There Are No Little People

April 8, 2015

Why swagger, then?
The Gnat’s supremacy is large as Thine —

—Emily Dickinson


I’m an influential person
I’ve got important things to do
I have a giant office
And I don’t have time for you

I’m an influential person
I am big and you are small
I have a slew of little people
Waiting at my beck and call

I’m an influential person
People do the things I say
If you aren’t here to serve me
Then please just go away

Pardon my existence
I don’t mean to waste your time
I’m here to serve some papers
You’ve been accused of heinous crime

Some of your endowments
Are certainly excessive
But your wisdom and compassion
Are not at all impressive

It’s a silly, silly man
Who does not realize
There are no little people
And souls don’t have a size

by Richard W. Bray

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Emily Dickinson, Poetry, Poetry for Kids | Leave a Comment »

Don’t Wanna Tell Nobody What to Do

April 4, 2015


Figuring out just who
I wanna be
Is a burden
On my sensibility

I try to take
Responsibility
For how my deeds
Affect society

But every move
A person ever makes
Ripples like a stone
Dropped in a lake

So please don’t ask me
What you oughta do
It’s exhausting and it’s
Time-consuming too

Don’t wanna tell nobody
What to do
I’ll just be me and
You can just be you

by Richard W. Bray

Tags: , ,
Posted in If it sounds country, Lyrics | Leave a Comment »

Figure it out

March 31, 2015

download-5

 

You’re a real sweet guy
You treat a lady right
So let’s get together
And warm up the night
I’m ready to romp
I’m ready to rumble
I’m ready to hit
The hay for a tumble

I can’t say
If we’re gonna work out
So let’s have some fun
While we figure it out

We can give it a go
And keep sweet company
Before we start sharing
Our whole history
Are you ready for me?
Cuz I’m ready for you
But I ain’t in the mood
For an interview

I can’t say
If we’re gonna work out
So let’s have some fun
While we figure it out

Tags: , , ,
Posted in If it sounds country, love songs, Lyrics | Leave a Comment »

Dust That Lives

March 29, 2015

aaaaaaaaaaaaaastar

You live awhile
And then you’re dead
And everything
You did and said
Disappears without a trace
Welcome to the human race
Your days will wither
Down to dust
In wind and rain
And fire and rust
Stars burn hard
And then they’re gone
Their residue
Goes living on

Fire breathes
And ashes give
The universe is
Dust that lives

by Richard W. Bray

Tags: ,
Posted in Poetry | Leave a Comment »

Serious Like Me

March 17, 2015

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaakids

I was born to be a grownup
And I really dislike
The senseless sound and frolic
Of a gaggle of tykes

I’m a serious man
I do serious things
Got no time for games
Got no songs to sing

The stupid mirth and vigor
Of a roomful of youth
Annihilate my comfort
Like you’re drilling my tooth

I’m a serious man
I got books to read
Can’t tolerate those noisy
Little buckets of need

Living in a world
Of squalor and pain
Kids can make amusement
But it’s not very sane

So cut the happy hoopla
And the hullabaloo
Be serious like me
And miserable, too

by Richard W. Bray

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Poetry, Poetry for Kids | Leave a Comment »

I Wanna Study French and Sanskrit

March 10, 2015

640px-Mt._Kilimanjaro_12.2006

I wanna study French and Sanskrit
I wanna spend a week at the Louvre
I wanna read some Russian novels
I wanna spend some time with you

I wanna hike Kilimanjaro
I wanna see Timbuktu
I wanna have a summer safari
I wanna spend some time with you

I wanna end global warming
I wanna end injustice, too
I wanna buy the world a soda
I wanna spend some time with you

I wanna write a Hollywood movie
I wanna play for the Lakers, too
I wanna have a billion dollars
I wanna spend some time with you

There are a whole lotta things
That I’m never gonna do
But I’m gonna spend
Some time with you

by Richard W. Bray

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in If it sounds country, Lyrics | Leave a Comment »

An Unedited List of Artists, Movies, and Page Numbers from On Photography by Susan Sontag

March 8, 2015


Giorgio Morandi

Artists

Paul Strand 6, 96
Walker Evans 6, 29, 30, 61
Dorothea Lange 6,17
Alfred Stieglitz 6, 29, 32, 65
Paul Strand 6, 96
Walker Evans 6, 29, 30, 61
Ben Shahn 6,
Russel Lee 6,
David Octavious Hill 7,
Julia Margaret Cameron 7,
Atget 16, 67
Brassai 16, 46
Matthew Brady 17
Andersenville Photographs 17
Felix Green 18,
Marc Riboud
Don McCullen biafra 19,
Jacob Riis new your 23, 57, 63
Edward Steichen 28, 32
Lewis Heine 29, 63 Natl Child Labor Committee
Rosenfeld writes of Stieglitz 30, 47
Julia Margaret Cameron 35
Robert Frank 46, 61
Giorgio Morandi 46
Man Ray 52,
Laszlo Mohol-Nagy 52
John Hertfield 52
Alexander Rodchenko 52
John Thompson 57
Bill Brandt 58
Ghitta Carell 58
August Sander 59
Edward Muybridge 60
Emerson Stryker 61
Adam Clark Vroman 62, 64
Clarence John Laughlin 67,79
Roman Vishniac 67
Bod Edelman’s Down Home 72
Michael Lesy Wisconsin Death Trip 73
Albert Renger_Patzsch The World is Beautiful 91
Edward Weston 91, 96
Minor White 91
Ansel Adams 102
Nadar 104
W. Eugene Smith 105
John Szakowski 129

Movies

Godard Les Carabiniers 1963 (3)
Chris Marker Si j’avais 1966 (5)
Dziga Vertovm Man with a Movie Camera 1929 (12)
Hitchcock Rear Window 1954 (12)
Blowup 1966 (13)
Peeping Tom 1960 (13)
Tod Browning Freaks 1932 (38)
Warhol Chelsea Girls 1966 (45)
Buster Keaton The Cameraman 1928 (53)
Robert Siodmak Menshem am Sonntag 1929 (70)
Chris Marker La Jetee 1963 (70)
Goddard A Letter to June 1972 (108)

Tags: , ,
Posted in Morsel, Susan Sontag | Leave a Comment »

I Think It’s Time

March 7, 2015

I notice
You keep stopping by
You like our time
And so do I

One thing I’ve noticed
For a while
We like to make
Each other smile

I see what
You don’t think I see
I notice
How you notice me

Other people
Notice too
I think it’s time
For me and you

by Richard W. Bray

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in If it sounds country, love songs, Lyrics | Leave a Comment »

The Anti-Crush (A Love Song)

March 1, 2015

aaaaaaaaaaaaaalovehate

I got an ANTI-crush on you
I don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t like you
I hate everything you do

I hate your hair, I hate your clothes
I hate your stupid little nose
I hate your look, I hate your style
I hate your dimples when you smile

Oh what comfort my hate brings
And yet it really really stings
I cannot think of other things

I hate your poise, I hate your pride
I hate your smooth and silky stride
I hate your voice, I hate your tone
I hate you most when I’m alone

By Richard W. Bray

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in If it sounds country, love songs, Lyrics | Leave a Comment »

Every Living Moment

February 22, 2015

aaaaaaaaaaapigeons

I don’t know where I’m going
Till I get there
I don’t know what I want
Until it’s here

The only way to walk is to
Learn how to fall
The best plan is to have
No plan at all

Love appears when we are
Not looking to connect
Nothing ever happens
The way we expect

The only way to walk is to
Learn how to fall
The best plan is to have
No plan at all

Every living moment
Proffers something new
Have some open arms
When love shows up for you

The only way to walk is to
Learn how to fall
The best plan is to have
No plan at all

by Richard W. Bray

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in If it sounds country, love songs, Lyrics | Leave a Comment »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »