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where we’re at
and why that’s that
OLDE OLDE STORIES - 1
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oh give me what has never
been wished for or denied
cried the slave
as he slipped beneath a wave
oh make me a riddle
I can run through my fiddle
and lay on my drum
begged the man who was dumb
oh keep me in rubies
and gowns of silk
that flow like milk
sang the maid at the moat
leading her goat
oh trick me a task
that gains me
more than I ask
sighed the man who sat
on an empty cask
oh tell me a tale
that will not fail
to make me see
what I’ll one day be
wept the widow mourning
to the wizard scorning
oh find me a bed
where sleep is like bread
and I’ll take my fill
calm and still
in a castle or shed
spoke a voice from the dead
OLDE STORIES 2 3 4
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if you mend a contention
if you befog a dogma
if you yank the tooth
of a common truth
and declaw a law
if you fatigue the league
of true believers
if you down the crown
of mindless power
and raze its tower
do you think
the cup the crowd fills up
for you to drink and drain
will be meant for joy
or pain?
take a name
take a blame
take a shame
when at ease in a city
never say pity
subject is object
object is gross
when its a stranger who’s close
take a name
take a blame
take a shame
away away
at the end of the day
all must pray
that space has a place to store the breath of death
for its good
as it should
OLDE STORY 5 6 7
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oh the sun shines bright
on rich and poor
both must sweat
that’s for sure
one for bread
and one to feel pure
stumpy is grumpy
and nobody knows
fat as a cat with 17 toes
he follows his shadow
wherever it goes
wish on a dish
pine for a sign
nothing’s gone asunder
and he longs for thunder
arms akimbo
legs in a knot
praise be its limbo
that’s the worst he’s got
everybody’s rich in this house
even the mouse
everybody’s bundled in furry rugs
up to their mugs
everybody’s singing tra la la
even in the cellar
where it’s acappella
isn’t neat to be elite
rejoice rejoice
let’s all give voice
for heaven’s choice
namely us
may it ever be thus
amen and again amen
OLDE STORY 8 9
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love that holds
love that folds
love that connects
love that expects
love that awakens unkind
blind yet winding a plot that’s nothing if not
a pain from the start for the beckoning heart
oh love serves well as a plaything of hell
when up it leaps with a hard truth to tell
good people
in bars
in cars
under a steeple
when they’re at a loss
of course
good people
avoid blindness to kindness
when catastrophes strike
in between they swim and fish and hike
and if the skies turn greener
and the neighbors meaner
and the bankroll leaner
good people
turn out the light
and say good night
and if the dogs are growling
and the children howling
and the poor folk scowling
good people
shoot out the light
and say good night
OLDE STORY 10
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there is beauty like the sand
that needs a watchful sea to be
there is beauty that is like a bottomless lake
forever unstirred and never heard
there is beauty that is like a tree
regaining its form
no matter the strength or length of a storm
there is beauty that gives as it lives a season for reason
there is beauty that is like the mist on a grave
so cold so old yet as near and dear as a story just told
OLDE STORY 11 (lover’s waltz)
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we could be lovers forever
or never
will the wind blow the snow away today?
we could have children
a cat and a dog
will the morning sun burn through the fog?
will the city streets ever unclog?
we could fill our closets with gold
until we grow old
will this autumn be cold?
will the robins be bold?
we could lie together
each one like a feather
dancing in the breeze
high above the trees
will the clouds steal the moon?
will the rains come soon?
will the world we know be the same next june?
OLDE STORY 12
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sing and ring
ring and bring
tasks and masks
scrolls and rolls
files and wiles
signs and lines
games and flames
cakes and wakes
goods and woods
cloaks and jokes and yokes folks
anything to spare for those who are bare
and none yet to care
NEWS BREAK
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numbers fail
faces pale
plans derail
sounds abound
crash after crash
signals flash
what does it mean?
can a fig be a bean?
can a tree be me?
can a cloud be a shroud?
can the manic panic
of a squawking hawk
fill a room with doom?
word after word
becomes less absurd
as we tap and touch
and see how much
of what the world
has unfurled
was once thought mad
and is now so easily
happily had
BATTLE HUM
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in the enemy camp vamp
revamp
deconstruct an ember
remember
to feed is to fatten
to fatten is to feed
on another’s need
to dig is to rig
a hole with a purpose
if the digger proves bigger
than the hole when its done
the purpose belongs to anyone
oh there’s blood on the club
blood you can scrub
blood on the street
under your feet
as a man with a flag
tags glory to the story
of GOD’s new war
the same by name
as a thousand times before
or more
BATTLE HUM 2
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if you can’t will it
kill it
if you can’t force it
boss it
if you can’t stroke it
choke it
if you can’t heed it
bleed it
if you can’t block it
mock it
if you can’t fix it
nix it
if you can’t zip it
rip it
if you can’t bar it
mar it
if you can’t beat it
cheat it
if you can’t chop it
top it
if you can’t slam it
jam it
if you can’t seize it
freeze it
if you can’t claim it
maim it
if you can’t hush it
crush it
if you can’t grab it
stab it
if you can’t turn it
burn it
if you can’t take it
fake it
if you can’t mend it
end it
TERROR TUNE
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finesse stress
if you trip or slip
skip into the dip
get a grip
if you’re lost in the dark
bark
to stay ahead of dread
chew bread
if you have to grapple
carry an apple
if you wander into weeds
recite your good deeds
to keep safe in sleep
pick a ditch that’s deep
and hard to leap
count your nickles
if you undershirt tickles
turn once twice
then spit on your shoe
lickety hickety that might do
depending on what is chasing you
its wise not to fall
on someone too tall
who’s come to call
that’s it that’s all
TERROR TUNE 2
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if its in a bucket
if its down the hall
if you have to pluck it
please don’t call
if its on the table
if its right next door
if you’re just not able
please try more
if you can’t contain it
if it fills the air
if you must explain it
I don’t care
if your brain suspects it
if you think to flee
if you can not hex it
why ask me?
if its in the garden
if the weeds are thick
if you beg its pardon
best be quick
if it comes to claim you
if you don’t know why
if the world should blame you
so will I
SCI FILE
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everything possible is somewhere
extending bending sending
a wave
that can cancel or save
what we feel to be real
wiggle and squiggle
the wave can weave
what we believe
onto a whole new track
inspect collect dissect
is the best we can do
as we follow it through
and then wave back
at what used to be true
2
adults consult
teens preen
tots plot
there in a crib
or under a bib
beyond the tears
lies a billion plus years
of peeking and seeking
and time sharpened ears
3
tick tick click
and a mountain
becomes a fountain
bunch munch crunch
and a river becomes a sliver
the power of the hour
makes a flower dance into dust
as it must for the power to be just
SCI FILE
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4
I think I’ll go inner for dinner
and catch me a batch of atoms and pions
and dote on a photon
sprung loose by the spark
of a quark
what a lark
I’ll probably glow in the dark
5
is it the air that hides us here
like salt inside a bubbling tear?
oh mother star you are so far from me
oh father sky why must this distance be
we hiding here in air
and you forever way out there
6
The brain has a strange terrain
we’re told young and old
so our doing and wooing
all the fuss and muss
is not from us
but the bean above
tilting toward love
or heaving with a crack
into moods gray or black
buy that and I’ll sell you a cat
who lives in a hat
MATH PATH
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There’s a muddle in the puddle
but the puddle can’t be named
for its the framing not the naming
that’s the name of the game
Poet’s plaint
oh science science
you most noble giants
can reach for a star
and stuff it into a pickle jar
yet never proceed
out of truest need
to place even the trace
of a human face
on the wobbly track
from atom to above
and back
numbed by numbers reason slumbers
common sense straddles the fence
and babble and strife rule everyday life
oh science science
come forge an alliance
what a tale you could tell
with theories embracing the hows and whys
of cosmic drift
and heart and soul as well
TIME PIECE
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if time is a rope
should we climb it and hope?
NOPE
if time is a glutton
should we stuff it with mutton
and shiny green peas?
NO IF YOU PLEASE
if time is a boat
should we motor or float?
YOU WILL SINK IN THE DRINK
EITHER WAY I THINK
if time is a gun should we grab it and run?
WHAT YOU’LL TAKE IF YOU PULL IT
IS ONLY A BULLET
if time is a ladder
should that really matter?
FALL FROM A RUNG
AND YOU’LL BE HIGH STRUNG
if time is a candle
should we light it and handle?
IF YOU YEARN YOU WILL BURN
if time is a blanket
should we curtsey and thank it?
BEING NICE WON’T SUFFICE
WHEN YOU’RE COVERED IN ICE
if time is a biscuit?
should we bite down and risk it
BETTER TSK TSK IT
if time is a puzzle
should we give it a muzzle
YES YES UNLESS YOU CONFESS
YOU ARE WILLINGLY TILLING
A BOTTOMLESS FIELD
THAT NEVER WILL YIELD
oh time time
you riddle sublime
are we ever to know
your reason and rhyme
or when all’s said and done
are we fated to find
the tick tick tock of ahead and behind
is simply designed to be all in the mind
TESTING testing!
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Do you think the world was made for glee?
ONE! TWO! THREE!
Do you think the world was made for grief?
BE BRIEF!
Do you think the world was made for kisses?
OR HISSES!
Do you think the world was made for dreaming?
OR SCREAMING!
Do you think the world was made for finding?
OR REMINDING!
Do you think the world was made for pleasing?
OR TEASING!
Do you think the world was made for thinking?
OR BLINKING!
Do you think the world was made to go on and on
even after all the puzzles and prizes are gone?
ANSWER HERE WITH SIGH OR CHEER!
Poet’s Plea
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Won’t you put a penny
in the old man’s pot
If you haven’t any
then he’ll take what you’ve got
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