Most of my poetry comes out in the form of hypothetical song lyrics, but occasionally I'll churn out something more traditional. Here's one I wrote at a time when I was dealing with some clinical anxiety:
Toast to Me
People are like toast to me… There are always two sides (and a little around the edges).
I can see the differences, even when they are subtle.
Sometimes the difference is obvious-
One side is dark, and the other light.
If one side is bent in, you can bet the other side is bent out.
Sometimes, the differences are hard to see,
But I can always tell one side from the other.
And I can understand them both.
I can understand that the dark side has been burned, and the light side is only warm.
And I can enjoy both sides at the same time.
I can tolerate crunchy, and I can tolerate soft.
But no matter how well I can understand it-
No matter how much I can relate,
I can’t talk to toast.
I can’t make it understand me.
And people are like toast to me…
And, on a much less depressing note- here's a song I wrote as a way of saying "thanks for being an awesome friend". I wrote this for someone who- though he didn't know it- really changed my life in a permanent way, and opened me up to the idea that there are people out there who I really can trust. (I haven't shown him this, because I don't think he'd take it the right way if he knew I wrote a song for him.
) Anyway, here it is:
The Rest of The Year
Smells of Fall and alcohol
Returning to my head
Yes I still remember when
We left the kid for dead
Looking back at the years before
I ever knew your name-
I should have known that I’d been growin’
In a world of shame
*Summer breathes a heavy sigh
Seasons never say goodbye
One more week, and Fall is here
And so begins the rest of the year
Me and Dan- my right hand man-
And Shabby on the road
We stayed amused by the rhythm and blues
And the stories we told
Out by the street with something to eat
When the weather was feeling right
Making plans to get together again
On a warm summer night
*Retail work could be so strange
The people never seemed to change
The shelves are always low on beer
At the beginning of the rest of the year
Post Merge: January 24, 2012, 02:54:32 AM
Oh, sorry, one more- on a somewhat comical note this time. Here's a song I was inspired to write by a bottle of hot sauce... (Asterisks are meant to indicate a chorus line)
Shake It Well
*Sh- sh- sh- shake it well (X4)
Contents may have shifted while shippin'
Particles have settled on the move
Shake it up before you get to sippin'
Bottom-up and turn it to the groove
The pulp is in the juice
You've got to set it loose
The chiming of the bell-
You've got to shake it well
*
The peppers in the sauce will have you burnin'
Left to sit they sink into the mix
Before you get that bottle cap a-turnin'
Shake it like you're jonesin' for a fix
You've got no constitution
You're hiding in a shell
Well, I've got the solution-
You've got to shake it well
*
Now you know the secret to the feeling
Pass it on to every fellow man
Who knows how much time our time is stealing
Let's take some time and shake as best we can
That natural desire
can bind you in a spell
If just to feed the fire-
You've got to shake it well
Sh- sh- sh- shake it well
(I'm in a spell)
Sh- sh- sh- shake it well
(Just break the shell)
Sh- sh- sh- shake it well
(Just ring the bell)
Sh- sh- sh- shake it well
(Give 'em hell)
*