I am a Jew Lost in the Wilderness

We were the chosen people

and they threw us to the lions

Nowadays,

who can say any different?

Reasons to Like Shakespeare

I watched the Kenneth Branagh's version of Henry V

The actor playing the Duke of York was hefty & bearded

True to life, as I understand it

He rides into the Battle of Agincourt wielding a mace

and proceeds to rain thick armed blows

onto the skulls of British History

He dies fighting, clutching to his slain cousin

a monument to chivalric heroism

I got a soft spot for big bearded bastards

beating the shit out of people

Truth is though,

the battlefield was a woodstock sized mudpit

and having been dismounted

he couldn't heave his heavily armored fat ass up

and drowned there face down in the muck

I got my reasons for liking Shakespeare

Econ Convos

I think it might be better

if I didn't read quite as much

Maybe then I could say things

with some kind of certainty

instead of blathering like an idiot

I tell myself it's worth it

in so far as I'm being sincere

and though sincerity is not truth

I'm still willing to bet

it's the best chance I got

It's pretty obvious why guys

feel like they have to lie their way

into some poor thing's panties

By the sound of me I'd guess

there is no other way

Lou Reed Through The Speakers

The guy on the couch

wearing a Fender shirt

doesn't play

Doesn't know who's in the scene

or where the scene's at

I don't mistake chance encounters

as being any different

than run-ins with old friends

Everything's a shot in the dark

aimed at the future

If you've got to shoot at something

it's probably best

if your target never gets any closer

It never fails

songs come on the radio

Lou Reed sings Walk on the Wild Side

and a few people lip sync along

but none of them look to see

who is doing the black girl's part

decked out in imaginary sequins

or who's taking the cool lead

only who sees them singing

silently

For Future Use

Mortals are immortals and immortals are mortals, the one living the other's death and dying the other's life.

-Heraclitus

The following posts will be catching up,

things have been busy,

I never write at home,

but I've brought things back from outside.

Matter of Perspective

There are only two kinds of days

The first are the ones I fuck up

The second are the ones that I don't

My whole life can be whittled down to that

I'd like to think I learn from my mistakes

but if I did, you'd have to believe,

I would've run out of things to fuck up by now

but it doesn't seem to be the case

I never wanted to be Superman

or live any kind of exceptional life

& I don't think its too much to ask

to not burn dinner,

tear a pair of pants,

or slip in the mud

but I don't even really know who to ask

I suppose there are people out there

who have loads of money lying around

& they pay other people to fuck up for them

I could see myself in that line of work

or maybe more accurately,

I can't see myself doing much else

Growing Up Punk

Dan came and went without much fanfare

but that's the way it goes with the old crew

It's been years and half a country's travel

but it's just coming over

having a couple of beers

sharing space

where there's always space to spare

It's not to say it wasn't a pleasure

He's easy on the nerves,

good humored, and up for anything

Besides,

seeing any of that lot

always leaves me shaking my head

Everything has changed

but everyone's the same

Maybe a little mellower,

a bit more sure-footed,

but otherwise unchanged

I grew up punk as fuck

sure as shit that no one over thirty

could be trusted with a pocket knife

I assume most of us did

and when Cobain pulled the trigger

I think,

subconsciously,

that suspicion was confirmed

Maybe he was convinced

he was ahead of his time

and when he didn't see the light

at the end of the tunnel of success

he figured it wasn't going to come at all

Maybe he saw another underpass in the distance

or

realized there was never any tube to begin with

either way,

I never thought he was much of a voice for anybody

and what he saw rounding the corner of 3 decades

I aint yet seen in the way of anyone I know

The last night Dan was here,

he got drunk enough to make small talk

like he does

like every question

requires an overcoming of some mental blockade

so each simple inquiry is blurted out

with just a little too much urgency,

and a bit more volume than is normal for him,

appearing just that much more dire

& worth some well thought-out reply

I've always been sure it was unintentional

but I still get a kick out of it

thinking too deep about some simple question

I wonder if everyone does that to him

after all these years

I've never asked