Do not throw Elliot at me, you babylonian slouch
gaze upon my work, ye Nightingale and despair
with hours to go before I sleep
I have seen the greatest minds of my generation
destroyed by such a hollow man
as I sing the body bandersnatch
and hear the tambourine man’s song
in this hour of lead
and Lenore left us so young

When the air gets stale and musty
in the swamp of late July
The cicadas scream all day
at night the possums start to cry

The old man’s drunk and mad again
killing in self-defense is not a crime
It’s too damn hot to tolerate this shit
he smacked her one too many times

She might be getting on in years
but she’s a woman of many faces
He owes a lot of money
And she’s known men in strong places

She knows she’s in the old man’s will
She knows the first name of the county clerk
She knows where old man keeps the axes
She knows what time he gets off work

The rats grew bored of stealing cheese
and ganged up on a mouse
And the lady of the home
is stuck inside this house

eh you get the idea

The moon is a demon
your mouth is a sink
slurping up my words and my ink
desire spills out like semen
brain beating so loud I can’t think
the stars are pinholes in stockings
it’s called research, not stalking
I might miss something if I blink

The walls are the whale’s stomach lining
The sunrise a declaration of war
The trick is in the timing
I don’t remember what you said
but I remember what you wore
nicotine pixie, morphine whore

The storm cell is a sacrament
lightning sparks baptismal fire
My body is sore, my soul is abstinent
I sink to get higher

The best and the worst of humanity comes out on the bus
A microcosm of camaraderie, solidarity, cultural exchange, ethnic strife
Whether the people up front move out of the way and help fasten down an old woman in a wheelchair
or everyone yells to the driver if someone is running up about to miss their ride
or some tom clancy looking dickbag decides to chime in when a black woman smacks her kid- boy that was a loud one
besides them it was just me and the driver and neither of us were getting involved in that shit
But it’s more good than bad, we’re all locals
we’re all stuck here
we all sort of get along
Like when the whole bus was roused in a discordant chorus of ‘that’s what’s up’ when we passed the construction site of a new Popeye’s popping up in town
I said nothing but I did nod knowingly
Popeyes is the bomb, screw KFC
New warning signs were put up; now in English, Spanish and Hanzi
Since the population from mainland China has exploded in recent years
they’re foreign students and they’re locals too
it’s almost like we live in a real city
an oasis of Tech Money in the middle of Nothing Nowhere USA
almost makes me proud to live in Illinois
almost
My car broke down, it needs a new starter
and some medical emergencies prevented me from ponying up the cash
so I’ve become one of the bus regulars and I’m starting to blend with the rest of the weirdos
I wonder if everyone learns everyone elses’ schedule or it’s just me.
A group of guys file on every day, all kind of gimpy and weird looking,
I think they all stay together in assisted living, they’re a riot.
The other day they piled on board from the park and they had gas station hot dogs, and they lead a chant, stomping their feet, singing some song that I didn’t understand
as badly as I wanted to join in

Some old man stepped on and said one thing to the driver:
“cubs are looking good this year”
the driver replied, “mm hm”
I think that exchange sums up the bus.

Takin a trip down the mississip
mandolin fiddle down the water
thinkin bout my baby way up in chicago
but she’s far way and I’m driftin farther
 

Takin a trip losin my grip
fallin down fallin even harder
gotta make it to the harbor to pawn this mandolin
to buy a ticket to the train headin northward
 

Takin a trip on my little ship
need some money to marry a rich man’s daughter
If I make it to New Orleans hell I pray it ain’t a dream
I’ll buy her a mansion with a shiny silver dollar
 

Takin a trip tryin not to flip
Jesus don’t lead me like a lamb to the slaughter
pickin on the strings with my gal’s voice in my head
What don’t kill ya leaves ya almost dead but stronger
 

Takin a trip hope I don’t slip
every second spent with her is an honor
every mile that I wander is farther way from home
And everywhere without her is over yonder

👹👿👿👿👿👿👿                                😱😱😫😫😫
👹                👿👿👿👿👿👿                        😱😱😫😫😫
👹 👿👿👿👿👿👿                              😱😱😫😫😫

☄️          ☄️            ☄️                ☄️      ☄️

😭        🔥   🔥     🔥   🔥     🔥😭

😭    🔥    🏠 🏠💀   🏠  💀       🔥     🔥 😭
🔥     🔥  🔥     🔥

🌬 💨
⚡️⚡️⚡️ 🤖🤖🤖🤖⚡️⚡️⚡️

🌬 💨

    👁👁👁👁👁👁👁                                             

    🙌 🙌 🙌 🙌 

  🎇📱🎇

🙌 🙌 🙌 🙌

👁👁👁👁👁

The world’s largest open-air factory
The cornfields that sent us to space
The ethanol that is virtually useless
The prairie grass that choked out the trees
The vast grand stretches of nothing
The towns that pepper the waste
The green and the blue in the summer
The grey in the winter and dawn
The clouds that inch towards the earth
The horizon precisely defined
The vortex the Ancients called gods
The storm cells and the splendor of rain
The cities that mimic the mountains
The drawl that unites all the tribes
The dust stirred up during harvest
The endless expanse of the sky
The little green leaves of the soybeans
The liquor that passes the time
The old stone shops of downtown
The farmhouses that sprout between crops
The machines that keep it all running
The floodlights that blot out the stars
The fires that burn up the stalks
The silos that sparkle with rust
The flat that slowly creeps skyward
and grows to knee-high by July

The body, the mind
two that make one?
or one that makes two?
Nature, nurture
two that make one?
or one that makes two?
genetics, heredity
a determinist future?
or a eugenicist canard?
 
The soul or the neuron
The theory or the faith
The knowledge, the power
or the flailing in the dark
 
The human being:
a false dilemma
or an uncomfortable truth?

what else to do
what else to say
ecclesiastes said it best
or he said ok
the end of that book
is kind of a cop out
I use a bible as my mousepad
KJV, given to me by Mormons
they were friendly
but I still didn’t give them my phone number
If I knew more about Joseph Smith at the time
I would have given them a better grilling
instead I asked “what questions are you sick of hearing?”
They both replied “asking if we’re from a polygamist family”
fair enough
but still
you get your own planet when you die
if you’re smart enough to die Mormon
in good standing
and male
and you know all the handshakes
what was I talking about?
Right, Jesus is my mousepad
I read from it sometimes
the apostles sound like liars
and what crawled up Paul’s ass and died?
It’s a fantastic mousepad though
good grip, that faux-leather texture
soft edges that don’t dig into my wrist
and there’s one line in particular
that I like
from Jesus, I think this was before he was God?
That’s intentionally bad theology- I’m not that ignorant
I’m not religious but I like reading holy texts
It’s mythology, it’s like comic books
when you read the old testament
it’s no wonder
that all the original creators
of superheroes
your supermen, your batmen,
were Jews
comic books are a Jewish tradition
So yeah, he was always God
but the man was sometimes
more man-like than godlike
All those parties he threw
and the disciples are like “wow where’d he get all these fishes?”
Not like his disciples were fishermen or anything
but right, that one line
(I’m paraphrasing)
“You can curse the Father and be forgiven, you can curse the Son and be forgiven, but you will not be forgiven if you curse the Holy Spirit”
I think about that one a lot.
I tried cursing the holy spirit the other day
because, ya know
I don’t even believe in you, you can’t tell me what to do
so I did
but my heart wasn’t in it
so I probably didn’t actually do it
I’m no theologian
and you didn’t ask
but I think it means something like
you can curse the creator
but not the energy of creation itself
I think I can get behind that
and I hope I never do curse that Spirit
but I might
if I start speaking in tongues.

You’re gonna screw up no matter how carefully you tread
But here’s a couple pointers to help you get ahead
 
It’s a drag to move out west, but it works fine so stay the course
It’s a waste to buy insurance, you’re as healthy as a horse
 
Pats beat the Seahawks in ’14, so take that bet
Don’t drop out of college till you’re 20 grand in debt
 
Marry your first girlfriend, she’s better than she seems
Don’t sell your bitcoin until March 2018
 
Start buying gin, it’ll save you money over beer
And remember, the best decision I ever made was trying to turn writing into a career
 
 
 

good luck dude, I got your back