Category: poetry

major miller, a neighbor out at my grandparents’ ranch in aladdin, wyoming died last week of lung cancer (though i don’t know he ever smoked) … his memorial service is today and i wrote the following for it …

 

his lifetime bridged the worlds
between the old west and the new
and he made a smooth transition
which not everyone can do

 

from cattle drives
to internet
stock rings
to big trade shows

where he’d connect with hunters

craving guidance from the pros
they jumped to try their hobby
on a ranch with wild game
and a host who knew his land
as well as his own name

 

major
like his moniker
substantial as the hills
where he ranged routinely

and no doubt took some spills

 

and major
like in music

no minor chords of trouble

clouding up his grin
though as a rancher in wyoming
he couldn’t always win
but disappointments didn’t show
in his glad-to-see-you smile
eyes twinkling with amusement
when you stopped by for a while

 

he knew me all my life
shared the triumphs and the strife
thanksgivings with his folks

where the eating didn’t cease

christmas at my grandparents
down the road a piece 

 

as we travelled through the years

we shared successes and the tears

of parents passing
and inheritance usurped
with anecdotes amassing
to be jawed when we would meet
which wasn’t all that often
yet always was a treat

 

roots like those we shared
run deep as rains can seep

and so does life-long history
such memories to keep

 

this landscape will be barer
now that major’s gone to rest
but we can all be grateful

we knew the best of the old west

 

i’m very excited that we start rehearsals next week for “the last smoker in america” which i wrote with peter melnick … this is the lyric of the first song we wrote for the piece … jimmy, a teenager with severe a.d.h.d. addicted to video games, discovers an intruder in the kitchen in the middle of the night and is brandishing his father’s rifle …

i’ve got a gun!
and i can decimate a mutant
in an instant nano-second
i’m used to killing monsters
’bout a jillion times a day
of course i us’lly do it
in a simulated battle
but my commando tactics
can blow you right away

i’ve got a gun!
and though it is my daddy’s
and i never learned to shoot
i have ultra-fatal instincts
and a lethal bullet spray
so if you’re itching for a battle
in a pan-galactic station
i suggest you quark a shuttle
and go somewhere else to play

‘cause i will kill you
just like the avatar of megalon
yes i will kill you
make one wrong move
and, buster, you’ll be gone
unless you want to die
real fast
like a bunny
you’ll be mince pie
one blast
on the money
don’t try to fly
half-assed
i’m a funny guy
you’ll die!

i’ve got a gun!
though i’m not old enough to drive yet
this here weapon is a license
for me to prove my manhood
like an action movie star
’cause if i were to wipe out
some bad alien intruder
my dad would be so grateful
he’d let me drive the car

i’ve got a gun!
so i wouldn’t fling projectiles
or make any meta-movements
’cause i’m as trigger-happy
as a snark from myrazun
why don’t you turn around real slowly
step out where i can see you?
’cause your evil plot has ended
before the down-load’s even done
i’ve got a gun!
i’ve got a gun!
i’ve got a gun!

bruce and i are getting married on july 11 — two days before our 30th anniversary … we were never big on the marriage bandwagon (see “i don’t want to get married” on this site under “poetry”) … but we’ve come around …

this is a lyric, henry krieger wrote the music for a song for our friends john and marcia goldman who were celebrating their 25th anniversary … of course, my inspiration was bruce … the song will close our wedding ceremony — performed by our friends nick cearley and eric lesh

 

people ask us how we’ve lasted
so many couples don’t survive
like a feast to one who’s fasted
i can’t wait ‘til you arrive

reviewing years
of every-daying
too rich and full
to comprehend
i sum it up
by humbly saying
i’m married to my best friend

yes, married to my best friend
no company i’d rather share
i know that the laughs
and adventure won’t end
i’m married to my best friend

i am grateful fate was smiling
on that day when we first met
ever since we’ve been compiling
memories we won’t forget

we’ve weathered storms
we’ve kept on going
we’ve held the road
each twist and bend
and you’re the reason
i keep growing
i’m married to my best friend

yes, married to my best friend
no company i’d rather share
i know that the laughs
and adventure won’t end
i’m married to my best friend

listen, my children
and you shall hear
of a time less kind
to being queer
a time when gays
were rarely seen
on the small
or silver screen
when even the l-word
was deemed obscene
and few were aware
what queen could mean

 

a time before
gay clubs were in

a time when love
was called a sin
if it didn’t fit
in a rockwell frame
if it dared
to speak its name

 

a time when no one
even spoke
of couples made
of bloke and bloke
or bird and bird
unless some rancid joke

was heard
whispered in a private club
or yelled out
in a rowdy pub

 

a time
when brave souls
risked their limbs
and risked their lives
acknowledging their deepest drives
were to connect
with their own kind
in body
and of course in mind

 

a time
when most would never think
to proudly march
instead of slink
into the dark
and cramped confines
of closets
where the old designs
of society and church
were hung
and stored
with hatred’s fetid dung

 

so listen, my children
and you shall hear
how far we’ve come
away from fear
how those before you
braved the wrath
of reverend
and psychopath
and stood their ground
to love themselves
and free their kind
to be at peace
in home and mind

 

and though our progress
is hard-got
and we are in
a better spot
still many battles

must be fought
a lot has changed
a lot has not