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Addicted
Left eye opens slowly dawn cracks open wide
Softly rumbling sleeper lying by my side
One leg, two,Thoughts of what to do
Spilling into consciousness and I just want to hide
Kitchen window tells me something of the weather
Fresh air showers through me straining on its tether
Not, a word, I know it sounds absurd
There’s one more thing I need to pull the day together

The first cup of coffee in my morning
Gathers up confidence and starts me on the way
Five minutes peace to get me going
Can make the biggest difference in my day
It’s not the caffeine or the warming
That causes anxious feelings to release
Starting in my soul and growing outward
I'm addicted to the five minutes peace

A simple bit of poetry inspires strength of will
Twirling wisps of steam dancing on the window sill
Thoughts, unwind, Like a ball of twine
Prophesy of mood uplift that I can self fulfill
I know that God truly loves me
At least, until, the day unrolls to be
Chaos, clutter, Help me not to stutter
With just half a moment spent here quietly

I'm back from the fire into the frying pan
Gathering notes for another morning plan
Clothes, laid out, Sleep away my doubt
And I soundly wait for the sun to rise again

© 2007 Doug Barnett

London Frail.
I’m gonna go down to London town
Take myself a look around
Drive on the other side of the street
While I’m down in London town
If a pretty girl can be found
I’ll have to sweep her off her feet

That’s my London frail
She’s my holy grail
I’m ever on her trail
Until I’m old and pale

I’ll head out to new york city
Where the broadway lights are pretty
They stay up and never get to sleep
Dance with sally, joan and sue
Maybe they’ll know what to do
And I can take one home for me to keep

That’s my London frail
And my holy grail
I’m ever on her trail
Until I’m old and pale

I’ll wander off to tokoyo
In another day or so
Move on to paris or to rome
But things wont ever be the same
Cause you no longer take my name
And I’ll have to sing this song alone

You’re my London frail
And you’re my holy grail
I’m ever on your trail
But now I’m old and pale

© 2007 Doug Barnett

Arbuckle in the rain.
Leaving the apartment, You drove the other way
A simple kiss in parting, There was nothing I could say
Climbing in the truck, A silent moment there
Pulled away as clouds convened, Amid the autumn air

Arbuckle in the rain
Grey skies cover pain
Just a heart alone
Walking sand and stone
Through Arbuckle in the rain

Cell phone gets no signal, The drizzle fills my brain
Two miles up or two miles down, Either ones the same
Tire blew on I 5 north, I don’t own a jack
Another camel straw is placed directly on my back

Stopping at the exit ramp I see the only store
I could call a tow truck, I'm not sure what for
Looking at the highway, Then looking at my shoes
Leaving my possessions there, Nothing left to lose

© 2007 Doug Barnett

Up Front and Honest.
I appreciate your candor
The way you bare your soul
Telling me your bad mistakes
I don’t really need to know
It must have been difficult
To go through all that pain
So I’ll listen here intently
As you walk that road again

Since we’re being right up front and honest
There’s a little something its better if you knew
Even with all the scars and baggage
I am still in love with you

I think you might be thinking
This will make me run away
Because I sit here listening
Without a word to say
You watch my face for loathing
While spilling out your heart
To me that’s simply history
This moment is a brand new start

You still seem suspicious
And you gave it your best shot
Thinking you are ugly inside
And somehow I am not
Let me hold your hand
And warm your heart of stone
I’ll tell you all my stories
Not so different from your own

© 2007 Doug Barnett

Double Negative Blues
I don’t do nothing every day
I don’t do nothing every day
I don’t do nothing every day
So why am I so tired anyway?

Its those double negative blues
Open mouth and insert shoes
I don’t do nothing for no one I don’t choose
Those double negative blues

I don’t give no cash to charity
I don’t give no cash to charity
I don’t give no cash to charity
Now I ain’t got a dime on me

Don’t need no woman to run my life
Don’t need no woman to run my life
Don’t need no woman to run my life
So honey won’t you please be my wife

© 2007 Doug Barnett

The Band.
The drummer missed a downbeat as he kicked his beer
The sax man wished he was anywhere but here
A chuckle from the bartender who'd seen it all before
An evening’s entertainment is what he had in store

The band started playing - never looking back
Didn’t see the absence - of the qualities they lack
Praying for a miracle - it seemed so hard to find
Fill the air with music - that played within their mind

The singer checked the lyrics and smudged the ink
Forcing her to pause a moment as she tried to think
Dazed look on the guitar player not from alcohol
The mint condition Gibson didn’t really help at all

The band started playing - a battle all up hill
Wanting to be better through the sheer force of will
Cursing at their clumsy and poor attempt to find
The miracle of music that played within their mind

Keyboard started playing in a different key
The backside of the waitress was all he could see
Advice from the audience mostly was kept clean
Even though some music fans abruptly left the scene

The band started playing - suddenly they clicked
Music started flowing - a sound sweet and thick
Electricity consumed them played with all their might
Wishing that this miracle could happen every night

© 2007 Doug Barnett

The Greatest Generation.
Tell your friends and neighbors we need their support
It’s the cause of freedom that the world calls them to
And if they join the fight and then sacrifice their lives
We’ll send a thousand dollars off to you

My dad was from the greatest generation
Kept the world safe for everyone is what we're told
They only had to sacrifice their children
Trade their only legacy for a small amount of gold

Just for asking questions and reading the brochure
We give a neat computer game at no real cost to you
Rated for the teenage mind with very little blood
Teach them killings fine if you change your point of view

We were from the greatest generation
Kept the world safe for democracy we're told
Now we have to sacrifice our children
Trade our only legacy for a small amount of gold

Get yourself a better job and be part of something new
Why stay in poverty when we offer so much more
A wise man once said Jesus don’t like killing
It doesn’t really matter who it’s for

This might be the greatest generation
The world is safe from whoever bothers us today
You only have to sacrifice your children's children's children
Thirty coins of silver is a small price to pay

© 2007 Doug Barnett

Closer Still.
looking past the window theres an eagle in the blue
slowly wider circles wander into view
narrowing my vision strain to see feathers trill
blur across the distance,
Closer still

looking at leaves outside Disrupt distant sky
fall amid the dying breeze never saying why
drift below the window pane peeling window sill
focus moves again for me Closer still

I can see furniture lit by mornings glow
colored fabric comes to life as creeping shadows go
as light invades the room warms the morning chill
sudden movement next to me
Closer still

looking at the sleeping face movement in my soul
running to a place inside that only we can know
eyes that open gently Sparkle in loves thrill
silently the world escapes
and brings us closer still

© 2007 Doug Barnett

A Minute Late.
I can see you when I close my eyes
Standing by the departure gate
Tears welling up behind a smile
How I wished that flight was late

One more minute is all I ask
Cant it please just wait
I'm beggin on bended knee
I'll only be a minute late

I can’t remember what you wore
Or how your hair was styled
All of that just disappears
When I think of your smile

Still photos are not the same
Or movies from last year
Conversation on the telephone
You know I'd rather have you here

Landing gear is touching down
I know you're standing at the gate
With jet engines and a tail wind
We were still a minute late

© 2007 Doug Barnett

Sittin in/Dewey's Office.
Walking up to the iron gate
One more minute and I’ll be late
Second bell I didn’t hear, now I fear I'll be here, for life
Shouldn’t a had that cigarette
With those guys I just met
I just missed the final bell, just as well, I can’t tell wrong from right

Sitting here in Dewey’s office
Haven’t got a word to say
Guess another hour’s detention
Is the price I have to pay

Standing out in Cactus Park
Ditching class on a lark
Shoulder tap and my head, turning red, now I'm dead, again
Speaking out in study hall
Angry names I shouldn’t call
To late to take it back, it’s a knack, that I lack, in my brain

Sitting here in Dewey’s office
Haven’t got a word to say
Guess another week’s detention
Is the price I have to pay

Now I get to graduate
Wouldn’t you know it I am late
norm and ziger standing by, wonder why, shearching high, and low
Finally from my seat I see
My old office enemy
Dewey running through the gate, he was late, that was great, to know

Sitting here in Dewey‘s office
Haven’t got a word to say
Guess another month’s detention
Is the price I have to pay

Sitting here in Dewey‘s office
Haven’t got a word to say
Guess a life time’s detention
Is the price I have to pay

© 2007 Doug Barnett

This Reunion
Thirty years and you’re still the same
A little older, maybe changed your name
Couple kids, ex husband too
But you can move like you used to do
We play a teenage game
I have only myself to blame
Should have said something years ago
If I don’t tell you then you’ll never know

Welcome to this reunion
I sure hope you’re having fun
But I just cant shake the feeling
You might be my only one

Wider than I was back then
Glasses thicker as the hair goes thin
A little color from a Clairol box
Helps to cover those graying locks
I look at you with a silly grin
The dance starts, you invite me in
All the lines I had ready to go
Disappear as we dance so slow

Welcome to this reunion
I know I’m sure having fun
But 2 or 3 mistakes might kill the feeling
Of finding out you’re my only one

You dance off with another
You always loved me like a brother
Dreams crushed with one high heel
But that’s not the way I feel
A wallflower comes into view
Take a chance is what I’ll do
Her eyes hold ancient tears
She never told me all these years

Welcome to this reunion
I know we’re just having fun
But if you never tell your secrets
Tomorrow morning this night is done

© 2007 Doug Barnett

School Days.
School days school days
Misspent dreams of youth
Bitter sting of alcohol
Without your sweet vermouth
School days school days
Lord it's been so long
I can just remember them
Like an old favorite song

So we come to this place once again
I've had more fun but I don't know when
You know we hated each other back then
But now we meet as friends

School days school days
Smell of new mown grass
Life of possibility
Reflected in the glass
School days school days
Square dance in the gym
He was so in love with her
She won't remember him

So they come to this place once again
They've had more fun but they don't know when
Memory disappearing and then
Now they meet as friends

School days school days
Lessons I once learned
Somehow forgotten
Watching bridges burn
School days school days
As the picture fades
I can close my eyes and see
My shadow on the shades

So we come to this place once again
I've had more fun but I don't know when
Different now than we were back then
But now we meet as friends

© 2007 Doug Barnett

Embrace the Dissonance
Embrace the dissonance
Until you feel the sound
It can open up your mind
Turn your thoughts around

Around my world I hear
Divergent sounds collide
Splinter off in twisted ways
To stand on either side

Embrace humanity
Through the city street
Urbanite cacophony
Hearts in random beat

Beat the racing herd
To the finish line
Fading into history
Trapped within your mind

Embrace technology
Science makes you whole
Steady stream of images
Out of your control

Control the differences
What I think is real
Separating falsehoods
The images conceal

Embrace the chaos
Let it guide your day
Don't distract the witnesses
That try and block the way

The way of the world
I leave you to desire
Heaven finds me waiting in
The cooling breath of fire

Embrace the dissonance
A dance of life in song
Sound that lasts forever
If I should live that long

© 2007 Doug Barnett

The Big Hand Blues.
I met a friend
Down at the bar
He's kind of ugly
Aint got a car
Still gets the ladies
Throughout the land
He said his something about his big hands

Lord I'll never know why
The women always go for the big handed guy

I try to flirt
And try to schmoose
Competing for women
On a bar room cruise
My buddy told me
Just stick to booze
Against a big hand you'll always lose

I told the doctor
About my plight
He said I noticed
Your hands are light
Then he gave me
A strange expression
When I asked about a hand extension

Texas hold em
And five card stud
Each time I play
My lucks a dud
I'm short all night
My moneys spent
Girlfriend tells me that’s not what she meant

I got a girl
Who doesn’t care
About big hands
Or curly hair
Laughs at my fear
And says I'm sweet
Says that’s ok cause you've got big feet

© 2007 Doug Barnett

The End.
Lord I feel so lonely
Standing here alone
I just lost everything
That I call my own
There’s no more music
And all my friends are gone
Because the battery just died
On my cell phone

© 2007 Doug Barnett

Copyright ©2005-2011 Doug Barnett. All rights reserved. Updated 08/09/11 By Doug Barnett