Tag Archives: Poetry

Show Poem: Dance Class / 4-12 &13-14 @ Double Trouble weekend: Replay Lounge (Lawrence, KS) & The Brick (KC, MO)

Mama’s got a squeeze box
And Papa’s got a brand new bag
And You were right when you said I might have to, some day,
Fight For my right to party
The party cops are a real thing
The anti party “Party” is in full effect
They will make us all pay for their lack of skills on the dance floor
But  “No” my friends
We are not judges
We are teachers
Our class room is the dance floor
Our chalk boards are our wiggly asses
It’s not about skill
It’s not about obeying rules
There are no rules in ass class
There is no test
There is no grade
There is only research
There is only motion and emotion
There is no wrong way for an ass to move
It’s not about how much you charge for admission to the live show
It’s about everybody putting a little somethin’ in the tip jar
And when I say tip jar
I mean dance floor
And when I say dance floor
I mean: Mountains & Forests & Lakes & Rivers
All that creeps and crawls
And climbs aboard this crazy boat ride
It’s about the birds and their beaks
And the special way they feed their babies
I want you  to feed me on the dance floor like a baby bird.
Feed me
Like a hungry baby bird on fire

Show Poem 4-03-14 @ Riot Room “Middle Of the Map Fest” (KC, MO)

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Photos by Joshua Efron I Heart Local Music

How many licks does it take to get to the middle of the map
Life is different when you’re always on the inside
Always close to the bone.
We hold the meat together.
We slow cook it and smother it in sacrifice sauce
We let the dogs out and make them police our junk yards
We tie them up the way we wish to be tied
We give them space
Sometimes curse them for wanting to step foot in ours
We praise them for loving us
The kind of love we crave
We learn the hard way
The middle one is not always the center of attention
Sometimes the center is a hole
But that is where the gift happens
That is where we learn to make our own fun.
When you’re in the middle of the map every step is one step away from the center
But today we dance in circles and celebrate ourselves
With music and madness and the meat of our love

Show Poem 3-18-14 @ Low Key “Valley Of The Vapors Festival” (Hot Springs, AK)

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Only Zombies are forever young.
Just because I share the first name with the King of Mexican food doesn’t mean that I am bullet proof.
Or that my insides are steel and endless.
My life is not a personal insult to anyone.
We all pay the price for sitting on the fence of the bull ride.
The clowns are the saddest to me.
They are the Rodeo’s secret service.
At any given moment prepared to take a steers horn to the chest or snow cone to the face… the ultimate sacrifice so the cowboy may ride another day.
You are not my daughter.
How long will you wait for water?
The water round here has mysterious properties.
Healing powers.
And powers that know the Achilles heel.
You are not my daughter,
But I can love you just the same
Says the water.
It’s in the rocks.  And the dirt.
It’s in the air. The trees.
It’s even in the pizza.
Hot and ready to serve.
Ready to spring like a baby grasshopper entering the woods.
There is a place for us here.
Hot and springy.
A place to drink and bathe.
And sing.
A place where all are welcome.