I wrote this yesterday for the man who died Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2006 at the Skidmore MAX station platform (under the Burnside bridge). And will never make the news.
He died last night
and no one knows his name
but we all knew him just the same.
He drank his beer until his pants fell down
then he'd come to the mission and sit down.
It was not cold this morning
but he died anyway and without warning.
Yes we did all know him
but not his name; just the face
And he just kept to his own little space.
Escaping the realms of bitter despair
I climb forward to a new threshold
Of lightheartedness.
Cold air and banqueting on the scene is just
an empty pistol triggered for an empty promise
Sarcastic smiles envelope the candlelight
as I watch in awe how charismatic you are
with your magnetic charm blended in my egotistic wins
My eyes look into your hollow flesh and I see you
in my dreams as if, now, real you are
and every bit of time wasted with you on this world
begins with you and me.
Violence is a poison whose antidote has yet to be found,
so slowly we succumb to it,
vast swathes of humanity suffocated
by the debilitating acceptance of such a toxin.
Any gasps for air, any cries out loud
are written off as delusion,
as the well wishes of the dying,
or as the ravings of the hypocritical.
Me, I am the walking paralyzed,
aware that something terrible is happening,
shocked by the ominous presence
of an insidious death all around me
and yet unresponsive to any primordial urges.
As complacent as the rest, suffering the same
and terrified by my own inaction
I only emit muffled sorrows
from a throat bound by ligatures I can’t even see.
Wanting it
crashes through
me. Need for a
real encounter,
someone silly and
open, serious and
driven. Someone who
love doesn’t scare,
that isn’t into fairy tales.
Someone real broken,
and jaded, happy
and carefree
Hard tack 'n' whiskey, gone whistlin’ Dixie,
on ole river run way.
Skatland fiddlin’, spindle cut kindlin’,
flaylin’-n-ah baylin’ hay.
High Hats and River Rats, mixin’ it up like stray cats,
do you fold 'em, pick a card or stay?
Misters been mistressin’, everybody's whisperin’
At such a cost there is to benefit for an overprivileged few,
to be routing bold knights by seizing their days.
Sippin’ on bourbon, it's gone high-rise suburban
on Riverfront and Clay.
Now you look up to the sky, but still no valid message why.
So you say brother, keep the change, and go on back to the range
with your hard tack 'n' whiskey long gone,
whistlin’ Dixie, all dipsey doo dog day.
War for what reason?
Schools accomplishing what?
Religion for what cause?
Friends for what gain?
Love for what angle?
Minority self for what purpose?
Existence in futility
Predetermined attitudes
Fairness nonexistent
Why?
My life.
If I can forsake your time, a story I'll relate
of how I came to lose my bible base
The echoes of this empty house have got me burning sage
And checking out the closets through the day
Train wrecks and suicides, so many ways that people die
Through the night I hear their cries for help to escape
Wails turn into warning signs
Saying how you live is how you die
And you too could find you're stuck in time with no one left to care
You too could find you're stuck in time with no one left to care
When I wake the morning lights like make-up on my face
The remnants of another's fall from grace
If I could regain my mind I'd go back from whence I came
And leave alone these souls that aren't my blame
O.D.'s and homicides, so many ways we have to die
Through the night I hear their cries for help to escape
The paper peels to warning signs
saying how you live is how you die
And you too might find you're stuck in time with no one left to care
You too might find you're stuck in time with no one left to care
Are you so tired
you’ve mentally retired?
Do you give up when it’s rough
or get going and be mentally tough?
Life on Earth isn’t easy
but you don’t have to act so cheesy
Some people don’t think left or right
and in their minds there is no plight.
Never ever get tired of thinking
or you might get caught just blinking
That brain you have is a real nice thing
many things to you it will bring.
So if you end up in a mental ditch
Smooth your thoughts to rid the glitch
Relax, enjoy and do a good deed,
mentally you won’t be in need.
When you get those mental blurs
Ride that horse and kick your spurs.
Mental toughness overcomes all
Keeps you from an endless freefall
If you get mentally drained and thin
Turn to the Lord – you’ll always win.
