perpetual jam!!!!!!!!!

[the mingo]

ice age had no cows
had aurochs
big-horned
and big-wild
ice age had no jazz either
not like us anyways
no kerouac but maybe
i ain't thought that
through enough
and no men in t-shirts
with a pack of lucky strikes
rolled up in their shirt sleeves
the ice age was big ice
grinding away at bedrock
scaring it deeply with grooves where it touched
no new orleans yet
no st. louis
and chicago?
forget that, chicago was buried
beneath a mile of ice
no place anywhere
for a good jazzman to play
they all went to the amazon
ate anacondas & piranha
& parrots
ate fruit & nuts for dessert
and waited

[saw]

too weak to start the fire
days on the disabled list
but still a member of the forty man roster
I bide my time in the power
of restoration, in the muscle
of good food and rest, and friends
that drop things off without a blink
of an aging eyelid, we understand
not only does it take a village
to raise a child it also takes a village
to nurture an old man
I lap up the comfort of family and all
it's extensions like a cat does milk
in a bowl by the door, my tongue
getting as sandpapered as my furry
friend

[WIREMAN]

friends endure
hope all's ok steve

bury my blues
beneath icy avalanches
mingo

cold....cold...cold...
reality
no work today
impossible environs
the wind is
the kabosh
A good book
some kindle
hot soup
sounds real nice
big heart day
manana

[the mingo]

cold here too
damn frigid
i be thinking
the curses i'll have
for the heat of july
it would take both of the girls
of rising appalachia
& their mothers
to keep me cozy tonight
ah sweet dreaming
locked in ice cube regions
ice clear across the river

[saw]

finally got the fire to burn
ahh what a difference in this leaky house
cold air pours in through cracks of time
but the hot cast iron will kill the chill
of the most brutal night, and once I got
her going I didn't let her go out
recovering from surgery binge watching
Nurse Jackie on Netflix and eating soup
life is good, warmth on the outside
warmth on the inside, how cool is that ?

[WIREMAN]

light that fire
snow tomorrow
cold movin out
rain tuesday morn
then we get into
the 50's
sittin by the river
freezin in the
predawn
glad to hear that
lock unlatched on
the trailer
at 5:45 am.
1st flight
outta national airport
booming into the sky
i refuse to call it reagan
ah the 80's
how they went so wrong
era of slick still looking
for the recovery
jammin jack style
even though he was
a republican
go figure
i find myself disillusioned
by this political season
kinda scary
off with the TV
she said "let them eat cake!"
before they chopped
off her head......

[saw]

oh antonin
ye scaliawag
somewhere along the line
they bought your soul
and you will need to face
that karma my man
the chief without the justice part
the visits to the Koch Bros. ranches
an honest man would recuse himself
from any decisions after just returning
from the wining and dining
but not you, no you gave us
Citizens United so named
to throw it our faces
and 99% of the world will not
shed a tear for you

[WIREMAN]

crunch...crunch...
ice & snow
feels like 10 degrees
out here...on second thought
think i'll bag it today

[saw]

snow again
then freezing rain on top
but by the weekend
back in the fifties
I liked the fifties, came
of age in the world with elvis
and doo wop, so warm up
my world so I can believe
spring will be springing
I'm running out of firewood

[WIREMAN]

elvis behind the
screen
tasted my 1st
beer that night
cars with fins
& rin-tin-tin

[saw]

my '60 Biscayne
was big white tank
powerful enough to tear off
off the bumper of a Caddy
one icy New Years Eve
first accident, wouldn't take
my foot off that damn brake pedal
thought if i just pushed harder
she'd coast to a stop, but I
had so much to learn, especially
about women

[WIREMAN]

50's innocence
we'd sit up on
the hill overlooking
suitland parkway
counting out of state
license plates
as dusk settled into
the dark night

[saw]

we'd drag our guitars
to the school for the blind
sit in the horse pasture
on some rocks at night
with a little boone's farm
can't believe I drank that stuff
we'd play kingston trio songs
til the wee hours, scotch and soda
mud in your eye, baby do I feel high
oh me oh my, do I feel high
soon we'd shift over to rock and roll
but never totally abandon our roots
roots keep you grounded

[WIREMAN]

Place where you get your kicks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

& then the beatles came
on the heels of dobie gillis
route 66 in the rain
space missions watched
in b&w schoolhouse wonder
always worked out right
we were conquering the russians
knowing they'd plunder us if they
only could, come and listen to
a story as they crammed us
into a '62 tempest californy bound
disney wonder as tinkerbell flew
across matterhorn skies
we saw a future world that
never would come
who'd a thought everyone woulda
wound up with their faces buried
in cellular devices their lives
on splice

[WIREMAN]

trains canceled
nothin but wet ice
outside
rain all morning in DC
might as well chill
work on sculpture
get some breakfast
if possible, if any place is open?
soon it'll all be
just a bad memory

jammin on a be-boppin riff
patter of icy rain ai prepare
to leave....uh ohhhhhh!!!!
open front door
ice city
throw rock salt on steps
surrender to the inevitable
sculptures on the wall
waiting
fan whirling above
low hum of old building
time to play.....