Songs I Sing. B. Germain Reynolds

      If you shut your eyes tight

      And forget how to fight

      If you taste the bile

      And get suckered by the guile

      Then you won’t see the foe

      Laying you down low

      You won’t smell the roses

      And strike the right poses.

      If you walk backward

      And risk being awkward

      If you uncross your legs

      And hang silk on pegs

      If you read manga fast

      When first page starts last

      If you circle the drain

      Without taking any strain

      Then down becomes up

      And a Great Dane is a pup.

      If you shut your lips

      And sit on tips

      If you chew your food

      And extract all the good

      If you blow hot and cold

      And be timid rather than bold

      If you give up your sight

      So that black looks white

      Then death becomes life

      And lies becomes rife.

      Inside Voice

      One has to know, one has to care,

      Of who, what, and where,

      Of the time to stand up, and when to sit

      When to volley the ball, or make a big hit

      How to make a splash

      Whether to be the flash

      If to raise the alarm

      Or turn on the charm

      At the rally, on a plane

      In the crowded rush hour train

      Of the time and place

      When to exit the race

      Of the mood in the room

      The best words to lower the boom

      Of the temperature of the soup

      And the mission of the group,

      To run with the pack, or bring up the rear

      To lower the volume, modulate the fear

      One needs to be sure, one needs to set the tone

      Letting things be, or be the dog with the bone

      No matter the cause, thinkers think twice

      Holding that ignorance is man’s mortal vice.

      To atone is to turn away

      And start a new day

      To learn how

      To act now

      To count the cost

      And admit when one is lost

      To deal thoughtfully with dangers

      And cautiously with strangers

      To run if there’s a fire

      And carry a spare tire

      To learn how to sing a new song

      To rest after a night long

      To rise with the birds

      Wasting no time on mean words

      To practice what one preaches

      Seeking what the good book teaches

      Cherishing one’s dreams

      Living within one’s means

      Working for a better way

      Speaking out when there is something to say

      One has to try, one has to swallow the pill

      Surrendering self, ruling over free will

      One has to aim high

      Figuring out the how and why

      Shunning evil, digging for gold

      Resolving one’s soul would never be sold

      Managing need, sparing no pain

      Daily making a bargain

      To live by smart choice

      And raise only the inside voice.

      Loans and Liens

      If you loan me your blouse

      And I run through your house

      Naked and needy

      Horny and greedy

      And you called me a louse

      With the morals of a mouse

      Then I would levy a lien

      Over your happy face mien

      I would spit in your tea

      For the whole world to see

      I would write on your walls

      And send you prank calls

      I would hold your dog to ransom

      And call your grief handsome

      And if you did nothing to stop me

      Refusing to exact a fee

      Turning the other cheek

      Until it is battered and weak

      Sitting at my feet

      My touch your torrid treat

      Then soon you would be a silly goose

      With your heart tied up in a noose

      Wasting precious time

      Feasting on foolish rhyme

      Heeding my foolish rants

      If you let me wear the pants.

      And So It Goes

      A picture, my purse and their pastime

      Random

      Disparate

      Phenomena to consider

      Seen with the eye,

      Imprinted on the brain

      As good as words

      Meaning defined by means

      Pocket book, modern men take a look

      Brand names, brassily displayed

      Marking the times

      Evincing the ages

      Each on its own

      Symbol, meme

      Dating us

      Claiming our affections

      Useful

      Wasteful

      Objects of vanity

      The eternal march

      Gabbing the future

      Little to lose

      Bags to gain

      Much ado about nothing

      Their value is everything

      And so it goes.