When the Ball Drops

My new year’s resolution is to start a revolution, to turn the tide against this fascist wave. There’s only one solution to insure evolution, to send this despot legion to its grave. Take to the … Read more

Mother of Millions

She breeds like centipedes. She feeds. She needs. She bleeds. The suffering mother of millions aims high, perhaps even quadrillions. Her womb is a room to so many, it once earned a line from Jack … Read more

Pill Papa

Can you write me a prescription, doc, for some dilaudid, please? I heard it helped with Elvis. I have trouble with my knees. And maybe a few percodans would help me with my head. But … Read more

Podpeople’s Hoedown

T’was the night of seismics that we all lucked out, seeking entertainment in the underground, came upon a dark spontaneous cabaret even all the locals had been mum about, where we saw a small girl … Read more

Spare Ramparts

Kind castles create bland rulers. The harsh flag scoffs at victory. Prepare to die by poison ideas. The armor of the future is speed. Pure evil is the fulcrum of doubt. Get over it: forget … Read more

Cartoon Matrimony

Pebbles married Pogo and upgraded to a swamp. Scooby Doo and Snoopy had a wedding with much pomp. Daisy Duck wed Road Runner; it happened much too fast. Sluggo married Orphan Annie; it’ll never last. … Read more

45,33, ZERO

Nodding to computer radio, light years from the a.m. of my youth. Cousin Brucie fell, alas, to eight tracks. Vinyl beware of cassettes, forsooth. Reel to reel’s dying protests were tragic. CD’s were the new … Read more

Concentric Circles

One mouth circles ominously, betraying a vast inhalation. Neck muscles stretch, making waves in the ears. It catches on across the room, an episodic explosion of tangible strength, a rippling shrug and atmospheric squeeze that … Read more

Ode to a Head Cold

Listening to John Cale, thinking of Foghorn Leghorn. Might have a fever. Early morning skull swells, looking to extricate eyeballs. Sinuses screaming with graffiti, yellow-green protests on germ warfare. Hacking along to every song, pillow … Read more

Tropical Arrest

I walked into black plastic arms and it felt like home. Perhaps the hard green soldiers had taken this beach. The beehives formed the outer edges of the strike zone. Every day the new best … Read more

Tricky and His Veep

Nixon had a running mate named Spiro. Their combined integrity was zero. Nixon was a paranoid and liar. Agnew was a goon and vilifier. Both fled office to avoid a trial, leaving legacies most dark … Read more

Musical Roots

Most of all, I’d like to thank, the big three, Dylan, Bruce and Hank, Elvis, Van and Jerry Lee, Cash, the Clash and GBV, Cohen, Bowie, Brubeck, Cream, Nine Inch Nails and Marley’s dream, Neil … Read more

Water Is Life

Remember the time when our waters were fine, when the rivers weren’t cloudy all day? When the fish used to swim in the fresh or the brine, before chemicals came into play. But now plastic … Read more

Bypass

Ten years ago today, my heart went on a short vacation. It called me in my dream state from a pay phone at a station. "I’m sitting just outside your chest. It’s really quite a … Read more

Ronnie

When the Ray Gun wasn’t on his meds, he might, off the cuff, say, "Nuke the Reds." Once he’d shouted, like a baseball call, "Mister Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" But he wasn’t able to … Read more

Time, the Destroyer

Life is the wonder socket, a pulse of ice and fire that churns the steam of dreams, a forest of unbidden shadows’ masked parade of time. The prayer of clocks cannot drown the mystery of … Read more