Little Blue Candle

Little Blue Candle are you scared?
Is your wick a little frail?
Little Blue Candle I don't know where 
you go to tell your tale

Are you afraid of wind, Little Blue? 
are you afraid of wind?
Are you afraid of boys, Little Blue?
boys with wishes again?
Are you afraid of the cat, Little Blue?
the cat's afraid of you!

Little Blue Candle, up so late
sweeping with your flaming broom
Little Blue Candle, illuminate!
keep the darkness from my room

A puff of smoke, Little Blue --
smoke means that your tired
Standing brave, Little Blue; 
or are you a little liar?
Are you afraid of the night, Little Blue?
the night comes just for you!

Little Blue Candle, melting down
your flame turns into air
Little Blue Candle, stick around
I like to see you there

Sweet and Young

Sweet and Young
do we really know what we have done?
sweet and young
so far to go and we've just begun

now it seems like forever
but we've only known you for awhile
and every time I look into your eyes
I see a familiar smile

sweet and young
you're the star that's turned my life into a shining son
sweet and young
so far to go and you've just begun

now your ship is sailing on the sea
and the wind is blowing easily
and we're not where we used to be
but we're still free...

M-O-O-N, That Spells Moon

Don't it make you tired to think about the moon?
It has so much going on
and everybody's watching
It's gotta come up every day
not just for a working man's life
but every day for hundreds of millions of years

(you are so beautiful, you're like a movie star to me!)

Don't it make you tired to think about the moon?
What's with the dark side
the side it never shows?
I think there's a lot more to know about the man-in-the-moon
what's he hiding? 
come on, I dare you, look at me!

(you are so beautiful, set over the sea for me!)

Don't it make you tired to think about the moon?
All those rings? 
   no, that's Saturn
Little green men?
   no, that's Mars
The big rear end?
   no, that's Uranus!

(you are so beautiful to me...)

Don't it make you tired to think about the moon?

Yes; so let's    go    to     bed

The Little Zoo - (a little dream)

Ring, ring, my telephone rang
a fish came to my door
a little toad was in the road
a star was on my floor

Sir, sir! the young fish said 
a bee is on my back!
I said oh my, would you like me to try
to put it in a sack?

The little toad dodged to and fro
and hopped up to my house
he came inside and then he tried
to eat that bee, the louse!

The star said leave that bee alone
he's a beautiful creature of God
if you would eat him as a treat then
on you bigger things will trod!

Ring, ring, my telephone rang
and a man came on the line
my little zoo has gone have you
seen any little sign?

When I awoke I was alone
but a bump from a sting arose
I smelled like fish and made a wish
to get rid of the wart on my nose.

Walter and the Mechanic

Walter walked into town

saw a mechanic sitting down

smoking a cig, taking ten

on the edge of the curb, scraped arm on the mend

Walter thought, 'look at that man.

Someday, God willing, maybe I can

have a job, take a break

have something to live for besides this wandering

for wandering's sake'

Then the mechanic looked up

from his sugar-coffee cup

saw Walter standing there

shoes united, clothes askew, streaks of something? in his hair 

The mechanic thought, 'look at that man.

Someday, God willing, maybe I can

walk the world, face the sun

have something to live for besides my everyday

get-this-day-done'

He squinted at Walter with grimaced lips

Walter stood there, hands resting on his hips

(for this was the mechanic's smile

and basically Walter's 'I'm thoughtful' style)

eyebrows raised, Walter thought

'that man thinks I'm an idiot and ought to be shot'

The mechanic stared back, thinking his own thoughts

'that man thinks I'm lazy and now I've been caught'

(he could be introspective if he wanted to be

and he liked to project, self pity-ing-ly)

awkward and alone

they both stared for seconds at each other's bones

Then Walter turned south

a dryness in his mouth

put his right foot out first

looked down the street for relief

from his thirst

the mechanic he rose

brushed the ash off his clothes

kicked his butt to the street 

and like all times before

beat a languid retreat

Two men and a moment shared

neither one knew the other one cared

community builds, isolation defeats

the thoughts in your head

are like Walter's lost streets

And So It Goes

sun sinks down

train rumbles by

puddle evaporates

newspaper recycles

flower droops

bird feeder empties

dinner plate clean

beer mug dry

laughter fades

dream awakens

summer passes

and so it goes...

do you wonder
why it's so hard
to live in the present?

Rain, Reign, Rein

In the heavy precipitation I rode
through my kingdom
trying to slow down my horse

Walter's Gone

Walter
He was a good man
But he found another way,
A jingling he had to pay.

Walter 
He was not a fun man
He walked with a heavy step;
With words he was not adept.

Walter
He was a wandering man
Put on his coat, went out his front door
and silently walked 10 miles, maybe more.

Walter
A short memory man
Didn't know where he was but he was all smiles.
Picked up his foot and walked another 10 miles.

Walter's gone
Oh, to be
a man such as he
Step by step
around the world.

Walk On Wings

You have such a beautiful voice
  all you should be allowed to do is sing
But you're afraid; when you have a choice
  you'd rather do any other thing

I've seen others like you: beautiful smiles
  looking down at the ground, at their feet
when looks like yours could take you miles
  you're satisfied to stay in your seat

I never thought that with these beautiful gifts
  you'd wait for someone else to bring
a feeling of power, or duty, or
trust, or love, or gratitude
  for these wonderful things

Walk on wings
or fly! It's a wide-open sky!
  and it's not going to go away
Walk on wings--
you try, but I don't know why
you're grounded
  and that's where you stay

Let's try for tomorrow
or maybe the next day...

Kitchen

The clock on the wall
is a fake, I'm sure
the hole in the hall
has fabricated fur

the fly on the ceiling
has left too soon
the fridge is peeling
the man in the moon

the toaster charged
the oven quit
the blender says,
"you're full of it!"

the coffee machine
covered its eyes
the fork's obscene
the tea pot tries

The table flatly
says it won't
the hutch is yellow
and it says, "Don't!"

the bread box blows
butter tears
the counter shows
its knifing fears

my kitchen thinks
that it's alive
that's why I drinks
from noon to five

A Light

The stairway is pretty dark
    and though your feet are pretty light
and the drive is close where you park

and you know the way...

I'll leave a light

     because I don't want there to be
a moment wasted between you and me

If you decide to come
   and you get here late
     though you left with the sun
        and you're working through your prayers
            what to say...

I'll leave a light on

      if you're standing in the shade of doubt
I want to help you find your way out

I'll leave a light on for you

Holy Bake'ry

I tried 

I really did

but the cards that was dealt me

never got turnt over

I sat and I thought

and thought and thought and thought

When the sun came up 

I stood up and looked out the door

down the street

tord the bake'ry

my poppy owned and got up and went to 

ever day

yur after yur after yur

One day he gots poco loco

and started shootin' the place up

with his gun

And that mornin'

his goods was all ruint

I tried I really did

to make thangs right

but it didn't do no good

We kept on kneadin' the dough

the yeast kept risin',

and the bread and the scones 

and the cakes and pastries

from that day forward they all

came out the oven with a hole in the middle

about yay big

that's the way thangs is

fer us now at the bake'ry

So'sn I stepped out the door 

moved down the street 

tord our busyness

twirlin' my Pistols whilst

people got out my way

and said under thur breaths to one 'nother

as I passed

Look, thar goes that

Son of a biscuit shooter

Power Down

Power down, super man
It's 11 o'clock again
somewhere down
   the old Spring Road
the phone's been busy since ten

Power down, super man
find a place to rest
Doomsday's dead
   and your head is
just not working its best

shut down, turn off
cool your jets awhile
have some applesause
   on some toast
that'll make you smile!

Power down, super man
take your line out of the lake
it's been a long day
   and there's only so much
a super man can take

Too Much Sun

It was rain that day that eased my mind
too many sunny
        weatherless days
dry me up until my eyes roll back
and I see
     fewer colors
but colors I've not seen before

like you my friend
walking down the road
with the horizon in your eyes

     102 degrees on the day you left
skipping over the mountains 
    looking for the places where
    the sun rises

you left
    drought arrived
plants sucked up the last microbes
     of moisture in the soil
I worried I might dry up too
without you

It was rain that eased my mind

I Dooley Rambo

I Dooley Rambo
I Cherry Sneeze
I fought the Weinhard
down to its knees

I knicked the knack
I chained the saw
I licked the lock
against the law

from underneath
I sought the song
from up above
I caught the wrong

and as it were
the canto came
the Weinhard still
is all to blame

I Dooley Rambo
I Cherry Sneeze
Now what is left?
Explain it, please.