conference in my stomach

there's a conference in my stomach
it's getting very loud
there must be some kind of debate
there must be a large crowd

i think they rented tables
and several hundred chairs
i think most folks are entering
by taking the back stairs

i have to keep on eating
to provide them all with snacks
i have to keep on drinking
so their lips won't take on cracks

i have to go on listening
to the nonsense that they spew
but with a conference in your stomach
what else is there to do

silverware party

all the utensils came to the soiree
held by the fork and the spoon
they partied in their silverware drawer
under a serving plate moon

the bowls came down, the cups came too
the napkins and their rings
they danced around the centerpiece
and talking of dinner things

they reminisced on breakfast
parodied the dinner prayer
speculated on the placemats
and what would the silver wear

the knife arrived at midnight
see, he was the spoon's old ex
he got quite drunk from tarnish-off
his muscles he did flex

he challenged the fork to a duel
fork only made a cough
knife got quite blustery when
fork told him to fork off

knife tried to cut the night in half
but drinking made him dull
the salt and pepper kicked him out
and so ended the lull

my great big mouth

my great big mouth is lovely
it says amazing things
when a bee bites my great big mouth
my great big mouth, it stings

my great big mouth is open
and sometimes it is shut
when my great big mouth doesn't know
my great big mouth asks what

my big mouth has an inside
it has an outside too
when i put food into my mouth
my great big mouth will chew

my great big mouth sips beverages
from glass or mug or cup
and when there's nothing more to say
my great big mouth shuts up

that folding chair

i like a certain folding chair
i like to sit it down
when i sit in that folding chair
the whole wide world goes round
that folding chair that folding chair
i really like that folding chair

i prefer a certain folding chair
it really can't be beat
aside from other top flight chairs
you'll find no safer seat
that folding chair that folding chair
i really like that folding chair

in case i ever need to go
it easily folds up
from its confines i like to eat
my lunch or sip a cup
that folding chair that folding chair
i really like that folding chair

you may like thrones or office chairs
recliners can be nice
but i still like that folding chair
so much i'll say it twice
that folding chair that folding chair
i really like that folding chair
that folding chair that folding chair
i really like that folding chair

delano

delano had a meeting
at his job in our rat race
he met in the upstairs conference room
with a creature from outer space

there was some office gossip talk
around the coffee pot that day
mostly we all were wondering
if that bug-eyed creature would stay

it had too many eyes to see
it had a big ray gun
it had a briefcase almost as big
as our single shining sun

the alien creature blasted off
making the loudest boom
we found some goop and rocket burns
on the chairs of the conference room

and what the meeting agenda was
delano only could say
but he left the meeting without his lips
it just was that kind of day

costume ball

i got an invite to the costome ball
it came in an envelope
an invitation to the ball
was, perhaps, my greatest hope
but then i had to think about
the costime i was to wear
so i dressed up for the costume ball
as my own full head of hair

i went as my hair to the costume ball
i used paper mache
to make all of my hair follicles
this might be the best way
it took me some time to get it right
the color and texture and flair
when the cat jumped into my costume
i told it to get out of my hair

i went as my hair to the costume ball
i knocked on the door twice
i expected a few good ooh's and aah's
i thought that would be nice
but all i heard were gasps and groans
you know that this is true
for everyone dressed up as my hair
including barney and you

shoeshine

when your days are sad and lonely
and you do not have a dime
and the air tastes old and rancid
and all crazy is the time
if you haven't any quiet
if you have no comfort too
do this just for your old self
and also for your shoe

if the sky just feels too heavy
if the sun has lost its sheen
if the trees seem to ignore you
and if every dog is mean
listen to my good advice
you do not have to pay
but try a little shoeshine
and chase the blues away

you say you lost your livelihood
you say you lost your head
you say your dearest neighbor
recently turned up dead
you say the entire blasted world
has turned into a shout
just try a little shoeshine
i think it will help out

all

all the airport maps i know
all the falling lives of snow
all the words that make us hurt
all the tiny shapes of dirt

all the tentacles and ears
all of the surrounding fears
all the lightbulbs of our lives
all the lunch and dinner knives

all the tempting words of good
all the shoelace that i should
all the tyrants and their fate
all the parties way too late

all the simple simon stones
all the bird and reptile bones
every hourglass that i see
all the silence inside me

shattered

i had to kiss your body
for i couldn't find your face
i looked for your five fingers
but i couldn't find a trace

i wonder where your nose is
and your lips do not appear
you do not follow hither
for you haven't any ear

i looked for both your eyeballs
but your eyes i did not see
i looked for all your strands of hair
they, too, were absentee

i only want to hug you
but i cannot find your waist
i'd put your parts together
but i haven't any paste

sez who

rip says my tearing mouth
zip says my zup
pip says my pippinsquirt
tip says my cup

lick says my alpha tongue
flick says my thumb
rick says my rolling shaw
ick says the plum

scoop says the ice cream stick
goop says the crud
poop says the button hole
oop says the dud

we says the group of us
tree says the sky
lee says the leaning tower
me says oh my

listing list

some people list by writing
others do the same by leaning
for some, absence is what is missed
but fog could share that meaning

polka could be all those dots
or it could be a dance
stairs could take you up a floor
or signal your deep trance

write could be on paper
if it wasn't wrong to say
and light could be how much it weighs
or the sun's bright smile today

lie could be by laying
or by telling you a lie
i is perhaps all of me
or only just my eye

life in the theatre

we live in a movie theatre
nelly, nat and i
we have weekend picnics
underneath the popcorn sky

we live for the features
and the shorts and the newsreels
we like stories about the war
and trips to see the seals

we don't need a ticket
this is how we live and breathe
if intermission is too long
just look at nelly seethe

after every showing
we pull closed the curtain tight
we shoo all the others
and we sleep backstage all night

we dream about our theatre
the paintings on the wall
become our midnight movies
and we are in their thrall

playing darts sideways

playing darts sideways
line up on the wall
playing darts sideways
good game for the fall
playing darts sideways
takes a harder try
playing darts sideways
watch you don't put out an eye
playing darts sideways
hard to make it stick
playing darts sideways
game could go real quick
playing darts sideways
experience builds skill
playing darts sideways
watch out your darts don't kill
playing darts sideways
not for weak of heart
playing darts sideways
sure isn't very smart

long ago now

as the bombs struck
the 1910 train station
there i was
shining shoes
see all the dust and slo mo debris
watch how i fell into
the cornerstone box
under the tall falling column
it saved me
so i could see the new station
rise up like a flower
stripped of all ornamentation
blue and red
now we can watch the movie there
you, father, and i
sit in folding chairs
and all those soundtrack echoes
are almost too much

tree train

i rode the train up in the trees
the view was green from all the leaves
the trains can make the tall trees bow
i think i'll take that train trip now

you see the squirrels and birds up there
it makes you want to stop and stare
the tracks rise up and make a v
it helps you all the more to see

i took the ride with my friend reese
he likes to ride up in the trees
he likes to breathe the high tree air
that's why he likes to travel there

the train comes down after a night
of travel in the tall tree's height
someday i'll ride the trees in fall
and then i'll claim i've seen it all

holders and releasers

rancid winds may blow within
jane, jules or wyatt earp
they know the proper practice is
fart, belch, hiss and burp

hold em harold likes to keep
he practices the squelch
of gassy friends, so he dare not
fart, hiss, burp or belch

hold em harold turned balloon
possession was his death of kiss
exploded from resistance to the
fart, belch, burp or hiss

jane, jules, wyatt earp
master the releasing art
they will never pop for they
hiss, burp, belch and fart

eating is so dangerous

eating is so dangerous
it sometimes takes a knife
if you don't watch out where you stab
you just might take a life

eating has uncertain risks
especially with a fork
watch out you don't jab both your eyes
when impaling lamb or pork

eating can be violent
your teeth could go berserk
be careful how you chomp or grind
at home, at play, at work

and when you swallow what you stab
the acid in your gut
could spill and eat away a face
is that dangerous or what

opening

down the trail of no more snora
down the path of no repose
when the eyeballs meet the sonny
when the mouth, the fingers, nose

when the eyelids brush the eyeballs
round as stone and unaware
where i'm walking doesn't matter
cuz, you see, i am not there

all these items in the pantry
every mountain windy hair
everybody and their counting
disappear in thinnest air

small as grey as roasting pain
brain leaves so many to rake
it's all left in snags and bitter
when i fall down in awake

wake up

i wake up in the morning
and that's how day begins
i wake up when i nod my head
and when i raise my chins

i wake up when my eyes can see
and when my brain can think
i wake up when my legs can walk
and when i need a drink

i wake up in the silence
tremendous in its weight
i don't wake up too early
and i don't wake up too late

i wake up when my arms can raise
and scratch atop my head
when comes the day i don't wake up
it means that i am dead

books

all these books
each has a story
i want to know this one
and that one too
i want to know the pages
inside each cover
i want to put that wisdom
in my brain

so many books
see that shelf sag
i wish i could tell you
all of their words
i wish i was so smart
i would be a sagging shelf
and tell you the stories
you'd be so interested

all these books
i guess i will read them
one at a time
starting at this shelf
there's the tecture of the paper
have other people read them
the words turn into pictures
it's as magic as can be

multipomes

pomes come in many shapes
and also many sizes
some of them are full of truth
and some are full of lieses

pomes may be feather clad
others covered in fur
some of them might just say boo
and some are saying grrr

some pomes might be manual
while some are automatic
this pome is quite mellow
that one is a fanatic

some pomes might be tied in string
others secured with glue
but every pome has problems
just like me and you

imperfect

in a perfect world
we'd have perfect ears
we would hear
all messages
without the need
for repetition

in a perfect world
we'd have perfect eyes
we would see
what we were doing
so clearly seeing
we would stop it

in a perfect world
we'd have perfect minds
we'd add one and one
together
and know the meaning
of the answer

in a perfect world
we'd know the the world was fine
we'd do our best
to just make sure
it stays that way

oops

watch out there
i'll step on you
i have a foot
i have a shoe
i might step thru your spider's web
but i don't do it cuz i'm nasty

watch out there
i might stab you
i've got a knife
to cut that stew
i might fall down and slash your gut
but i don't do it cuz i'm nasty

watch out there
i might shoot you
i have a gun
my aim is true
but i might kill you by mistake
but i won't do it cuz i'm nasty

watch out there
i might bomb you
i've got a plane
to toodle-oo
i might destroy the whole darn world
but i won't do it cuz i'm nasty

minor failures

for falling out of bed
i didn't win the race
i came in third or fourth
or eighth or seventh place

i did not have a mask
to fill the face of me
so i just stood behind
the tallest nearest tree

i didn't have a pill
that i could swallow fast
so i sucked on a rubber band
and made that sucker last

and when i tried to win
the race to get behind
i found myself soon overwhelmed
by its tremendous grind