They bought a round for the sailor
And they heard his tale
Of a world that was so far away
And a song that we’d never heard
A song of a little bird
That fell in love with a whale
He said: you cannot live in the ocean
And she said to him: You never can live in the sky
But the ocean is filled with tears
And the sea turns into a mirror
And there’s a whale in the moon when it’s clear
And a bird on the tide
Please don’t cry
Let me dry your eyes
So tell me that you will wait for me
Hold me in your arms
I promise we never will part
I’ll never sail back to the time
But I’ll always pretend you’re mine
Though I know that we both must part
You can live in my heart
2002
late night and early morning low clouds
with a chance of fog
chance of showers into the afternoon
with variable high cloudiness
and gusty winds, gusty winds
at times around the corner of
Sunset and Alvorado
things are tough all over
when the thunder storms start
increasing over the southeast
and south central portions
of my apartment, I get upset
and a line of thunderstorms was
developing in the early morning
ahead of a slow moving coldfront
cold blooded
with tornado watches issued shortly
before noon Sunday, for the areas
including, the western region
of my mental health
and the northern portions of my
ability to deal rationally with my
disconcerted precarious emotional
situation, it's cold out there
colder than a ticket taker's smile
at the Ivar Theatre, on a Saturday night
flash flood watches covered the
southern portion of my disposition
there was no severe weather well
into the afternoon, except for a lone gust of
wind in the bedroom
in a high pressure zone, covering the eastern
portion of a small suburban community
with a 103 and millibar high pressure zone
and a weak pressure ridge extending from
my eyes down to my cheeks cause since
you left me baby
and put the vice grips on my mental health
well the extended outlook for an
indefinite period of time until you
come back to me baby is high tonight
low tomorrow, and precipitation is
expected
1975
Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis
hey charlie i'm pregnant
and living on 9th street
right above a dirty bookstore
off euclid avenue
and i stopped takin dope
and i quit drinkin whiskey
and my old man plays the trombone
and works out at the track
and he says that he loves me
even though its not his baby
and he says that he'll raise him up
like he would his own son
and he gave me a ring
that was worn by his mother
and he takes me out dancin
every saturday night
hey charlie i think about you
everytime i pass a fillin station
on account of all the grease
you used to wear in your hair
and i still have that record
of little anthony and the imperials
but someone stole my record player
now how do you like that
hey charlie i almost went crazy
after mario got busted
so i went back to omaha
to live with my folks
everyone i used to know
was either dead or in prison
so i came back to minneapolis
this time i think i'm gonna stay
hey charlie i think i'm happy
for the first time since my accident
and i wish i had all the money
that we used to spend on dope
i'd buy me a used car lot
and i wouldn't sell any of ‘em
i'd just drive a different car every day
dependin on how i feel
hey charlie for chrissakes
do you want to know the truth of it?
i don't have a husband
he don't play the trombone
and i need to borrow money
to pay this lawyer
and charlie, hey
i'll be eligible for parole
come valentines day
1979
Well Frank settled down in the Valley
and hung his wild years
on a nail that he drove through
his wife's forehead
he sold used office furniture
out there on San Fernando Road
and assumed a $30,000 loan
at 15 1/4 % and put down payment
on a little two bedroom place
his wife was a spent piece of used jet trash
made good bloody marys
kept her mouth shut most of the time
had a little Chihuahua named Carlos
that had some kind of skin disease
and was totally blind. They had a
thoroughly modern kitchen
self-cleaning oven (the whole bit)
Frank drove a little sedan
they were so happy
One night Frank was on his way home
from work, stopped at the liquor store,
picked up a couple Mickey's Big Mouths
drank 'em in the car on his way
to the Shell station, he got a gallon of
gas in a can, drove home, doused
everything in the house, torched it,
parked across the street, laughing,
watching it burn, all Halloween
orange and chimney red then
Frank put on a top forty station
got on the Hollywood Freeway
headed north
Never could stand that dog
1983
$29.00
little black girl in a red dress
on a hot night with a broken shoe
little black girl you should have never left home
there’s probly someone that’s still waitin up for you
its cold back in chicago
but in los angeles
when all youv’e got is $29.00 and an alligator purse
you see that vulture in the fleetwood
with the chartreuse hood
can see you’re tyring to get your bearings
and you say hey baby which ways the main stem
which way’s the main stem
and wherever you say you’re from
he’ll say he grew up there himself
and he’ll comeon and make you feel
like you grew up right next door to him
and you say take a left on central
and he throws it in reverse
cause you only got $29.00 and an alligator purse
and he’ll come on like a gentleman
and you’ll be a little shy
you say your ex old man was a sax player
he’ll say baby i used to play bass for sly
and you say you like his cadillac, say honey i got 2 or 3
he’ll say sweethear you’re sure fortunate
that you ran into me
when youv’e done a dime in the joint
you figure nothin could be worse
and you got $29.00 in an alligator purse
well he got pharoh on the 8 track
you stark smokin a little boo
you thinking getting out of chicago was the
best thing that ever happened to you
startin to like it already
this cat seems to be cool
and he says hone i know a good hotel out in west hollywood
that’d be just right for you
but he ain’t no good samaritan
he’ll make sure he’s reimbursed
lot more than $29.00 and an alligator purse
now the sirens just an epilog
the cops here always get there too late
they always stop for coffee on the way to the scene of the crime
then they always try so hard to look just like movie starts
they couldn’t catch a cold
baby don’t waste your dime
and she’s lucky to be a live
the docotr whispered to the nurse
she only lost a ½ pint of blood
$29.00 and an alligator purse
1979
Take an eye for an eye
Take a tooth for a tooth
Just like they say in the Bible
Never leave a trace or forget a face
Of any man at the table
When the moon is a cold chiseled dagger
Sharp enough to draw blood from a stone
He rides through your dreams on a coach
And horses and the fence posts
In the moonlight look like bones
Well they've stopped trying to hold him
With mortar, stone and chain
He broke out of every prison
Boots mount the staircase
The door is flung back open
He's not there for he has risen
He's not there for he has risen
Some say he once killed a man with a guitar string
He's been seen at the table with kings
Well he once saved a baby from drowning
There are those who say beneath his coat there are wings
Some say they fear him
Some say they fear him
Others admire him
Because he steals his promise
One look in his eye
Everyone denies
Ever having met him
Ever having met him
He can turn himself into a stranger
Well they broke a lot of canes on his hide
He was born away in a cornfield
A fever beats in his head just like a drum inside
Some say they fear him
Others admire him
Because he steals his promise
One look in his eye
Everyone denies
Ever having met him
Ever having met him
1992
When I'm lyin' in my bed at night
I don't wanna grow up
Nothin' ever seems to turn out right
I don't wanna grow up
How do you move in a world of fog
That's always changing things
Makes me wish that I could be a dog
When I see the price that you pay
I don't wanna grow up
I don't ever wanna be that way
I don't wanna grow up
Seems like folks turn into things
That they'd never want
The only thing to live for
Is today...
I'm gonna put a hole in my TV set
I don't wanna grow up
Open up the medicine chest
And I don't wanna grow up
I don't wanna have to shout it out
I don't want my hair to fall out
I don't wanna be filled with doubt
I don't wanna be a good boy scout
I don't wanna have to learn to count
I don't wanna have the biggest amount
I don't wanna grow up
Well when I see my parents fight
I don't wanna grow up
They all go out and drinking all night
And I don't wanna grow up
I'd rather stay here in my room
Nothin' out there but sad and gloom
I don't wanna live in a big old Tomb
On Grand Street
When I see the 5 o'clock news
I don't wanna grow up
Comb their hair and shine their shoes
I don't wanna grow up
Stay around in my old hometown
I don't wanna put no money down
I don't wanna get me a big old loan
Work them fingers to the bone
I don't wanna float a broom
Fall in love and get married then boom
How the hell did I get here so soon
I don't wanna grow up
1992