the scream

what i know about poetry
you could march ‘cross the head of a pin
but what i know about making noise
you couldn’t jam in the space
between here and mars
and stars they don’t have names for yet
mr. or missy don’t fret
what vermin is due he will get...

1. exercise in futility

well blow me down
ain’t life a bitch
the poor stay poor
the rich get rich
fatcats dictate which way’s which
in anytown anymore

until they think 
their shit don’t stink
but cosmetics and furry clothes
tend to make me hold my nose
all too often downwind wind blows
ill wind ailing me
on airs so haughtily 

me me me
i go with the flow
burnt from baskin’ in the afterglow
i shake and rattle and roll and rock
then brace myself for the aftershock
will I beat the clock
or put my heart in hock?

i cry till i’m dry
i freeze and i fry
and i pray to a god who won’t tell me why
(or where or when or how or who)
he won’t tell me what to do
so i scratch and i grope
and i crawl and i cope
with a shattered dream 
and diminishing hope
that i will ever be the one who’s won
the right to hold my own son
i cried me a river over this one

i’m mundane and misty maudlin
one track sad sack barely crawlin’
from my cradle to my grave
my banner will yet wave!

me me me
i ride the tide
we we we 
are the valleys wide
and the oceans deep
and the mountains high
and we give each other the evil eye 
why?

‘coz the lesser of 2 evils
is how we cast our vote
our motto’s not in god we trust
it’s whatever floats your boat

i’d say it’s time we all woke up
better yet time I spoke up
i’d say the rich man owes a debt
for all the poor mans’ toil and sweat
i can’t eat attaboys or way-to-goes
and I can’t walk on stepped on toes
all too often downwind wind blows
ill wind ailing me
on airs so haughtily

me me me
i roll with the punches
oui oui oui 
i follow ½ baked hunches
down dead end alleys 
and long lost valleys
where i will fear no evil

in the shade of the midnight sun
silent streams and rivers run
i cried me a river over this one
i shook and i shivered
and i froze and i fried
and i met my maker on the day i died
i said dear lord send me down instead
‘coz he can’t kill what’s already dead
and god in his infinite wisdom decreed
the devil’s gonna hafta have 
his black heart bleed...

2. devil his due

me and my last braincell
rendezvoused in central hell
we broke the cloak of impending gloom
slit the throats of the dogs of doom
and sounded satans’ overdue knell

hear me well vain prince of darkness
clear is the light my mandate harkens
hark! the herald angels sing
it’s just faith and truth I bring
but that’s more than enough
(it is more than enough)
to see this mission through
and deal with the likes of you

i’m the regulator of the burning tide
i brush your goons and lackeys aside
you can run but you can’t hide
i will not be denied
(for as long as there be breath to these bones)
i will cross these fucking twilight zones
let no twit give me shit
and one more breath emit

i don’t have a high opinion
of your rank and vile dominion
‘coz the minions of necropolis
are but meek and timid followers
of the selfish soul collector
(who they think is their protector)
so they formed a brutal band
but they stood a futile stand
way down yonder in the netherland
as by the by it came to pass
that I kicked ass

though the sulfur fills my nostrils
and the brimstone clogs my lungs
i will push on 
i will search on
i’m getting warmer – i’m getting warmer
but what it’s not
is too damn hot!
a snowballs’ chance you haven’t got 

i’m an angry organism
spawned in lust and jest and jism
and I learned in catechism
to trust in the lord my savior
and be on my best behavior
but what it is that makes me mad
is it’s no good to not be bad
it always happens so damn fast
nice guys finish last last last
(in the days of future passed)
nice guys finish last

beelzebub there’s the rub
i’m a charter member of the nice guys’ club
but I remember all too well 
the outcome of that earthly hell
how come friends and family fell
so far apart (right off the chart)
well let me take a wild guess
it came about at your request

lucifer you cad you cur
you snuff out dreams in a blinding blur
(until it seems they never were)
when the skeletons from your closet
deliver their daily deposit 
of quirks and kinks and snags and bugs
to the best laid plans of us peon slugs
but you know what the old wives say
every dog has his day

though the flames have torched my flesh
and molten magma’s scorched the rest
i will push on
i will search on
i’m getting warmer – i’m getting warmer
but what it’s not
is too damn hot!
a snowballs’ chance you haven’t got

o! diablo understand me
you can call me joe blow randy
and tempt me with your stolen candy 
and bandy ‘bout this or bicker ‘bout that
but i smell a rat
trapped in the corner
the once and former
right hand angel (fallen angel)
disbelieving ex-archangel

hey old scratch
you’ve met your match
you didn’t batten down your hatch
so i came in on the burning wind
i aim to set things right again
and you won’t stop me
(you can’t stop me)
or hold a candle to this moth
your worst blows i merely shrug off
your black heart is mine
and i’ma gonna park it 
where the sun don’t shine

all of that and much more too
but all I really wanna do
is exorcise myself of you
so demons begone
demon begone
and let me hold my own son
(let me know my own son)
but I can’t pray for something
i no longer feel is coming
just around the next bend
won’t my old fair weather friend
deliver me from living sin

i yank out his forked tongue first
so as not to hear his sneaky lies
next I ball my iron fist
and dot his bloodshot eyes
then it’s lights out – I rip his eyes out 
without a trace of remorse
for the blood I spill
when I must kill
the evil at its source

i gangster slap this piece of crap
and kick him while he’s down
by his forlorn horns I jerk him
up and knock him right back down
and he can taste his own medicine
but he can’t swallow bitter pills
no matter how I sugarcoat it
born again my kindness kills

pummeled and humbled
and swingin’ by the tail
the dark lord has an inkling now
of how it feels to fail
then thwack splat lands the rat
broken in a bloody pile
afraid he’d be if he could see
the mercy in my smile

feel the buzz you never was
fuzzy in your has-been ears
mohammed mumbles and thunder rumbles
like a harley shifting gears
(confirming your worst fears)
it’s vertigo in stereo
staccato and surreal
and willy-nilly knocks you silly
trumpet's blare is piercing shrilly
till you don’t quite know what to feel

pop goes the weasel!
and with him all things evil
envy and anger and hunger and hate
all quite simply disintegrate
tax and locks and pox and war
trouble people nevermore
and all that lust and rust just 
crumbles into devil dust

me and my last braincell
fumigated central hell
and rang the party hearty bell
come one! come all! let’s have a ball
it don’t matter if you’re big or small
the bigger you are the harder you’ll fall
if you try to make my bad day worse
‘coz nice guys finish first
NICE GUYS FINISH FIRST!


poway, california – bryans road, maryland
1980 - 1992