Monday, December 17, 2012
Gus's Pub
Sitting in Gus’s Pub
drinking local brews,
eating homegrown hamburgers
and talking to my friend Pete.
It’s dark enough
that I can imagine
this is all there is.
The VLTs, and slot machines,
amateur comedy hour at eight.
The jokes are flat and crude.
The people assembled
chew and drink and cheer;
we don’t want to be rude;
our forced laughter conquers hate.
And no one in here,
no matter how wild,
will ever burn it down.
We’re safe from the world in here.
But here’s my problem:
it’s a business;
we can’t lock newcomers out.
Every now and then,
the door opens a crack
and light filters in,
filled with dust and gin.
It reminds me
the beer will run out,
the burgers’ll turn to shit.
I tell Pete about humanure.
He says Gus should buy some cows.
"Get them hooked on gambling,
they’ll never have cause to run.
That’s what the ancients done."
The cash in this room,
if kept local, should suffice.
We’ll befriend the rape-joke comic,
teach him the error of his ways.
And everything’ll be OK.
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
White-collar Family-man Blues (to the tune of Heartbreak Hotel)
My cat ran off and left me
He didn’t like me no how
All that healthy vet food
He lives at the corner store now
I got the blues
White-collar family-man blues
Sometimes the boss don’t like you
But me I’m self-employed
I got one hundred bosses
all wanting me destroyed
I got the blues
White-collar family-man blues
I love my little boy
He sick all winter long
He got me sick too
Them daycare viruses strong
I got the blues
White-collar family-man blues
Ain’t seen my woman
since two thousand eight
By the time them children grown
gonna feel like our first date
I got the blues
White-collar family-man blues
When you first taste that hard drive
think all your problems solved
Everything so efficient
till the software evolves
I got the blues
White-collar family-man blues
It’s Christmastime again
We promised one gift each
WalMart got me on hold
Customer service at the beach
I got the blues
White-collar family-man blues
Yes I got the blues
It’s those modern white-collar
Family-man blues
