Lower taxes for the wealthy
And the never-ending war
Can’t afford to fix the bridges
Never talk about the poor
Those fancy noble pundits
Talking on tv
All worried ‘bout decorum
Blah blah blah civility
It’s fully copacetic
Dropping 20 thousand bombs
If you wear the right suit
And you’re good at looking calm
Crooks and politicians
Keep on getting paid
Plundering our country
And calling it free trade
by Richard W. Bray
They storm the Earth and stun the Air,
A Mob of solid Bliss –
—Emily Dickinson
Stir some dust
And make some noise
A mob of happy
Girls and boys
Romp and stomp
And kick your heels
Listen how
Your body feels
Play and laugh
And squeal and shout
Bounce your feelings
All about
by Richard W. Bray
Digesting people’s problems
Now you’re such a nervous wreck
It’s a powerful distraction
Like a weight around your neck
Let it go
Or let it kill you
Live your life or play a role
You can let their drama fill you
But it leaves a giant hole
Some secrets are so scary
You even keep them from yourself
And drive them underneath
Until they devastate your health
Let it out
Or let it kill you
Sunken Secrets take a toll
Don’t submerge yourself until you
Rot the bosom of your soul
by Richard W. Bray
When you see somebody happy
Does it leave you feeling blue?
Do you wish for some affliction
To take them down a notch or two?
When you see somebody happy
Do you wonder if they’re true?
Like nobody should be happy
Who ain’t good enough for you
When you see somebody happy
Does it make you happy, too?
Do you get a little mad
They’re not miserable like you?
by Richard W. Bray
Funny how fallin’ feels like flyin’
for a little while
—Stephen Bruton and Gary Nicholson
didn’t know I was asleep
till I woke up in this cell
with my dirty draggled brain
and a brand-new coat of smell
had a special girl who loved me
she tried to get me well
I had happiness and comfort
till I blew it all to hell
I took a couple drinks
didn’t have a care
then I stepped right off a cliff
and tried to dance on air
the bottle is my sweetheart
we’re such a lovely pair
but she don’t love me when I wake up
with vomit in my hair
didn’t know I was asleep
till I woke up in this cell
with my dirty draggled brain
and a brand-new coat of smell
by Richard W. Bray
I took your daddy’s truck
I called your mom a ho
Stole your brother’s piggy bank
And spent it all on blow
Your heart was sincere
Your love was good and true
There ain’t no fixin’
What I done to you
I pawned all your jewelry
When you took a nap
Did your cousin and your sister
And gave ’em both the clap
Your heart was sincere
Your love was good and true
There ain’t no fixin’
What I done to you
All my rowdy friends
Ransacked your home
I binged for a week
So you could clean it up alone
Someday I’ll meet another
Who loves me good and true
I hope that I can love her
Like I should’ve loved you
by Richard W. Bray
YOU’RE JUST A SORE LOSER
I’VE SEEN YOUR KIND BEFORE
EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU
IS ROTTEN TO THE CORE
You don’t even know me
I’m a person, not a kind
My existence can’t be flattened
To fit inside your mind
YOU’RE JUST A COMPLAINER
LIKE A MILLION OTHER FOOLS
BUGGER OFF CHILDREN
AND LET THE GROWNUPS RULE
The Serious grownups
With your guns and bombs and jail
Rewarding one another
Every time you fail
YOU STUPID LITTLE PUNK
YOU’LL NEVER UNDERSTAND
WHY CAN’T YOU JUST BE QUIET
AND TAKE IT LIKE A MAN?
Shouting out for silence
Won’t still your noisy skull
Defining others downward
Will never make you whole
by Richard W. Bray
In disheveled disarray
Careless messy Sloppy Jay
Putters on his merry way
He leaves a trail of pickles and moss
And stones and sticks and taco sauce
A slapdash chain of dregs and dross
Cruel teachers and angry aunts
Sling a thousand bitter taunts
For Jay’s apparent nonchalance
Inside this squall of anarchy
Lurks a soul enchanted and free
Discard your spite and you could see
by Richard W. Bray
the Secret sits in the middle and knows
—Robert Frost, Secret Sits
I headed for the hills
I needed introspection
To muffle my mind
And calibrate direction
Jesus in gym shorts
Smiled and waved “hi”
He was happy and barefoot
As he jogged on by
Was He an apparition
Was he a regular guy?
I searched for a sign
And looked to the sky
I caught up with the jogger
He gave me his advice:
“Always eat your vegetables
And try and act nice”
I could ask a thousand questions
Things that can’t be known
We live a wild dance
But the Secret sits alone
By Richard W. Bray
the warmth of you
melts away the hurt
love like a river
washing out the dirt
the song of you
pulses through my mind
your tender melody
compassionate and kind
the joy of you
sparkles like a star
I wish I could absorb
everything you are
by Richard W. Bray
