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Tuesday, February 20, 2018

JIMMY REED HIGHWAY




Saturday night
and everybody gotta be somewhere
or thinks that they do

I'm okay bein' nowhere


but if I was gonna be somewhere

I'd be rollin' down that Jimmy Reed Highway
take out some insurance
an' let 'er rip

the spirit moves

when you've nothing to lose
barreling full throttle ahead
ignoring all the warning signs
til you crash and burn
that's a tough way to go out
but a helluva ride

when the last person who remembers you dies

so do you
some romantic bullshit maybe
as Brando would say
I'm committing slow suicide
but it's better than the alternative

and the world is screaming

NO NO
we can't be lost 

And Hitler is still waiting

outside the gates of Hell
twiddling his thumbs
they've tightened up their immigration policy
as in some other places

I've played host to The Devil incarnate
masquerading in female form
his favorite disguise
according to Elvis
and my own observation

but love was easy when it was

like a jackhammer penetrating your indifference
like a lumberjack chipping away at your resistance
like a finger on your trigger
like a ditch digging its digger
like Humpty Dumpty humping all the king's horses
like the Queen Mum humping all the king's men
like a congressman with a coke bottle up his ass
like it's so damn funny I forgot to laugh

ah, but those good times

they don't last
and you're just a momentary blip
on the radar screen of existence
headed for that crash landing

no survivors

28 comments:

  1. I think you must be a closet Anglophile:) I am going to ask the Queen to send you a bearskin busby for your birthday.
    Incidentally Humpty Dumpty was a very nice chap who sat on a wall and would never frighten the horses in the manner you suggest:)

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    1. How lovely of you, and my birthday is coming up--lol
      Well, I've a few poems that mention the Queen, none of them too complimentary I'm sorry to say! But you are probably right--there is a morbid fascination there. Now Humpty, by the very fact of his name, has to be suspect of deviant behavior, especially on Wednesdays.

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  2. ... me thinks U r on 2 sumthin ... lets go and sit on da wall and fall off or not ... awesome post and much food for thought, friend catnip ... Love, cat.

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  3. You had me at 'like a jackhammer penetrating your indifference'.. this is quite a poem, Tim! Happy Birthday (in advance)💞

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    1. Oh, goody! That line is where the poem shifts into high gear. Thanks for the birthday wishes!

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  4. Along that road; I touch the great hills; harassment.

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    1. I'm reading a lot into that haiku comment--lol Good to see you!

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  5. I'm happy being nowhere if I have a good cup of tea and a book nearby, but a road trip with blues sounds cool too.

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  6. and you're just a momentary blip
    on the radar screen of existence
    headed for that crash landing

    Great !

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  7. I think we will all crash at the end of the road... at the end we will plummet into the depth below... (and I mean below)

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  8. Wow, just wow! Love the voice, the tough slangy language, the hard-boiled cynicism with passion underneath, the very funny rude jokes ... all of it.

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    1. Rosemary, you "get" me in every sense of the word. Thanks so much!

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  9. Quite a wild ride complete with jokes, sarcasm, and even passion.

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  10. I liked that part about Hitler twiddling his thumbs.

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  11. The rhythm of this matches perfectly the message.

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  12. Replies
    1. I like that phrase...think I'll use it to refer to myself :)

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  13. the rhythm of this and the way it picks up speed on the ride--wow!

    and this: when the last person who remembers you dies
    so do you

    It's thoughtful and true. Unless we write our souls on paper.

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  14. That was exactly my meaning, Sascha! Thanks so much for your thoughts!

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