Mixed CD

I realized my poetry is entirely to positive about the subject of love. I wrote this to balance. This draft is probably not finished but it is close.

1. Al Green, Tired of Being Alone
The man at the bus stop
checks his watch,
it is 4:30
he is waiting for the 4:15

2. Johnny Cash, Solitary Man
Whenever I watch a Clint Eastwood western
I squint for days
a quiet resolution resides in my belly
I speak succinctly
wander alone

3. Local H, Lovey Dovey
Today, I hate people in love
I want to drop cinder blocks on them
I want every request for the Temptation's My Girl
to be replaced with Slayer, Raining Blood
I need to hear the couple in the apartment screaming
about who did the dishes and who fed the dog
I want to see wandering eyes at the restaurant
I want to hear short breaths and sighs
slamming doors and people crying

4. Led Zepplin, Heartbreaker
The man is still waiting at the bus
runs his hand through his thin grey hair
he has a briefcase
looks like someone
who has somewhere to be
it is 5:00

5. The Righteous brothers, Unchained Melody
I was listening to the oldies yesterday
I felt like I was going to puke out my heart and choke on it

6.Bobby Darin, Dreamlover
I've been praying
for a longtime
praying for the same thing
I can almost see her

7. Elvis Costello, Imagination (is a powerful deceiver)
Her eyes are hazel and brown
like sunburst on a guitar
I can almost see us
splitting a pizza
watching a Seahawk's game
I can almost hear her
cussing at the ref's
it's making me sick

8.Weezer, Why Bother
Hope is a brick
dropped on your chest
every time a girl tells you you're funny

9. Hank Williams, I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
He's still at the bus stop
swearing under his breath
waving his hands in the air
pointing to the bus schedule in his right hand

10. Tom Waits, I Hope I Don't Fall in Love With You
Last night I met a girl at a friends house
she had black hair and a Led Zepplin Shirt
her favorite album is 1
she has a big perfect smile
I can't get it out of my head
it makes me feel like shit

11. Neil Young, Only Love Can Break Your Heart
I'm done writing love poems
might as well be writing fantasy
I have more experience with wizards, elves and hobbits
than I do with love

12. Weezer, Only in Dreams
I don't normally put two songs by one artist
on the same mix
but when the mix is for myself
I make exceptions

13. Bruce Springsteen, Reason to Believe
I see a man standing o're a dead dog
by the highway in a ditch
he's looking down kind've puzzled
like if he stood there long enough
that dog would up and run

The man is still at the bus stop
sitting on the curb
silent and still under streetlights
his watch is broken in the gutter beside him
it's almost midnight now

I still pray
I still tell friends what I would name my kids
I still find myself singing along to love songs
I still steal secret glances
I still crush until my heart hurts so bad
my spleen has sympathy pains
I still think of new ways to describe eyes
I still write love poems

still at the end of every hard earned day
people find some reason to believe

Washington

Dear Jake,

When is Washington?

Love,
Ryan

Washington is in a warm drink.
We take it with us when we feel the dew soaking through our socks.
It is 4 o'clock.
It is turning in the squinting sidewalk man's belly.
It is a sneeze walking past plastic trees.
It is a mustache that isn't.
It is red sweat shirt girls buying yogurt in the self-check out lane in Fred Meyer.
It is in three empty pitchers and a teary eye remembering John Keister.
Washington is my appendix.

or more accurately
Washington is late August in a dusty corolla, if she makes it.

Praise Him

Disclaimer:
So this is my attempt at writing a worship poem, like a Psalm. Most of my poetry I try to keep emotion out because it makes poems generally feel like the were written by a high schooler. This one I decided to suspend my efforts. Hopefully it won't make you puke.

Praise him
by all means at your disposal
every word spoken
every letter written
every note hummed

Praise him
with you gait, smile, laugh and tear
make your heart the garden
walk with him
notice his beauty
take time to lean over
watch the ants
consider the flowers

Praise him
with silly rhymes
Praise him
with clever new slang
in dark downtown bars
eat the popcorn
savor the beer
and find your voice

This is important

Rehearse your priorities
at the top place
"praise him"
because in him
the blues tremble
and the love he loves
is greater than the love you love

Praise him
with others
gossip incessantly about him
find your voice with others
and praise him

This is important.