Blues Poem #26

Everybody wants

to go to heaven

But nobody

wants to die

Everybody wants

the mojo queen

Who rides in

on the moonlight tide

Everybody wants

to go to heaven

But nobody

wants to die

Ain’t a woman been made

who won’t steal your soul

and keep you

— half alive

(Tribute To Albert King)

Blues Poem #27

An aging

harp player

trying to bend

the next reed

New breath

in the shadows

where servitude

bleeds

His hands

old and wrinkled

each note

a new plea

And out

of the darkness

his riff

— sets you free

(Tribute To Sonny Terry: March, 2026)

Your mind

won’t understand it

but your feelings will

In touch

with the magic

— forever instilled

(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)

Falling back

into

the abyss

of myself

The depths

stay unmeasured

a bottomless

hell

Light

into darkness

sun

into rain

Spiritual

guidance

a dying

refrain

An echoing

canyon

where fate

goes to die

As demons

lie waiting

and destiny

— cries

(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)

And he wished

just once too often …

always failing

in refrain

That the times

would now absolve him

for a past

he hid in shame

And he wished

one final pleading …

an attempt

to bend the reed

To a future

unforgiving

where his hopes and dreams

— still bleed 

(Sausalito: June, 1984)

WHY

Three letters

commanding attention

Three letters

the bone of contention

One syllable

bigger than Everest

One syllable

birthing our interest

Questioning forward

questioning back

Answering tightly

answering slack

Words that fall silent

words that delight

Trapdoor to darkness

— gateway to light

WHY

(The New Room: March, 2026)

The devil walked

behind me

to that crossroads

in the dark

He said …

“Give me that

old gitar son

I’ll reignite

its spark

“But once I do

the die is cast

those licks

in Hades rhymed

“Now go and set

the world on fire

your soul

— forever mine”

(Listening To Robert Johnson: March, 2026)

John Lee, Wolf,

and Muddy knew

the rails could

set you free

Direction

but an afterthought

when tracks

forever lead

To where the music

calls your name

in box cars

down the line

With darkened Angels

heading home

deliverance

— there to find

(Kingston Mines Chicago: January, 1996)

Excellent lies

terrible truths

Moment’s sublime

— joined at the root

(Dreamsleeep: March, 2026)

Confronting Tomorrow

Persuading

my curiosity

to counter my fear

I looked beyond the fray

Never being sure

I was dead or alive

the crossroads of tomorrow

— to enter or stay

(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)

Before Fate

How many times

must you lip sync

your schtick

to finally get it right

How many lies

must forever

be told

to block the brightest light

How many lovers

must swim

in your wake

eventually to drown

How many times

must you rebait

the trap

— before its fate impounds

(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)

Surrendering All

Escaping deep

into my art

without an exit

shown

Surrendering

what’s yet to come

for this one moment

shown

Escaping in

to venture forth

the one-way signs

abound

Surrendering all

to win at last

what prescience

— will impound

(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)

Sentience

The journey

is the destination

Each step

tomorrow gleaned

All glory

for dishonor’s sake

As sentience

takes the lead

(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)

Distant Thunder

If Morrison

returned

would the desert

repair

Would lizards

still hide

in forbidden

night lairs

Their King

they await

like groupies

in heat

To re-shed

their skins

then gather

to greet

The one

who had freed them

then left them

forlorn

Who slithers

inside them

the eye

— of the storm

(Joshua Tree National Monument: March, 1981)

 Square Root Of The Present

Time is now

whose moment refrains

The instant upon us

— as reference abstains

(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)

The trap of

self-surveillance

Our phones

and I-pads hide

They watch our

every movement

And hear

what we most prize

They pander

with their programs

Seducing

with their apps

Recording

undermining

Our futures

— to remap

(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)