Wargoon Flishe Watch

Wargoon Flishe screening on June 2

2008-04-18T06:26:00.000-07:00

Wargoon Flishe will be part of the Home Grown Cinema series at the Parkway Theatre in Minneapolis. It will be showing on Monday, June 2 at 9:30 p.m., after a screening of Seeking Wellness by Daniel Schneidkraut. Find out more on the Home Grown Cinema MySpace page.

Showing at the Ritz

2007-10-09T13:08:00.000-07:00

Wargoon Flishe will have another public screening in Minneapolis. The event is on Monday, November 19th at the Ritz Theatre on 13th Ave. NE. The event starts at 7 and will feature Greg Carr and his Ancient Mixmaster and other animated shorts.

The screening is a fundraiser for the Ritz Theater, so all proceeds go the the Ritz. Admission is by donation.

Wargoon Flishe showing on May 20

2007-03-27T06:27:00.000-07:00

Wargoon Flishe, an animated feature film made in Minneapolis, will screen at the Bedlam Theatre, on Sunday, May 20th at 7 p.m.

Wargoon Flishe was called, "hypnotic and completely overwhelming," by City Pages writer John Behling, who said it included "mind-bending feats of creativity." In Northeast Beat, writer Dan Haugen said, "the animation style is bizarre and nontraditional, to say the least." And Chuck Olsen of Minnesota Stories called it an "animated masterpiece."

Wargoon Flishe will be joined in this screening by the premiere of Trevor Adams' scratch animation film President's One Hour Photo, which is based on the novel President's Pictures Novel in Nine Frames by John Akre

Bedlam Theatre is located at 1501 S. 6th St., in the West Bank of Minneapolis. It is located just behind the Cedar Riverside LRT station.

snowstorm premiere

2007-02-26T06:46:00.000-08:00

Last night, Wargoon Flishe, the movie, had its world premiere at the Bedlam Theater in Minneapolis. It was Oscar night and there had been a big snowstorm the previous night. People were still digging out, but it was easy to get there by mass transit. Bedlam is right on the Hiawatha line LRT.

Ten people showed up for the screening. It was a small but enthusiastic audience.

interview

2007-02-25T11:31:00.000-08:00

Dan Haugen of The Northeast Beat interviewed me about my animation techniques in the darkness of my animation chamber. You will find it on the February 23rd listing.

Wargoon Flishe shows tonight at the Bedlam Theater, which is directly on the Hiawatha LRT Line. Get off at the Cedar Riverside station and look for the building that says Bedlam on it. Rail is probably the best way to get around on this terribly snowy day.

review

2007-02-22T07:51:00.000-08:00

In this whirl of work and sleep, and mostly work, that I have come to call my life lately, I have had a few moments of radical physiological change. I think I have really grown an inch or to, vertically, not horizontally, after reading the review of Wargoon Flishe in the City Pages that came out yesterday. My bones also just cracked again when I saw the Wargoon Flishe trailer on my neighbor Chuch Olsen's excellent Minnesota Stories.

I'm sure I'll resume my normal slump in time for the screening of Wargoon Flishe this Sunday, February 25 at 7 p.m. at the Bedlam Theater, 1501 S. 6th Street, on the West Bank, in Minneapolis. It's Oscar night and there could be a snowstorm, but the movie will still play, along with an animation sociology short.

showing on february 25

2007-02-03T06:43:00.000-08:00

Wargoon Flishe, an animated feature film made in Minneapolis, will screen at the new Bedlam Theatre, on Sunday, February 25th at 7 p.m.

Wargoon Flishe is both the name of the movie and the name of the central heroic character of it. Wargoon is a hero out of ancient myths, but one slightly updated to this age of commerce and mass media. He rises to greatness by virtue of cannibalism and arrogance.

His story is a movie like a cave painting drawn on magazine advertising.

Animator John Akre used a variety of animation techniques to create the movie. He also narrates the film, provides the voices for all the characters, and voices the sound effects.

Bedlam Theatre is located at 1501 S. 6th St., in the West Bank of Minneapolis. It is located just behind the Cedar Riverside LRT station.

for what the days are known

2007-01-11T06:47:00.000-08:00

thursday came upon a wheel
wednesday's midnight wasn't real
tuesday had some awful hair
monday was a wine so rare

sunday tried, but didn't make
saturday, that sort of cake
friday thought it had a friend
thursday played the game again

let's talk

2007-01-09T06:14:00.000-08:00

it's dark in the night time
so bright in the day
and when i want to say something
that's all i have to say

it's cold in the winter
and warm later on
such things i have to tell you
in our conversation

i have all ten fingers
and still have all ten toes
and when i cut my fingernail
dog gone it but it grows

if i stretch up my arm
who knows what i'll reach
and telling you is easy
with my meager powers of speech

in between and over

2007-01-06T06:18:00.000-08:00

when i have created a big project, and just finished it, i am in a magical mind. i am talking about the time between the point at which i consider the project finished and the time i actually show it to other people. this is a magical time because i am usually so in love with the thing i have created, so amazed that it is actually done, that i am filled from top to bottom with a kind of joy. but i also have come to realize that this joy will not last.

because that thing that i have made is only in my mind. it is magic when only i know what it all is, when all that anybody else knows is that it is possibility. it has not had to make contact with the brain cells of other people, but only with my own, with the brain cells that made it come into being, and those brain cells are full of parental bias.

i love this time but i also feel the melancholy that comes from knowing that it will be a short time, unless of course i keep that thing only to myself, and never show it to any others.

a couple weeks ago i showed my finished Wargoon Flishe film to a small group of friends. this is the point where that magical time ended, that the film went from my own to something else. the magic had ended and the reviews were mixed. some people thought it was great, some people thought it wasn't. some people thought it could use more work.

i initially rejected the idea that my child needed more work. it was my child, and i did not make it for a fee, and i made it for no company, i made it only to be my own. it did not need to change, changing it now would be a serious breach of my own vision. so i told people that i would not change it. but then i changed my mind.

for the magic had passed. i no longer can look at this baby the way i did when i had first finished it, and only i knew what it was from top to toe. now all those other opinions are in my mind, and they paint my vision of it as much as my own proud parent wallet mind photos.

i did tinker with it a little this week, and i could tinker with it a little more, but the time for tinkering has really passed. i have a new project underway, and that new project should be the real object of my refinement and the benefactor of all i have learned by getting Wargoon Flishe out of my own mind and trying to stick it in some other minds.

and i am trying to set up a more public screening.

ten fabulous finishes

2007-01-03T05:34:00.000-08:00

she thought there would be glamour but there was only toast instead, she thought there would be ribbons, and violets growing out of heads, she thought there would be stillness so she could wonder at the stars, she didn't know that everybody hung out at the bars.

she had a bag of groceries, and she tied it in her hair. she started on her way but she made sure she wasn't there. she took a pair of dancing steps so she could reach the height. it didn't happen yesterday, it all took place tonight.

she didn't ponder heavy things, she didn't ponder light. she didn't answer yes or no, nor even wrong nor right. she had a firm equation and she wrote it in a book. she didn't start by listening or taking just one look. she had to do some advertising, writing it on paper, and that is how she started and she ended this whole caper.

end of pome town

2006-12-31T06:50:00.000-08:00

pome town has vanished
it slipped into the air
the pome people all left too
and so did all their hair

it was a sunday morning
the church bells didn't ring
the churches all had disappeared
and so had everything

some say it was an eyesore
some say it never was
some say it just got blown away
like so much navel fuzz

it could have been the landlord
it could be government
but the former site of pome town
awaits redevelopment

on execution morning

2006-12-30T06:27:00.000-08:00

touch is the only greatest power
hate is so easy and so coward
touch is the only greatest power

listening is the cold space between us
words slowly penetrate their bullets
touch is the only greatest power

you are the night that makes the sun rise
i am my earth of appetite
hate is so easy and so coward

you are the vibration inside me
we are the eyes that must live dreaming
touch is the only greatest power

touch is the only greatest power
hate is so easy and so coward
touch is the only greatest power

bailey's tiny head

2006-12-29T06:22:00.000-08:00

bailey has a tiny head
tiny as a toe
even tho her head is small
she is smart as they go

she can never wear a hat
ear rings are too big
you'd swear that she is headless
when she sings or dances jig

pome town in crisis:
there's a clog deep in the pipes
nobody can figure it
so everyone says "cripes"

bailey to the rescue
with her tiny head
she could take a look inside
and that is what she did

the crisis could be treated
once bailey told them how
so if you have a tiny head
like bailey, take a bow

boiling boils

2006-12-28T06:14:00.000-08:00

the boils are boiling sausages
down by the silver stream
they're making them for boys and girls
and serving them with cream

a boil will jump in now and then
and scream with great delight
they have to boil it far too long
far longer than all night

the boils are waiting for the time
to serve the sausage stew
and if you aren't expecting
they'll attach themselves to you

they giggle like a bubble patch
these giddy little boils
they tell the children to eat up
before the sausage spoils

but comes the clean-up, it's a chore
the boils like to daydream
of future sausage boils and such
down by the silver stream

what if

2006-12-27T06:23:00.000-08:00

what if your wish
is not your way
what if your here
is not today
what if the bricks
have all gone bad
what if the underthings
are sad
what if the oceans
turn to mud
what if your enemy
is your bud
what if the spaceman
in your brain
makes a mistake
and leaves a stain
what if the social
system jive
buries your head
and feet alive
what if the lions
and the clocks
turned all the keys
and locked your locks

branches

2006-12-26T06:27:00.000-08:00

ah, the tired and bumbling branches
tied onto no tree
watch them swing sway on their ice skates
bursting to be free

see the branches at street corners
rolling on their knubs
snapping with the rattling fireshine
snuggling with the cubs

branches hate expectorating
watch them in their strings
making picture frames by squaring
and other crafty things

branches off the tree and weary
looking for some meaning
wait for kindling or for kindness:
any sort of gleaning

jewbilee

2006-12-25T06:27:00.000-08:00

the jewbilee was crowded
we saw a lot of backs
we got some magazines to read
from a tall man named max

we sat in vinyl splendor
we sniffed the season's air
we wore our nicest clothing
and our washed and curly hair

the music was delicious
they didn't call our names
altho there were some minor gaffes
nobody took the blames

the stars outside were brighter
despite the advanced hour
we vanished in the gutter night
infused with hebrew power

rock story

2006-12-24T07:31:00.000-08:00

i stay in one position
neglecting throws and tugs
my belly side is somewhat moist
and houses several bugs

i once was somewhat bigger
but wind and rain and quake
have brought me to my present size
some day i'll make a break

i have a destination
it is the sand inside
if i wear down to tiny grains
i've everywhere to hide

but now i get to sit here
thru hot and cold of clime
if you are geological
you needn't hurry time

byron

2006-12-23T06:44:00.000-08:00

byron is a time machine
he hurtles thru the ages
he writes himself upon the years
clocks turn to him like pages

he lived his youth in ancient times
he was a teen for Caesar
his girlfriend was the renaissance
sometimes he liked to tease her

his twenties were the age of bronze
his thirties, that of steel
he lived his forties during war
he dreamed the peace for real

he eats the tick of time for lunch
he shits it out at night
ends of the world come every day
when he turns out the light

moustache

2006-12-22T06:35:00.000-08:00

marla had a moustache
she kept it on a chain
observers said this moustache
could be profiled as insane

tho marla can be mellow
the moustache wasn't so
it had a tendency to brag
and get into a row

it had a few too many
last night, you might have heard
and got a little bit too fresh
with a massive mangy beard

you thought you heard the last of
marla's rash moustache
but its fighting spirit migrated to
her left and right eyelash

link lighting

2006-12-21T06:22:00.000-08:00

link searches for lighting
he can't choose which to buy
because he cannot choose, his light
comes mostly from the sky

link must pick a light bulb
he's too choosy to decide
he lives mostly in darkness
it's no sweat for him to hide

fluorescent, incadescent
link doesn't have a clue
because he's never bought one
he has never had to screw

link has a little problem
about which i will remark
he cannot decide on lighting
and this keeps him in the dark

barton and buttons

2006-12-20T06:49:00.000-08:00

barton likes his buttons
he thinks it is his call
he likes to see if each one works
he likes to push them all

he'll push one in a socket
he'll push one on a dress
he'll push a button, blue or red
he'll get into a mess

he likes to push the buttons
but that is not his job
his job's to say which ones to push
the pushing's done by rob

but barton likes his buttons
they are his tea of cup
he pushed the buttons, right and wrong
a wrong one blew him up

mad scientist

2006-12-19T05:36:00.000-08:00

there is the whole frankenstein thing associated with animation. it is what every cave painter wanted, isn't it, to see that color on the rock turn into movement, turn into the thing that the image tried to capture. in classical art, in the art of the rennaisance, the drawing, the painting, representing in a money way the thing that was drawn, but what if that drawing itself assumed a kind of life. movement isn't life, but it is one closer illusion to life. movement brings with it so many other emotions.
the first animators were really lightning sketch artists. lightning sketch artists were vaudeville performers who drew fast, chalk on blackboard, dark charcoal on light paper. there was a whole act around it, to be sure, a performance that made it more than just watching somebody draw, but it was drawing. a sketch artist performed in front of the movie camera, and if you stop the camera and add to the drawing, and then shoot again, the drawing starts to change without the presence of the drawer, or at least it seems so. and then it was so more amazing than just fast. something that thousands of years were waiting for.
that's a kind of big magic that all those cave painters with their fires might have wanted, might have imagined, might have seen themselves in the flicker of the light as they moved left to right or right to left. they might have seen that bison move a little along the background of rock wilderness. they could have seen some flickering movement, or drew extra legs as if that would add to it. and then the drawing was real, and then the drawing had a life of movement, if not of breath. who needs to breathe if you can move, who needs to talk if you can move your mouth and somebody else can talk.

animation origins

2006-12-17T06:21:00.000-08:00

a few days ago i wrote about the origins of Wargoon Flishe. I was reading Joseph Campbell and I was reading James George Frazer's The Golden Bough, and somehow a hero's story, ancient and yet contemporary, began to unwind in my brain.
but how did the animation biz start. It started early with me, with a brown paper grocery bag that i got from a neighbor when i was nine or when i was ten. inside that brown bag was a Brownie movie camera, something already old, from the 1950's, and it was something sitting in an attic gathering dust, and i might do something with it, which is why i got it.
i got some film for it from the drugstore and following the directions and the first thing I did was set it up on a tripod in the basement with an easel and tried to make an animation. i didn't know at that time about the importance of light, but i learned my lesson, for the film came back black, and i don't even remember what that animated film was even going to be about, but i couldn't see it because i shot it too dark.
but soon i got back on my Brownie bicycle, and used a desklamp for light, and cut out paper shapes and moved them bit by bit and pressed down fast on the camera's shutter release, for it had no single frame abilities.
from ten to eighteen i experimented in all kinds of animation, cut paper, drawings, clay, styrofoam, time lapse, pixilation. but when i was eighteen and an adult, i stopped it all.
just a couple years ago i started thinking about how much i missed doing animation. i started playing around with photoshop, and saw a few animators in person talking about their work, at the Walker Art Center, and then on a trip to Los Angeles seeing both Gene Deitch, a hero from my youth, the creator of the Tom Terrific cartoons that were on Captain Kangaroo, and Michelle Connoyer, a Canadian animator with beautiful hand drawn lines.
upon return of that trip i bought a light box, and slowly started drawing on notecards and then post-it notes.
when i took a month off of work in 2005 and travelled by rail across the country, i had lots of train time to draw animated frame by frame and to animate with my video camera and with the post it notes stuck on the train window. In Montreal, i visited the Cinemateque Quebecois, where i saw a program of eastern european animation and walked thru their gallery of the history of animation. i saw the tools of malcolm mclaren, and as i travelled west on the train the idea hatched that i should attempt the grand canyon, the mount everest of animation and to make, on my own, an animated feature film. i told about my idea to an old friend in san francisco, and because i had let the cat out of the bag, i knew i had to do it now. on one more train stretch, or maybe it was while walking down a san fran street, i thought about my wargoon flishe story, with such a flexible line between life and death like so many cartoons, and knew that had to be the basis.

finish starting

2006-12-16T07:07:00.000-08:00

i truly like to finish
before i even start
it is the easy way to go
but takes a certain art

i like to wrap up something
before i have begun
i know with such a recipe
i have already won

i champion every running race
right at the starting block
the referees are most impressed
and think i am a jock

i believe every pome
should start on its last line
this one is an exception
and that is superfine

origins

2006-12-15T06:24:00.000-08:00

i think about the origins of wargoon flishe, and wonder if i can even remember that far back. about how the epic of gilgamesh seemed to be a nice coat rack on which to hang bits of many other myths and national stories, including the great u.s. myth of rising from mail courrier to be head of the great beast of company. i think about writing that initial book in scratchy dark morning, in hotel rooms and moon colonies, and in the silence of that space station long ago. and the writing tools i had to use, the stones and chisels and ink by the oil barrel. how i wrote it on walls and the walls looked painted black but if you examined it with microscope you would reveal the tiny words. how i had to write it first in my mind like a tightrope waker, balancing that string from ear to ear and falling down the deep chasm of forgetting so many times. quite a few rubber bandages were necessary. i wrote with so many molecules, i polished the book with nuclear rags, and then i twas done and then i had hardly even started.

pushy patience

2006-12-14T06:23:00.000-08:00

mrs. pushy has to pace
scream a little with her face
mr. patience waits in line
reads correctly every sign

mr. pushy won't wait long
his procedures turn out wrong
mrs. patience takes her time
stops to listen to bells chime

mrs. pushy in a huff
her whole day just turns out rough
mr. patience has a grin
his reward for discipline

mr. pushy has a fit
loook at how his brow is knit
mrs. patience just sits down
best blood pressure in the town

24 belly hours

2006-12-13T06:22:00.000-08:00

chilly morning when i wake
night will cure the belly ache

tepid lunchtime apple eat
makes the power to move the feet

warmer afternoon in force
mind drifts off to dinner course

early evening loses light
have a snack or don't feel right

in the night time eyes are weight
fall asleep and dream my fate

In the Wargoon Flishe Watch department: Yesterday I had the day off from work and so I worked on a website for Wargoon Flishe. Now it is a movie, now that it has a web presence. The site is just a simple set of things so far, but hopefully it has room to grow. sloppyfilms.com/wargoon is the address.

four suns

2006-12-12T06:26:00.000-08:00

first sun say to me
"i rise up very high
if you don't see my smiling face
there no such thing as sky"

second sun say to me
"i shy and hide in cloud
on some day i save you from bright
for sun that is allowed"

third sun say to me
"i sit up in the trees
horizon is the place for me
and my sun life of ease"

fourth sun say to me
"i must stay out of sight
if i don't hide beneath your toe
there no such thing as night"

backwards bus

2006-12-10T09:59:00.000-08:00

we caught the bus to backwards
we had to stand in line
we knew where it was going from
the destination sign

we rode the bus to backwards
it was the nicest ride
it took us clear to yesterday
breaking thru the other side

we rode the bus to backwards
we did not face the front
we saw where we were leaving
to be absolutely blunt

we rode the bus to backwards
and arrived before we left
the fare was rather steep
which left our wallets quite bereft

change of plans for poetry

2006-12-09T06:33:00.000-08:00

the pomes were going
but forgot their way
no route means no travel
means they have to stay

the pomes were leaving
but there was no door
no door means no outside
they sat on the floor

the pomes were ready
but ready for what
no knowledge, no reason
and so they stayed put

the pomes were going
but didn't know where
no destination?
remain and breathe air

scenes from a campaign

2006-12-08T06:42:00.000-08:00

What is Wargoon Flishe? Wargoon Flishe is not a what, it is a who. Really, it is a what, a few squares with a nose. He has come to save the day, he has come to save something.

Wargoon Flishe is an audio book with moving illustrations. It is a child's tale of cannibalism. It is the primitive animation of the computer. It is the shapes of sound, the smallest mind. It is the mite without the mighty.

It is something that had to be done to see if I could do it. It is an illustration of how easy. It is left to all its mistakes, a painting of a lie, a sharpie pen party. It is movement and color and words. It is not a why, it is a simply what.

What does Wargoon Flishe mean in the larger matter of images of black marks and red marks and the loud sounds that make you notice. Nothing really, nothing. A snail's fastest trail race. A miniature child's nasty nose sculpture. A nice cartoon about cannibalism, mass murder, and marketing.

animation diary

2006-12-06T06:14:00.000-08:00

animation is, or has to be
to some degree
alchemy
the audience has to believe
or to suspend their belief
long enough to think
that these scraps of paper
these blots of ink
are anything worth listening to
worth watching for humanity
what keeps us fixed to
images on walls
cave paintings to
computer generated flat screen fish tanks
these mutterings in paper
to which i am charging ahead
to the end
to the can i quit
to the that's all folks
anything but blowing ignoring newspaper
the sound is a bit of it
all those sound effects with my mouth
trying to sell it with my mouth
trying to
with color
with speed

return to Wargoon

2006-12-05T06:21:00.000-08:00

I, the fictional animator Akre, have locked Dr. Zork into a box so that he can no longer unleash his foul opinions about me and my animation actions.

Dr. Zork is the character who created me, but I have done him in, and now I resume work and on the animated feature film Wargoon Flishe, which I will soon finish.

Wargoon Flishe is ancient animation. It is cave drawing images carved upon the pages of modern magazine advertising. It is a reaction to the sickeningly slick computer animation that rules the day.

I get so tired of those animated epics with the cute characters that are one child or another of Lassiter and Luxo. I want to see something with mistakes and sweat left in, where animation meets the real world of error and falling down, much like the puppet animation of the past where you could see fingerprints and errors corrected in the next few frames. Light reflections on animation cels and all that jazz.

And so I am working on Wargoon Flishe. It is all a mess, but I am having a blast working on it. Now I am up to the music, made out of some scratchy records in my possession.

There is no pome of the day today.

place

2006-11-29T06:10:00.000-08:00

the place is here
the place is now
the place is where
you stop and wow
the place is where
you want to stay
give up the talk
of go away

why do we even let them blather
about arterials and collectors
and all those traffic engineering
incantations
we live in places
we do not live in transportation infrustructure
we should me making a place
we want to stay
rather than staying
in networks to nowhere

wet pomes

2006-11-28T06:21:00.000-08:00

i left the pomes in my brain
and they got very wet
i could try telling one to you
but you might get upset

i curled the pomes around my toes
to get them down the stairs
i could tell one or two to you
but that won't end your cares

i put the pomes in my eye
to keep them in sure sight
i could recite them all to you
but it doesn't feel right

i put the pomes on a shelf
and left them there for you
you didn't take them from that spot
and i forgot them too

piano hands

2006-11-27T06:23:00.000-08:00

piano hands are as fast as a switch
boom bim boom bim
right is a what one and left is a which
bim boom bim boom

piano fingers, just look at them go
plunk plink plunk plink
so many keys impressed, all in a row
plink plunk plink plunk

piano feet have so little to do
nong ning nong ning
reverberation is always so true
ning nong ning nong

piano sitting down eagle of swoop
ring rong ring rong
appreciation showed with clap and whoop
rong ring rong ring

forget

2006-11-26T12:10:00.000-08:00

something about everything
is making you upset
perhaps your greatest focus
ought to be to just forget

if the words are way too long
and, oh, that alphabet
throw the language out the door
relax, and just forget

if it's all so costly
and you have a growing debt
pull out your favorite plastic card,
charge it and forget

advertising pulls your strings
you happy marionette
trust it knows what's best for you
go shopping and forget

maybe it's all craziness
that makes you break that sweat
or maybe you're a fuddy dud
so do not fear, forget

box of yellow

2006-11-24T07:26:00.000-08:00

brian had a box of yellow
put it in his coat
fed it raisins, one by one
showed it to a goat

will not show the box to me
says he has his reasons
as the fields turn on their rows
making all the seasons

box of yellow mystery
but i don't really care
brian gets all sharp and hissy
when he hits the air

fizzy is the mountain top
frousy is that fellow
will he show me if i ask
what's in that box of yellow

no sale

2006-11-22T06:32:00.000-08:00

larry liar
had a fire
growing in his hair
with his foot
to out it put
he got a two or stare

betsy bee
young and free
as a butterfly
had to take
rusty cake
to the do or die

innocent
never lent
anything to no one
had to call
for a hall
down it to away run

only i
small as pie
don't know what to tell you
far too low
to give a show
that this pome will sell you

if i had a

2006-11-21T06:36:00.000-08:00

if i had music in my feet
some small boulders i would greet
if i had pricetags in my nose
and several secrets to suppose
if i had bruises in my hair
and magic laundry i could air
if i had ears made out of corn
if that was just how i was born
if i had mustache on my tongue
and that was how i stay so young
if i had fountains in my legs
you get them how? by breaking eggs

my yours

2006-11-20T06:28:00.000-08:00

my morning has a red-striped sky
your morning doesn't even try
my trees are veins made out of wood
yours burn in fireplace like they should
my houses play games on the street
yours are a place within to eat
my doorways take me near and far
yours only what they seem they are
my windows look into your soul
yours have a very different role
my doorknob turns to years ago
yours doesn't put on any show
my footsteps fill with reverie
yours, to the car and turn the key

no theatre show

2006-11-19T11:13:00.000-08:00

i went to the theatre show that day
dressed up, with a hat in my hair
but when i got to the theatre show
the theatre show wasn't there

i thought i came at the certain time
i read on the newspaper page
but i wondered the forest for the trees
or the wrong historical age

i waited a little just in case
my clock was a little fast
but the beginning never seemed to come
i was either too first or too last

i had nothing in the world to do
my schedule was all amiss
so i remained there for a spell
in a kind of paralysis

we couldn't either

2006-11-18T07:31:00.000-08:00

he couldn't see his tennis shoes
he couldn't see his face
he couldn't see the way his body
filled a certain space

he couldn't see the way his voice
curled like a rock or stone
he couldn't see the reason
that we didn't telephone

he couldn't see his eyes
their coating had a mirror sheen
he couldn't see his friendliness
came with a certain mean

he couldn't see the way his ears
were hearing outer space
we couldn't see the hills and trees
nor his towns of face

middle school

2006-11-17T07:02:00.000-08:00

standing so next to
the blue wall soldiers
right when the bell rings
as loud as my ear
all that energy
could fire a small sun
and all those eyes
thirteen years of seeing
and i am so invisible
i don't feel a single glance

avalanche

2006-11-16T06:22:00.000-08:00

this avalanche inside my head
will spit out rocks until it's dead

the spinning typhoon in my gut
will answer when i call out what

the blizzard falling in my toes
will rage a day, i do suppose

the steady rain before my eyes
will clothe the whole world in disguise

broken air

2006-11-15T06:58:00.000-08:00

many people wouldn't want to
other people wouldn't dare
but sometimes you have to open up
a jar of broken air

you will find it on the highest shelf
you might forget it's there
but sometimes it comes in handy
a jar of broken air

we canned a few so long ago
with all the greatest care
we have a few remaining jars
filled up with broken air

it's more powerful than spinshine
and it comes from a nightmare
long ago we got some bottled
just in case we need a spare

i'm not talking about pickles
tomatoes or camembert
i speak of certain sealed-up jars
that hold some broken air

big gus

2006-11-14T06:26:00.000-08:00

he listens with his mouth hole
and he talks out of his ear
you'd think that he could hear your side
but that's not the case, i fear

he plays piano with his two feet
and walks with his two hands
you'd think that he would like to
but he doesn't understand

he smells with his full head of hair
and combs his nose in curls
you'd think that makes him sensitive
but "sensitive" is for girls

he thinks with his whole belly
and he digests in his brain
you'd think his fat would make him smart
but he is quite insane

holding

2006-11-13T06:51:00.000-08:00

hold me tight between your ears
hold me with your face
keep me from the window sill
tie me to a place

hold me tight between your legs
in a knee vise grip
leverage me by estimating
circumference of my hip

hold me with your strength of eyes
and your rope of hair
keep me from the open door
keep me from elsewhere

hold me with your little toe
and also with your big
hold me with your finger tips
and whatever else you rig

impossible

2006-11-12T07:55:00.000-08:00

it's impossible to let the sunshine in
impossible to wear the nicest pin
impossible to find an empty room
impossible to touch the big sky moon

it's impossible to watch the train go by
impossible to ride it in the sky
impossible to share a night of talk
impossible to get there by a walk

it's impossible to say it in a word
impossible to feel you're ever cured
impossible to make your bed with grout
impossible to find the only way out

it's impossible to eat a two ton steak
impossible to stop without a brake
impossible to find a cure for news
impossible to wear your favorite shoes

it's impossible to keep on tumbling down
impossible to bend your smile to frown
impossible to sing without a beak
impossible to map the whole long week

super nostril market

2006-11-11T07:50:00.001-08:00

the supermarket is in my nose
i ride there on a goat
and when my cart is very full
the cashier's in my throat

i have to get invisible cheese
they sell it in a square
but when i cut some for my bread
it really isn't there

i look at many magazines
each has a human face
but when i open up each page
i'm hurled to outer space

the aisles are much too long for me
much longer than my leg
and all i need to finish up
is just one magic egg

i'm looking for the door to leave
it's really much too high
when i ascend to exit-land
dead animals wave bye

super nostril market

2006-11-11T07:50:00.000-08:00

song of we

2006-11-10T06:34:00.000-08:00

we are the impossible
we do not exist in every mind
we are the cloak
of darkness
and walk too small
to see our steps
in the gas

from the skytrees
to the snow of ground
from all the birds
who stay so still
and all the eating
chomp chomp chomp
and underneath
and going to town

you are the only one
your own good looks
are such a steal
and if you do not
take it seriously
i may as well
lie down bulldozer

conference in my stomach

2006-10-31T05:55:00.000-08:00

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

2006-10-30T06:18:00.000-08:00

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

2006-10-28T10:03:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-27T06:51:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-26T06:49:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-25T06:40:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-24T06:37:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-23T06:33:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-21T07:06:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-19T06:34:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-18T06:51:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-17T06:28:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-15T08:19:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-11T06:39:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-10T07:22:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-09T07:07:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-08T06:26:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-05T07:27:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-03T10:46:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-02T07:01:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-01T09:42:00.000-07:00

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

toast

2006-09-30T11:21:00.000-07:00

one little skin
across the crowded floor
one little word or two
over by the door

a little bit of light
a shadow leaf of feet
a glass that you should driink
a plate that you should eat

a suit of clothes, a wall
a long dress and some light
no ifs or ands or buts
but only yes and quite

one little person
another person too
sailing their life away
with no additional crew

substitutions

2006-09-29T06:56:00.000-07:00

i rolled myself just like a wheel
to make it up a hill
the taste of x and polka dots
disguise the bitter pill

i made my back a turtle shell
so i could cross the road
next time i'll get an umbrella
to wheel my extra load

i watched a wall of shadows
so i could see a sign
i tried to connect all the dots
but couldn't make a line

some people talk in ice cream melt
some whisper words in creek
i wait under the mailbox door
and lick the stamps to speak

1 - 4

2006-09-28T06:36:00.000-07:00

when the first act ends, we stand up stiffly
when the second act ends, we nod our head
third act ends, we clap politely
act four over, now what was said

see the first picture, that's some lighting
second picture makes us take a glance
third picture and we yawn discretely
fourth picture won't penetrate our trance

first person met, now that's exciting
second person passes, we like the style
third person here, we still are curious
fourth one comes, they all seem vile

first day dawns, stand at attention
second day makes us sit on chairs
third day comes, we slouch a little
this day comes and no one cares

some possessions

2006-09-27T06:49:00.000-07:00

he had a patchy coat of fog
he wore it in the morning
it rose and fell but by noon time
it had all dissipated

he had some thoughts like bits of wood
convenient for a burning
and when the sulfur match was struck
the fire would race like silence

he had eyeglasses made of stars
so he could see the furthest
he only took them off to know
the contents of his hidden heart

he squeezed a beverage from the stain
left by the tree's dark shadow
he drank it when he needed strength
and this was always

funny bone

2006-09-26T06:57:00.000-07:00

jason had a funny bone
it came out of his nose
his sense of smell was not too well
as you would presuppose

that bone coming out of his nose
was such a sight to see
some folks would laugh and laugh
and laugh and laugh and laugh and pee

upon that bone he put a hat
a small one, no, a cap
on holidays with colored ribbon
he the bone would wrap

until the day he got it stuck
so deep inside a well
he really wanted just to know
how deep a thing could smell

his feet are all that's sticking out
of that deep well's small cone
but passersby still laugh so hard
at his big toe's funny bone
(he had one on each end, see)

sizes

2006-09-25T06:29:00.000-07:00

when i was as big as a living room
i had my machine thoughts and ways
i carried myself with machine posture
i lived the machine style those days

when i was as big as a whole house
i lived like an insect or a rock
i'd try to make coffee out of sadness
i didn't tell time by the face of clock

i'm never satisfied by my lot in size
i could expand if i could control it
but i have to watch for cops and robbers
who come by whenever they patrol it

some day i will not even try
but i'll be as small as just a thing
i won't have room enough for eyes
but i'll still wear that old trinket ring

dinner

2006-09-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

we went to dinner oh last night
the sky was there and thick of teeth
we found a shell as large as town
and oh what visions underneath

we walked for maybe blocks or so
the evening was spread out like rugs
we waited at the traffic stop
the air was laced with smoke and shrugs

the other night was last night too
the lights came on when dark was late
we stood exactly in the eye
we walked some more and then we ate

and when we trundled to our home
the sky as fragrant as a pin
we said goodbye to all the out
and said hello to all the in

go before start

2006-09-22T07:03:00.000-07:00

i left before the show began
i cannot wait for everything
i left after five minutes wait
i do not like it if it's late

i left during the overture
despite ticket investiture
i made it to another show
before it started, i would go

i could not wait a moment more
waiting is not what shows are for
i do not like to wait all day
four minutes could turn my hair gray

i will not, do not, cannot wait
for any show that's starting late
i guess i really like to go
before the start of any show

crazy man

2006-09-21T07:09:00.000-07:00

when i went on a walk
i met a crazy man
he had a crazy set of teeth
he had a crazy tan

he told me crazy things
he opened up his mouth
he told me if i wanted north
i had to go straight south

he had a crazy suit
he wore it on his head
he said he wasn't quite alive
but also wasn't dead

he told me that the sky
would not be back that day
i pointed up at some faint clouds
he said that i should stay

he had three crazy eyes
rotating all around
and when they travelled on their course
they made a crazy sound

he told me crazy things
he wasn't drinking booze
i know where i saw him before
on tv he reads news

plant party

2006-09-20T06:40:00.000-07:00

let's have a party
but we'll just invite the plants
we can save on beer and taco chips
we won't have to wear our pants

maybe we will water them
play them a radio tune
they will not laugh at all our jokes
but won't want to leave too soon

let's have a party
for the houseplants in their pots
we won't have to serve them wine and cheese
or bowls of apricots

and when the party's over
we won't have to shush them home
we can go right to our beddy byes
and write it in a pome

cooked song

2006-09-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

i'll cook for you a special dish
i'll make it with the heads of fish
i'll make it with the root of cow
i'll cook some up exactly now

i'll cook for you a meal or two
i'll make it out of your left shoe
i'll make it out of tiddly winks
i'll cook it done until it stinks

i'll make a meal that you can eat
i'll make it with my hands and feet
i'll stir the gravy with my hair
i'll cook it while you stand and stare

i'll make you dinner and some lunch
i'll bake stale bladders by the bunch
i'll serve it all with such elan
that you will eat it by the pan

utility song

2006-09-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

when you feel all down and so weather and blue
there is only one thing that you really should do
you should open your mouth despite all the sores
and also in sleep you can do it in snores
and sing out the song that i will say to you
sing it ippilty oppilty moo moo moo

when far is so farther and near is so too
and there is nobody as exposed as you
when up is much higher and down is so deep
the things that you want aren't the things that you keep
sing loudly this song if you know what to do
sing out ippilty oppilty coo coo coo

if you are a bump and there is no log
if you are a freckle and there is no hog
if you are a machine and there is no cog
if your old bedroom is now part of a bog
give your nose and your ears a good talking to
tell them ippilty oppilty boo boo boo

you don't have a care or a kiddle for thee
you don't have a lock but you do have a key
you don't have a fastener to tighter your shoe
but i'm going to tell you exactly to do
just open your kneecaps and bottlecaps too
sing so ippilty oppilty noo noo noo

oral stage

2006-09-17T07:37:00.000-07:00

there is a curtain in my mouth
a stage, a band, and some footlights
i open wide for every show
or you can watch between my bites

the chorines dance upon my tongue
the shootouts transpire by tonsils
between my teeth, soliloquies
and jugglers demonstrate their skills

with comedy my whole mouth laughs
which makes it hard to open wide
at tragedy i tend to weep
tears fall and blur the act inside

loud bands make other mouths complain
i shrug my arms to pass the blame
the last show was a bit risque
expect tonight's to be more tame

eclectic are the offerings
with shows to suit most any age
the critics notice my bad breath
so daily i must brush the stage

delivered socks

2006-09-16T05:45:00.000-07:00

he carried socks across the earth
thru winds of steel and mirror rain
he beat back pitchmen and pitchforks
delivering despite the pain

he carried socks within his mouth
the teeth grip kept them safe and sound
despite tornado tournaments
he'd keep fresh socks flying around

sock-muffled squeak, he'd sound, you'd know
when sock delivery was in fact
he'd conk the triumph of the stairs
the slings and slingshots and their pact

between your shoe and you is he
delivered socks by way of face
thru snows of shed and lightning brats
he brings stockings to every place

garden report

2006-09-15T05:28:00.000-07:00

pay a visit to a squash
and see what you can see
put it to words and dot the i's
and give your work to me

explore the texture of a leaf
from high atop a tree
jump down as far as all the roots
report right back to me

spelunk inside a length of bean
and in a pod of pea
make note of all obstructions
and then tell the tale to me

circle several flowers
in the fashion of a bee
record sundry impressions
and relay them all to me

sit in the garden late at night
and tiny as a flea
turn observations into pome
the paper's due at three

resort

2006-09-14T06:35:00.000-07:00

they told me once, they told me twice
i didn't clearly hear
you fill it out, you stamp it twice
and then you put it here

you keep your papers in a row
don't put them in the slot
you count how many sides each has
and tie it in a knot

you punch your fist thru form 2B
this year they made it easy
form 2C is a vomit bag
in case you're feeling queasy

once all the paperwork is filled
stay in your island cell
you will receive a ticket home
if you treat the guards well

if you remain supremely still
they'll tell you what you've done
and if they don't, just go with it
pretend that it is fun

and if you rot for years and years
don't blame it all on you
the torturers might treat you rough
but they've got to work too

ants in the plants

2006-09-13T06:50:00.000-07:00

there is a garden in the back
it's green and brown with several plants
but what it grows the best of all -
civilizations of small ants

the garden ants are seeking sweet
they dig the ground, they walk on air
and on each berry and each grape
you'll find an ant who's sucking there

i told them to slow down this time
i told them to leave some for me
but they march on in all their force
a long day this is going to be

a garden is a peaceful place
sit in the grass and take a breath
and where my finger meets my thumb
so many ants will meet their death

hat place

2006-09-12T06:47:00.000-07:00

when i put my hat upon my head
i sometimes wonder what if instead
i kept on going down the hat
what would i see inside of that

inside my hat there is a place
i've heard of it, seen just a trace
i've thought it when the hat was on
i nicknamed the place avalon

if i dare and if i don't
i'll travel with a winter coat
i'll wear my telescopic eyes
i'll walk until i reach the prize

it may be hot, it may be cold
i may not reach it til i'm old
the world in there, it is not flat
that secret world inside my hat

lived by car

2006-09-11T07:53:00.000-07:00

motorcars are everywhere
they're in your face and in your hair
they're in the way you do not walk
they're in your eyes, they're in your talk

there seems to be too many cars
they number something like the stars
they trample down the growing ground
how can we stand them all around

how can we burn all of that gas
why does a trip take so much mass
why do we need two tons of steel
to get a drive-thru every meal

some day we'll surely brush them off
and we will look back and we'll scoff
at people who lived such a lie
they lived by car and why oh why

hate me

2006-09-10T07:23:00.000-07:00

all the folks who hate my guts
want to hit me in the putz
aim directly for my eyes
use the element of surprise

several people want me hurt
with my disaster they will flirt
they'll try to stomp me on the toe
to make their hatred really show

there are those who want to see
me writhing in some agony
they will throw bricks thru the air
and hope they tangle in my hair

all the folks who want me dead
aim directly at my head
hit me with a two by four
so i will fall down on the floor

once they've had their way with me
i will rest and sigh happy
once they've carried out that threat
hopefully they'll just forget

allergic to war

2006-09-09T06:36:00.000-07:00

lemmy had an allergy
and i'm not understating
he'd start to sneeze and nasal drip
when somebody was hating

some violence, the threat of war
an "i will shoot you dead"
would lead him to the kleenix box
to blow his snotty head

the sneezing and the sniffing
got too much for him to stand
when his whole country was marching to
the military band

his country started up a war
to prove some pointless point
a single sneeze from lemmy
could clear an entire joint

his eyes got wet, his head got thick
snot buildup wouldn't cease
the pressure got to be so strong
he sneezed us all to peace

alice in twist

2006-09-08T06:39:00.000-07:00

she was reading carroll's alice
he was reading oliver twist
the nightstand light off
sleep came to them
side by side
darkness, dreams, and sharing night

alice's rabbit hole dug directly
to 1830's london town
she met oliver and his boys
tried picking pockets, did not like it

fagin was played by humpty dumpty
and bill sykes was a bit of a queen
alice wanted to find a way out
the artful dodger had pinched a rocket

alice, oliver, artful and rabbit
blasted off from the street of orphans
they passed the dodo and flying jabberwock
to discover new planets of story and dream
we'll have to find them another night
intermission, last page, the eyes