sleep for eight hours
wake tired, no energy
can’t focus, tears fall
Month: May 2020
every night I check
the deck planter filled with seeds:
any shoots this time?
the rain keeps falling
as rhododendrons explode
pinks, fuchsias, reds
exhausting work day
go to bed at normal time
—wide awake at 1 a.m.
first it was TP
then bleach, flour, yeast, rice, beans
now it’s meat, pet food
—on scarcity in grocery stores
how can folks be bored?
working from home, two laptops
laundry underway
the apocalypse
here’s how I will survive it:
whiskey sours, Rush
—No, but seriously.
You make the best of what’s still around:
This PSA brought to you by The Police.
When the World Is Running Down
The Police
Turn on my V.C.R.
Same one I’ve had for years
James Brown on the Tami Show
Same tape I’ve had for years
I sit in my old car
Same one I’ve had for years
Old battery’s running down
It ran for years and years
Turn on the radio
The static hurts my ears
Tell me where would I go
I ain’t been out in years
Turn on the stereo
It’s played for years and years
An Otis Redding song
It’s all I own
When the world is running down
You make the best of what’s still around
When the world is running down
You make the best of what’s still around
Plug in my M.C.I
To exercise my brain
Make records on my own
Can’t go out in the rain
Pick up the telephone
I’ve listened here for years
No one to talk to me
I’ve listened here for years
When the world is running down
You make the best of what’s still around
When the world is running down
You make the best of what’s still around
When I feel lonely here
Don’t waste my time with tears
I run ‘Deep Throat’ again
It ran for years and years
Don’t like the food I eat
The cans are running out
Same food for years and years
I hate the food I eat
When the world is running down
You make the best of what’s still around
When the world is running down
You make the best of what’s still around
When the world is running down
You make the best of what’s still around
When the world is running down
You make the best of what’s still around
Turn on my V.C.R.
Same one I’ve had for years
James Brown on the Tami Show
Same tape I’ve had for years
scanning the store shelves
no flour, beans, pasta, rice
sighing with relief:
tea!
—At least this was the case back at the end of March.
Although still having some difficulties with the beans and rice,
and to a lesser extent with the flour.
And I feel fine:
This PSA brought to you by R.E.M.
It’s The End Of The World As We Know It
That’s great, it starts with an earthquake
Birds and snakes, and aeroplanes
And Lenny Bruce is not afraid
Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn
World serves its own needs
Don’t mis-serve your own needs
Speed it up a notch, speed, grunt, no, strength
The ladder starts to clatter
With a fear of height, down, height
Wire in a fire, represent the seven games
And a government for hire and a combat site
Left her, wasn’t coming in a hurry
With the Furies breathing down your neck
Team by team, reporters baffled, trumped, tethered, cropped
Look at that low plane, fine, then
Uh oh, overflow, population, common group
But it’ll do, save yourself, serve yourself
World serves its own needs, listen to your heart bleed
Tell me with the Rapture and the reverent in the right, right
You vitriolic, patriotic, slam fight, bright light
Feeling pretty psyched
It’s the end of the world as we know it
It’s the end of the world as we know it
It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine
Six o’clock, T.V. hour, don’t get caught in foreign tower
Slash and burn, return, listen to yourself churn
Lock him in uniform, book burning, bloodletting
Every motive escalate, automotive incinerate
Light a candle, light a motive, step down, step down
Watch your heel crush, crush, uh oh
This means no fear, cavalier, renegade and steering clear
A tournament, a tournament, a tournament of lies
Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives and I decline
It’s the end of the world as we know it (I had some time alone)
It’s the end of the world as we know it (I had some time alone)
It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine (time I had some time alone)
I feel fine (I feel fine)
It’s the end of the world as we know it (time I had some time alone)
It’s the end of the world as we know it (time I had some time alone)
It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine (time I had some time alone)
The other night I drifted nice continental drift divide
Mountains sit in a line, Leonard Bernstein
Leonid Brezhnev, Lenny Bruce and Lester Bangs
Birthday party, cheesecake, jellybean, boom
You symbiotic, patriotic, slam but neck, right, right
It’s the end of the world as we know it (time I had some time alone)
It’s the end of the world as we know it (time I had some time alone)
It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine (time I had some time alone