Pearl

Neil Young was in the playground
fooling around with his tambourine

Bob Dylan huffed & puffed on the swinging set
but his ol'Zimmerman just couldn't be seen

with Jimi tripping in his garden
watering a psychedelic flower
he said there were many more among us
all along the famous watching tower

three riders fast approaching
David Bowie floated into outer space
his mother said she loved Bing Crosby
who had an honest crooner's face

but never sang with Stevie Nicks
so he never broke her chain
never got to ride her landslide
in a midnight pouring rain

and the Grateful Dead were grateful
for the cold smoke up their nose
but even Elvis Presley didn't know
which way his old hound dog goes

Roy Orbison watched her leave
he saw her shopping on the street
she came walking back his way
hoping they would meet

in the jailhouse or on the blue bayou
where a bad moon was on the rise
he looked around just about midnight

and saw the woman who had the most perfect eyes

no Patti Smith with her sad lament and sighs

she was a small town girl from Texas
who thought she'd give the big time life a whirl
Big Brother and the Holding Company:

we all knew her name was Pearl.

white room with black curtains

One was too terrified of death to be near,
let alone view the body or attend the funeral,
so he fled with his penis in his ear.
henceforth, some friends would see the dick coming
and keep their distance.
they properly mourned the passing of the decade by paying their respects,
drinking until five a.m. and still
managing to stay sober during the morning service.
but the death was not unexpected, even though Woodstock
was never the same after the third day when the stone was
removed and all the wet tents came down with the wet dreams.
in an irrational rage, several haggard protesters started a petition claiming
they would always remember their summer of love!
Creedence objected and had a brief moment of justification
when several people claimed they had been born on the bayou,
but it wasn't enough to stop the crowd from blowing their brains out
on the taxi ride home.
another one was too terrified of death to hail a cab,
let alone drink a lot of cheap wine or stay up past his bedtime,
so he also fled with his penis in his ear.
his remaining friends spread the rumor that he had taken the
New York thruway south all the way to Atlanta, Georgia,
where he bought his first McDonald's franchise.
even though he was born under a bad sign, he played
Cream over the PA system eight hours a day,
looking for a white room with black curtains.
all of his southern customers were happy capitalists
who kept time to the music while ignoring the lyrics.
no one remembered Woodstock,
but everyone could see the dick coming.

The Vietnam War

Westmoreland went south
Looking for his compass
Which he had never read;
He hired an aide with glasses
Who couldn't speak the language,
So they signed together with their hands.
In the growing darkness
They looked for a light
At the end of a tunnel:
What they found instead
Was a toilet.
They wanted an air conditioned room
On the uppermost floor
Of the Rex Hotel
But none was available,
So they demolished the building.
When the smoke settled
They threw their hands up in exasperation
And claimed victory.
A crowd of astonished onlookers
Gathered their press passes
And headed to the five o'clock follies
Where a final briefing was in progress.
They took notes and used the undamaged toilet.
Later, everyone gathered at the roof-top bar for a drink
When they arrived home the following day,
they expected a parade.
They never found one.



,

counting the countless dead

running through the jungle
hands and knees on a hard tunnel floor
a man without an arm and missing an eye
kept looking for the long lost war
with time passing inside his head
counting the countless dead
he held tightly to his dream
while
i kept hearing a dark haired woman scream
red dragon fruit dying on her hand
balls of jellied fire hanging in the Buddhist sky
like napalm burning fertile land
with time passing inside her head
counting the countless dead
she pointed strangely at the night
while
a city exploded almost completely out of sight
mountains of dust and incessant traffic noise
of motor scooters anxious to please
millions of hungry young girls and boys
with time passing inside their head
counting the countless dead
while
steady rains wash away the blood
of black boots and rice paddy faces
the tall towers of new concrete and steel
disguising all former traces
with time passing inside my head
counting the countless dead.