Dallas to Atlanta

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I finished off 2008 with a long drive.
I flew from Atlanta to Dallas Monday at noon. I rode a shuttle to the airport Marriott and met a man.
A highly-cologned moustachioed man. I left with a BMW , 5 speeds, and a satchel.
I set my GPS I borrowed from my dad and began to drive.
I bought some coffee and a loaf of bread and saw an old couple almost crash into the front of a grocery store.
I drove out of Dallas and onto the flat lands.
I saw about 8 deer by a river.
I saw an oil well.
I started to shake.
My phone died.
I shook some more.
I began to feel ill and so I stopped after dark in Shreveport, LA.
I bought two burritos and shook in double-time.
A couple starred at me as I ate.
I like to live in squalor so I chose the wrong motel.
I just went to bed and pretended not to listen to the crazy sounds outside.
I pretended not to think of the roaches watching me sleep.
I had one of the worst nights in my life.
I woke and up and left at 6 before day light.
Things must get better.
I was happy to leave and felt better just getting out and up and forward.
It was 32 degrees and the heat did not work so I sat on my hands as the seat warmers did work.
Left hand and then right hand and repeat.
I saw a pretty sunrise.
I saw contrails over pink clouds.
I also saw two dead coyotes and a dead red fox.
I drove through bayous and hills.
I ate tater tots in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
My feet felt numb.
I saw pines and scrub oak.
I saw rivers and mountains.
I saw an indian man.
I saw a jet engine being hauled to Delta in Atlanta on a flatbed truck.
I dodged a crowbar that flew off a truck.
I made it back to Fayetteville about 5 pm.
I did not feel very well but it was fun to know I had driven so far and seen so much in 24 hours.
I drove 835 miles.

Moral of the story...
Watch out for the highly-cologned moustachioed man.

Squirrel and nut

Man and dog

Moreland Avenue

i was waiting on the side of the road
the 4 lane down by taylorsville
and the sky was so blue
i saw you drive by
and i want to go home
i want to go home
i wish i had bought that new coat with the gray buttons
i see a dead cat in the weeds

i was waiting on my sister by the dentist's office
and a newspaper blows by like a black and white tumbleweed
i see you in the reflection on the bank window
your eyes as glassy as the northern skies
and i wish you were home
my sister is waiting by the car

i was waiting at the airport
a million people everywhere i looked
no one can see me
i am hungry but i don't want to wait in line
i think of the last time i saw you
i was in the B terminal
or maybe it was the security line
a lock of hair covered your left eye
i wish i was home

the bus passes me and the exhaust covers all
diesel dipped soul
i see the silver birds overhead
i hear the air brakes breathing
i watch the kudzu untie my shoes
i hear that old man talking in my ear
i am almost home

I am still learning...

Capricorn

Walk along the beach...
see the fluid black forms swim past...
circle around for another view...
the spray of sea foam...
the salt in the air...
a January day is not out of touch...

Flame

sometimes there is a flash
an explosion
a consuming fire
heat of a thousand sacrifices
sometimes a spark ignites another and another
sometimes a slow ember grows into a warm ever-present heat
an orange glow cupped between worn marred hands
sometimes it looses its fuel and dies
darkness
i have been all and none
flame inside of me
orange and red and blue
white light
light my way
the world is watching
the world forgets

Blue Threads

Face down in the carpet
(This is the actual carpet in Dulles International Airport)

Black Horse

Cat friend = 1430 words

If a picture says a thousand words than think what 2 or 3 pictures could do...

Pumpkin time

Pumpkin time, pumpkin time, ho ho ho its pumpkin time...
hollow out your gourd and let it shine...
ho ho ho its pumpkin time.

Happy fun times

It is cold in my house. I see red lights dancing on the wall.
I need a pot-bellied stove. I need a boot-liquor strap.
I need some happy fun times.

Wisconsin

Today I went to Wisconsin. It was green and blue and pretty.

Ride to work

Artic Fox

(9) Nine years ago I stuffed this fox into my suitcase. It was a little uncomfortable at first but I got used to it.

Beans in my lap

It was a sunny fall afternoon.
I was sitting in my '99 sedan behind the taco stand.
I heard a horn solo in my mind.
Herb Alpert to be exact.
The brass was like warm ribbons of sunlight across my dashboard.
I rode across town and sat by the runway.
I looked down at the green lettuce and refried beans in my lap.
I was much hungrier than I thought.
As I put away my napkin I looked up and through the chain link fence.
I watch planes gliding in.
Over and over. One after another.
Shiny silver giants from the sky.
Blindingly bright aluminum beasts.
I ran out of drink. The straw goes dry.
I wish it was 1965.

4 bears

My grandpa always told me if you see a left footed bear track to turn it around. I can't argue with logic like that.

butterfly hand man

I ran this afternoon to East Atlanta and back. I looped around Brownwood park and then over to Flat Shoals and back. It was about a 5.5 mile run. It is easier to run when it is not as hot or sunny. It was still very humid and my shirt was soaked. When I got back I saw this butterfly on the curb. He was not wearing a shirt. I looked at him a while and then I put him in a dogwood tree. It is now September. It is Labor Day.

Pupcuts

Pup got a haircut.

Fly in my truck

Today for lunch I bought 2 boxes of cereal and I drove across the street and parked behind Starbuck's. I rolled down my window and started eating. I would eat a fistful from one box. Then I would eat one from the other.
As I ate I noticed a black fly on my truck interior ceiling. I wondered what that fly was doing. He was fiddling with his legs and looking back and forth. I think he was nervous. I kept looking at him. I started wondering what that fly had done this morning. Then I thought about what that fly would do tonight. Did he have any plans? Did he have any appointments to keep? Does he have a wife or is he jealous of other flies and what their baby maggots made on their report cards? I want to know.
He was just a regular looking, average sized fly. He was not especially large or fast. He did not have a brilliant green exterior. He did not have any special skills. He was a normal fly guy. Just a fly.
I finished eating my cereal and and had a swig of coffee. He landed on my head. I swatted at him as instinct will have one do. I think I missed. Good thing flies are fast. I do not know where fly went to. I wonder where he is now. Did he land on someone else? Did he hitch a ride in a black Cadillac and end up in Macon? Is he sitting on a table in front of Starbuck's? Did he find a hamburger for dinner? Did a bird eat him?
The next time you see a fly stop and ask yourself where that fly might have been. Ask where that fly is going.
You never know when you might need a fly friend.

This is how i felt today...

I drew this Friday morning. I felt like this guy looks.
When I got home I really liked the windy weather from
Tropical Storm Fay.
I went on a 4 mile run.
I ran well and felt like I was speeding along the sidewalk.
I like the gray skies.
I like the wind.
I feel better now.

4 blue faces

I can't really tell when I have gone to sleep. I know i am sleepy and then I am awake again. When you sleep you have no sense of time. You have no memory except what dreams allow.

Bed Beast

Here is a picture of the Bed Beast.
He is not very comfortable.
He needs lots of rest.
Don't wake the beast!

Raven Food

I drew this picture today while I was at lunch.
After work I ran 4 miles up the road.
Yesterday I ran 5 miles down the road.

Music

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I have an updated music page on my website. Take a look...

I don't want a cow

So the other day they came down here and they wanted to trade that old cow for a couple shovels i had and i said no! no no
i need them shovels ... they had that cow and he got long horns and good teeth on him but i dont need no cow, i dont even drink milk..

No sleep for me (pillow report)

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i got a new pillow
cant rest lately without my head hurting
tried regular pillow
tried high dollar foam pillow

breakdown in the night

woke up flippin and floppin

head hurting

&^%*&^$*&^$(&*^$

gonna take it back i reckon

)&^)*(&%*()&%(*&%


need soft rest

Horn Deer and Santa

Today I saw a deer with horns walk by my back deck. He had tan fur and 4 black hooves.
I also found these pictures I had drawn of Santa..or maybe it was a drawing of those three weird dudes in hats that stopped by for dinner last summer.
I don't really remember.

words to the less than wise

Peachtree Road Race 2008 (and an angry asian man)

i ran the peachtree road race on july 4th. an atlanta tradition in which i have never participated. i got up at 4:50 am and left an hour later for the marta station. my girlfriend dropped me off in the dark wearing only my racing number and small running shorts. i took exact change to buy my train ticket. as i put the money in the machine i realized i did not have enough. twenty five cents short. i had no more money. no more pockets. no cell phone. i explained my quandary to the nice marta employee lady and she gave me a quarter. she saved a nervous man's running career.

it was a rare sight to see only white people in sports attire waiting on the train in the dark. packed like sardines under the streets of atlanta. when we walked back out onto the streets of buckhead there were 4 helicopters overhead. the sun was yet to come up but the dawn was a glowin'. all the roads were closed. full of walking folks. it was like a movie set. i stood around for quite a long time. almost 2 hours! the first runners were done and cooled down before i even began to run.

i listened to some folks talk. i saw some folks in costumes. men in pink shorts. men in country club outfits. a man with a giant afro. pretty people. odd people. old and young and small and tall. i even saw a dwarf. run dwarf run. i ran faster that the average and i stayed to the left as instructed for the speedier than joe folks. i spent my time concentrating on the road and curbs and legs and heels as not to trip. i saw people serving cake. people handing out free t-shirts. people preaching. greyhounds wearing hats. coffee. politicians. a half naked man standing on a bench yelling as loud as possible to the runners. old women in patriotic garb. i shook rep. john lewis' hand. he is a short stout man. i heard bits of conversation as i ran by. seems like the know-it-alls always make comments. if you know it all then why aren't you running? i kept running.

the cardiac hill portion of the race which the local news always speaks of with fear was no problem. they always speak of fear. people had thrown many plastic drinking cups down on the street and it was wild to hear hundreds of people stepping simultaneously on hundreds of plastic cups. 6.2 miles went by fast. before i knew it i had finished the race. actually it took me 58 minutes and 24 seconds from when i crossed the start to the finish line. i felt pretty good. i was very sweaty since the temperature was in the 80s...along with the humidity.

i flowed through all the people in the streets to the spot where i was to meet my parents. they wanted to pick me up. i found them and we walked several blocks back to their car, powered with biodiesel. the car that is.

i needed to make a pit stop. i darted into some trees and bushes. i saw a man standing there. i said hello as i noticed he was asian and very angry. very disturbed and very angry. he glared at me like a hungry samurai warrior sans the sword...i think. he even was wearing some sort of blue military jacket. i turned and ran away. i was confused and forgot i needed to make a pit stop. i told my parents we should go.

i went home with my peachtree road race t-shirt and a brain full of interesting sights and sounds.

i wonder what the angry asian is doing now?

A Hardy Soul

it takes a hardy soul
it takes a hardy mind to build a cabin
far in the north woods
board upon board
nails split the timbers through
hands crack
fire flickers in a black stove
cold blue light of night
still air of the sun
no words spoken
shifted frozen time resonates inside your head
soon the plane will signal their return
you pick the flag from the twisted brambles
snow to your shins
the fire calls for your return
white light and blue
soon you grow immune

The wings of a snow white dove...

The Beetle

women in skirts along a dusty road
children in knickers playing with a beetle
men in rickety trucks taking their iron forged equipment down the road
the trucks moan
the woman wave goodbye
the men eat dust
the children provoke the beetle
the beetle is angry
the beetle escapes at night
the men descend from fields to forest
they drink whiskey by a campfire
the beetle walks into the woods
the women listen for news reports on a transistor radio
they pace during the night
the men rise at dawn
the children dream of the beetle
the beetle feeds it young
the women hang clothes on the line
the men never return
the air is still

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Zombies and my pillow

Sleepin, sleepin, don't sleep your life away.
I dream of zombies, and old girlfriends, and tornados, and alaska, and my teeth falling out, and showing up places in my underwear, and plane crashes, and flashlights in the window. I don't want to sleep my life away....but I am so tired.

The President's Beard

I wish the president would grow a beard. A long beard with a bird inside.
Maybe a nest of field mice. I think he should stay out of the public for a few months.
Where did the President go? Then reappear with a beard and a odd felt hat. A hat with a feather. I think that would make things better. It would be more interesting for the general public. Maybe he could wear flannel shirts in the summer. Some patched up pants would be a nice touch. I would like the President better if he decided to live in a cave for a few weeks. Why wouldn't he? Caves can be fun and it would go great with the beard. They could name it The Presidential Cave and after he was gone it could be a tourist attraction for many years. CNN could broadcast live from the Presidential Cave in West Virginia. I can see it now. Wouldn't it be great?

5 miles

I ran 5 miles today down Bouldercrest Road to the intersection of Constitution and Clifton Church Roads and back. It was very hot and very sunny. I saw three dead possums. One smelled so foul. One was mostly bones. I do not remember the other. I ran past a church cook out. People holding hands and praying. Burnt meats and charcoal. It smelled better than dead possums. It is Memorial Day in Southeast Atlanta.

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Lead

i wear a backpack made of lead.
A heart of rust and silt.
So many things left unsaid.
Will you say, "Grace?"
Please don't look at me when you speak.

Where are my glasses?

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I am so thirsty - Oh my parched existence
Will someone give me a glass of water - I need to get out of town
Ride down the highway - Feel the hair in my wind
I was bit by a rattlesnake (genus Crotalus) - I had some coffee with a flock of geese
I want I want I want - I can't find my glasses
Tan sands in between my toe -Do you have my bus ticket
At least we have the piano - I loved the way you played it
I love the crashing of the keys - My arm and heel hurts
Must be the snake bite blues - Will you play it one more time like you did in Bandelier ?

Chaos in the ring

pandemonium
chaos in the ring
wild flashes of night light
shocking revelations of discord and disdain
stain the clothes of my heart like
lace dipped in a tea bath
black and hot pink and black and electric blue
i can taste the metal
in the back of my mouth
i feel like i might explode
flash and flash and dark and flash
horns a blazing
my mind is in its second phase
its third
do you follow?
which way the wind blew
across my spine and through the thicket
are you with it?
black and pink and red and purple
flash boom pow flash
i can see the music
i can hear the color
a blender i can hold in my heart
warm sensations like a kitten and mother
there is no one in the ring

My eyes hurt

Stone Mountain Toyota 3

Foot of Beast

Hairy foot of beast
black nails
fur betwix each claw
desperate beast
three legs loose
one leg trapped
pinned to the earth
clamped down in pain
fangs in the moonlight
help help help
birds fly by
cricket walks by
wind blows
beast trapped
underneath trees with plastic limbs and leaves
stars dangling on cotton twine
cardboard sticks and pottery shards
poor beast who once so fearsome
cannot help himself
he must wait on the mercy
mercy from above
float down
float down on me
save me
and save the wretched beast

Hoot Owl on a Stick

Hoot owl...Hoot owl...on a stick
Hoot owl...Hoot owl...do a trick

The smell

My dog smells. I wash her and groom her and clip her nails.
She still smells. I treat her to the creamy rich baritone sounds of Robert Goulet.
She still smells bad. Her sweet stench is like a mixture of shrimp and peanut butter and fluff from an old vacuum cleaner bag stuffed into a sock surrounded by corn chips.

But she is kind.

Nightblurs

I have not written in a while. Things were quite blurry.

The bear

they hates the bear
they hates the claws
they hates the fur
they hates the bear

the bear was born a bear
he did not request the claws
he did not request the fur
he did not request to be a bear

so let the bear be
i say celebrate the bear
celebrate the mighty claws
celebrate the thick pelt
celebrate the danger
let the bear be

danger
beware
beware the bear
stay aware