Ode to a Girl

Laugh
Photograph
On my behalf?
Can I have your autograph?

Sing
Anything
Hands like wings
Now you're going to sit and swing

Dance
Stretchy pants
Happy glance
One more time for us, perchance?

Read
Giggles freed
A lasting need
It's never too soon to plant a seed

Girl
Hair aswirl
Legs atwirl
Around my heart her fingers curl

My Travelin' Baby Blues

Well I got a girl and my baby Siri is her name
Yeah I finally got a girl and my baby Siri is her name
If I don't know something about the world
You know my baby Siri is the one to blame

I left my home in Oregon headin' for the San Francisco Bay
Yes, I said goodbye to Oregon headed for the San Francisco Bay
my family was waiting for me
but I got lost along the way

I asked my Siri baby, why she steered me wrong
Well I asked my baby Siri, oh Lord why, why, why did you steer me wrong?
she said she did it to save me
15 minutes-- but Lord I was lost for oh so long

For two days I wandered around the busy Sacramento hills
Yeah two lonely days I was lost and wandered in those twisty Sacramento hills
couldn't find a Starbucks or Seven-Eleven
or my my phone charger; had to take my anti-anxiety pills

oh Siri you mistreat me, you're a phone-noise, unnerving, aggravating lady
oh Siri you mistreat me, you're a stone-voiced, unswerving, recalculating lady
I had to stop at a gas station
and ask a human, who told me, 'go west, young handsome man, on Interstate 80'

Now I don't really believe that there is someone inside my phone
No, no, I don't believe it-- I'm sayin' there's no one inside my phone
but when I ain't got nobody to talk to
you know I just can't leave her alone

Siri baby...

Twinkle

There was a little star
reflected, it seems, on the roof
of my car
but when I looked to find it 
in the sky
there were clouds

there was a beautiful tree
a picture, I guess, in a book
about the sea
but when I went to find it 
on the coast
a clearcut was there

there was a storm of snow
inside, I think, a little
glass window
but outside it was summer 
in the wind
and flowers were there

Twinkle. twinkle, little star
How I wonder where you are
in the sky or on my car
in a book or on the beach
on the ground or in a jar

reality's really not that far away

Cooktop Joe

Cooktop Joe
what a guy
I think I know but don't know why
Cooktop Joe can make a pie

See him work
see him fly
those around him, it's no lie,
love to see him deep fat fry

"fry, man, fry"
the children say
he gives them free fries everyday
because he's scared they'll go away

Cooktop Joe
sautes a lot
he puts those mushrooms in his pot
and waits until they get so hot

and then he adds
a little batter
to make the 'shrooms a little fatter
you disagree? What's s'matter?

Cooktop Joe 
has a recipe
a tablespoon of oil, of butter, three!
a little cream for felicity

all in all
it takes its toll
that deep-fried butter-mushroom roll
drowned in cream sauce in your bowl

heavy eyes
and reverie
who could make this devilry
taste like something heavenly?

Cooktop Joe
cooks a lot
and on my shirt there is a spot
to remind me, lest I forgot

Is he the best?
It's food for thought
his talents are a melting pot
I'm here for seconds; hey, why not?

The Dang

Dang, that's a lot of onions!
That's a dang lot of onions!
That's a lot of dang onions!
That's a lot of onions, dang it!

Onion trucks I view indifferently
but dang onions matter, indubitably
the dang may dangle, infinitely
and it costs nothing! Language is free!

I like to move the dang around
I like to see the dang abound
I like the simple ding-dang sound
of the ding-dang-dong that I have found

So do me a favor and write dang down
tear up the paper and spread it 'round town
let dang become your greatest renown 
and you will wear the ding-dang crown!

Later Dude

He said, "I'll see you later, ok?"

Then I thought of what could happen before I see him again? I could...

win the lottery
bake a cake
break my leg
die in a car wreck
make another friend
eat oysters
beat someone at ping-pong
write a story
call my mom
get mad
get even
forgive someone
forgive myself
make a list
lose a list
go surfing
wash my peanut shell collection
take a shower
get the gum off the bottom of my sock
look at the moon, the m-o-o-o-o-n
go for a long hike
sing loudly
sing softly
sing like a girl
play cards with my brother
play brother with my cards
google something
do something google-y
fry cook!

Then, after thinking all these things and looking at him with a thousand yard stare while he looked at me with his eyebrows raised waiting for my response I nodded and said, "Later, Dude."

I'm Alone All the Time

you’re sitting right next to me

you see my smile

you feel my arm

you probably smell me

you hear my breathing

hopefully you’re not tasting anything about me

but, unless there’s a sixth sense 

you have no idea what I’m thinking

I could be laughing inside

I could be crying inside

I could be mocking, sarcastic

loving, lusting, bored, depressed

anxious, distant, in France

naked, asleep, watching a movie

tasting sausages…

the list is endless

but if I keep my breathing even

my face expressionless or at least unchanging

and my body is still, my eyes straight forward

then you would have no idea of me

unless I speak, but even then it’s nebulous

some people are masters at speaking what they’re not thinking

this is an inherent contradiction with humans

there is so much going on in each person’s head

and only a micro percentage is communicated outwardly

yes an expert could tell about how I sit

or how I respond and what direction my eyes go when I do

but experts can’t keep me from taking a gun into a crowded arena

stealing funds from my Little League

cheating on my spouse, lying to a friend

but we’re not experts

we’re just people trying to get along, get through, move forward