Rock and roll
Get ready to go
Living on the farm
Just east of
South Bend, IN
The nights we pull
Playing bass going low
Making coffee with the morning
Singing songs
All heard and warming
92 degrees
No sight of water or seas
Here in Indiana
Summers warming up
On the farm
Living just off the cusp
Goodbye to a great
Such beauty and grace
With one stroke of the hand made
Painting pictures of words
On a blank page
Homage and prayers
Thoughts and emotions
Go out to Maya Angelou
As she swims her way
Into the eternal ocean
All poets or writers aspire
To live life full
Full of inspiration
Admiration
Creation
To walk in footsteps that have gone before
Do homage to her craft
From one poem or a simple draft
We lost an eternal light in our short lives
But we are thankful for what she had
What she shared
She made us better
She cared
Inspiration she has set on fire
The more you create
The more you desire
I hope to be 1/10th of the person she was
I send a message out to sea
To Maya her love and example
Set us all a bit more
Free
Coffee and smoked salmon
Lingers in my mouth
I reach for the ignition of my car
Live lived with the simple pleasures
The caffeine
Protein
Keep me alive
Awake
For trips near and far
Reminiscent and familiar
I have learned each city
By the letters that spell the name
Some far off distant
Others very much the same
The dash must be 108
Indiana summer feels so hot today
The leather scorching to touch
I grab my seat belt
Roasted in the reflecting sun
I quickly pull my hand back
Take a deep breathe
Very close to home
Yet ever far away
As the sweat drips down my face
This Memorial Day
Transience the commonplace
It is the norm
In Brooklyn streets
Where people swarm
On Saturday night
Sunday evenings
We take part in these traditions
Going
Flowing
Rolling
As we make our way from place to place
Make our way out of Brooklyn
The next day
We will be back in Autumn soon
Under the NYC moon
Transient nights
Transient days
Transient travelers fill up
Fall out
And fill up again
We find ourselves amidst the flow
Going where the concrete goes
Back and forth
In between
We will miss the NYC scene
Pack up the luggage
Keep a straight face
Back on the road
A musicians pace
Don’t take anything too close
Keep a little distance from the heart
Getting all involved
Will only make this hard
Little words with great meaning
We have to keep on keeping
NYC away we go
Be back when autumn rolls
For another winter lays ahead
Summers gone in the Midwest
We make our way from Brooklyn
To South Bend and back again
Tours ahead
Songs to sing and play
We look forward to being back in Brooklyn
On a beautiful autumn day
The Santa Ana winds have picked up
On the east coast we have the
West in mind
Fires burning bright
Brightest in a long time
Broken spirits and hopes
Go out with our thoughts
Protecting homes
Thinking on LA in NY
A terrible fire season ahead
The winds picking up in every direction
It is our thoughts and prayers
We are a sendin’
Under the Empire sun
The city resets in the evening
Continual receiving
Thick lines run blurred into the night
The world centers herself
Around the NYC shelves
From Jackson Heights
To the Bushwick and Greenpoint
We held hands
As we felts our way
Through a city heralding a
Skyline
Heralding
The sun
We blink our eyes
Rub them dry
To see the Empire sun
Settle over the western sky
Over the east river
We await
Waiting
For yet another day
I never did it for money
I never did it for fame
I built my house on a rock
At least that’s my claim
In people I invested
All of my blood sweat and tears
Despite many fears
We have grown
For anyone else out there
Afraid to give to others
What is theirs
Yet
Live and love
Was never ours to give
Freely gained
Freely lived
So throw out love recklessly
With no abandoned
Just hoping it finds a soul
To land on
In our darkest hour
We must remember
We are never alone
In the end we will find
Along this sometimes lonely walk
That if we have friends
We build life on a rock
How can dust exist in such plethora
Consuming humans in black filth
Penetrating apartments with stealth
What is the creator
The destroyer
Yet it plooms from every
Vehicle brimming black and burdened
From the backs of trucks
Tossed lightly into the air
To begin it journey
Destination unknown
Yet it flies just softly enough
Through the screens
Into our homes
Where it land
Collects friends
Possibly propagates
Until we have the motivation to cleanse
Purging our home from such creations
Out the shoot
And back into the circle
Of the dust migration
Arise
Awake
So much is at stake
Minutes take seconds
To change
In one instant
The hard work
Begins to rearrange your life
New opportunities await
Challenges left hurdled
In your wake
Do not sleep past the rising sun
The morning calls
Opportunity calls
Arise
Awake
A Cup of Songwriting 