all the applause

unrelenting
beyond timberline
beyond reason
beyond cell phone service, OMG
the chilled air of nowhere
the heat of personal ambition
driving the hard effort
to ride a bicycle to a summit
Everest base camp in a damn white-out
black out
brown clouds above the white lines
passing lanes
passing out
out of breath
out of control
but not out of road
more impossible effort required
with the unfocused eye
the goal
far ahead inside the upper branches
fatigue robbing the lower limbs
the imagination
more pleasant than the actual physical effort
but not as rewarding as conquering this pain
the heavy weight
turning an incredible resisting pedal
gravity laughing at the joke
listening to the hypnotic voices of a splendid chorus
their music drifting sweetly
above the waves of the tender ocean
each urgent whisper singing
quit quit quit the whispers quit quit quit
but at the top
triumph
full relief
with a slow bicycle
and a fast heart
finally completely
more than satisfactorily
the legs walk away with all the applause
and the beer tastes all the more rewarding.

roll on Columbia U

the God of war
isn't inside your nose

its snot and disgusting
undergraduate brain matter
witless on an early Friday afternoon

the white tiger stalks

the blue dragon pausing in attack
hears your juvenile rantings to wonder
after all that Blake has said
has it really come to this?

the Pagoda of Ravens
isn't the harbor where you dock
the ship of fools

the Lake of Scintillating Brightness
points to the near hill and mountains
visible in a forested distance
mock your childish NewYork babble

scorn?

there is no time for laughter
while the beautiful jade tree mounts
the granite steps at the entrance door
of literary study

so enjoy the sublime adolescence
sucking your wrinkled thumb

the lotus flower watches in amusement
from a ferry near Staten Island

the red-crowned turkey struts to your simple music
beyond the pulse of a Beethoven beat

the Gate of Dazzling Virtue
shades her eyes
pointing along the wide terrace

you are alone as you stroll
but you cannot pass through

the garden will not wait.

no one asked

when he walked into the bar
he hadn't traveled very far
and he didn't want to think
took his first mind-altering drink
then his second and a third
and being good to his word
people listening heard
complaints about personal poverty
and sexual highway robbery
and he wailed about the boys
jealous of his hot rod toys
girls who straightened curls
and TVs and killer bees
and the early death of Elvis
and his unappreciated pelvis
the blue suede shoes and Memphis blues
and tiny purple fishes
laughing at his southern dishes
in the seaside village of gloom
he kept looking at the room
but it kept spinning inside his head
no one heard a word he said
so he sat down on the floor
no one asked for any more
and he didn't want to sing
threw away his wedding ring
he tossed aside his wife
then he threw away his life
when he walked into the bar
he hadn't traveled very far
but he thought he knew the score
no one asked for any more

high at noon

if you think i'll go crazy when i decide to leave
don't be too quick to guess what you believe

i won't be picking up a spoon or jacking a knife
throwing it at my heart but sparing my life

if you think i'll cry,
or that i might die
when the clock strikes another high at noon
a new beginning might be coming soon

i can stand the flood of time
roaring inside this skin of mine

my world always felt strong
even when you done me wrong

and i was always guessing smart
when you said i was off the mark

i always dressed up real good
even if you didn't think i could

so what was it about love that i didn't understand
when i felt the lack of your loving hand?

what was it about time when i felt out of place?
you tied me in knots of ribbon and lace

not quite a prison and not quite a chore
what was all the wondering for?
if you think i'll go crazy when i decide to leave
don't be too quick to guess what you believe

and if you think i'll cry,
or that i just might die
when the clock strikes another high at noon
a new beginning might be coming soon

Blue Archer

blue archer
Daniel
midland Texas baby
pump me up and
hold me down
i'm mining gold with a navy friend of mine
we're gonna paint the whole town
all at the right time
in the night time drinking bottles of wine
polishing pitchers full of gin
keeping poopers out, letting dancers in
sitting on the piano in silky black
natural motion natural fact
the girl with the most beautiful brown eyes
whispering a Swedish accent
and Hell to pay but Heaven sent
i'm still paying my dues and collecting rent
flying through mist at 5 thousand feet
looking for a decent hole to the happy sea
just tripping on my airplane seat
a friendly stewardess and lucky me
a new Jane Russell or Monroe
a Hollywood Honey for all i know
and have you heard what's really funny?
a sweet tooth and the lady doctor
playing with my stethoscope
it may be chasing skirts but i'm no dope
pumping iron in a sweaty room
balanced on the edge of doom
now she's calling me and i'm out of breath
where can i find a lover
baby
where can i find a lover
underneath the cloud cover
with no escort?
an armored ship without a port
baby baby baby baby
blue archer
Daniel
midland Texas baby
there are bullets flying and i never
turned due north or headed south
me and my damn big mouth
i never dodged a fist that i could swallow
dove head first into every battle
and never heard my throat catch or rattle
the sound of ten thousand maniacs roaring past
i'm spinning the radio dial trying to make it last
tap tap tap tap on the spectrum key
while she waited ever so patiently
all these heroes keeping warm
on the far western edge of Pacific dawn
many will survive but many more gone
with eyes hooded over from the night
and the music of a rising sun
beating like a samurai until it's done
blue archer
Daniel
midland Texas baby
where can i find a lover
baby
where can i find a lover
underneath the cloud cover
with no escort?
an armored ship without a port
baby baby baby baby

to linger

the small hill
it was no match for our skill
you made it to the top
and we shared the bottom

and hemlocks
i kept on my grey socks
you kept on your smile
and we had to linger

on Thursday
you had something to say
and i had something to ask
and we were both gratified

resting feet
heading for a repeat
the sun was warming us
as we laid hot blooded

then the drums
like happy little bums
erupted in silence
and we rose together

Sweet Prudence

Sweet Prudence
so much older today
Sweet Prudence
have you found a new place to play?

with expensive grownup toys
making lots of sunny noise
and you've found a new man
a Beatles fan
and he came looking for you
when you were blue
Sweet Prudence
what was he supposed to do?

Sweet Prudence
he found your smile
Sweet Prudence
but it took him a while

he found you hiding from the sun
you wouldn't walk & wouldn't run
and you stayed inside
lonely and cried
but he came looking for you
when you were blue
Sweet Prudence
what was he supposed to do?

then the guns went bang
while your sister sang
and the gurus bled
before the party fled
you were wearing white
dancing at night
won't you let me see your face?
has it disappeared without a trace?

Sweet Prudence
so much older today
Sweet prudence
have you found a new place to play?

Operation REDWING 1956

Trinity scared me
when I went shopping for a film
and found the bomb.

In radioactive sunlight
a Pacific cloud
swirled and roared
insanely loud.

The Navajo
near Dog Island
north of Bikini Atoll
saw the white sand.

It was piercing my eye
while exploding nearby.

I wore dark glasses
and felt the sting
of this incredible thing.

My flesh burned
by super-heated air
once loved

now no longer there.

A kiloton
became a megaton

before the testing was done

and the dirty device
became clean

but what did that mean?

The dragon breath
meant an early death

in a roll of fire and scorn
crushing a rose
snapping a thorn

and a thousand or ten
or a million or five

living now

would be barely alive.

sugar bum fairy

sugar bum fairy
criticizing my long hair
but it's just another day to them
now why do they care?

sugar bum fairy
it simply grows crazy on top
and no matter how i style it
they never stop.

it's like my door is open
and the lock and the key
they use them whenever
and never ask me.

sugar bum fairy
i'm floating on a river
with yesterdays' news
not asking permission
to go wherever i choose.

sugar bum fairy
across the universe
in a cloud of circus hair
i'm floating in orbit
won't find scissors there.

sugar bum fairy
sugar bum fairy

27 to 12

twenty seven to twelve
and i'm still in bed
watching you
waiting to be fed
and we just met
on a sidewalk
and all i said
was we should talk
but i'm always lonely
and you're no stranger
you like the risk
thrive on the danger
listen to the sound of heat
escaping my open window
you grab me high
i wrap you low
as the hours slowly slip by
and the sun disappears
you tattoo me
with your tears
i'm sure it's all fun
if i knew your name
we could say hello
and do it all again
but then i hear the phone
calling in the night
a friend wanting to know
if i'm alright
and then i'm gone
and you're a pet
out on the street
getting wet
you walk up to a car
and drive away
i hear a voice
but can't hear what you say

sweet Sam

sweet Sam
from your high rise window
standing on the top most floor
can you see me in my uniform
marching off to war?

can you see my tiny fingers
with youthful polished nails
flipping silver treasure coins
calling heads or tails?

i'm not sure how to choose
as you're pointing down this road
i keep looking for the question
which no answer ever showed.

sweet Sam
what is this foreign floor?
i can see it far below.
go faster is all you said
and just enjoy the show.

can you see me tremble?
i'm in black smoke and noise
resting like a baby now
with my little childhood toys.

remember when i gave it all?
marching to triumphant songs
i still felt strangely missing
having righted all the wrongs.

so, remember when you see the sky
the sparkle is my eye
and when you're feeling proud
i'm somewhere in the crowd

and the song
which everybody knows
millions of roses and yellow bows

i sang that once before
when i was marching off to war.

the scar

my dad kept brass knuckles in a bedroom dresser drawer
underneath my mother's white panties.

he had a temper, that's for sure.

he was a fist fighter, i was told.

once, during a baseball game he was catching for his Marietta
team, a local cop arrived to arrest the second baseman.

when the cop walked onto the field to get his man, my dad flipped
his mask and ran to get the cop.  And he did, so I was told.

and later, he got me, more than once.

but i don't want to talk about my childhood.

well, there is this:

my first three speed bike was too big for me.

but i rode it to elementary school anyway.

i watched a girl friend of my mother after she took a shower at our house,
peeking in from outside while she was drying herself.  Those were the first
real breasts i ever saw, and there was nothing special about them.

i was curious about a female body, but can't remember why.

i have a long very visible scar on my right forearm.

the scar has a history, but i can't remember what it was.

i was a good high school wrestler.

today, i continue to watch my weight.

i shot at frogs along the shoreline of a large pond, using
a BB rifle.

no frogs shot at me.