jonberger

The other dayI was going to walk all the way
downtown
to meet her
but it was raining
so instead
I took the train
like every other
asshole.

Now
I’m telling you
as if
it were at all
important.

Jesus.

Who am I
anymore?

Once I claimed to be magic. Now I no longer know.
I used to be quite empirical in thought;
perhaps at this point I’m less so.

There is more to the world than the eye can behold.
Certainly that I can sense
but that doesn’t mean I control that stuff
or I could have once in the past tense.

It’s safer to say I was lucky
and that things that I wished for came true.
Would that similar fare could happen again
such as my knowing the likes of you.

Some people like to get away from the horrid smells
of the New York Streets.
Some folks like to hear their lives just cannot be beat.
I think that there’s better out there waiting for me to see. I could just taste it in South Hadley.

Up in Massachusetts, in the bitter cold,
you can feel that life is truly lived.
When a friend is generous, he’s truly gived.
I know I’ve got to have it; so give it all to me.
The life there of the Happy Valley.

It’ll be so pretty, living snowy day by snowy day.
Out of touch with the cities and their news.
I just need to have some of that country air.
How else can I explain it to you?

It comes down to Western Mass, it’s a pain in the ass
all that Town and Gown. But if I live up there, I won’t wear a frown. I’ll get what I’ve needed. I won’t ask for rhythm or rhyme. I’ll be in a South Hadley state of mind.

She thought she heard something in the nightbut he told her it was nothing
which he thought was placating
but she found annoying
so she stayed up
looking to find
what she had heard before
but she couldn’t see what she had heard
if you feel me
so she went back to sleep again
and remembered none of the incident
in the morning.

If this is just one of the dozens of universes where we exist,
then this is just one of the dozens of universes where she exists,
and that means there is still hope.

Just because the center could not hold here
does not mean
that there is not somewhere
out there
where we could be together.

I want her anywhere.
If she’s beside me, I know I need never care
there was a she that simply could not bare
a me that is not her pair.

Let me find her there, here, or anywhere.

Come the new world, we will know each other
not through the old ways.
We will not communicate through words
or through tongues
at least, not for language.
We will kiss to get across
what needs be clarified.

In the new world, our bodies shall pass on
the necessary information
and justify our government
and social systems, too.

Come the new world, there will be immediate action on sensual crimes for nothing could be worse
than such violations
and they must be acted upon immediately.

New world; new rules.

Upon the new world, these changes will be immediate
and burned into us.
You shall see, children,
before I’m a dead old man.

It’s much quieter down here where everyone is free
under the waves, you see, beneath this peaceful sea
of daffodils.
I was at first raging, but then I grooved on the privacy
of my interment, where I could anchor where I wanted to be
under daffodils.

I was sailing with Charon on a golden boat beneath a cemetery.
I saw my life flash before me – and disappear – spontaneously.
My world has both contracted and grown miraculously
and all since I’ve been imported below by the authority
of daffodils.

Living below is so strange and so wondrous a fantasy.
I feel like it’ll end if I just click my heels and count "One, two, three.
No more daffodils."

But it’s not so, I am sure I can’t go quite so easily.
I’m inhumed here and I fear that forever I’ll be a lessee

to the daffodils.

The need is gnawing.
The need is distinct.
The need is constant
and clawing
and cloying
and leaves me hungry for more
and useless for little else.

The need is leaving me less and less
day after day of your stay away from me
and I don’t know if I can bear your absence much longer.

When will you be coming back?
Can I pick you up at the station?
I just hope I’ll still be able to drive…

The day breaks. Your toe aches. You think that means rain
but when looking outside it’s plain
the day is simply gorgeous.
Great news! Exit blues. Knot shoes.
Go cruise the neighborhood.
Not every morning looks this good.

Not every morning looks this good.

Postwoman smiles, no dogs for miles
and clouds are nights away.
Kids are drawing on the street.
It looks like everyone’s on holiday.
The town is at a dance.
The town is in a trance.
It feels like some fine romance.

It feels like some fine romance.

As you wander, you start to ponder,
"Why isn’t every day like this?
So rapturous, so glorious,
with every moment full of bliss!"
It is then you spy a woman whom
you’d very like to know
who approaches, beams upon you
and bestows a gracious kiss.

Not every morning is this good.
It feels like some fine romance.

Not any morning could be this good.

A lifetime is so short, and through it, plans are thwarted.
Only death will part us, is what our vows purported
and though we started strong, it’s now harder to deny
that all the joys between us seem to fly on by and
it’s over now between us; it’s real easy to see
I won’t be near you since you’re not in my vicinity.
If surgery’s completed with a rusty butter knife,understand it’s happening: I gotta get you outta my life!

Gotta get you out; I can substantiate it.
Gotta get you out; can we negotiate it?
Gotta get you out; I feel so enervated.

Gotta get you out, gotta get you out of my life!

I’m sure this sounds like some familiar song, but
I’ll feel a whole lot better, once I know you’re gone.
Still, it’s true, the state we’re in’s incomplete
and we’ve got to declare our love’s defeat!
So come on: let’s bring the papers in
so everyone will know we’re living in sin.
It’s important to ensure that you’re forever not my wife.
As long as that’s done: hooray! I gotta get you outta my life!

Gotta get you out; it’s so important to do.
Gotta get you out; I’d love it if it were true.
Gotta get you out; I know you want it, too.
Gotta get you out, gotta get you out of my life!