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Hellish Paradise Blues

It's a hellish kind of paradise,
there's barbed wire in the pie.
So eat the berries from the bushes,
but wait till they are ripe.

It's a hellish kind of paradise,
where every beast has horns.
Be sure to sharpen up the set
you got when you were born.

It's a hellish kind of paradise,
the compasses spin like clocks.
But use your guts and wisdom
and you will find true north.

It's a hellish kind of paradise,
the songs will break your teeth.
The trick is not to chew them,
but sing them true and sweet.
Sing them blue and sweet.

I have a mirror that shows another face.

I have a face that asks to hear a song.

I have a song with room for light.

I have light that is the red inside every color.

I have a color that is waiting for its name.

I have a name that means tenderness.

I have tenderness caught in a mirror.

Someone Else's BluesI read the paper this morning,
and there was nothing but good news.
I read the paper this morning,
and there was nothing but good news.
But I feel so sad and worried,
I must have someone else's blues.

My baby says she loves me,
and I know her words are true.
She tells me that she loves me,
and I know her words are true.
But sometimes I feel like crying,
I must have someone else's blues.

I've been in my favorite club
so long they don't charge me dues.
I've been in my favorite club
so long they don't charge me dues.
But I feel lonely at the meetings,
I must have someone else's blues.

I guess I'll go out looking,
I got to find

City Line BluesI was walking out of trouble,
when I reached the city line.
I was walking out of trouble,
when I reached the city line.
"Speed Limit Zero"
is what it said on the sign.

Zero miles per hour –
how can I ever get past?
Zero miles per hour –
how can I ever get past?
I think my time in trouble
is going to last and last.

I was walking in trouble,
with my dog on a chain.
I was walking in trouble,
with my dog on a chain.
All my good sugar candy
melted down in the rain.

I fell asleep in trouble
and I dreamed that I found –
I fell asleep in trouble
and I dreamed that I found
the way out of trouble
to Serenity tow

My Blue ChildI let you go now, my blue child.

Fly away, I make you wings of memory and pain.
The wings that offered healing once would not come again.

Your pain is now complete, your pain is past.
Our pain is torn and tearing, our pain will last.

I played a counting game upon your back when we were small.
Then I had your wounds to count. I could not count them all.

A prince come from a star, with golden hair;
I took you to my heart, I held you there.

You were my own, and every threat to you made me fierce.
Now I must be, yet cannot be, fierce enough for this -

to let you go now, my blue child

I Met a Red Devil

I met a red devil
and said, "Tell me your name."
"My name," it replied,
"is You-Are-to-Blame."

I said, "Those are the words
I tell myself every day.
Now that I know your name,
I can send you away."

Then the red devil screamed,
but it had to depart.
And the scream echoed on
for a while in my heart.

In FlightA. pays the seven dollars for a beer,
the flight attendant takes his twenty
and says that she will bring change shortly.
He pops the top and pours the beer with care,

waits for the foam to go. With seatbelt tight
and armrest lost to someone on his right,
he can barely move. He is snug as his son
in a denim carrier on his chest all those

years ago, and as content. He is safely
out of touch, can do nothing for anyone,
nor be asked to. He can lift his plastic cup.
He can sip beer through the remaining foam.

He can lower the cup. He can do no more,
so lets himself feel no more need be done.
Alone a while, and glad to be alone -

Pursued BluesThe speed limit here is fifty,
but I'm doing a hundred and ten.
If my luck holds out till morning,
I might make it home again.

I've been moving since October
and they haven't got me yet.
I keep my eyes wide open
for every trap they set.

Sometimes I say a prayer to heaven
for the damage all around.
There is justice high above us,
but who can call it down?

The speed limit here is fifty,
but I'm doing a hundred and ten.
If my luck holds out till morning,
I might make it home again.

If I do get home tomorrow,
I will not be there long.
I'll put my arms around my people,
and then I will be gone.

But it's not so much the staying,

Waiting for My Rider BluesWell, I'm waiting for my rider,
I hope she gets back soon.
We really should be leaving
if we are going to reach the moon.

My rider is a sweet one
and she likes to navigate.
But we got to get a move on
or we are going to be late.

She went into the city
to buy us bread and wine.
If she got lost inside the market,
getting out could take some time.

There may have been bad weather,
and she was caught by a storm.
Just as soon as she gets back here,
we will both be safe and warm.

She may have met a crowd of people
who were watching a parade.
She may be waiting till it passes,
and they move a barricade.

She may have heard s

You sit in the saddle as you were taught.
Sleep is beneath you, still as a statue.
The reins are loose in your hands. You squeeze
with your legs as you should, below the knees.
Sleep does not move.You cluck with your tongue.
"Walk," you say clearly. "Walk." Sleep does not.

You sit in the saddle as you were taught.
You hold the reins, you kick with both heels.
Sleep does not move. You sit in the saddle.
Where is that crop? Your feet leave the stirrups.
You dismount and stand close beside Sleep.
You look into its wide eye, then step back.
Sleep gallops off. You have to laugh.

The Cloth of SleepThe cloth of sleep I'll make for you,
I'll weave it with my own two hands,
out of the thread of dreamless rest
and thread of dreams that calm and bless.

A pattern I will draw myself,
upon the night so dark and fair;
I'll pin it to the cloth I made
and then I'll cut with skill and care.

A gown of sleep I'll sew for you,
it will be yours and yours alone,
to wear that you may put away
the worried fabric of the day.

When I have made this gift for you,
I'll send it to you in a song;
send back to me the news I seek,
that sleep was good, the night was long.

Hard Words Had Come and Nested

Hard words had come and nested in my hair,
and so I cut it short, I cut it off.
But then they flew and flew around my head,
a little swarm of hurt I could not bear.
I raised and waved my hands like one gone mad,
and knew this would not do. This would not do.
I grew my hair again and wore a scarf.
I drew it tight, a knot beneath my chin.
The hard words could not make their nests again,
but I could often feel them clutch and claw
and worry the cloth, and in time I said
"Enough!" My hair was long, I loosed the knot,
I tossed the scarf away. The words fell down,
to seem so small and sad and tired on the ground.

Maybe Tomorrow BluesI went to drive my car this morning,
but the tires were all flat.
The body was all rusted,
and there was no windshield glass.

I got in to start the engine,
and there was no driver's seat.
I was sitting on the floorboard
and staring at my feet.

I turned the key in the ignition
but I did not hear a sound.
I got out and raised the hood up -
all I saw there was the ground.

I could not drive my car this morning,
but tomorrow who can say?
I may get up so bright and early,
jump in my car and drive away.

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I love you, baby, like a train loves a track.
You take me where I'm going, then you bring me back.

I love you, baby, like a flower loves a bee.
I know you can sting but you seldom sting me.

I love you, baby, like an actor loves a role.
You tell me what to do and I still feel control.

I love you, baby, like the winter loves the spring.
Until you melt the ice, I don't feel a thing.

I love you, baby, like a window loves a view.
I like the way you want me to want to look at you.

I love you, baby, like the blues love a song.
Got to sing soft or loud in a world that's gone wrong.

I love you, baby, like a story loves a book.
If there is a last

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Submitted: July 1, 2010
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No Time for the Blues

by *RichardLeach, Jul 1, 2010, 4:57:14 PM
Literature / Poetry / General Poetry / Songs & Lyrics

I had no time for the blues,
but they had time for me.
They came to my house
about a quarter to three.

I had to get out of bed
when they knocked on the door.
But why had they come?
They would not tell me what for.

I was awake with the blues
for the rest of the night.
And oh, I saw the blues
by the dawn's early light.

It was a quarter to nine,
I had things I should do.
But I couldn't go out,
I was feeling so blue.

And so I said to the blues,
you must have somewhere to go.
They glanced at the time
and they answered me no.

I had no time for the blues
but the blues didn't care.
All the time in the world
is what the blues have to spare.

No Time for the Bluesby *RichardLeach

Literature / Poetry / General Poetry / Songs & Lyrics

©2010-2013 *RichardLeach

For

, who gave me the title.

_{(The second couplet of the third stanza alludes to the beginning of the U.S. national anthem, "Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light...")}

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*Markus43 Jan 26, 2011

Francis would be proud...well done

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*RichardLeach Jan 27, 2011 Professional Traditional Artist

Heh, well, he might - thanks!

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~steve2727 Jul 17, 2010

i laid back reclined
No time for the blues
all my emotions declined
no time for the blues
my future resigned
no time for the blues

i was seeing Red
no time for the blues
it was all in my head
no time for the blues

oh say ca you see
the blues in me
oh say can you see
the light for me.

lad back reclined
it's time for the blues

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*RichardLeach Jul 19, 2010 Professional Traditional Artist

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~steve2727 Jul 26, 2010

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~hoaxeye Jul 7, 2010 Hobbyist Photographer

"They glanced at the time
and they answered me no." Great sense of humor Bro. It can keep you alive when nothing else works. A keeper.

Reply

*RichardLeach Jul 7, 2010 Professional Traditional Artist

Thanks very much, James. And you are so right about humor.

Reply

~hoaxeye Jul 7, 2010 Hobbyist Photographer

..smile.. off to work now....

Reply

~Kagedfish Jul 4, 2010

Lovely

Reply

*RichardLeach Jul 5, 2010 Professional Traditional Artist

Thanks very much

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