Great March

    of stupid people

  under orange skies

  tepid rancid water

  and cheap beers

 Recalled Fritos 

   and slices of meat

  we will all perish 

  someday

But right now?

Fuck that 

 The time is now

Throws the bums out!

 

 Double dose duty

  In brand new white Tshirt 

weird dreams

  awake at 3 am

to the sound of rain

 Looking at nothing

 Suicide watch

    by the Tolkien-esque

situated in a barren land

  wearing a hooded gown 

  Sleaze and sly

  cradled in the arch

    of oak branches

   Sapped of strength and milkweed

cradled in crimes

and rundown plaster

  Like a dead steward 

  of narcissistic tendencies

    and an urge to lose oneself

 Arroz con

   pollo 

libertad 

   Are you bewildered

  repeatedly 

  by the  

Simon sez

  Rules

Oh silly nonsense

That's all I am

  Jokes jokes jokes

   (You're not doing nothing)

  Light a cig

 Sleep your 

   stars away

 take a pill

   take another 

 Put on an 8 track

 

 I gambled

with your mothers money

  But she was gone 

to be with her sisters

  You watched tv and laughed

  I came up short

    bluffing didn't work

     My hands trembled 

when I bluffed

so I had to give it up

any fool could read me

'He's bluffing' 

you could see it on their 

face

  so I had to quit

and go back to stealing 

Hubcaps

  

 Stream the dreams

    -kicking piles of stuff

sarsaparilla and leprechauns 

  Where's that pot of gold?

In our ass!

  Or your past-

   Blue jeans

with holes in the knees-

Mr Hilburn saw them

"Still got holes in your knees"

Some things just don't change-

F it, go on now

  play that song

How's it go?

C to Am

 

  

 What does it matter?

It matters how you feel I guess

  do you want to feel like shit?

Uh no

  but you had to play it until it 

played you 

      blah blah blah

don't get all Jack London on it

  and get all various South Seas

 ailments and cankers

 John Barleycorn

You try

   you try

  But sometimes it's like 

what the fuck?

But anyhoo

  Weathers nice

Wish you were here

 

 Cafe Cantata

   is a hole in the head

W juju eyes 

  Boba horchata

  Matcha

  Hot or cold

 Elvis Presley 

William Saroyan

  double espresso 

One a day 

  $5

and then

On to Amoeba

To buy CD's

  for $2.99

Or $7.99

 

 Manos arriba 

Me llamo Pinky

Pinky Pendejo

  Aqui viene Iman!

 It's the "Cutthroat Island" of poems

"Let's finish this!"

 Time ain't no river

   It's more like a banana slug

leaving a trail of slime

 -Wander through the moldy woods-

   catch a Phd candidate in his underwear

   Playing with himself

  These are the facts of Life

   mean while the clouds are

moving in -soon

  there will be rain-

It's another day

  in your past

 In your trail of slime

  you order Kung Pao chicken

  and watch the clock

 The casual forgetfullness

   of gorillas and moonbeams

played out like an anesthesiologist

   trying to put his wife "under"

  on a trail on Oahu

with a rock 

  just another bedtime story

for the kiddos

 

 

 Spot the dog

was an outside dog

  she slept on the deck

With her sister Trevor Novak

My dad named both of them

When dad brought them both home

He said we'd vote on which one to keep

But there were four of us and dad always had the last vote

so it was always a tie 

Mom got wise pretty quick

" You never intended to take one back!"

  My first dog was an all black Australian shepherd German shepherd mix born on Halloween

He was named Bruno Wasserteil

 after the radio correspondent 

"This is Bruno Wasserteil from Tel Aviv."

Bruno got loose and went across the road to see the neighbors dogs

but they chased him off and he got hit crossing the road

the doctor said he'd be okay but he died a few days later

We lived out in the country and downstairs we had the tv room and there was a sliding glass door

One night while watching tv my sister and I got scared by two bug eyes looking in at us.

It was a little dog with bug eyes curly hair stubby legs and a tail that spun around like a helicopter.

We named him Sam and kept him. So we had three dogs- Spot, Trevor Novak and Sam. 

The other two dogs were bigger than Sam but he strutted around like the boss cuz he was the only male. 

The neighbors up the hill had a pedigree beagle and she was in heat and somehow Sam got in there and made it with her. The neighbors were not happy.

Then Sam up and died. I guess he'd had his last hurrah.

The neighbors told dad they were going to put the puppies down so Pap went up and got one.

He had bug eyes stubby legs a tail that spun around like a helicopter and a beautiful beagle coat.

We named him Farley Mowat.

 Stable horse

  and lacksadaisicle dreams

  is that spelled right

It's like a new popsicle!

 I guess the stable horse was Ruby

the horse we were given for free

  when we lived out on Tesla Rd

  Ruby got barn sour

  From being penned up 

too much by herself

 I feel bad about it

It's not a good thing to do to a nice horse

 But we didn't know any better

Last time I took her out bareback

 she went out real slow

but when we turned around she bolted

  and tried to knock me off with a tree branch

I don't blame her!

 How dare you use 

my movies for your ill

gotten writings!

  You'll be Max Von Sydowed!

Is it safe?

  Oh wait that's whatshisname!

  Concrete lies 

     tattooed arms

 In New York City

   Change the channel

Is baseball on yet?

 Norrisian entropies

   in a happy glance

at fenders and bumpers

  Don'tcha know

What are you looking at?

Oh Bergmans Persona

   Or a chess match with Death

  but he cheats!

   -follow the family

They left the doomed -

  and made their own joyful 

way-

 The petticoat blues

  in green and gold

Stir the heart

   Steeped in the essence 

Of dog fur and

Cats eyes

  blankets with Navajo symbols

and bacon sandwiches 

  time is forgotten

   But hay fever rules the day

Spring is here!

  the trees blossoms 

     cause listlessness and

headaches

 I shot up the night

   like broken anthems

to the Rockies

  old photos of the family 

backpacking in the Tetons

Wind River Range

  lures and flys

  rainbow trout or brown trout

 fried in pork fat

fatback kept in a plastic bag

Or was it a little tupperware?

I have a red bandana and a big floppy hat

a dress shirt

and an orange sweatshirt 

With Linus on it

 Slow down 

mark the true path

    If there is one

don't be a crybaby

  booze is 

  you can never leave

the arms

  that hold you down

  there's no hope

   Except in forgetting

   

 

 I got a whole lot of nothing

Sheep shears 

And a ton of old dice in jars

Is that crazy?

Maybe

I once bought a pile of bottle openers

I have no idea why

Maybe a fascination with the world that's

now gone?

Dunno 

Old cars were cool

Made out of metal

with chrome bumpers

bench seats

and a knob to pull to give the engine more

something, air?

When was the last time you flooded a car?

 

 The crimes were committed 

  The judge passed sentence

and they took you away

  to your tree house

 and gave you a ham sandwich

and a case of beer

that's when you should have 

shut yer mouth

  But the sky was talking 

and you couldn't let it go

Could you

  Ah well the beer wasn't bad

  So you jumped

Six feet to the lawn 

  and went home 

and turned on the tv

  Oh X files!

you ate the sandwich 

  and wished you had some potato chips

 It's 3 in the morning

and yer eating chocolate ice cream

and smoking 

   but there's no crying involved

Why would there be?

 The casual

Light

   A fly

In the middle of the night

   A crow pecking at the window

  He wants his dog food treats

There's no rest for the weary

Say what you will

 I'm not telling you anything

You don't know

   You put on your yellow slacks 

Try the door

But it's still locked

They'll let you out 

One day

 And you'll see the sky

  And you'll call yer mom

   But she says 

  Who is this?

Just a crow 

Just a hungry crow

  

   

 

 I motioned 

for the echelons 

to subside

    Go AWAY!

  what did I do?!

  Oh just being alive 

   Is that it

   I need more bunnies and pigs and other animals

 leaves of grass

Mud and water 

   Watch where you go

    the road isn't easily exited

 I'm weird

Sometimes I wonder if I have some mental problem.

I probably do.

Oh well that's the way it goes!

What's for lunch?

 I had a dream

It was 11:37

But I woke up

And it was 11:55

Then I knew it was a dream

 I'm getting 

a measles vaccination today

   Exciting huh?

  what should I wear?

  Centuries of remorse. 

Nah too cumbersome

 I gravitated 

  toward zen

and cheap Kerouac novels

  like every other

stoner dude

   from around here

 I got a wah wah

  pedal, one of the originals

not some cheap knock off

  I forget who made it. 

(To be continued)

Wah wah

 Hem in Paris

    friends with Alice B. Toklas

and her lover

  what was her name?

Bread and wine

 Sam the Lion

   died while the boys were 

in Mexico

   Someday all my friends

  are going to be strangers

(L.M.)

 Programmed fire

     burning your synapses

   John Ford

 Centuries of raccoon dogs

    In China

near a communicable 

     diseases lab

 Dreams alight with fire

There's no hope

I was told hope is bullshit

  By someone who was in EST

   (A mind control group run by an ex- used car salesman who changed his name)

He used to "borrow" my clothes to attend meetings

  He paid hundreds for these meetings

  When we all moved out he owed me $300

But I eventually got it

  (After like ten years!)

He was still attending Self Actualization meetings in SF 

 But he was no longer wearing my clothes

  He worked at his brothers art gallery

  The brother was married to a famous SF socialites daughter who was also a painter (the daughter)

She did paintings- still lifes of martini glasses and high heels, Mickey Mouse heads, oranges, etc.

  She borrowed my Stratocaster because she was commissioned to do a painting of an electric guitar. 

I guess she never got paid because the painting was in the gallery back room years later.

 She hadn't painted all the stickers I had in the guitar.

It would have made it interesting 

 

 

 He pissed in a Mexican alley

We were up ahead and saw the cops lights go on

They paid all the money they had on them

110 bucks

We were a block from the bar we were going to

Cest la vie

 The blues

are stronger than the greens

I don't know about the yellows

They're okay I guess

It don't matter 

I'll take whatever ya got

But I don't want the reds

Fuck those

 I'm bored

My life has come to a screeching halt

Is this what it means to get old?

No booze no drugs no sex

Jeez well I guess I did kinda overdo it lol

Ya gotta be healthy so you can have fun

I'm no good at having fun

I'm a goddamn stick in the mud

I guess im a sundowner

Wah wah poor me

 Stupid teenagers

  we ground up some pills and snorted it

got high and laughed

  we watched tv with sound off

listened to some music instead

   and made up our own tv dialogue

  

 I Hate Poetry

Vermillion and efficacious 

  straddled by the skin

    a crows death dance

       eyes of blood letters

          In rainy rose patterns

             we were kicked out on acid

Cuz his gf was coming over

    We watched technicolor TV with color

fucked up and glaring overly bright

   and extra day-glo Pizz Zow 

and tried to eat extra hot dripping

Melting cheese and pepperoni 

   and we couldn't feel our legs

   

 

 

 cold March wind

I swear it's the coldest month

   because of the wind

  So what 

 wear a jacket 

  and quit yer cryin

  It's St Patrick's day

 get drunk 

   wear green 

 don't let Bertha come around

   Or do

  Who cares?

Wah wah

  I tried to take a nap

  but I'm too caffeinated 

Cest la vie!

 

 

 Who knows

Who cares?

shit

  is 

  fucked 

   up

la 

     dee

   doodly

  da

  people are

     awful

    stupid

   greedy

   hateful

     "entitled"

   stupid

  wait

   did I say that already?

    hateful

   mean

  just regular

     just regular people 

  going about their average business

     getting screwed

   by the world

 or so they think

Anyhoo

    Let's drive the snakes out

  saint Paddy

   Oh no snakes?

Huh

 

 Saturday morning

cooking angel hair pasta

to make cold noodles w poke

fifty degrees out and sunny

I might ride my bike today

it's been years but the bike is fixed up

thanks to Fenner

the guy from Shaker Heights

he put new tires on it 

I let him use it for five months but

he had to fix it up

I bought it years ago from Lenny

Once Lenny borrowed my van 

when he returned it he told me

"There's grass growing in the back of your van"

He was right. The van leaked so there was moisture

and I guess the hand cut rug my dad made

had gotten seeds or dirt in it

It had its own lawn

 Egregious 

Idea of March

stone face caterwaul

   Where are the murderous Senators

   watching their bitcoin life

    paddling in a pile of shit

      swimming in broken glass

     "The waters great!"

    listening to Mantovani

     In a Tesla

      dancing the dance of lies

        conned by their power hungry greed

         fueled by the ignorant violent racists

       in line at the unemployment 

        giving their opinion 

      Like fingering their asshole

   "It's all good!"

     While the noose tightens

     and their balls get cut off

 The caves of ruin

and sadness

days n lost apprehension

waiting for a sign 

   or something

just cuz I got no rhyme

    or reason eating poke

  and Malaysian noodles 

 drinking water and espresso w milk

    my habitrail round about 

  with shoes dirty 

and my fucking feet hurt

is it time for a nap 

   too many eclipses

   my brain eclipsed 

     my thoughts are all get fucked

   but I still try to enjoy

the skating monkeys 

 We drank red wine

in their brand new house

right off the highway 

all day we drank

and ate lobster and sushi

and laughed

I played guitar but then they put on Joni Mitchell

at 9 o'clock we went to bed

I got up and threw up

and then I went to sleep

 

 The prison of 

   snoids comatose

  Interpol 

  and bygone tomorrows

   Sad intrusive

   newspaper boys long gone

    plastic bags on feet

   playing trombone

     Chic magazine 

    the wary days

    of tri-valley 

     auto dealerships

    and donut shop bicycle summer shorts

      in b&w documentary photos 

landed a Guggenheim 

   for now is now

  or will be soon

  captured on video

  soon to be released

 move over

   King Biscuit flower hour 

breach the monotonous 

   boom bam regularity

  bs

    I dove into the water

     In the mountains

   behind the town

 the guide said todo incluido 

so we got stoned

  later I rode lead 

on the mountain bikes

hit the front brake 

 And did a face plant 

 In a stream

   and laid there 

cool water running over me

stoned and

 laughing

 I'm reading

I'm writing

I'm arithmetic

dancing in sneakers

blue and grey

  It don't mean nuthin

    it just a way of compounding fractions

     Y = nobody home

     X = lights on

do the math

  somehow it doesn't add up

  go figyah 

  but here we are again

    back at zero

 I brought pills

I brought a vape 

but cmon I'm addicted 

I gotta have a lil puff now and then

It ain't hurting anybody

Oh I'm being punished

Oh okay 

just for a cig

 

 Late night daylight savings 

   w stomach fucked up

ate Cheerios w blueberries 

  Im a bear

  a grizzly or brown bear

   stomping thru Yosemite

 breaking into cabins for

  Butterfingers or Cheetos 

  I've been relocated but I always 

come back

 I'll tear that Subaru open

I smell salami 

  and Monterey Jack

and those crackers

Rye Krisp 

  and powdered lemonade

 

 I rambled endlessly 

upon a dusty highway 

made of skeletons and lace

I read the daily news

and kept up with current events

I cared enough to pass as a reasonable person

sometimes too much

I tried this and that 

ate garden burgers 

and greasy fries

drank cold water

and complained about people with laptops

 

 I captured a nothing

  In a nowhere land

made of cardboard and hummus

  It wasn't easy

   there were ladies

and corrugated ribbons

  I combed my hair casually 

  and wore my grandfathers 

dark wool overcoat

   the Greyhound took me from

 Boston to NYC

I got off at Penn Station

   and rode a subway 

  to Alphabet City

  It was a nice day

   

  

 His coat of many colors

   was an old tan jacket covered

in hand sewn patches

  It was crudely done

  they looked like hobo patches 

  he smoked a cigarette 

  and spoke with the owner

  about not much

 Madonna of the trolls

    "Go live under a bridge!"

Her silk robes were patched with hobo patches

  "Some day..."

 I got speavey conundrums

Yick. Drinking double espresso and listening to the gals talk about their boyfriends.

"He's so cute but he's kinda dumb."

"He wears the same pants every day"

"He won't eat Asian food. Just sandwiches and spaghetti"

"My boyfriend let me go. I didn't even get fired!"

 I got harmonicas

A, B flat, C, D, E, F and G. I guess that covers most situations. 

I don't really know what I'm doing but it doesn't sound too bad. 

 I jacked the trade

    Master of none

  baited a hook

   Jerked it back

  Slept all night

  fish one fish two 

    red fish blue

   five fingered 

  Rosie 

  you wear my ring

 you're alright 

 

 Pray to the sun

   to drive 

us mad crazy

   stubborn stupid

    infantile 

  eating chili dogs 

      and getting suckered

  again

   puttin' on a show

while the dark side rakes it in

  and and and

over and over and over

 down the red road

    spying on 

silk alligators

    crying in the champagne

    Paris 20's 

  Le Dome

    that is gone but 

  now we have Nazis 

  again

     cheerleaders

    and crayfish

      Bottles of 7up

    catch the immigrant!

    feed the anger

      Chipotle promises

not to raise prices for 

   Proud Boys

    Fire the Veteran!

  what have you done for us lately!

    It's all gonna come down 

  On his stupid head

   Call Magua 

  we need some Huron 

   energy up in here

 

 

 sittin' greasy

    grey greedy

 like Natty

    Bumpo

  Nymphs

  in Bumpus Hell

Mt. Lassen 

   smells like sulfur

  Achievers

   On the path

  to sharp glass rocks for miles

  I don't know

 Grey skies

in March

   I got an orange lighter

burn it down

  swamp rat

        go book shopping

             North Beach

          Trieste

      go thrifting

       in Manteca 

       get stoned and eat junk food

      Buy a perfect polyester seersucker 

   try it on for size

   Wear it 

try it

  run down 

  my leg stopped throbbing 

    But it's cold out

 blues playing this am

sunlight shining reflecting 

in my eyes

stop your train

don't you hear me cry

Awhooo

 I woke up 

  and my

Leg

   was throbbing

FUCK

   type 2 diabetes 

are they going to cut my leg off?

Gahd I hope not!

  A1c at 10

  not good

La Dee da

 Sky blue 

    today

what was that?

   oh the garbage man 

  in the alley

someone is painting curbs red

  but they're so obviously not official 

like odd spray paint

  I asked the store owner

he said he had no idea

  and I believe him 

 Say wicked

  say whiner

say hero

  say Sawtooth Mountains

  say my leg hurts

    say hiking boots

  say poorly cooked rainbow trout

dog wouldn't eat it

  turned up his nose

do dogs eat fish?

he's not a cat, dumbass!

   bumpy road past the reservoir

I really just wanted a cigarette 

  But that's how it goes

 

 Don't try the greasy fries

  or eat kale

 and other anti-inflammatory 

   like walnuts

   I'm trying okay

 it's not easy

  being alive

  but it's all about 

    how you play the cards you're dealt

  but it's hard to bluff when they're holding

 a royal flush 

 and you live in Sparks

 Grease Monkey Crybaby 

    Scheming yer bastard lies

but it's just a $5 table

  have a Tareyton 100

   and another Schlitz

  and keep yer head down

   It's cold outside

    and god knows where your wife is

  she ain't here

  that was last week

    she said not to tell you

so I guess I screwed up

 Greasy War Zone

  I'm a left wing cadaver

  but it doesn't matter

   Rubber and eggs

    Sail toward the Midwest

      be a correspondent 

for St.Louis

travel on

     drink red wine

      in hell but

 keep your guard 

    With a 9 MM

     in your briefcase 

 next to the Tylenol 

  

  

 a greasy idea in heaven 

a million 

don't say it

   perturbed by ideas

    dens of what have you

    Nah you arent being right

      You JUMPED in the pool

         you sly dog 

            with faded overalls

    reaching for the light

  It only took a million years

so what

  wash your jeans

     get right 

    

 

 Greasy Pies of Marmalade 

  unescorted by the horses of the past

     what rhymes in breakfast draws

        A fine white line

 leading to encebollada

  with corn tortillas and 

 strong margaritas on a chilly saturday in the old Mission

  people seem happy 

      to be out  

      to be seen

      and to see

   to laugh

      and to joke with friends

    on the sidewalk

   "Is that where the Phoenix was?"

   "I liked peeing there"

   "I threw up near the Mobil ATT store right there once"

 Greasy skies 99

Say the whatnot

   grab your past

   Like A thousand wishes

    dream on

      dream on

    we are the wild animals

     dream on

   dream on

say the piggies the boars the feral pigs

    dream on

   dream on

     Time is not ours

     but it's all we've got 

  let's just forget it 

    and have some fun

once in a while

  

 

 greasy sleep web

tried and blued

    Scene foretold

  my eyes are sparkling

    I was actually in a Ninja Japanese bar 

  last night