French Tickle

Rest upon ye laurels
nest within the niche each makes
domestic creature comfort
made from someone else’s mistakes

sing snow into spring
take up your tambourine
shake out your sillies
paint your bottom blue
preen a senior new
chip a favorite tooth
in the name of all who

snuck amung our loophole
late enough to dodge being caught
and soon enough to realize
you’re not (are) what they (you) say your not (are)
better to never go far
when never the better go all the way
back away and what stays in place?

The Word, A Great Speckle Bird
neither wing would work
hinged by it’s worm
in caverns -chomp chomp-
watch that sucker squirm
and dictate festive sermons
nothing left to learn

and this is not permission for
bangin’ gavels through closed doors
there’s a tendency to rot
from looking better on paper
better to never go far
never the better the all the way
back away and what stays in place?

hell baits a holy ghost
a-swingin’ i must go
without leaving home
and the cherished smell
sweet as country roses
plenty of room here
under all of our noses

hollow out a smokestack
slip it ‘cross your decent frame
we are gwine pitch a sin
that will be put to shame
better to never go far
when never the better go all the way
back away and what stays in place?

they tell me that history repeats
who plays such a trick on somebody?
what future it takes to inherit
a past that does no more than blindfold the present!

with ideas previously sampled
and thoughts stole straight from example
your next move is easily written
from any recycled first of tradition

we’re going around in circles
and all out of the loop

there’s more than enough of the old news
to piece what is filling up your shoes
and more than enough bestsellers
to lie your way out of your own storyteller

but failing to pick up the last pen
perpetually scribbling your skin
with tales unable to finish
would write off your spin as only unnoticed

we’re going around in circles
and all out of the loop

if one thing should lead to another
we’re walking historical figures
pick all the ones you’re to play and you’ll be
making the rounds in a brand new way

we’re going around in circles
and all out of the loop

there’s gonna come a day
when you’ll try to realize
those shoes of yours just aren’t fitting anymore
if it’s a matter more of what you say
than the look that’s in your eyes
you’re better off with your feet on the floor

that’s all that really matters
up until you give it a second guess
and i can see a pattern forming here
i think i’ll watch it all progress
cause i couldn’t care less

no i’m careful of what i don’t care about
I wouldn’t want to be careless
the sloppy hand won’t catch a greasy pig
anybody can have sorted the world out
but I sense the hesitance
that’s just too big of a hole to dig

i’ve had it with all of you
i don’t even come off as humorous
everyday it’s getting harder to exist
in middle of this mess
when i couldn’t care less

the fly-by-nighters sleep
and they only need listen
for the safest catch phrase they can use
the whole goal is completely incomplete
with nothing more to accomplish
unless you’re counting all the old pairs of shoes

our date with disappointment
hurry up and put on your party dress
i know there’s plenty on the horizon
that would hold your interest
but i couldn’t care less

set up shop where the rain won’t be
tending to the fire lit under me
i can hot-step you right over glowing coals
so gracefully you’d think you felt the devil’s tickle
now and then i feel as tho i’ve made that trek
more times around then the scarf on a giraffe’s neck
but you hide a feeling better when you let it show
and i’ll whoop anyone who says it isn’t so

watch out everybody, clear the way
the dance i’m a-doin doesn’t have a name

woke up this morning with my eyes are mighty red
betcha forty dollars she was in my head
i think about me and her everyday still
jack and jillin’ all up the hill
it’s a habit it’s a habit that i have to break
if i want to know a thing but a heartache
she’ll probably just find herself somebody new
boy oh boy the way they always do

watch out everybody, clear the way
the dance i’m a-doin doesn’t have a name

this may seem mapped-out territory
but the same ol’ story is news to me
when i die you better find a pair of bobby socks
and bury me underneath the jukebox
but up til then you’ll have to bear with me
i suggest you learn to get yourself good and comfy
the fire is bright and the fire is warm
the fire thinks nothing of any storm

watch out everybody, clear the way
the dance i’m a-doin doesn’t have a name
i’m a runaway shaker and a bit afraid!
the dance i’m a-doin doesn’t have a name

a subtle glance and suddenly
a change of plans you’re here with me
couldn’t have been expectedly
but that’s just how it rolls
for two alluring souls

we’ll do it right, we’ll set a date
but not tonight, that’s too late
i need you now, i can not wait
to be fit in when we’re
a matter urgent

i’ve seen you leaned
out your window
by those just-don’t-matter-at-alls
right before they sound
your mating call

a patter heard above the lane
where mockingbird waits out the rain
whatever’s lost is only gained
from what could be
ready for anything

i’ll do the chores, i’ll pay the rent
the rest is yours, however spent
i’m bankable, worth every cent
and priced to sell
hurry, i’m given just as well

i’ve seen you leaned
out your window
by those just-don’t-matter-at-alls
right before they sound
your mating call

i play the part of welcomed thief
to tender hearts spectacularly
forget about forgetting me
it’s of no use
from here, there’s nothing you could do

i’ve seen you leaned
out your window
by those just-don’t-matter-at-alls
right before they sound
your mating call

the night invites, the moon delights
there’s a poetic ponder to the pale streetlights
and all of that stuff sounds really nice
or at least i’m told it should

but not for me, because you see
tonight the other life i find interesting
so friend, thanks for asking
but i’m staying put

why should i bundle up for the cold
there’s a space right here that i call my own
i opened the window and took a look out
doesn’t that count as leaving the house?

i don’t think of all of these
interesting people that i could meet
none of them take to listening
they’re too misunderstood

but now’s the chance to do my dance
shake some of these ants right out of my pants
or sit a while and sulk over lost romance
i’m staying put

i’m gonna wibble my wabbles all out of the way
or sneak out the second after you vacate
i could rearrange my whole life to and fro
then put it all back and no one would know

go out and have yourself a blast
i’ll be everywhere you weren’t when you get back
this party’s taking a nap
and it’ll be just as good

single men, single men
walking all the way home alone again
just another night without a friend
we’re used to it now

every end collected
got each others hopes erected
and a mended heart well hidden
unsought anyhow

oh the love of a girl
in the simplest of worlds
is so complicated
and it seems we can only get so close
for we’re busy smothering
everything that we should be
with each other’s relation
til alas, there’s no one left who knows

profuse sweat, crooked nose
maybe something’s the matter with our clothes
maybe it’s the hairdo, nobody knows
would you please take one home

40 minutes just to get
everyone of our hands on a cigarette
and another dozen to get it lit
but a second to smoke

we pretend, best we can,
that we’d never go spending any attention
when one of our own flees the nest
but the single men know

oh the love of a girl
in the simplest of worlds
is so complicated
and it seems we can only get so close
for we’re busy smothering
everything that we should be
with each other’s relation
til alas, there’s no one left who knows

young debutante, fair bachelorette
don’t throw in the towel for us yet
there’s a bit of romance you haven’t met
for neither have we

just for now, please allow
any bit of affection, don’t let us down
could you lend us your hat to promenade around
til next we should meet?

get straight to the helm of fate
their convincingly authentic way
a tuxedo at the usual
plain clothed social masquerade
around the bearable parables
a soul won’t authenticate
holy as the lock on a church’s gate

they know why the blues ain’t dry
and which tonic would settle the score
it’s the answer they are hired for
as you glide across the ouija floor
but if you slow down, watch how
they hover over the drift
you may be willing to sense how the message shifts

they paint sense along a wooden fence
so the splintering is overlooked
poor medusa with her head propped up
by a stack of self-help books
should be aware they share an
all too common vein
passing off a fraud in tradition’s name

they know why just enough to say
that fate is usually late
but they nevermind to tell you
that the devil is always on time

they cater to all reddened palms
on which there’s fortune withering
like avenues laying askew
in a pile of their cross streets
but if they can, they’ll channel
the pocketbook alone
it all makes mercy want to write a letter home

they know why just enough to say
that fate is usually late
but they nevermind to tell you
that the devils always on time

an eye snakes into having a way
of arresting better judgement
but words prove to maneuver you
into purely product placement
as any psychic’s sidekick
learns keeping you where you are
is safe as doing wrong behind a police car

I go on about a stiffer upper lip
And the thickest of skin
But the minute that
You wander from my sight
I turn into stone
There’s no drug that could have
Been your medicine
When you’d first fallen ill
But not only did you
Fight off the effect
You did it alone

Freeze where you are
You can burn to the touch
And be shivering
At the same time

Cold fever
Running temperature
All over

You were pushing at the edge
To keep the pace
But you had to break down
I can’t throw the covers
Over the remains
Of what could’ve been
I gave warning and pleaded and did all i could
But by forces beyond my control
It happened again

I mean no harm
And I told you as much
But i know i won’t stay
On your mind

Cold fever
Running temperature
All over

Freeze where you are
You can burn to the touch
And be shivering
At the same time

I mean no harm
And I told you as much
But i know i won’t stay
On your mind

Running from the chances you’ve lost
Running like there’s nobody left
Running like there’s never enough
Running from the ghost of your self

Wabash County took me away on a President’s Day
from the asylum of fog darkened clay
i’d started home or for the Banks of the Ohio
seeing shadows everywhere they could show
until a click of halogen stabbed the escape
to make it’s home in my every move since made

you better get your soul familiar with your maker
and don’t let the sun go down on you
when you’re in my town for if you do your time is through
what need have i for warning
when this copper brown filleting knife sharpens so easily?

i didn’t mean it, i don’t even know if he dead
til i’m certain, i won’t let it weigh on my head
but then i was turned towards that Spanish chaplain’s face
i fell down on my knees, lord it coulda been for days
there’s no soul to tell what rang from ear to ear
it was the first words that i ever did hear

you better get your soul familiar with your maker
and don’t let the sun go down on you
when you’re in my town for if you do your time is through
what need have i for warning
when this copper brown filleting knife sharpens so easily?

go back home, girl i didn’t know my love for you
til i felt the ease of piercing him through
don’t tell your mother, please don’t tell your pa
they never fixed me for this side of the law
and know i’m sorry know our darkest horse is done
but know if my way were
there’d be two where there was one

you better get your soul familiar with your maker
and don’t let the sun go down on you
when you’re in my town for if you do your time is through
what need have i for warning
when this copper brown filleting knife sharpens so easily?

you didn’t close the gate, anything could sneak right in
all your remains are leftovers and bobby pins
the whole world’s taking a turn, i found out in a dream
kinda silly now, there’s no other way it could have been
but you picked quite a time to leave
it looks like a full moon to me

i figured out, i could hold you for leverage
didn’t take me long to abuse the privilege
i can make it alone, i can cover all my expenses
there’s romance in the air but not many who can sense it
and you picked quite a time to leave
it looks like a full moon to me

remember how we used to fight ourselves to sleep
and then we’d wake up in the morning wrapped in a treaty
this and that, these and those
I got a feeling, what comes around still goes
and you picked quite a time to leave
it looks like a full moon to me

i like my purity to be just a little impure
we past a point, can’t be good all the way through no more
i’ll keep it quiet for a while but i know you’re not mine
after my turn, i’m getting right back in line
and you picked quite a time to leave
it looks like a full moon to me

born in the bile of limitation
while they were born into a vacation
four thirty in the morning
everyone’s tired, coming or going
from where we all have the same worth
our rights are equaled by our tract of birth
when you leave you get the carbon copy
with print so faint it’s hard to even read
the swindle we’re getting

on the long local out
if the rain don’t come around
scarcely see you on this route
we say your city’s running down
you never hear us make a sound
this just ain’t your part of town
the subway runs above the ground
on the long local out

they say joe turner been here and left
the good man didn’t leave anything on my steps
as everything’s going sky high
see heads down, maxed out, walking the poverty line
our weary bones feel the housing crunch
the hot steps of good money to burn on us
could they ever see beauty smiling
through dirty nails and a mouthful of mournful teeth
just to make a living?

on the long local out
if the rain don’t come around
scarcely see you on this route
we say your city’s running down
you never hear us make a sound
this just ain’t your part of town
the subway runs above the ground
on the long local out

people people, would you listen to me
i ain’t no doctor but i’s supposed to be
a wrecking ball’s has got its plan
this i know, this i understand
don’t you try to tell me
you’re the one that somebody needs to teach
oh, they think they got everything
we’ve got something they ain’t never seen
a community

on the long local out
if the rain don’t come around
scarcely see you on this route
we say your city’s running down
you never hear us make a sound
this just ain’t your part of town
the subway runs above the ground
on the long local out

ran into a lotta down time
running over any fine line
i could find left behind

from a world just as dangerous
but never numbing to this extent
more and more, i feel less and less

you know and i know
when weren’t here when it began
and don’t think we’re lucky enough
we’ll be long gone when it ends

we got lost where the road winds
so i stood a while at it’s side
trying to flag a ride heading back in time

as you carried on up ahead
you seem a little disenchanted
wasn’t what you expected, was it?

day in and day out
another one crossed off the list
but just the very second that
it all seemed finished
you found more

and if you’re looking for a difference
have yourself a seat
it’s going to be a while
not that far but it ain’t close
there’s others
and if you’re looking for a change
have yourself a seat
it’s going to be a while
it’s no way near our turn to go
we’ll have to wait

my baby she’s a rough and tough
has a steady form of any bluff
but knock long enough, she’ll open up

she made her own decision
she kissed me all over the weekend
boys, i’m never washin’ this cheek again

in and out, over and done with
is all they seem to know
but in between there’s too many
missing to ever disclose

there’ll always be more
and if you’re looking for a secret
have yourself a seat
it’s going to be a while
all the calm around the storm
there’s others
and if you’re looking for destruction
have yourself a seat
it’s going to be a while
it’s them who’s keeping your seat warm
for far longer

we don’t know how it’ll happen
doesn’t mean we can resist it
i’ve felt in my bones since i don’t know when

i put my chips on patience
you won’t have to say i didn’t win
I get the hint, don’t rub it in

what’s left is probably right
but let’s not take that chance now
this may seem be the only
opportunity out

but there’ll be more
and if you’re looking for the start of it
have yourself a seat
it’s going to be a while
no one’s going down without a fight
there’s others
and if you’re looking for the ending
have yourself a seat
it’s going to be a while
and we set the clocks back tonight

weave the reeds behind your
heavy marsh of doubt
shed all this armor
dragging you around
if it takes a lifetime
i’ve a lifetime here to take
a swimming streamline
left in it’s wake
hear that exit sound
it’s headed home now

i’m going back to the water
back to the water now
one if by land
you’ll know by hand
just where our banks will crowd
the lives we’re washing out

those whose eyes have yellowed
with what coffins crowd
servants and masters
to the stream run down
in the drowning of confusion
coming up for breath
a rapturous gesture
laughing free the death
from this living vow
i’m going back home now

i’m going back to the water
back to the water now
one if by land
you’ll know by hand
just where our banks will crowd
the souls we’re washing out

i never knew my lover
until her dying day
underneath her cover
floods a waterway
like baptism by fire
an angel cut from stone
the last rite’s of a sunken ship
whose ambush had been choked
and spirit couldn’t float

the quiet she blew around
scenically just a second wind
i lay awake dreaming aloud
as her breeze plumped my curtain

to turned me towards a little
and strip the shade enough to see
past our street’s drizzle through
her window of opportunity

she moved like the heavens grin
a devilish lovelight softening
her every step’s descent
from dampness of our in-betweens

i started out my old paine
which never before so easily
submitted a truthful fate
with less objection than a squeak

under an overpass
silent but a second
leave a return address
the clouds will mail a rain check

the timing is right to reach
further than ever expected
for once it is shut you’ll cease
to hear her invitation

just a little louder, muse
excuse my kinetic form
it’s gotten so easy to confuse
love with a thunderstorm

the dealing of hearts are few
and only a gambler’s thanks are told
to their queen who shuffled through
for this fair hand that i hold

miss many a chance and all that remains
a level of comfort too easily attained
if you want it, want it, want it, it’s yours as before
you can keep it, i’m after more

I’m raising the glass to sneak
to count each freckle gently
but careful of not locking
this window of opportunity