Fire Sisters

[Dark Shadows]

The sisters sat in the café over bitter coffee and sugary sweets
They both wore dark glasses due to sensitivity to light and the desire to gaze thoughtfully into space without arousing suspicion
She eldest offered a thought that the younger one wasn’t being careful enough with strangers
Least offended by differences in opinion, the younger tossed her sister’s precautions aside and ordered another espresso
The eldest reached out to snatch at the last honey-glazed piece of baklava and stopped herself, remembering what their mother had taught them about keeping a clear complexion. Reaching instead into her purse for her lipstick and mirror compact, she gave her full lips another coating, and took a swig of her ice water
Ahhhh, ice water, that cooling alternative to fighting with her sister, and the best way to fend off her boyfriend’s unwanted advances
An ice princess is far easier to satisfy when her thirst is quenched

[Dark Shadows]

Earth sister had lost the love of her life in comparison to the loser she left a month ago
Fire sister lost the love of her life to the needle in 74, and lived to tell about it
Earth sister had no regrets of the long ago mistakes and hoped to keep forgetting about the man she'd left in anger and doubt so recently
Fire sister kept the embers burning for the man who drank the fire water and slept till noon
Together they lamented how childish these brothers could be. A man is not a word to describe a boy so spineless he would wet his pants in the sight of danger
Sisters are left to mop up the mess and make it all better
For what? A warm body to sleep next to when a dog would do just as well? An eater to warm the chair at meals and consume the food she prepares? A drinker who reaches for the last cold beer in the refridgerator she stocks and drinks the best of the wine, leaving her nothing? A reptile who smokes the herb she keeps for medicine?
The ape she called her man would just as soon warm the bed of the next sister who would treat him as well. He has no loyalty and no shame for his deeds.
We unite in our strength and tenacity to find good in an animal that cannot learn to act as a human with gentleness, honesty and grace.


The sisters sat in the café over bitter coffee and sugary sweets
They both wore dark glasses due to sensitivity to light and the desire to gaze thoughtfully into space without arousing suspicion
She eldest offered a thought that the younger one wasn’t being careful enough with strangers
Least offended by differences in opinion, the younger tossed her sister’s precautions aside and ordered another espresso
The eldest reached out to snatch at the last honey-glazed piece of baklava and stopped herself, remembering what their mother had taught them about keeping a clear complexion. Reaching instead into her purse for her lipstick and mirror compact, she gave her full lips another coating, and took a swig of her ice water
Ahhhh, ice water, that cooling alternative to fighting with her sister, and the best way to fend off her boyfriend’s unwanted advances
An ice princess is far easier to satisfy when her thirst is quenched

[Dark Shadows]

Effie May and Auntie June sat in for the netting rights to the Klamath
For their troubles the men in uniform took them into their jail in Red Bluff and beat them till their blood ran and they lost their front teeth
Caught smokin the crazy weed beyond the edge of the rez, Brother Russ bought the farm with a bullet to the back because he refused to surrender
Uncle Ned's house burnt down when he refused to sign over their land to the unranium dealers
Grandma Nel and Auntie Gen couldn't heat their house and froze till the chill blanes claimed their babies and the ice coated water couldn't be broken at dawn
Tom the trucker hot wired the electrical wires so the heater would work and Grandma had water for tea and the babies were warm at night
Auntie Gen slept in one morning and the men in uniform broke down the door and demanded Tom's name and license plate number
When Auntie Gen refused they locked her up and sent the children away to foster homes, Grandma couldn't fight'em cuz she'd lost her hearing the year before when the shots rang out for her son Phil who'd crossed the line and slugged a cop for saying his wife was a whore

Fight? We are too tired to fight a war against a ghost who will be gone tomorrow when we shall live on.



Earth sister had lost the love of her life in comparison to the loser she left a month ago
Fire sister lost the love of her life to the needle in 74, and lived to tell about it
Earth sister had no regrets of the long ago mistakes and hoped to keep forgetting about the man she'd left in anger and doubt so recently
Fire sister kept the embers burning for the man who drank the fire water and slept till noon
Together they lamented how childish these brothers could be. A man is not a word to describe a boy so spineless he would wet his pants in the sight of danger
Sisters are left to mop up the mess and make it all better
For what? A warm body to sleep next to when a dog would do just as well? An eater to warm the chair at meals and consume the food she prepares? A drinker who reaches for the last cold beer in the refridgerator she stocks and drinks the best of the wine, leaving her nothing? A reptile who smokes the herb she keeps for medicine?
The ape she called her man would just as soon warm the bed of the next sister who would treat him as well. He has no loyalty and no shame for his deeds.
We unite in our strength and tenacity to find good in an animal that cannot learn to act as a human with gentleness, honesty and grace.

[Dark Shadows]

I did what you wanted me to do for so long that I forgot who I was or who I set out to be
The pictures that couldn't be hung
The foods we could not eat
The restaurants where we could not dine
The places we could not go and the dreams we could not dream

You're hopelessly stuck on the carousel of payments to the man and small portions you keep for yourself for ocassional bliss, that bliss I will not miss because it isn't my bag man,

The dope you will not smoke unless the shades are drawn and the windows shut
Who are you tryin' to kid? Yourself, your mom your kids? You're just as much a junkie as you were in 68
Only difference are the people you choose to hate
For taking away your innocence and the pure pleasure of a simple high, that'll pass this way, lest you find a life nigh
to what it was when grass was green and sun the color of gold would pass through your body like rays of lightning, enlightening and filling you with the warmth and satisfaction that all was well
And carols sung when churchbells rung were heard from valleys and mountains to cast their spell
On a boy who could not find what others sought, not yet, no not yet
A dream so wet and wrought with pain
For that fairy of the night who could leave a coin
Neath a pillow of dreams and schemes of things to come



Effie May and Auntie June sat in for the netting rights to the Klamath
For their troubles the men in uniform took them into their jail in Red Bluff and beat them till their blood ran and they lost their front teeth
Caught smokin the crazy weed beyond the edge of the rez, Brother Russ bought the farm with a bullet to the back because he refused to surrender
Uncle Ned's house burnt down when he refused to sign over their land to the unranium dealers
Grandma Nel and Auntie Gen couldn't heat their house and froze till the chill blanes claimed their babies and the ice coated water couldn't be broken at dawn
Tom the trucker hot wired the electrical wires so the heater would work and Grandma had water for tea and the babies were warm at night
Auntie Gen slept in one morning and the men in uniform broke down the door and demanded Tom's name and license plate number
When Auntie Gen refused they locked her up and sent the children away to foster homes, Grandma couldn't fight'em cuz she'd lost her hearing the year before when the shots rang out for her son Phil who'd crossed the line and slugged a cop for saying his wife was a whore

Fight? We are too tired to fight a war against a ghost who will be gone tomorrow when we shall live on.

[Dark Shadows]

Tweakin’ high, tweakin’ low, the mind rolls till day-break
Carefree caffeine high to quell the fast that never ends speeding like a bullet till it meets it’s mark
And splat, there go the eggs in the pan all sizzling in the fat
With bacon, toast and a cup of Joe
Then it’s out to make the bread and tow the load
Shoot the shit, and answer the phone, break for more Joe
And out the door we go into the last light of the day
For we’ve got to pay our way, and the bills that come from lights left on
Babies cost a lot you know, that’s what ya get from that wad you blow
On nights that summer’s heat brings ice cold brew so get a clue
Keep your pants zipped tight and prove you’re right
That you can make your way, so a roll in the hay
Won’t cost your right to play today
And pay tomorrow for mistakes you make, when Satan’s daughter you choose to take
All white and lace and fancy cakes, and dancing brawds in satin togs
Away for the great trip the last you’ll take, for you bought the house, the car and junior’s baby food jars
Disney trips in the van, and oh the meals you’ll plan
So life is not so ho and hum, you’ll reach for the last drop of rum
And at dawn you’ll wake to do it all over again

[Dark Shadows]

YouTube - Bloody Island (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkuUkTWH8zU)

[Dark Shadows]

The suburban ghetto is where is I live,
the fatherless boys skate-boarding on the roof of the elementary school stopped to stare at a lone Indian woman playing with her dog on the grassy field
she grabbed the forgotten basketball and tested to see if it still bounced
remembering her prowess on the courts, she bounced and played chicken with the dingo who could leap 3 feet off the ground to chase a ball he could never grip in his mouth because his huge jaws were not huge enough
she stood behind the line and aimed for the basket, missing the first time and scoring the second
dribbling effortlessly around the scurrying dingo she darted in and out, and away from his reach
the fatherless boys watched in wonder at a woman who could dribble without losing the black Stetson hat that seemed affixed to her head
realizing where they were and that their mothers would be called, they climbed down and watched sweating and thirsty as the Indian seemed not to notice
making the seventh basket, the lucky number where she would quit,
she stopped, and thought again about leaving the ball for the children to play with
she dribbled it home, set it down on the carpetted floor and cracked a beer and
sitting on the Andirondack chair on what served as her porch, she sat reminiscing about the old days and counting coup in the Bad Lands


YouTube - Bloody Island (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkuUkTWH8zU)