I had to find out for myself

December 22, 2017

She burned my possessions
She poisoned my mule
She shredded my flat screen
And threw it in the pool

I had to find out
for myself
I wouldn’t believe
nobody else

She’s runnin all around
With a bunch of new men
My boss and my brother
And five of my friends

I had to find out
for myself
it wrecked my mind
and ruined my health

She emptied my treasury
She cashed in my chips
She bought herself rubies
And had a nice trip

I had to find out
for myself
she really helped me
share the wealth

All of my buddies
Been saying for years
But I was too timid
To face down my fears

I had to find out
for myself
I wouldn’t believe
nobody else

by Richard W. Bray

The deepest darkest dirty you

December 16, 2017

The confession became one of the West’s most highly valued techniques for producing truth. We have since become a singularly confessing society. The confession has spread its effects far and wide. It plays a part in justice, medicine, education, family relationships, and love relations, in the most ordinary affairs of everyday life, and in the most solemn rites; one confesses one’s crimes, one’s sins, one’s thoughts and desires, one’s illnesses and troubles; one goes about telling, with greatest precision, whatever is most difficult to tell. One confesses in public and private, to one’s parents, one’s educators, one’s doctor, to those one loves; one admits to oneself, in pleasure and in pain, things that would be impossible to tell anyone else, the things people write books about. One confesses — or is forced to confess.
Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Volume One

We have the right to know what’s true
The deepest darkest dirty you
And all those nasty things you do

Every word you ever said
Every thought that’s in your head
And everything you do in bed

We’re everywhere — you won’t get far
You have to tell us who you are
The ugly, wicked, and bizarre

We goad, we taunt, we tease, we hound
We build you up — we tear you down
We have the right to watch you drown

We pillage hearts and ransack souls
We seek salvation in your skull
And pray your blood will make us whole

by Richard W. Bray

Metacognition

December 9, 2017

Cut off on the highway
I ruminate for days
Some guy I’ll never see again
Has got to change his ways

Just met Dave’s new girlfriend
She’s intelligent and hot
Dave is such an asshole
I deserve the things he’s got

I talked to my fixations
I looked inside my head
My fixations we’re awakened
This is what they said:

I’m petty and I’m jealous
I’m greedy and I’m mean
My heart is filled with vengeance
I’m a normal human being

by Richard W. Bray

big sky

December 2, 2017

Big sky
Red truck
Trusty old hound

Big sky
Long stretch
Covering some ground

Big sky
Freedom
Miles of blooming dirt

Big sky
Heartache
The woman that I hurt

Big sky
Long days
What I gotta do

Big sky
Highways
Rolling back to you

by Richard W. Bray

crooked crooked world

November 22, 2017

You shall love your crooked neighbour
      With your crooked heart

W.H Auden, As I Walked Out One Evening

Anger and resentment
Will fill your heart with sand
Allow yourself to care about
Somebody you can’t stand

There’s a part of you that tries to love
Everyone you see
Pretending that it doesn’t
Makes you angry sad and mean

It’s a crooked crooked world
Filled with crooked souls
Love can make it meaningful
But nothing makes us whole

By Richard W. Bray

From Paris to the Nile

November 16, 2017

Pick your diamond pick your pearl there is beauty in the world
Macy Gray, et al.

You’ll never see a sunset
Hanging on the wall
You can’t buy any moonlight
At your local mall

You can find a billion
Emeralds and pearls
In the overwhelming joy
Of a bunch of boys and girls

I could dig up every gemstone
From Paris to the Nile
I’ll never know a treasure
Greater than your smile

by Richard W. Bray

Smokescreen

November 4, 2017

The Russians broke in
When I was outta town
Drank all my whiskey
And burned the place down

The Russians ate my homework
And Putin hacked my phone
My girlfriend saw his dick pic
And now I’m all alone

My manager’s a Russian
He’s an undercover Tsar
Always hacking at my server
And eating caviar

Down in every basement
Under every bed
There’s a sneaky Russian agent
They know everything you said

Call the Justice League
And summon Chuck Norris
Cuz we’re under assault
From Natasha and Boris

by Richard W. Bray

Bouncing in Your Brain

October 28, 2017

Your foreman is an asshole
He treats you like a rat
You take your anger home
And blame it on your cat

Feelings aren’t smart
They’re not even sane
Like a ping pong ball
Bouncing in your brain

Voice inside you saying
Your folks are always right
So you must’ve deserved it
When they beat you every night

Thoughts get jumbled
And feelings tangle up
Like a mess of rusty razors
Tearing at your gut

by Richard W. Bray

Plunder

October 20, 2017

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 do it with a smile
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

Solid Bliss

October 15, 2017

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