Please be careful

"Please be careful."
it was all he said
he wasn't as dull as expected
that was all in her head
and there were no roadblocks
nothing physical could be seen
she disappeared into a silence
as if into a dream:
it might have been dangerous
she might have been tied up in chains
she might have been overcome
by torrential rains
the first time that he saw her
he was too shy to speak
he held her and he loved her
and he kissed her for a week
her toes in a warm bath
he cooked for her every day
yet when she was anxious
he didn't force her to stay:
he seemed almost too innocent
he talked with the softest word
and when she spoke and called his name
there was nothing else he heard.

North Korea

trying to live in Heaven
found myself in Pyongyang instead
passed security at the train station
found a cheap hotel bed
it was summer and i needed help
and no one was putting on airs
i went looking for an elevator
but ended up taking the midnight stairs
i flirted with a poor maid
for twenty won she gave me her best daylight frown
i stopped suddenly and looked harder
everyone else kept looking down
i heard my door knocking
it opened so I went running outside
a man in a military suit followed me
i was determined to find a safer place to hide
and i was hungry and needed to eat
i saw a dog's ear on a dinner plate,
a little boy with a single piece of white rice;
his sister wanted it but she was much too late
there were starving people sleeping on the road
i knew they had no private hotel
and i wanted to get some needed sleep
but i didn't feel none too well:
a quiet doctor led me to a riverbank
we heard a marching band
and when the lights began their search
she offered me her hand.

trying to live in Heaven

i was too focused on her smile:
her eyes are brown and sparkle
i spent an afternoon redecorating the house
i was just about finished when she called
it's been five years since our first kiss, i thought
i remembered how she laughed when she said,
"our bacteria like the exchange!"
she was a cook and a farmer
before she became the skipper of a large sailboat
i used to plow a field when i was younger
i wore a beard at the time
she likes to sit by her gas fire and read
whatever she wants to read
i make her black coffee and read
whatever i want to read
she especially likes Chardonnay
i like Merlot
there was a deadbolt on her front door
she would want it in the lock position
when we pretended to be Zorro and his sword
i could stand it for about four days
it was like trying to live in Heaven.

tossed pillows on the floor

inside was where the imaginary summer wind blew
in December when it was cold and snowed outside
and the town folk stranded by the wind-whipped sea
settled down with me to take a sip of avant-garde tea.
no one understood the price we'd have to pay
each distance could have been very great or too far
and in the end i refused to commit myself.
i pulled another great book from the factory shelf
to read about a relentless game of quid pro quo:
i was determined to come out ahead.
i tried to get some recent work done,
willing to toil until the rise of another stainless steel sun
but it was dark and all the poets were still asleep;
a number of painters had a supply of drawings
which enabled some of them to eat a meal.
i slid into my car and got behind the wheel.
there would be bouts of drinking and suicides
and i covered my entire face with ragtime,
adjusted the radio, and pulled the top down
to the nape of my neck to hide my frown.
i found a studio assistant in a guest cottage
and she agreed to bring me back down to earth.
she used a black satin sofa and a cafe chair
while i tossed pillows on the floor seemingly without a care.

She was once a dancer

this is new
the first time that i walked this way
i went into a local stadium looking for the game
but nobody there came out to play
i saw a sidewalk pigeon
who kept eating her black seed
she talked to me in excitement
asked me just what it was i need
so i pulled at her heart strings
i found a new mandolin and guitar
we enjoyed tremendous popularity
but never really got too far
she showed me her friendly joker
he wore a golden crown just like a famous king
i fell into his blind circle
and never saw another goddamn thing
i wore a top hat in the day light
i had a mistress on the side
one man I met said he knew all the secrets of life
but he always lied
so I walked away from my hometown
the first chance i had i sat in the front row
surprise might be the great new source of energy
but i didn't know where else to go
my hands were cold in the darkness
a blue moon floated overhead in the sky
the upper body of a girl was buried like a still life
and i simply couldn't figure out why
i promised her a toast
she promised me a new start
but she was dying from all her failed loves
and i had a weak heart
I woke again the following Monday
hurried over to provide whatever help i could
she told me once she was a dancer
i told her once I had been no good
and in the center of a great hall
i found her white gloves folded on the plaster floor
she thanked me with a fine kiss
and i never once asked her for anything more.

what i most feared

in pink georgette,
the bathing belle
held my hand
at the very last moment
before the stage curtain was raised.
i heard a cry
and was so excited by the sound
i dropped my cigarette,
narrowly missing a sexy gigolo
crawling on the floor
in his swimsuit
which was little else but passing fashion.
i had difficulty getting a grip on my lines
which made it difficult for me to hear the music
and the rubber slippers made it difficult to dance.
but in the long run
my feelings for the Beau Monde
played a large part in my decision
to quit writing and pretend i had had enough.
i was seized with momentary disgust,
ran into the seated audience,
took my seat and became a pessimist.
when the curtain was raised,
i saw nothing but snobbery
doing nothing but fluttering about,
which is what i most feared in the world.

small boy in white

Out on the boardwalk
the air was warm,
the sun was hot in a boiling mess
and I felt like a whistling teapot
swimming to the beach.
I was forced to confess
when you asked me to consider the future
that I could barely tread water,
But I digress
Sitting on a spot of wet sand from where i watched the tide:
It never tried to hide.
It went out first,
came back in stride.
In and out.
You were by my side
pointing to a speeding boat.
I heard what you had to say.
A repeat from yesterday.
I wanted to leave, to run, to play
I saw a wide moat
between us where the swirling waters swirl.
I had to step over it to get to the street
where some interesting people meet.
There I saw a small boy wearing clean clothes;
he mounted a bike which had training wheels attached.
I wondered what plan he had just hatched
as he coasted by on the sidewalk,
but he didn't talk.
When he came to the moat where the swirling waters meet
he didn't stop, either,
so i figured he knew how to swim.
And the air was warm
which might explain why he wasn't wearing any shoes,
but whatever he did, it was his to choose.

where are you now?

where are you now?
i can almost imagine you somewhere, somehow

i am alone on the carpeted floor
waiting for more
looking at my silent front door
it's as quiet as it was once before

so help me
i can't watch any more TV
but it's all i can ever hope to see

i once heard you call my name
just another part of your daily game
there was no one else to blame
morning or night it's all the same

where are you now?
i can almost imagine you somewhere, somehow

so help me
i can't watch any more TV
but it's all i can ever hope to see

you swung an ax and hit thin air
went on searching everywhere
for whom you sought i didn't care
there was no difference foul or fair

where are you now?
i can almost imagine you somewhere, somehow

so help me
i can't watch anymore TV
but it's all i can ever hope to see

where are you now?
i can almost imagine you somewhere, somehow