The Grand Piano
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Category Archives: Poems
Farewell and Hello
The day is coming
Finally is here
The barn is ready
The placemats set
Church is waiting
A place to reflect
To set out on a new life
Sail a new ocean
To bid farwell to me
As I once new it
And greet the new
With Hello
I cannot longer hold my past
As it to constrict time
And my future
I go forward brave
Rejuvenated to make life
Work
To work for a new purpose
To shed fear and doubt
To go certainly on a new route
I spend my last days as a bachelor
Reflecting on what I have done
In a short few days
My total will be greater
Than just one
So I sit here peaceful
Hopeful
And quiet
Letting inspiration run
From inception in my brain
To my heart
Through my veins
Down my arms
And out of my fingers
I write
Of how life is going to be different
For better and for worse
Sickness and health
But I am ready for this great challenge
To take up the old me
And move to greater heights
Where I can see new potential
Growing
Going somewhere I do not know
Into the future I will walk
With my feet touching gently
On the ground below
Spent my Last 5 Bucks
Spent my last five bucks
Not quite sure how I am going to get back
Evening lunch and quite pack
I am thinking of you
That is what helps me get through
The rough times that we have faced
Here and there
Not everyday is like today
But on someday’s I am left
With little to no change
–
Spent my last five bucks
Times have gotten to be hard
River drying up
The spool has no more yarn
I cannot help but wonder
How we can make it through
Change in my hand
In my jean pocket
Of faded blue
–
Spent my last five bucks
Paychecks distance themselves
Somewhere in Michigan
Off of the old state road
North of the line
Making my way back home
I get back in the car and breathe
Some music will help the fear ease
On a summer day in late August
This is what I see
–
Spent my last five bucks
Grabbing some gas and food
You will make it all alright
I will be back home soon
The Municipal Gym
Get the coffee on
It’s 5 am
People stagger in on a Monday
Ready to stretch and begin again
Bob is 80 staying strong
The cop benches to keep the bad boys back
Jim is on steroids just looking to get big
While the lady at the desk checks us all in
Rosa is working hard to tone her legs
While Richard is there to chat
The morning due rolls back
While Jim makes sure to keep his back flat
Sam is on the bike getting ready for the next triathlon
While the ex con is working the weights all day long
Me I am just waking up
Weary eyes and strained
Looking at all the faces that look the same
This is a morning in the municipal gym
In south bend
All in all we are just working to stay thin
On a brisk Monday morning in August p
Uncertainty Reigns
Not much on plans
Wish I knew more
About the future
But no such certainty exists
I just hope to survive
Make it through the next week alive
No complaints from me
This is my life to be
I own it and know it well
It makes it no easier
I get asked all the same questions
With all the lack of answers
Some nights are better than others
Some are rough and long
Try to do my best in song
And poetry keep me sane
Challenging the mind and the brain
I hope to create
Rather than destroy
That is the goal
In the end to give back
Rather than take away
And for a late Friday night
That is all I have to say
Goodnight
Early Morning Recital
Early morning practiced
With weary eyes
Touching keys and strings
Pulling myself together
To remember these things
Everyday is a challenge
Begging for more focus
To read the notes on the staff
Making new notes memory
Memory becomes music
And muscles play there part too
The mind weakens with coffee and time
Moving slow but gaining speed
This is the recital I need
To play for my ears and eyes
This is the musician life
Silence
Silence
I crave silence
Reflective intuitive creative silence
No radio
Music
Talk
Instead
Silence
Time to decide
Time to listen to the silent guide
The pushing force
The calling from the inward soul
In the sky I look up
Nothing but the sound of a gas-powered engine
And the other cars around
It is not complete but quiet enough
The sound of the turning wheel
Pulling my thoughts apart
As husks on a corn peal
Looking for what might be underneath quick passing
What is the drive in me
What is the reason
I need silence to think
Think through decisions about the future
Decisions about the now
Am I doing alright
This will surely get me through tonight
I search for this answers this evening
Not on crowded streets or in a home
But in a car on a cool summer evening
With pure silence
The sound of air pushing through the ear canal
Creates a slow growing buzz
I may not know the answers
But I am searching for the cause
Upon reaching my destination the silence discontinues
Returning to the normal process of clicks and tones
All the things that fill up the normal home
But for one moment I could feel
My heart and soul in one great alliance
In that pure and simple moment
Of Silence
On the Course
Falling asleep on my lap
On the course
A nap is needed for strength
I run my fingers through he hair
The rain falls splashing soft on cracked pavement
Skies loom large and fly
Clouds passing in summers haste
Laid in bed for an hour wide awake
Continuum of emotion and freedom
Taken with hope and reason
The rain falls soft on my legs and arm
Winds bring cold air
And afternoon charm
All I could ask for lays in my hands
Caressing hair soft brown and sweet
Under the shade of a Michigan pine
Is one of life’s great treats
Complete with feeling of love and understanding
Taking a break from a brisk walk
Relax and sleep while we talk
A Wednesday filled with summers course
I love her as she sleeps just a bit more
Desperation Attempt
If this were to be my desperation attempt
Would you hold me in contempt
Under the Michigan summers sun
Beams burning my skin and tongue
Speaking words grasping at meaning
Uneven and fleeting
Like sand on beaches creeping
Back from waters and storms
Clouds rolling in on Michigan shores
Attempting and achieving
While words soar with sophisticated meaning
I have no plan
No great devise
To make it out of here
Under these burnt pink skies
I wish there was more to offer
With words from poetic authors
But for now I settle my bones
On summers sands and thawed out winter shores
In a desperate attempt to reach out
Move my lips with breathe
And shout
That life offers more than deep discounts
But mounts heavy on lazy fingers
Swelling in summer season
I have but yet one reason
To attempt my voice
To give light to my choice
And rejoice
In this desperation attempt
And the message goes
In these words I have sent
A Pick Me Up Tune
Discontent in the bar on a Saturday
Everyone seems to be okay
Except this one character
Late fifties sniffing for something young
Couple too many drinks he has
Flung
Back
Into his wasted soul
And hardened heart
This man is doing nothing
But playing the creepy old man part
His breathe reeks of alcohol and beer
Harassing the poor musicians to play
A pick me up tune
So he can swoon the younger ladies
Sickened
To my stomach as I see him rummage
Through these civilized people
He is garbage left in the summer sun
Ruining the night life of everyone
His hair slicked back in 80’s fashion
Blond with protruding teeth
Blue eyes that see
Nothing but flesh on the bones of young women
He is sickened me to no redemption
I am but inches away from bending
Flinching into a rage of spirit
So that everyone in this bar can hear it
He is a wasted soul washed up on the shore
For he is that
And nothing more
