Late night
Walking cobbled streets of Prague
Had one too many pilsners
Met a street performer
On the corner
Done for the night playing his violin
After an hour of shooting the breeze
I asked my new friend
Why is it that you are so at ease?
He replied:
“I play for spare change
I’m the only one who needs to be pleased
Some people call me lazy and completely crazy
But
Too much ambition would no longer be fun being a musician
I accept who I am
No need to try to be on top of the highest mountain”
Unforgiving heat
Camel marching on the sand
Desert tests the man
Fruity pipe smoke engulfed the room
Surrounded by shelves containing damp dusty LPs
The cynic
Whispered into my ear
“Old people change their mind like the wind”
20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s
Plenty of Risk
60’s, 70’s, 80’s
And beyond
If one lives that long
Risk-averse
Left behind
Never before took to crime
Unemployed
The young man
Walked down the steps of the favela
Pulled out a sharp blade
Decision made
First time hardest
Life forever tarnished
Society pays price
Living in fear is the sacrifice
Why?
Chasing
Chasing
Craving recognition
Brings only disappointment
Look through the prism
Physical world is an illusion
Rip out the ego
Toss on the bonfire
Watch it disappear into the night
Breakaway
Harness intuition
The only true light
Time
Nothing left but time
Deep in the underwater cave
No escape
Alone
Accepting fate
Soon
No more time
Leaning
Against the tile wall
Taking a long hot shower
Scrubbing
Away the dirt
With a new bar of soap
Did not
Remove humiliation
But
Provided
Her
A bit of hope
Sitting on beach towel
Drinking fresh squeezed lemonade
Watching tide come go
He is the potato guy
Save for winter
Always
Make sure
Table has dinner
Homeless
At young age
Low risk
Financially safe
Habits
Difficult to break
Time
To stop
Playing marbles
My nose
Stuck
To grindstone
No longer
Pursuing
Itsy-bitsy bones
Spinning
Roulette wheel
Will transport
One
So far
This junkyard czar
Has
Raised the bar
Found
My
Motown groove
Perfecting
Hip hop moves
Man lost his temper
Hiding behind machismo
Actually fearful
Fed beast for long time
Today woke up changed my mind
Freedom what I need
Veins dry nothing left to bleed
Tomorrow will sow new seeds
Relax
Be patient
Sit by the river with your fishing pole
Most of all
Do not be dragged down the rabbit hole
Overtime
Bad character
Will be exposed
Then you will completely know
It is time get up
And
Permanently
Walk away from the sideshow
Frantically
Scratching
At his deformed image
In the mirror
Hyperventilating
He cried
“Please help I need air”
Fallen idol
Emotional bowl of jello
Desecrated soul
Pissed in his own rice bowl
Alone
There are no more calls
No longer the star
Of the Masquerade balls
For a long time
She had suffered much
No longer heard the beautiful sounds
Of the garden chimes
Final days
I sat in a chair
Next to her hospital bed
In the end
“I no longer believe”
Is what she said
Hold on a second
I will open wide
So you can shove it down my throat
Artificial intelligence
Tossing the human race
Down a catastrophic slippery slope
You high tech freaks
Crave to wire everything on the Globe
Creating software and machines
Without hearts
Futuristic
Armies of Robots
Totally state of the art
Seizing power
All societies will fall
Because geeks
Will no longer
Have the intellectual capacity
To halt
The contraptions
From controlling us all
Sitting on my beach chair
Who the hell needs a career?
Catching rays
Reading philosophy books all day
I’m not a frustrated big shot
With an empty fridge
But has kitchen granite counter tops
No
I live in a sixty year old three room shack
Concrete Block Structure
Flat Roof
Survived multiple hurricane attacks
Sharing space with
Reptiles
Rodents
Termites
And
A gigantic organic vegetable garden out back
Love my Sony Walkman
Forget digital sound
Will die a cassette man
For over forty years
Bar-B-Que
1-2 times per week
Colonoscopy just came back all clear
Drink Ice cold Heineken beer
Nine years ago stopped cutting my hair
My favorite pastime
Surfing top of storm clouds
That floats through the sky
You’re irritated
I know that you are
May I offer you a chocolate bar?
Yes
Life is unfair
However
There is no need to despair
Bad luck comes and goes
At least you have beautiful toes
You say I’m a clown
Who only plays around
Come over here
Take my hand
I’m going to set you free
and
Whisk us off to a secretive magical land
How does person gain depth?
Only one way my friend
Life Experience
Dust balls on the floor
Reminds her of dreams no more
Life now one big chore
Why keep chasing?
Believing you are gaining
Face it you’re fading
Washing dishes by hand
Scrub dry plate fork frying pan
Relaxation
Catching butterflies
Warm spring morning sunny sky
She began to cry
Pompous Plutocrats will eventually fade away
Jackals unable to find prey
Corrupt souls permanently decayed
Malnourished ghosts chained in closets
Condemned forever to irrelevance
Do not hide anymore
Rip off bandage and show sore
Kneel in front of mirror
Naked nothing left to fear
Everyone gone who you held near
Go ahead release the demons no one can hear
When I’m feeling blue
I eat a lot of chocolate
Then feel brand new
Takayama cold
Stumble from karaoke bar
Snow is everywhere
Stop! Take look around
You are riding train round and round
Peace never found
Tried to play the game
System rigged to keep all in chains
When symphony stops
I see just crushed toy blocks
Dreams submerged in swamp to rot
Small shack with tin roof
Heavy tropical rainstorm
Will sleep well tonight
She is just like me
Block out hurt permanently
Our way to survive
Backpack pair of boots
Bought around world ticket
Will not be home soon
Pulling net from sea
His weather-beaten face
displayed
simplicity
You’re the greed prophet
Look!
Emptying my pockets
Is this not enough?
Walked down end of street
Put my thumb up hitchhiking
Let’s see where this leads
Locked away so tight
Key buried deep inside
Your soul of bitterness
Can of no name soup
Some white bread
Six pack of beer
Alone
No one cares
