Follow the tracks South

Put on my old hobo coat and grabbed my pack
filled with beer and wine
Left the mill site in Radium at 12:30
The snow was deeper on that end
as I tried to get a rhythm walking
skipping every second rail tie
never got it right
so I traipsed on out of sync
Met four trains in all
three going South
and one Northbound
3:30 made it to the steel bridge
where cold industrial steel grips me
pulling at my alcoholic tendencies

Brawlers

I'm looking for Brawlers
she said,
referring to Waits album.
You wanna brawl
he said,
it comes in a small silver flask,
I'll give you brawlers,
as he stumbles into
the door jam
bruising his cheekbone.
Fuck off
she says,
you're drunk on that strong wine shit again
and you smell like ass.
Ask me no questions
I tell you no lies
he replies,
taking a hit from the flask.
Kerouac says or should I say
Dean Moriarty says,
we are all walking around with dirty azzes
so that's why I smell like azz
Come back and love me, dirty azz me,
oh I bet you have a dirty azz too,
and you wont even share it.
Well you know there is more of the same
dirty azz
across the tracks.
I'll probably fall down
and freeze to death out there
looking for it,
but will you care?
Will you give me some
dirty azz?
No I'm looking for "Brawlers"
she replies,
slamming shut the studio door behind her

Go

let's go
everything goes away
lets get away
let's get away today
let's go before
the night falls
before the cops call
let's go away before
the front man falls
let's go away

When The Train Passed Over

I wish I had an old iron bed
beneath the steel bridge
where I could lay with her
along side a hobo fire
making love in the late
December afternoon
Instead I venture there alone
to drink alone
aside the rivers frozen edge
At 3:30 the train screaming loud overhead
He said I could get myself in trouble with
that 19% Madeira
Turn a man into a wino
You gotta hold it in your mouth
till your tongue starts to sting and sweat
Till the pain fades
then reach for a beer or that
little bottle of wine in my pack
it's a matter of fact
gunna jump that train if it slows
but it rolls on by
with my harp blowing in the falling snow

Ode to Lauri

Somewhere between crying and coming
she slipped away
Sharp as a needle prick
Stubborn as a record skips
Thinking about leaving
she slipped away
Like a leaf drops from a tree
she slipped away
And God said "Let there be light"
And she slipped away into that light
Then into the dark
into a corner alone
She
Like a rock along side the train tracks
Like the shriek of train breaks
Like nicotine stains and broken glass
Like stress sweat on a pillow case
Don't push her away
Watching her eyes roll to the back of her head
like she had already gone
like she was already dead
Coughing into the toilet bowl
Hanging from a stripper's pole
You can see her footprints
blowing across
the blueprints of life
That's when you realize
all the hurtful lies
And you want her back
but she's slipped away
all away
all the way

Party Time

How about those christmas parties?
What I see is that it's place to humiliate ones self
A place where people drink with work mates, not friends.
Where tensions arise and scuffles begin
A place where the bosses wife slow dances with some party crasher
A place where the same lady flashes her tit's
A place where the new guy's girlfriend gets supper drunk and talks to someones pregnant tummy
following the bump around like she's ready to lick crotch.
A place where shovels fly, nearly laming the drunkest guy's wife
A place where excess of free booze and food out weighs common sense.
A place where one says things they wish they hadn't
A promise they can't keep
And return home to pass out falling on the toilet's edge bruising the cheekbone.
So have fun if your going
I'm self employed so I'll stay home.

The Sky Has Lifted

They say you can't bullshit a bullshitter
I beg to differ
The doctor says I can't drink coke
well put it with rye.
They say you weigh more when moving fast
well the lake cracks behind me
They say heads up
when something falls
I can tell now this is what it's like
to bullshit a bullshitter

Talk

The low sky brought him down
we talked about unloaded guns
the best guns, ones that could do no harm
we talked about old times
but we never talked about what was really going down
I didn't want him to go, there were cold beers out the door
The next morning the sky lower than the previous night
We should have talked about what was really going down

Home-School

Went up the rock for a home-school field trip
outdoor hoboing 101
The kid's a natural

The Shape of Things

Have you ever just sat in the calm darkness?
it's warm and calm
When he drove by in the cold December eve
the house was black as the ace of spades
it worried him knowing of Jack's state
Inside Jack watched the lights pass reflected through the window
It was calm inside, the anger had rounded into calm depression
life was easy to read alone in the darkness
Jack could make out the shape of his beer cans
each fell at his side
like dead soldiers
into the warm calm darkness.

Haze

Jack was miserable and unhealthy
there wasn't enough booze to haze life's disappointments
The content feelings were gone
there was nothing to cry about
other than the fact of being miserable and unhealthy

Height of Land

He stood there at the high spot where the roads intersected
Tough as nails
pissing at the edge of the Ford
Bending in the North wind
tipping the bottle back
That's when the truck sporting official officiality slowed
"That son of a bitch stops and I"ll make sure he wished he hadn't"
He, tall as a house and strong as an ox.
But I knew the official was packin' heat
True that!
The faulty move was when Tall and Slender dropped his licence
to the snow covered ground.
It became surreal.
The official bent to retrieve
Tall and Slender reached for the loaded holster.
He was quick to draw
as authority fell to the ground
Blood melted the snow
and I'm certain
that son of a bitch wished he'd never stopped.

A Day I Can't Forget

Went to the natural hot springs today, the sign reads "No Alcohol, No Nudity". There was a decade when I was naked more than clothed, back when I was proud. So at the present the sign didn't bother me, other than the bit about the booze. So we pack up the swim trunks and head off down the trail. Mid way, we notice nakedness. There had been five vehicles in the parking lot of which the occupants were naked in the pools along side the river. Beautiful I thought, natural beauty. When we reach the stone surrounded pool one of the group asks me in a deep tone if we mind the bare skin. I replied that I had been naked a great deal of my life as to reassure her of no offence. We mingled with the group as we enjoyed the warm waters, the girls sitting next to me were quite striking and the petite ethnic girl to my side was outgoing saying who would be afraid of a little bit of skin. Seemed they had been there a long while and were preparing to leave. I couldn't help but to have one last look at all this natural beauty prior to them heading back to Banff. That's when I took recognition that the one with a deep tone was quite manly, she had tits that didn't quite form nipples of substance. As she rose to leave I had come to expect a dick hanging there, What I witnessed was not for the weak of heart. There it was this open gape of a hole impossibly open, presenting it self not only to me but to us all. It was there where a cock once hung, yet it was quite obviously gone. Now that was far from natural beauty.
The smell of sulphur coming off the water, a slight hangover and foremost this gapesight triggers my gag reflex as water fills my eyes.
Haven't been to these springs for twenty years and now I'll wait another twenty until reconstructive surgery improves.

sorry about that

Good Old Times

Trying to talk the wife into a three-way
with Dr Ruth
oh how she could talk us through multiple orgasms
all wrinkled wet and sticky
she'd own the bed
she could mix us Rob Roy's and other old-fashioned drinks
sex toys in her arthritic hold
taking turns changing her Depends
now that kicks the shit outta anal sex

Coming Through the Cold

He rose through defiance
yet with no lack of judgement
His considerations admirable,
justified and premeditated.
The climax went unnoticed.
The cold venture through life
a milestone unreceived.

Whores in Sunlight

Lost like a whore in sunlight
Like an upholsterer with nothing to stuff
A poet with no words
A drunk with no booze
A fire with no flame
A honeymoon without shame
Lost in time with no clock
tick-tok

Can't Sleep

Insomnia and a few of my favorite things
Motorcycles,travel and booze
I'm awake since 3:30
drinking and reading old issues of Canadian Biker
I can't sleep because I am mentally going over all we need for this winter's travels
Then I realize something my friend mentioned
"take your bike along for when you get the urge"
Don't know if I'll do it or not, but the thought of bringing along even Athena's 250cc sounds good at 4:00am
I think it's like an uncureable disease
all of it
riding, traveling and drinking
what kind of meetings should one seek out for such turmoil?

Flames

Burning barn logs from
the Old Calcutt place
history in flames
those pieces will burn all night
hauled them away from the barn I dismantled
10 years ago
not an inch of rot
they burn like coal
must be nearly a 100 years old
felt guilt burning history
but the carpenter ants
had them in thier sights
didn't know what to do
so I took a couple cans of beer
and a bottle of wine
to watch them burn
in my grandmother's barrel
out back on the wrong side of
the tracks
where the hobo's enjoyed the heat.

Burn

Mexico

She wasn't ready to cross the border, can't say as I blamed her. People had died at the hands of revolt, drug deals and hell was on the other side. Their money was running short and temper wore thin, s'pose it was no reason to go against what they had planned. Athena was adamant of not crossing the border, but that selfless fuck was drawn to the land of outlawed behavior.

Thanksgiving

We had a pet slug named
Britney Spears
She left a track wherever she went
She ate the asshole out of the
Thanksgiving turkey
and spoiled Christmas
by flashing a glimpse
We had to kill her
She ate all the plants
We fed her beer and amphetamines
there she died on the Twister fold-out plastic
for her funeral
We dimmed the lights and
burnt cans of smoked oysters.
Now I'm saddened
but I'll survive
If she'd left the turkey alone
she never would have died

Ede

Ede my friend where are you now
as I, drunk on wine and rum
in the dark with drunk naked lady walking in dark
She, here to protect me from myself
and all who follows
she, in bed spelling my word
she, the one who holds my dick in cold November and into the spring
and where are you now Ede
mowing grass till the weeks end
your father's whiskey hid in the studio
awaiting time off
time for hobo fires and laughter
I won't fight you for you're too large
Ede where are you on this night of rhyme

Back Door Sally

He went in with a peace offering
tobacco and wine
he'd grown mean with age
he'd drink till he came undone
he'd drink till he'd put one of his old friends down
they'd wrestle in the wet grass
drunk on cheep wine and weed
Backdoor Sally would have none of it

Lead Dreams

Candy-Slice had succumbed to death at the hands of Lil' Jimmy, the hands that had once cradled her in moments of weakness. Although her death was an obscured blankness, Jimmy wore the gloves of horrific guilt in it's rawest form. Why had she told Ken-Rex of her where-a-bouts? She'd seemed impressed that he was coming to reclaim her, it had triggered Jimmy's uncontrollable rage.

When Ken-Rex's black Lincoln came upon the back road to Jimmy's trailer, cold fear froze him in his tracks. It was like one of those dreams when your legs where made of lead, and lead was coming for Lil' Jimmy delivered by way of a hand gun.

Box-Springs

There he awakens at the reaches of the tall willow. One cloud covers the three-quarter moon. Sparks jump from the fire. Candy-Slice lies dead on the rusted box-spring. Dead and alone. Stupefied, Jimmy cries into his hands questioning himself in utter fear.

Forgotten Change

The secret phone calls increased, as did Jimmy's paranoia. Candy was talking often to someone from her past. Lil' Jimmy knew everyone she had recently acquainted, and they were accounted for either at the pool hall or bar. When he questioned her who she was talking with, she'd reply that she had only been searching the pay phone for forgotten change. There was something in the still of the air, Jimmy could smell deceit. And when Ken Rex let it be known he was in town, Lil' Jimmy's accusations became a timeless reality. He had been certain Candy had carried a self indulgent lust for Ken Rex. It was the bad guy appeal that had a grip. She knew he was bad for her yet she had to have her share. It was like stoking a fire, the heat could burn you, yet the flame was entrancing. Candy-Slice had been branded by Ken Rex's iron, helplessly she needed to be found. All that Lil' Jimmy sheltered her from, she had helplessly invited back into her life.

Tease

Lil' Jimmy and Candy had sex more than on a regular basis. Somehow Jimmy was turned on by the way she teased other men and by the secrets she kept. The way she'd back into a man while taking aim at her next shot, the way she'd let a grope go unnoticed or how she'd sit on a stranger's knee if he was buying. She did things that kept Jimmy on his toes, like making phone calls when she said she was going to the little girls room and when Jimmy would call her on it, she'd deny it.
Candy was like a single fish in a stream of men and she played on it.

FLY

We're all gunna ride the big wave to the salt lick in the sky.
Don't know why I give a shit weather I live or die.
Just wanna get bombed and go out with a blast
Like Hunter S. says
They can all kiss my ass.
I'm too fat to fly
Too drunk to fuck
Mix'in rum and tequila
a straight up juicer
tomorrow the week-end
will never die
We're all gunna ride the big wave to the salt lick in the sky.
WOWA YAH BABY!
It's all gunna fly
Mix'n rum and Tequila
too fat to fly.

Vengeance

She went by the name of Candy-Slice, dusty blond and busty. She as well had a background of abuse, that in part was what she was running from. Ken-Rex was her old man. He'd done time for a number of things, when she spoke of him it was with a lustful fear. Lil' Jimmy was fearless assuring her safety. They shacked up in his trailer down on the bayou. All the while she teased nearly every young man, man or boy she came across, always living in harms way. And when she shot pool, she shot it like she shot a gun, with a vengeance.

Childhood

Sure Jimmy had a hard childhood and thats what jaded him as a man , but it gave him a strength comparable to no other. He fought his way through juvenile detention and brawled in pool halls and bars. He drove fast and without a conscience. Thats how he met her. She at the side of the road with a ripped cowboy shirt, dirty denim jeans and a half crazy look in her eyes. She brought him more than lust, she carried a bag full of trouble.

Sister

Lil" Jimmy remembered mud on the soles of his shoes, a pocket of marbles, a pocket-watch that never kept time and being late for chores. He remembered the lash of his fathers black belt and the redened welts on his backside sharp as the knife on his belt. There was a Widemouth Bass he had cought only to have taken by the neighbours adolescent son. Bullies, Lil Jimmy remembered bullies and his hatred toward them. He remembered his sister being raped and how empty it left her. Jimmy had been a good brother. Sure he had silently watched his sister and her friends undress and tease one another through a hole he had widdled in the wall between their rooms. He knew it wasn't right, the way he was aroused by even his own sister, once he came he never thought of her in this way.

Lil' Jimmy

He took him down through the rusted barbed wire fence past the blackbirds spitting sunflower seeds. He took him past the gator holes. The smell of dried blood and fear fueled his anxiety as chickens and a saxophone sounded in the distance. Lil' Jimmy knew it was over when they approached the swamp's slippery edge. He heard one shot, a loud bang. Lil' Jimmy fell to his knees, then to the awaiting swamp water. His eyes went murky, blood filled his mouth, the ringing of the gun shot echoed in his ears. The warm swamp water gentled the loss of air. Lil' Jimmy's life past before him,the abuse and juvy, his first lay and the smell of joy, his young girlfriend's hair and the taste of her lips, the contour of her body. His mother with outreached hands, crying and calling to him from a distance.

My Girl

I burnt her there
the dark haired one
on a can
She
was the last to go
my favorite one
The night
still young
she was the one
the last one
I held
I grasped her
till the end
fell near
Now I can say
"I'm shit outta beer"