Hand Smoked Heat

Back to Chicago

Toll road to the city strolls

Winds blowing street tires

Filled with air pushing forward

The trips become a frequent chore

We open doors to adjust leather seats

Broken in and ripped

Hand smoked heat from summer shores

Semis headed off to 94

As we head for Lakeshore

Same city

Same sound

Familiar from the skyline to the broken ground

Chicago

My first city

Lake Michigan shores

We head back once more

 

Nimble Feet

From DC
to Jersey
All along the
Eastern
Sea
Board
We make our way
Mightily
Pushing forward
Crazy drivers
And semi soot
I push the gas
With nimble foot
To the next city
The next town
Strum the guitar
Making
Fans
With sounds

Soul Pride

I took my friend from Sweden to the JFK
As we stood looking out the window of the train
I heard her say
That the Manhattan skyline made her remember the city
Trains passing by
Yet oh so pretty
NYC set on the evening sky
I will miss this place said with a sigh
Upon which it dawned on me
How lucky we are
To be
Citizens of this beautiful
Amazing
Country
What others would do to be come one
Get married, fall in love, sneak in, to get it done
But me I am set on this land
Born 20 steps from Lake Michigan
I found my pride
My soul
My heart owned
This seductive city
To call my own
But with pride comes
Responsibility
From sea to shining sea
We make this land great
Or terrible
It’s as easy as our demeanor
Can make it wondrous
Or meaner
We represent this city to travelers
Make it proud from skyscraper
To gravel
Take a moment to recall
What it means to be American
What all it is
What pride and joy
That we live in a great land
Our hearts deploy

Look Mom – I am in Last Place!

Well I got started a little late. But I know that if I put my followers of my blog on it… We will take this thing by storm!! Well… I think… haha 😉 I just put this together for fun as a way to document some of my work over the past couple of months. Needless to say – I am proud of it. Thanks for being there with me – and here is to many more poems songs and moments! Cheers!

Look Mom! I am in last place!

http://songwriter.revimage.com/channels/NathanielPaulInc

The Rapid Eye Movement

Europe is so amazing. I have found it challenging to slow my mind down. It is probably a mixture of the jet lag, new languages, and sheer beauty of this place. It is completely new and intriguing. The landscapes are amazing and the stories and history that go with them are simply too much for my mind to wrap around. It is going to take some time to soak it all in. From Paris – Cheers!

All this beauty

All the color

All the tradition

My mind is wandering

Through words unknown and foreign

I try to slow

The rapid eye movement

Creeping faster and faster

Moving quicker and quicker

Around towers and bells

Through fields and mountains

Pools and lanterns

Brick streets and orange glow

These are where my thoughts go

When people are speaking

My lack of understanding

There is no way of having my mind

Make a soft landing

Until I rest at night

Thoughts slow

And slow

Slow

Off I am

To sleep

Just let my mind go

 

Moving Out There

We have been on the road constantly for over 2 weeks and now we are leaving for Europe tomorrow. I wrote this poem at the beginning of our travels. I feel as if this is our big move – so I was moved to write one night late in a hotel room in Fort Wayne, IN.
I hope you enjoy – Cheers by the time you read this I have begun my travels to Germany to bring American music to Europe! Cheers!

Ode to comfort

Back on the road

So the story goes

Got to get to the city

Play some shows

Ready to get back on stage

That is where I am destined to be

Living among the roads and the trees

To own so little has truly set me free

From dainty things

That really own me

Next month we will head overseas

For the first time the road will grow

And grow

So ode to comfort

It was nice or a minute

But now I am moving on

Forward I will be

Back in due time

But don’t come looking for me

To quick I will know where to come back too

When I am home sick

But for now the road calls

When the pen hits the paper I will be miles away

For I remember

I am moving into the world today

Rest

This was written after a couple of weeks on the road. This trip included all of the major music hubs in the U.S. (in my humble opinion of course and for our particular genre). We had stops in New York, Chicago, L.A. and Nashville. We finally got to the end of our journey to a log cabin up in the woods on Traverse City, MI and I slept for basically 48 hours. At the end of the sleep I was able to get up and write some words that needed to be written down. They came to me in a early morning haze. So here it is a poem on rest – enjoy!

Rest

There is one thing that unifies

This no one can contest

That when we fall asleep

The mind now at rest

The heart

Beats

And beats

And beats

To no similar tune

But in similar fashion

The mind at rest

I can attest

This is the best

Way to connect to each other

There are no preconditions

No medication

Or temptation

For one to connect

To others

Through this sensation

Of mind cessation

Temporary of course

But this might lead a course of action

To rest away the weary eyes

To come to negotiation anew

Many a times it has worked for me

And surely will do the same for you

Lights out in gentle style

Let the mind take the lonely mile

And hearts beat sustain throughout the night

And in the morning

Everything will be alright