Call Out

Practice hard

Churn them out

That is what the songwriting life is all about

It is no matter where you are

You have to do

And sing from your heart

That makes songs worth writing

Fingers sliding and bending

Notes ringing and clinging

To every syllable and vowel

That sings from this mouth

Out into the world

To scream and shout

That new songs will be birthed

From hand and shovel

Pulled from the earth

And given a life to live

In peoples ears

This is the gift to give

The Sweet Smell of Rejection

Nothing like the sweet smell of rejection in the morning

To receive the call an early warning

Its not the right fit but I wish you the best

But if you had to receive a grade you failed the test

Refreshed I see it in a morning sigh

No more than a simple rejuvenating sign

That more must be done to push forward

No looking back or retracting your hand

Giving my best out there I cannot look back

The evening lines have been drawn in the sand

Take a breath and begin again

This will seem to happen every now and again

I take it as a compliment

That the successful plans have been laid

I will not give into some cheap demands

To jump at their will fall upon their command

People look for something to fill their own void

All the while they hold stiff while creativity is destroyed

Looking for something to replace the old

Will make the fillers seem out of place and cold

Wet and waiting on the driveway of replacement

Taking what just comes along seems way to complacent

They want someone who will fit the mold

Casting away the unique and the wanderers

The fearless and the bold

For someone who does not mind to grow mold

Upon their creative gears and will simply listen to their peers

Me that I am not and surely never will be

What will ever become of me I guess I will wait and see

As for now I am content on my bed of worthlessness

It does not fear me to be alone out here calling

Much better than rich and my creative mind mauling me

I recluse back to come back stronger

Eager to fight again

Rejection is nothing more

Than a reason to start again

The Daily Routine

Ah the challenge of keeping creativity alive in my life. As I am pulled to try and sell the art and the creations that have already occurred. It is hard sometimes to step back and try and let the creative juices be heard. So I sat down to try and document my daily routine of keeping creativity alive in my life. So here it is – enjoy!

The daily routine

Wake up in the morning

Make sure to exercise

Work out the arms and the thighs

Get back and get cleaned up

Got to write and practice

Keep the routine up

3 or four hours later

I now sit at the compu-tater

Life’s lines complex yet defined

I make this no place to wine

Letting go on paper what must be done

Seemed like a good idea

Challenging and fun

Poems must be constructed daily

This challenges what I have to say

About beauty, art, and the progress of today

The challenge is not to conform

But to set a new aggressive norm

Creativity must be engaged often

Or else the course muscles will soften

Decay and leave your soul

Looking for someone else to enroll

The creative spirit can be fleeting and gone

So I must capture these spirits in songs

Poems, writings, and other means

Or else I will be left with nothing

Creativity gone and no job to boot

I look pretty bad now in a business suit

Full of aspirations are these writings

Even though my mind is rattled with distractions

I must be real and stay ahead

Better off here trying

Than creativity dead

The Old Car

The old car is still hanging in
making it through Winter’s thick and Summers thin
The AC rattles
the carpets are worn out
But the motor still delivers me to the destination
very devout
The weather is broken in
The locks don’t work and haven’t for days
The radio still sings out a couple of melodies
But when the wheels struggle up the hill it gets my sympathy
on a warm day in June
When the engine is ringing out
In it’s classic tune
Bellowing out like a great monsoon
This is my car and I stand by it
Even though the dollars I’ve paid have been multiplying
But it is a true beauty and I ain’t lying That’s all I have to say about this your car
It’s taken me miles and miles afar
The dream alive when I get down
We’ve toured we’ve laughed we’ve cried
In this cabin we lived our lives
So this car I say cheers
I hope you may live on for years and years

What Happened to the Songs

What happened to those tunes man

Now all I hear anymore is sand

Sand in my ears

Under the nails on my fingers

On my skin and under

I can’t stand it anymore

Why doesn’t anyone say anything anymore

When did music become so regulatory

All for finances and Hollywood glory?

That a fucking shame

Why do we want what is so lame

To fill our ears

With nothing of value and worth

No protest song or connection

The radio guides us in one direction

Upon inspection

It is less that satisfaction

That they blare this worthlessness

To world and miss

What happened to the songs of old

When a man could hold a guitar

So a story could be told

I don’t think that is old fashion

It is just a higher calling

Than that green cash’in

Let the melodies ring out

Let the voices sing

I will leave you with one thought

When you hear that radio

And the artist with the timeslot bought

Should your mind and thoughts be controlled?

So in some Bentley some executive can roll?

Music is much more than that

Than just some guys money rat

The Young Working Class

A late evening in Chicago. Had a nice time enjoying some drinks and laughs with friends. Hope you enjoy. Cheers!

The young working class
Service industry of Chicago Illinois
Sparse light in a dim bar
Conversation flounder and puff
Into inaudible crackle
Faces gleaming orange and yellow
Filled with powder and fluff
Men reclining willfully to distant music
Irrelevant and monotonous
Pushing eardrums back and forth
Jaws pumping laughter heralding
Anger dispensing
Question asking
Bar tender looking for connecting eyes
Asking quickly for a drink
Tip jar sitting silent yet demanding
Women relax on sofas talking about dinner and evening plans
I am but a witness to these thing
On a late Friday night
In Chicago Illinois

Lifeless Piano

Checked into a hotel yesterday. Walking in I noticed a nice, but not too nice, piano sitting looking lonely and needing to be played. Just to ring out for a couple of minutes maybe ten at best! However I was denied very admittedly – I even felt lied to. They just don’t want any “kids” to touch the piano. It is a sad thing – which got me thinking – what is a piano with no one ever playing it. So here is a poem for the situation as it went down. Enjoy!

You know the piano sitting there is just a piece of wood

I remarked to the lady at the hotel counter

She looked confused and had not understood

That if an instrument makes no music

what is it

it truly is no good

sitting neglected

disconnected from the rest of the world

If it could speak

what would it say

I am sure it would be ready to play

sing and project

overbearing owner has no soul for sound

he just simply looks to protect

and deflect any “kids” from the wood and strings

the one thing in life that is truly made to sing

the lady looks at me again

treating me as if I were ten

and then says

I can not have the “kids” banging on the keys

surely she could not have meant me

but she did

so in reply I jabbed

a piano locked is just a piece of wood

I hope that you can enjoy that

this she truly understood

as I walked away feeling quite sick

One sentenced resounded in my mind

LONG LIVE MUSIC!!!

Clocks and Lamps

This is a poem reflecting on life through the collection and the ultimate giving of possessions. I was inspired by a conversation I had with my uncle, who is a very devout priest, about how the things that he had collected simply become garbage if the family does not want it. Maybe he came to this by seeing all the people come and go in his life – and the disposal of their belongings. It really reminded me of how life is truly simple at the core to give back and not be controlled by what you own. A simple idea and a poem to go with it. Cheers.

A holy man has spent his years praying

Years

Walking through narrow wooden halls

Lit with dim lamps

When night would fall

Sitting silent on a quiet lake

He would speak so softly

As to not make a mistake

Years passed

His health began to wane

One could never tell

He never spoke much of pain

His years of prayer and solitude

Subtle vintage soul

Quiet demeanor and gentle attitude

“Is there any worth to this”

He asked me

Once we pass

Is there any meaning left

The colored lamp, wooden clock

Passed from hands to hands

Through generations tenderly walk

Falling down the mountain

Back to life
Formed from reincarnation

The giving fountain

Eyes passing

Looking

Watching

Take what is left

When the date has passed

When the soul departs

Small trinkets left

I learned much from his quiet soul

His tepid walk

Gentle flow

Upon others shoulders

Leave what you collect
From the field

There is no reason to save

Gands these items we collect down

It becomes a pile of forgotten

The trash man will collect it and move on

Drive away in the early dawn

Clocks and lamps

Collect new meanings

When new eyes see

A new branch is born

Upon the tree

Wonder

Video

This is a song about how my mind seems to wonder at all times. I have a very curious personality – and I feel this song really captures the way I feel sometimes. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlTmhTd_crA