
and it is sage advice
if lip service is what you seek...
man, they will beat you
black and blue
and swell shut your eyes
for you
(aren't they kind)
so, you do what you've gotta do
don't let those black hearts
wail on you
like Sonny Rollins on a tenor sax
mi amigo, they will kick your ass.

there actually is a great design
~to make you acquiesce~
see, they want you weak
yeah, and what for
hey, I'm sure
that even you can guess.

5:58 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

when I raise my foot I will explode
Current mood: cantankerous
Category: Writing and Poetry

when I raise my foot I will explode
April 7, 2008

infinitesimal brushfires
race on ~ unchecked
until the ones with
legs connect.

shower them with whiskey
gotta let some light in here
I use Michael Collins Irish
because Icehouse
can’t get it done tonight.

I want complete control
of this mind of mine[s]
waltzing through the
darkness
until I find some
familiar turf
to lie upon and dream
yeah, complete control
around the clock
unless, like now, I’m unable
to properly give a fuck.

1:22 PM - 6 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment