I was crying at the liquor store.

I was crying at the liquor store
and they didn't even ask why
I guess they get a lot of that
or maybe they figured, shit
"I am not a bartender."
Well damn it I don't like sitting in bars
unspooling my boo hoo tale to some dick
excuse me, or dickess,
for tips and applause!
I am not this evening's entertainment!
No, sir.
But as I open up my empty home
and set down the heavy paper sack
I take a bow

Rehearsing This Speech Forever

He's been rehearsing this speech forever -
"The only advice I have to give you is never,

Never give up on your dreams. So many times,
as I went through the valley of the shadow
my life had become, I threw hope aside,
and gave up on myself. But something
always came back to me. All the people,
famous and admired, the only advice
they could ever give me was this: Never

give up, and never turn your back
on your dreams. And as I sat there
squinting at the television, I made that
decision. I made that leap, I took that
advice to heart and I kept it to heart, I kept
that advice, and I learned to persevere and
to try twice as hard, and

I believed in myself and now look

look where I am

today

today"

today

he stopped rehearsing.

I stunned a bug

I stunned a bug
and it fell in my food
and I didn't even notice
until I chewed

I Need Somebody ~ or ~ Rumble at the Jahva House

I need somebody
on the bongos sometimes,
to go with this latte and my overall chill
it's turtleneck weather in my soul
though no dark night, no
but the hard bright high
of noon will throw
harsh glare everywhere,
on top of black shadows
as my eyes throw smoldering coals.

In your direction.

- and in your direction:
I can see, there you are
you're even cooler than you are
and it rolls off my tongue
'cause I've caught your name,
just once. And I haven't let go
though I haven't really tried
why, you daughter of a hound
you quit yappin' around
at the bad moon I was born under last night
And sometimes you wonder:
was it better to wonder, or to know?
And sometimes you don't.
And sometimes, you know

But we consider contact
and we eye contact
and we both blink first
from across the moat
that divides this space
which is walled with books
stacked like close-packed bricks
set with coffee stains.

And we each choose one
- we deliberate,
and we're fine with what we get,
but we didn't take pains.