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Hellish Paradise BluesHellish Paradise Blues3 years ago in Songs & Lyrics More Like This
It's a hellish kind of paradise,
there's barbed wire in the pie.
So eat the berries from the bushes,
but wait till they are ripe.
It's a hellish kind of paradise,
where every beast has horns.
Be sure to sharpen up the set
you got when you were born.
It's a hellish kind of paradise,
the compasses spin like clocks.
But use your guts and wisdom
and you will find true north.
It's a hellish kind of paradise,
the songs will break your teeth.
The trick is not to chew them,
but sing them true and sweet.
Sing them blue and sweet.
Page 73 years ago in Visual & Found Poetry
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A mirrorA mirror4 months ago in Free Verse More Like This
I have a mirror that shows another face.
I have a face that asks to hear a song.
I have a song with room for light.
I have light that is the red inside every color.
I have a color that is waiting for its name.
I have a name that means tenderness.
I have tenderness caught in a mirror.
Someone Else's BluesI read the paper this morning,Someone Else's Blues3 years ago in Songs & Lyrics More Like This
and there was nothing but good news.
I read the paper this morning,
and there was nothing but good news.
But I feel so sad and worried,
I must have someone else's blues.
My baby says she loves me,
and I know her words are true.
She tells me that she loves me,
and I know her words are true.
But sometimes I feel like crying,
I must have someone else's blues.
I've been in my favorite club
so long they don't charge me dues.
I've been in my favorite club
so long they don't charge me dues.
But I feel lonely at the meetings,
I must have someone else's blues.
I guess I'll go out looking,
I got to find
City Line BluesI was walking out of trouble,City Line Blues3 years ago in Songs & Lyrics More Like This
when I reached the city line.
I was walking out of trouble,
when I reached the city line.
"Speed Limit Zero"
is what it said on the sign.
Zero miles per hour –
how can I ever get past?
Zero miles per hour –
how can I ever get past?
I think my time in trouble
is going to last and last.
I was walking in trouble,
with my dog on a chain.
I was walking in trouble,
with my dog on a chain.
All my good sugar candy
melted down in the rain.
I fell asleep in trouble
and I dreamed that I found –
I fell asleep in trouble
and I dreamed that I found
the way out of trouble
to Serenity tow
My Blue ChildI let you go now, my blue child.My Blue Child3 years ago in Traditional Fixed Forms More Like This
Fly away, I make you wings of memory and pain.
The wings that offered healing once would not come again.
Your pain is now complete, your pain is past.
Our pain is torn and tearing, our pain will last.
I played a counting game upon your back when we were small.
Then I had your wounds to count. I could not count them all.
A prince come from a star, with golden hair;
I took you to my heart, I held you there.
You were my own, and every threat to you made me fierce.
Now I must be, yet cannot be, fierce enough for this -
to let you go now, my blue child
Find me3 years ago in Visual & Found Poetry
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I Met a Red DevilI Met a Red Devil3 years ago in Traditional Fixed Forms More Like This
I met a red devil
and said, "Tell me your name."
"My name," it replied,
"is You-Are-to-Blame."
I said, "Those are the words
I tell myself every day.
Now that I know your name,
I can send you away."
Then the red devil screamed,
but it had to depart.
And the scream echoed on
for a while in my heart.
In FlightA. pays the seven dollars for a beer,In Flight3 years ago in Traditional Fixed Forms More Like This
the flight attendant takes his twenty
and says that she will bring change shortly.
He pops the top and pours the beer with care,
waits for the foam to go. With seatbelt tight
and armrest lost to someone on his right,
he can barely move. He is snug as his son
in a denim carrier on his chest all those
years ago, and as content. He is safely
out of touch, can do nothing for anyone,
nor be asked to. He can lift his plastic cup.
He can sip beer through the remaining foam.
He can lower the cup. He can do no more,
so lets himself feel no more need be done.
Alone a while, and glad to be alone -
Pursued BluesThe speed limit here is fifty,Pursued Blues2 years ago in Songs & Lyrics More Like This
but I'm doing a hundred and ten.
If my luck holds out till morning,
I might make it home again.
I've been moving since October
and they haven't got me yet.
I keep my eyes wide open
for every trap they set.
Sometimes I say a prayer to heaven
for the damage all around.
There is justice high above us,
but who can call it down?
The speed limit here is fifty,
but I'm doing a hundred and ten.
If my luck holds out till morning,
I might make it home again.
If I do get home tomorrow,
I will not be there long.
I'll put my arms around my people,
and then I will be gone.
But it's not so much the staying,
Waiting for My Rider BluesWell, I'm waiting for my rider,Waiting for My Rider Blues4 months ago in Songs & Lyrics More Like This
I hope she gets back soon.
We really should be leaving
if we are going to reach the moon.
My rider is a sweet one
and she likes to navigate.
But we got to get a move on
or we are going to be late.
She went into the city
to buy us bread and wine.
If she got lost inside the market,
getting out could take some time.
There may have been bad weather,
and she was caught by a storm.
Just as soon as she gets back here,
we will both be safe and warm.
She may have met a crowd of people
who were watching a parade.
She may be waiting till it passes,
and they move a barricade.
She may have heard s
Three A.M.Three A.M.2 years ago in Free Verse More Like This
You sit in the saddle as you were taught.
Sleep is beneath you, still as a statue.
The reins are loose in your hands. You squeeze
with your legs as you should, below the knees.
Sleep does not move.You cluck with your tongue.
"Walk," you say clearly. "Walk." Sleep does not.
You sit in the saddle as you were taught.
You hold the reins, you kick with both heels.
Sleep does not move. You sit in the saddle.
Where is that crop? Your feet leave the stirrups.
You dismount and stand close beside Sleep.
You look into its wide eye, then step back.
Sleep gallops off. You have to laugh.
The Cloth of SleepThe cloth of sleep I'll make for you,The Cloth of Sleep3 years ago in Songs & Lyrics More Like This
I'll weave it with my own two hands,
out of the thread of dreamless rest
and thread of dreams that calm and bless.
A pattern I will draw myself,
upon the night so dark and fair;
I'll pin it to the cloth I made
and then I'll cut with skill and care.
A gown of sleep I'll sew for you,
it will be yours and yours alone,
to wear that you may put away
the worried fabric of the day.
When I have made this gift for you,
I'll send it to you in a song;
send back to me the news I seek,
that sleep was good, the night was long.
Hard Words Had Come and NestedHard Words Had Come and Nested3 years ago in Traditional Fixed Forms More Like This
Hard words had come and nested in my hair,
and so I cut it short, I cut it off.
But then they flew and flew around my head,
a little swarm of hurt I could not bear.
I raised and waved my hands like one gone mad,
and knew this would not do. This would not do.
I grew my hair again and wore a scarf.
I drew it tight, a knot beneath my chin.
The hard words could not make their nests again,
but I could often feel them clutch and claw
and worry the cloth, and in time I said
"Enough!" My hair was long, I loosed the knot,
I tossed the scarf away. The words fell down,
to seem so small and sad and tired on the ground.
Maybe Tomorrow BluesI went to drive my car this morning,Maybe Tomorrow Blues3 years ago in Songs & Lyrics More Like This
but the tires were all flat.
The body was all rusted,
and there was no windshield glass.
I got in to start the engine,
and there was no driver's seat.
I was sitting on the floorboard
and staring at my feet.
I turned the key in the ignition
but I did not hear a sound.
I got out and raised the hood up -
all I saw there was the ground.
I could not drive my car this morning,
but tomorrow who can say?
I may get up so bright and early,
jump in my car and drive away.
Barbed Wire BalladBarbed Wire Ballad2 years ago in Free Verse More Like This
Bring more barbed wire. Bring the heavy rolls
of twisted steel and metal thorns. Wear
heavy gloves, unspool the wire from the roll,
make loops atop the wall. Bring more.
Bring more barbed wire. Here are metal stakes
on which it may be hung. Go on and on.
Here is a wire cutter for when we are done,
but that will not be soon. Bring more.
Bring more barbed wire. Here are people
to keep out, there are people to confine,
here a place to make secure, here we are
on our side, thank God. Bring more.
Here are people, there are people,
here a border, here a barrier,
here are places, here are people,
here a wall and here the
Blue Haze3 years ago in Visual & Found Poetry
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River BluesThe river is high and I can tellRiver Blues2 years ago in Songs & Lyrics More Like This
there is flooding on its mind.
You best prepare to save yourself,
most any way you can find.
The river is brown and full of stuff
it washed away before.
But the river has never had enough,
it always comes for more.
Oh hear that siren start to sound,
upstream but not so far.
And when those waters roll on down,
the siren will scream where you are.
So go in the house, you know what to do,
embrace those you hold dear.
Tell them how much they mean to you
and whisper the threat that is near.
One or two roads lead to high ground,
choose one and be on your way.
I believe there's a chance if you go ri
Legal BluesI got so blue that I was thinkingLegal Blues2 years ago in Songs & Lyrics More Like This
it must be against the law.
I got so blue that I was thinking
it must be against the law.
The blues broke in and robbed me,
they took all the joy they saw.
So I found me a policeman,
to arrest these blues.
I said, "Please, Mr. Policeman,
would you arrest these blues?"
He said, "Son, I'd like to help you -
I got to give you the news.
"The blues go so far back, son,
they can't be made illegal now.
The blues go all the way back,
they can't be made illegal now.
They're old as drink or as the devil,
there is no way it would work out.
"Well, if the blues were illegal,
cops would deal wi
Erasures and essentials3 years ago in Abstract
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Thin IceThe ice is thin, the ice is thin -Thin Ice3 months ago in Traditional Fixed Forms More Like This
the shore more distant year by year,
and nearly sixty since I left it now.
There is no going back again.
And I am old yet not so very old -
I bless the ice. I pray for cold.
High Wind BluesA high wind is blowing,High Wind Blues2 years ago in Songs & Lyrics More Like This
there are donkeys in the trees.
At least it isn't winter -
those poor animals would freeze.
A high wind is blowing,
there are badgers in the air.
They're blowing by like bluebirds,
their teeth and claws are bare.
A high wind is blowing,
and the river's turned around.
It stopped heading for the ocean,
it's rolling backwards into town.
A high wind is blowing,
it smells like steel and stone.
I taste it in my coffee,
sitting home alone.
You know there is no reason
for this wind to be so high.
And no way to stop it blowing -
there's nothing we can try.
A high wind is blowing,
it to
Honey Bee BluesHoney Bee Blues2 years ago in Songs & Lyrics More Like This
Sometimes I wish I was a beetle
and I had a chitin shell.
Oh yes, I wish I was a beetle
and I had a chitin shell.
Then I would not even feel it
when you did not treat me well.
Sometimes I am a moth, babe,
flying toward a flame.
Sometimes I am a moth, babe,
flying toward a flame.
This cannot have a happy ending,
but I keep flying just the same.
Sometimes I am a hornet,
if you crowd me I will sting.
That's right, I am a hornet,
if you crowd me I will sting.
You'll be sorry, you'll discover
there is more to me than wings.
Let's get together, baby,
and we'll be two honey bees.
Let's get together, baby,
and we'll be t
Sometimes BluesSometimes I get so tired,Sometimes Blues3 years ago in Songs & Lyrics More Like This
I take the stairs one at a time.
Sometimes I get so tired,
I take the stairs one at a time.
But I still get where I'm going,
I'm still making that climb.
Sometimes I feel so frisky,
I go out and sing, I dance and drink.
Sometimes I feel so frisky,
I go out and sing, I dance and drink.
But when the evening is all over,
I sit by myself and think.
Sometimes I think about tomorrow,
sometimes I just hold on tight.
Sometimes I think about tomorrow,
sometimes I just hold on tight.
But I know my hands must be wide open
for things to ever come out right.
Sta.sh
