Something For The Wife

are you troubled baby
can i ease your worried mind?
can i reach into your shadows
and set the dark on fire
can I light up all your windows
carry the blazing sun
tear the curtains open
collect the yarn you've spun
prune your history's hedges
misplace your morning bets
clean your mystery's messes
collect your evening debts?
Abrade the shoreline rockeries
with my steady ocean's steam
return the shoegaze glossary
to the producer's losing team?
Is it good enough to love you
am i good enough to have you?

Get Out Of My Wheelhouse

pusillanimous ponce
swaddled infant boy
a traitor to your orchids
a burglar of my time
a spinning Leslie speaker
needy and attention starved
perhaps now jobless
the real starvation begins

If You Live Long Enough

You get a few answers here and there
Sometimes it takes twenty three years
to learn the name of some punk band you
had a mix tape of as a kid
and knew the words but had no liner notes
and no one you've asked since remembered
were too high
passed along
recorded from speaker to speaker
bad edits
way before the internet or cd-r's.
Out of left field
in some smoky basement speakeasy
you learn this from a kid spinning vinyl
who was in diapers
when you considered angry cool.

Richard Scarry Busy Town

today I will be a cheerful man
and drive my truck around the town
in my grubby clothes
like a Richard Scarry cat
and mix in with all the other Richard Scarry contractors
driving around their cartoon vans
a menagerie of cars and planes
bridges and ramps
tools and hats
cheerful today
is the goal.

Ruby Shooz

just glanced at a good friend's baby blog
She is a lifelong friend of mine
She mothered a child with my drummer
We've known each other since we were babies
Like her baby
her baby is one of those movie star adorable babies
everyone says that
but I usually say babies are ugly, which they are at first.
Ruby is quite striking.
She's a toddler, which is a tiny drunk.
She comes from people I admire
I admire them because they expertly mock and deride
other admirable people

The Sky-High-lark Show

Friday night's dizzy height
leaves the rest of the weekend
to feel torn and cast out.
I love this ride.
Cant wait to do it again,
just need a comfortable parachute-
and some close friends
to find me and cut me loose from the tree.