For Joseph

Bikers get a bad rap in this country. 
For decades, bikers were deemed "bad to the bone", 
A breed of outlaw unto themselves, 
20th century Boot Hill gang determined to see you and me
As nothing more than broken lines in the pavement.

But after some careful observance, I have changed my tune.
Bikers are by and large what is great and wonderful about America.
They are not young punks...those are out driving the SUV's 
Their suburban rich daddies bought for them to bribe them
To finish High School.

The average biker I encounter is between 50 and 60
Every one of them sports an American flag, either on their hog
Or on their denim or leather...or more likely both. 
They are not the ones texting at the red lights, 
Or sporting noise-cancelling Boze phones
And jutting their fat suburban butts straight into the intersection
Where an EMR is frantically trying to get to another fallen biker.

The bikers are first at the fires, first at the floods
They are the first to defend your faith, even if they don't share it
Or defend your guns, even if they don't own one.
For years we saw bikers as rebels, outlaws and miscreants.
But they indeed are the truest of patriots.

They will defend your right to speak your peace
Even if it's to badmouth their beloved country
But know this if you do, while one hand is raised to defend your rights
The other is squarely in your face. By the millions. 


The Two Million Biker Ride To D.C.

About the funnest thing I've ever done musically.  

September Harvest Rain

Weekend almost over, a couple more workdays, then zoom!  Jeff boards the big white bird to SeaTac, and his honey's arms.

Happy 'Cause We'll Be Together

Recovery from addictions, whatever they be, require one in Heaven and two on Earth  To truly win the race, one must turn one's will and life over to the care of God.  That being done, God turns the race over to one coach at the starting gate, and one at the finish line.  It is vital to start right and finish well, and for that we must have one ever urging us away from whence we came, and the other reminding us of what awaits at the finish line. Though they be repeated over the course of hundreds and hundreds of miles, there are but 12 steps to this race,  and they must be dispatched in full measure, for the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.  It is the mind made intentional by the will turned over to the care of God that will finish in the end.  Thanks to Matt and Ken for their place in the marathon of recovery, and for my beautiful Pauline, who is the wind beneath my feet.  This is written for you all.

The Sponsor And His Sponsee

Melodia Per Una Notte Triste

Russell's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day‎

John Takes The Fifth

This piece was originally penned (so to speak) to dramatize the chickens-eye view of change.  For Henry, who has taken to the daily ritual (sometimes twice daily) of reminding each of the girls one-on-one of who is the rooster around here...life is about to undergo a huge change. Henry is about to be exported to Rush, Colorado, beyond the confines of the municipality which has so cruelly outlawed his kind.  He will have 18 hens in his harem, 3 times the number of his royal namesake.  I'm certain the remaining five will brood (so to speak) over Henry's disappearance, for at least 10 minutes.  No doubt they will wonder whether his final roosting place was in a royal palace somewhere on the Great Plains, or in a six piece kids' meal someplace.  

Henry Departs The City

Romantic Interlude

It Is Not Good For The Man To Be Alone

How I Love You, Pauline

Three Minutes One Friday In May

The Rising 2019

Side By Side

What Does A Day Hold

Fifteen states have now petitioned to secede from the Union.   The Texas petition reads as follows:

The US continues to suffer economic difficulties stemming from the federal government’s neglect to reform domestic and foreign spending. The citizens of the US suffer from blatant abuses of their rights such as the NDAA, the TSA, etc. Given that the state of Texas maintains a balanced budget and is the 15th largest economy in the world, it is practically feasible for Texas to withdraw from the union, and to do so would protect it’s citizens’ standard of living and re-secure their rights and liberties in accordance with the original ideas and beliefs of our founding fathers which are no longer being reflected by the federal government.

The Second Great American Civil War of 2012

Regardez, voyez, ma belle épouse, la belle Pauline. Qui connaît son coeur, qui peut regarder dans les yeux et sonder les profondeurs de ses passions? Qui sait tel amour somptueux et le soin? Qui peut demander à cette beauté intérieure et extérieure? Certes, Dieu s'est surpassé avec sa fille, la belle Pauline.

Somewhere back in college I fell in love with the French Impressionist Composers.  Debussy, Ravel, Satie, Faure.   This short piece is patterned somewhat after the fabulous French Four, and dedicated to my wonderful wife Pauline, who suffers with me hours in the basement experimenting with all kinds of styles of music.  

Fantaisie Pour Ma Chérie Belle Pauline

We sat on our buns
When they took our funds
Like marauding Huns
They took our guns

And now our sons
All dress like nuns
And spout off puns
Their fathers spun

America stunned
Because she shunned
The evil ones
Who took our guns.

In piles of tons
They took our guns
New season begun
Are now reruns
 


Mae Liz - Great American Gun Confiscation Resistance - 2013

Une journée froide et enneigée Mars

Whether it's a search, or whether it's a chase, life seems to be careening at a maddening pace down a lubriciously precipitous slope at breakneck frenzy never before experienced in human history.

The Chase (The smoke-out and capture of the Boston Marathon Bombers)

A. Symposium o covers and originals in coneflower variety style

For Joseph

Coneflower Basement Band