July 29, 2017
They had the best selection,
They were poisoned with protection
—Neil Young, Thrasher

Safe here in our little bubble
New ideas are too much trouble
We are good and we are true
There’s nothing we can learn from you
We don’t have to hear you speak
Tranquility is what we seek
Our habitat was purified
We weren’t allowed to play outside
Our tender souls demand protection
We can’t survive a mild infection
by Richard W. Bray
Tags: Neil Young, Poetry, Thrasher
Posted in Poetry | Leave a Comment »
July 23, 2017

I chased annihilation
In a thousand roadside bars
Then I pulled myself together
And discovered who you are
Surprised to see me happy?
Disappointed I’m alive?
Were you quietly applauding
My inevitable demise?
A girl who never liked me
Said, “Hello” and wished me well
Disappointment in her voice said
“I’m amazed you’re not in hell”
Surprised to see me happy?
Disappointed I’m alive?
Were you quietly applauding
My inevitable demise?
Chastise and condemn
And tell yourself you’re blessed
I can only shrug:
I’m wishing everyone the best
Surprised to see me happy?
Disappointed I’m alive?
Were you quietly applauding
My inevitable demise?
by Richard W. Bray
Tags: Alcoholism, country music, Country Music Lyrics, lyrics
Posted in If it sounds country, Lyrics | Leave a Comment »
July 15, 2017

You’re a backstabbing loser
And a four-faced snitch
A never-ending whimper
And a whiny little bitch
You swallow some drinks
And you talk a lot of shit
Nobody wants to listen to
A whiny little bitch
You got a lot of theories
But you’ll never admit
What you did to yourself
Cuz you’re a whiny little bitch
You’re a fixating fool
Never knowing when to quit
Nobody wants to listen to
A whiny little bitch
by Richard W. Bray
Tags: country music, Country Music Lyrics, losers, lyrics
Posted in If it sounds country, Lyrics | Leave a Comment »
July 8, 2017

A time there was – as one may guess
And as, indeed, earth’s testimonies tell –
Before the birth of consciousness,
When all went well.
—Thomas Hardy, Before Life and After
Existence is a wound
That heals when you die
We can’t extinguish hurt
We can only try
You won’t earn any points
For trying to be nice
The cosmos doesn’t care
What we do with life
Everything we ever do
Is gonna fade away
The thing that really matters
Is how we act today
by Richard W. Bray
Tags: Before Life And After, pain, Poetry, Thomas Hardy
Posted in Poetry, Thomas Hardy | 1 Comment »
July 1, 2017

Happiness is a sad song
—Charles Schultz
Everything was beautiful
Until it went wrong
Happiness
Is sad song
Weeping for Hecuba
And all those hurts beyond
Happiness
Is sad song
Poking ancient agony
Clutching what is gone
Happiness
Is sad song
Accepting my reality:
I loved you all along
Happiness
Is sad song
by Richard W. Bray
Tags: Charles Schultz, country music, Country Music Lyrics, Hamlet, Happiness is a Warm Puppy, Hecuba, love songs, lyrics, sad songs, William Shakespeare
Posted in If it sounds country, Lyrics, sad songs, William Shakespeare | Leave a Comment »
June 23, 2017

A good athlete must have that harmony of movements or rhythm, which is called “form”….From pitch, to swing, to ball, a whole series of rhythms are set off, one rhythm, or one motion, starting another. So it is in life—from sun, to moon, to earth, to night, to day, to you getting up in the morning and going out to play a game of ball. All the rhythms of life are in some way related, one to another. You, your baseball, and the universe are brothers through rhythms.
—Langston Hughes, The First Book of Rhythm
Get in sync
And harmonize
Earth and moon
And sun and sky
All the rhythms
Are connected
Ain’t a body
Unaffected
Sun ashinin’
Earth aspinnin’
Live the motion
Breathe the rhythm
by Richard W. Bray
Tags: Children's Literature, children's poetry, Langston Hughes, Poetry, The First Book of Rhythm
Posted in Langston Hughes, Poetry, Poetry for Kids | Leave a Comment »
June 18, 2017

See that messed up
Couple over there?
She’s got a million tats
And he never cuts his hair
Can’t you just be happy
They have one another?
Can’t you be happy
They found love with each other?
What could those people
Ever see in each other?
She’s the wrong age
And he’s the wrong color
If you got a comment
Just keep it in your throat
It isn’t your life
You don’t get a vote
So wrong for each other
Just headed for trouble
It really makes me sad
When the wrong people couple
In this crazy old world
It ain’t easy to stay warm
Can’t you just be happy
They found shelter from the storm?
by Richard W. Bray
Tags: Bob Dylan, country music, Country Music Lyrics, love, love songs, lyrics, Shelter from the Storm
Posted in Bob Dylan, If it sounds country, love songs, Lyrics | Leave a Comment »
June 17, 2017

O heart! oh blood that freezes, blood that burns!
Earth’s returns
For whole centuries of folly, noise and sin!
Shut them in,
With their triumphs and their glories and the rest!
Love is best
—Robert Browing, Love Among the Ruins
What has posterity ever done for me?
—Groucho Marx
You did it
For the People
Is what you
Told yourself
You thought
You were
Bigger than
Everybody else
You ruled
You conquered
You told people
What to do
Now you’re just
As dead
As everyone
You knew
Time
Gurgles on
It’s gonna
Wash away
Everything
We ever do
And everything
We say
Existence
Is a gift
Will you squander
Your ration?
Or will you
Live your life
For love
And compassion?
by Richard W. Bray
Tags: Emily Dickinson, Groucho Marx, If I should Die, love among the ruins, Poetry, Robert Browning
Posted in Emily Dickinson, Poetry | Leave a Comment »
June 11, 2017

existence
is a chain
the cost of flesh
is pain
live your hurt
don’t feed it
don’t take a knife
and bleed it
open up
and breathe
don’t grate yourself
like cheese
by Richard W. Bray
Tags: masochism, Poetry
Posted in Poetry | Leave a Comment »
June 10, 2017

My guts are bleeding
My anatomy’s afire
The fog is receding
I’m a loser and a liar
Takes a toll on my health
When I pretend to be ok
Been lying to myself
Since I sent you away
Alone in my room
A wayward little boy
Living on the fumes
Of the love I destroyed
by Richard W. Bray
Tags: country music, Country Music Lyrics, fog, losers, love songs, lyrics, sad songs
Posted in If it sounds country, love songs, Lyrics, sad songs | Leave a Comment »