"The State Of The Body Politic"

Just another cadaverous face-

And it should make
Any number start to wonder:

Why is it
All these politicians
Look so very much
Like undertakers?

But of course,
The vast majority
Never will-

The very idea
If accepted,
Is far too frightening-

And for such a society
As exists today-

Far too unreal:

Simply a symbol
In both ways-

Of the state of the body politic.

"It's Only To Fix Some Dreams"

It's only to fix some dreams-

The ones that have gotten
A bit out of joint,
And come very close
To losing their point.

The memory of images,
And the memory of words-

Sitting well within the solitude
Of all the things that I've seen,
And all the voices that I've heard:

It's only to fix some dreams-

Projecting a balance between
Their actual value,
And after all these years-

Exactly what they really mean:

Like finding myself
Standing beneath some starry sky,
Or the times I found myself dreaming
That I could fly:

And recalling a girl
That I never got to know,
But who- whenever I saw her-
Looked at me with such longing in her eyes:

And oh,
How she seemed to love me so...

It's only to fix some dreams.

"From Here And There"

From here and there,
And forever thenceforward
To the essence of the lyric.

Even if for me,
It's usually
Just another unrealized attempt
At a kind of apocalypse
Grand Ole Opry show:

Or artistical poetic-
Flow of abstract rock and roll:

Image-wise,
Sometimes seemingly Hank Williams,
If not symbolically Beatle hieroglyphic:

Steel guitar and fiddle,
And 1960s psychedelic
Futuristic
Backward running
Audio-
And lyric riddle.

And trying to avoid
The use of
One too many
Old Victorian era poet,
Parlour tricks.

Yet it's all to the circular style-

Whether it's to the folk memories
Of some ancient British village-

Or the various type
Honky tonk
Saturday nights,
Still to be found
In any given
Small Southern town.

For what goes around- well, comes around.

"The Last Stop ( 1:58 A.M. in the Morning )"

A tip for the waitress-
Because she doesn't look the kind
To allow a slap upon her behind!

Well, you know,
Some of these truckstop mamas,
Just don't wanna let it shine!

So I'm outside climbing aboard my old rig-
And heading off down the road-

Doing what I always do-

Hauling another load:

Turning on the radio...

And immediately
Picking up the start
Of Red Sovine...

"Phantom 309"

While I'm already
Lead-footing it,
Rushing through the gears-

Pushing this old rig up to speed:

Just trying to make some time!

But suddenly there's lights up ahead,
All over the road-

And I'm....

( Time of death upon the police report- 2:48 A.M. in the morning ).

"Stuff For Her Anxiety"

If she prowls stuff for her anxiety-

If she's talking to herself:

And writing poetry
Of wicker chairs
Defying gravity-

Most would have to agree
It's probably the interaction
With the various medications:

Though not that she's getting too little,
But that she's getting way too much!

"Hearing Rumors ( Storage Cabinets )"

Hearing rumors,
Storage cabinets-
And everybody's
Scrambling
For something.

But back in the 1950s
To the early 1960s,
It was considered
A completely different field,
As well as a completely different time.

Genuine accomplishments of course...

Though it wasn't believed
To have been the President
Who snatched the word
Right out of the air-

Because it wasn't...

"Military-industrial complex."

"Unpleasant Happening"

Unpleasant digestive happening-
And someone
Who's seen it all before,
Attempting to suppress a yawn.

Was anything...

Anything...

Unusual?

No- it was just a large dog,
And while walking down the street-
A group of people heard it fart.

It stopped- looked around,
And then at them-
And if a dog could shrug it's shoulders- it did...

And continued on down the street.

It happens all the time.