I GAVE UP

i gave up booze
i gave up smokes
i gave up chewing tobacco
i gave up harley davidson
i gave up fast cars
i gave up chasing women
i gave up porn
i gave up ice cream
i gave up soft drinks
i gave up jelly donuts
i gave up red meat
i gave up sugar
i gave up white bread
i gave up chat rooms
i gave up politics
i gave up shopping
i gave up religion
i gave up television
i gave up group identification
i gave up painting
i gave up reading
i gave up writing
i gave up

SWAGGER

sitting in airport kiosks
smoking cigarettes
drinking scotch
picking up girls
on their way to nowhere
i had swagger
in those good old days
when gas was cheap
and i was young
wearing a pinkie ring
on my way to vegas
when america walked proudly
and the slots went cha-ching
and hookers were angels
who ate at the free buffet
with me for friendship
two top-shelf Chivas's
for a buck
and free breakfast
at the stardust
when swagger was supreme
and the juice was flowing
and we swaggered onward
losing a bit each year
'til it was no more
now staring at vacant faces
in the mirror
looking at lost youth
hopes and dreams
cast aside
for the realities of today
no more swagger
anymore

MY UNCLE DICK

uncle dick served in WWII
he hung communication lines
on the outskirts of manilla
i believe.

he climbed the poles
as japanese soldiers took pot-shots at him
he climbed every day
saw his comrades fall
their life expectancy on this job
was really low
he did his duty anyway

my brother told me he cried when dick left
for the big war
my brother jim was just a boy
dick told him he'd be back
not to worry
dick did come back
shell shocked and shaking
he had a hellish couple of years
with the drinking
then he pulled himself together

when i was born
my brother insisted
that my mom and dad name me after dick
i am proud to have his name
i call him every veteran's
and memorial day
he is 87 years old
my brother jim,(fifth army) would have been 76
jim passed away, but i still have my uncle

i think of all my veteran friends today
my brother jim
my grammar and high school pals
the ones who've died
the ones who've survived
and i thank them all
this is my duty
bless you all.

DISCOVER ME

discover me, little girl
search my mind
ask me questions
i see you emerging
digging hendrix
bob dylan
reading bukowski
share it with me
let's talk
i'm open 24/7
maybe we can find
common ground
after all these years
a daughter and father
finally on the same page
this is my hope
this is my dream
discover me
so i can discover you

SCREW IT!

i like saying, "screw it!"
get pissed off
sneer at your enemy
throw down
put the gloves on
stand eye to eye
make a stand
throw your bill cap on the ground
face the clown
posture and postulate
angry ways to harm
let fists fly
get hit
and come back for more
screw it!
it feels good
better than dying inside
like a bookworm
living life in anaesthesic bliss
like a slug
no chances taken
hiding in a closet
of perpetual bliss
and taking it up your ass
with a smile on your face
this is dying my friend
screw it!
be hard
be mean
but do it for the right reasons
stand up
shoulders back
head erect
i tried serenity
anger works more efficiently
and gets more done
when the walls come in on you
kick back
and say screw it!
it's time to take a stand

TITHE

the corpulent priest waddled to his pulpit
i sat in my pew eyeing a vixen's legs
a week before christmas he made his pitch
"five-hundred dollars a family"
to keep the boat of catholicism afloat
i knew right then and there
i would excommunicate myself

this irish alcoholic
drinker of fine single malts
driver of new cadillacs
smoker of cuban cigars
taker of vacations to ireland
rome and other exotic places
wants more than i can afford
i knew i would not tithe
or believe in decrepit mythologies
not anymore

so i broke my elderly mothers heart
when i told her i would never atttend mass
ever again
so be it
and so it is written
and so it was done
and i never went back
and i don't regret my choice

because in the news yesterday
i see the church stands on the side of misogynists
who seek to take the rights away from women
who seek to control their own bodies
and conceive when they want to conceive
ain't no hail to notre dame for me
anymore
i see where the church takes its stand
and i absolve myself from catholic guilt
finally

i stand on what is right
i choose not to stone the infidels
those harlots named by rush limbaugh
are my compatriots
and all that is holy
is not so holy anymore
and if my soul burns in hell
so be it
because hell must be a holy place
where tithes are fair
and democracy hails
for everyone

OLD DOGS

old dogs started the day with an eye opener
a shot of whiskey and a tall can of beer
at four-in-the morning
it made the bones feel better
for the day's work to come...
and a greasy breakfast
in a greasy spoon
eggs, sausage, and lotsa coffee
then to the job
welding, wrenching, craning, laboring,
grunting, sledging, moving dirt and steel
old dogs did it all.

but wait...
we were young back then
and the joy was that
we thought we never were gonna' die
we were immortal
the money was never gonna' stop
the booze was gonna' flow forever
the cancer would never get us
so we lit another camel
and drank more shots-and-beers
and closed the joints

old dogs didn't worry about AIDS
or alcoholism
or taxes
or stocks
or dying
or occupying
just the sports book
and even then
we were happy

it ain't like that today
sadly
i must admit
the halycon days
are over

ACCUMULATION

corpulent masses supersize meals
at mega-eateries in the land of mass consumption
as giant sedans roll by with ultimate horsepower
on their way to expansive shopping centers
to accumulate more, more, and more of the same
garbage strewn throughout city streets
unused, abused, never enough for the maddening crowds
of capitalistic urges seeking to own the world
'midst blackberrys, iphones, ipads, ipods, dvds,
cds, gameboys, stock market ticker tapes, selling,
buying, short, long, mutual funds, equities,
lottery tickets, looking to score, on the move
america, the beautiful is on the make
and it was started by the likes of dinah shore
seeing the USA in her chevrolet
and the light bulbs came on in reagan's head
sponsoring general electric's theatre program
pap for the masses, while uber-corporates made the plan
of supersize me and own that vacation home
a ward, june, wally, beaver cleaver world for sure
it just ain't jake, no more
'cause someone has to pay the piper

NOSE BLEED

i had a nose bleed in the night
i thought it was only drool
i emerged from bed to bathroom
for another piss
three-a-night for this old man
then i peered in the mirror
horrified again at what i saw
but more-so
blood on 'stache and goatee
prizefighting with myself i s'pose
then i frantically washed pillow cases
amazed at the amount of red
that came from my septum
i cleaned up like a crazed serial killer

then fixed my morning brew
coffee is a good vein constrictor
i pondered stroke possibilities
as i jammed cotton into the nasal passage
i opened the paper and read news of the world
my head held back
arms extending the news of the world
twice horrified on this fine morning
thank you god for this day
thy will be done
then i ran for miles
intending to stroke out
testing the gods
rolling the dice
fuck it
and i'm still here
yeah
i'm still here
motherfuckers

RICH MEN

rich men suck
up to one another
in mahohany boardrooms
and sink teeth
deep into jugular veins
of the weakest
of their ilk
and smile over
the dead carcasses
as blood drips
down chins
and cufflinked wrists
wipe off victory
from gaping mouths

like snails
leaving trails
of mucous
they blaze trails
over america
and other lands
sucking
chortling
plotting
this wide path
in god's name
the godless suck
everything of value

rich men suck
and masturbate
each other
over bottom lines
and fictitious realities
and phony paper
they lie outright
they give you dreams
and suck you in
then spit you out

rich men suck
life right out of you
as they constantly tinker
play golf
accumulate
and drive themselves mad
with constant work
and worry
over too many things
they shouldn't have
like vacuum cleaners
inhaling more
they cannot stop

sucking
until the plug is pulled
and the current stops
and the machine is dead
and the stillness is manifest
and it is a great silence of
a perfect dream
and the perfect end
to the insanity
of rich men.

QUALITIES OF A TRUE LEADER

honesty
love of family
protector of the downtrodden
acceptance of diversity
fair taxes for all
doing what's right
even if it isn't popular

a true leader
never slings mud at his opponent
never flip-flops his opinions
stays a steady course,
even when he is denigrated by others

he believes in the working folk
the people who build america
he protects educators
unions
women
gays
minority groups
stands for all religions
but keeps church and state separate

vote for this type of leader
you know who he is
be honest with yourself
don't let hate rule your vote
look into your heart
the answer is there.

I'M NINE TODAY

i'm nine today
i feel fine, today
just like a kid
know what i did?
i quit the booze
i couldn't loose
a day at a time
i walked the line
and white knuckled it

i'm nine today
what can i say?
no jails no more
no liquor store
no hurting head
hear what i said?
i began to see
reality
it wasn't free
for a cat like me

i'm nine today
i'm proud to say
i'm sober now
and glad somehow
that God found me
and let me see
how love can be
i'm nine today.

THE CANYON

way down in southern illinois
is the trail
yeah, the one i used in college
a piece of cake
for a twenty-year old
but now i'm sixty-three

i start out with breakfast
bring a protein bar
a couple of bottles of energy juice
take the backroads
feel like i'm gonna' meet leatherface
or farmer vincent
then i'm there
and it warns me
of copperhead
bobcat
flashfloods
and other dangers

the downhills are tough
quads scream and hammies beg
stop now, before it's too late!
but i continue
over slabs of rock
slippery slopes
holding on to branches
keeping on the main path when i can
feeling the humidity and heat
listening to my breathing
realizing this is only the downhill
and after an agonizing eternity
i reach the canyon
and it is beautiful
i linger a while
and realize that i'm strong
and that it's a great gift
then i head back

climbing up slopes
pulling my weight
and i have enough wind
and this makes me smile
my crows-feet smile
i am weather beaten
but not road beaten
climbing up sixy to eighty degree slopes
sometimes crawling so i don't fall backwards
and it is heaven right here on earth
because i trained for it
for seven years i trained for it
past emphysema
past cancer
past double bypass surgery

and the experts told me i'd never walk again
and here i am climbing
and running
and crawling
and i never felt more alive