waiting as
my coffee cooks
my morning
contemplation
hooks
my mind on
tasks that
make a day
folks to see
and bills
to pay…
I do the
things I
gotta do
to build
a life for
me and you
only thing
I’m sure
about
life is who
we care about
by Richard W. Bray
I’ll be friendly
I’ll be flirty
I’ll make manager
By thirty
I turn it off
I turn it on
I’m your friend
Until you’re gone
Talk all about
The kids and wife
I’ll say you have
An awesome life
I turn it off
I turn it on
I’m your friend
Until you’re gone
I’m here all night
This round’s on me
With all my fake
Sincerity
I turn it off
I turn it on
I’m your friend
Until you’re gone
You’re not my pal
You ain’t my friend
You’re just the
Means to an end
I turn it off
I turn it on
I’m your friend
Until you’re gone
by Richard W. Bray
It ain’t no sin to be glad you’re alive
—Bruce Springsteen
I feel happy
For your happy
I’m glad that
You are glad
Don’t make my
Life no better
For others
To be sad
Happy ain’t
No zero sum
So pass it on
To everyone
Life’s too short
To hold your happy
Don’t be scared that
You’ll be sappy
Spread it round
Don’t be a miser
You’ll feel better
You’ll be wiser
Happy ain’t
No zero sum
So pass it on
To everyone
by Richard W. Bray
Author’s note: I’ll never forget the first time I’m heard the word homey. Circa 1986, I was waiting for the northbound bus where College Avenue meets Broadway in the great American city of Oakland, California with a pair of teenagers who were ditching school. They were planning on meeting some friends to hang out at somebody’s house. (Yes, I was eavesdropping.) One of them ran across the street to use a payphone (remember payphones?) just as the bus appeared.
“Yo, homey,” his friend alerted. I immediately loved this new word. I’m seriously into words.
Homey and a Half
Life is scary
Life is bleak
It ain’t no place
For the week
Friends will help
You get along
That’s why
I wrote this song
You’re a homey and a half
And you always make me laugh
You’re a comrade and helper and a chum
You’re a homey and a half
You’re the wheat without the chaff
You’re the one I want beside me in a scrum
Can’t take nothing
To the grave
There’s only
Memories to save
The times we
Share with friends
Mean the most
In the end
You’re a homey and a half
And you always make me laugh
You’re a comrade and helper and a chum
You’re a homey and a half
You’re the wheat without the chaff
You’re the one I want beside me in a scrum
by Richard W. Bray
Somewhere somebody
Might be sayin’
Somethin’ bad
About me
I get so agitated
When I think about
What those words
Could be
My blood
Starts percolatin’
Cuz I know
Just who they are
Laughin’ sneerin’ hatin’
At my favorite bar
Those pathetic fools
Are probably
Goin’ on
And on
They should worry
‘Bout themselves
Insteada’ yappin’
All night long
My blood
Starts percolatin’
Cuz I know
Just who they are
Laughin’ sneerin’ hatin’
At my favorite bar
by Richard W. Bray
The problem is, you cannot rescue someone who is addicted to drugs. You can lecture them, to no point, and plead with them, to no avail, but essentially an outsider is powerless over someone else’s addiction. No doubt about it, drugs do make him feel good. It’s just that they make him feel bad all the rest of the time.
The rest of
The time ain’t
So much fun
After the party
Is done
Vampires
Whither
In the sun
My friends are
So lively and so free
We’re just who
We wanted
To be
Ain’t nothing
Will ever explain
The nuisance
That nibbles
My brain
My world
Will never
Be sane
My friends are
So lively and so free
We’re just who
We wanted
To be
by Richard W. Bray
you deserve so much better
than me
i picked you up and then i
set you free
there ain’t a thing that i could
say or do
to make up for the hurt that
i gave you
i’d live my penance for ten
thousand years
but i could never pay for
all your tears
we’ll never resurrect what’s
dead and gone
i’ll try to be more careful
from now on
i hope you find a man who
helps you see
you deserve so much better
than me
by Richard W. Bray
Look at that bitch
I’ll put her down on her back
Only thing they’re good for
Is a roll in the sack
Dirty little skank
I’ll make her sting and burn
Everybody done it
Gonna get my turn
Swimming round and round
In a pool of mean
The men hate the women
And the women
Hate the women
Look at that bitch
Where’d she get them shoes?
Dirty little skank
Got nothing to lose
I’ll rip her apart
Just for being alive
It’s girl eat girl
And I gotta survive
Swimming round and round
In a pool of mean
The men hate the women
And the women
Hate the women
by Richard W. Bray
Being mean
Don’t make a man
So love your neighbor
As you can
Compassion
Don’t grow on trees
It lives or dies
In you and me
I’ll never know
What you been through
But I can try
And comfort you
Compassion
Don’t grow on trees
It lives or dies
In you and me
Don’t hate folks
For being frail
A hardened heart
Is like a jail
Compassion
Don’t grow on trees
It lives or dies
In you and me
Try to have
A humble heart
Be thankful if
You’re strong and smart
Compassion
Don’t grow on trees
It lives or dies
In you and me
It don’t make
Much sense to live
If we can’t
Comfort and forgive
Compassion
Don’t grow on trees
It lives or dies
In you and me
by Richard W. Bray
we got people to the moon
atop a big ole rocket
we got a thousand songs
to fit inside your pocket
we got politicians
with perfect teeth and hair
we got flying robots
that can kill you anywhere
we got favors for the rich folks
and prison for the poor
we got rampant unemployment
and never-ending war
we got a bunch of cameras
watching everything we do
we got a Constitution
but it don’t cover you
by Richard W. Bray
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