​Good mornin’ sir
How was your sleep?
I’m certain it was fine
Mine always is here
Have a seat with me
It’s been a pleasure
Having you here
I see so many come and go
This lobby has been
My friend for so many years
I’ve worn out three
Of these wicker chairs
The décor hasn’t changed much
But the faces do
They come and go
They’re here
They dry out
They leave
They come back
They loose themselves
They find themselves
All for five dollars a night
That’s a meal a day
For some folks
That’s a shower, soap
A towel and a good
Night’s sleep for me
A good night’s sleep
Is all any man needs
So sit here a while
Give me another
Story to learn
Another life to assimilate
Or a quarter
Or maybe just a light. 

​Joe turns out the lights
Over the bar
As she switches off the lights
Out front
He locks the door
She is exhausted
She gathers her things
He waits for her
Good night Joe
She says to him
As she disappears
Into the night mist
Good night Mel
She hears from
The blackness behind
Her apartment’s waiting
Just down the street
Her peekapoo’s waiting
Staring at the door
It’s starting to sprinkle
She walks
Quietly she talks
Thinks of the evening
Counts the tips in her mind
Reviews pickup lines
If they said this
I’d say that
But if they’d said that
I’d ‘v said this
Her feet hurt
She stumbles slightly
Rain’s in her eyes
Just enough to be annoying
She thinks of love
How she would love
To come home to
Some one she loves
Then she opens the door
And she knows
​Tonight...
The peekapoo will have to do

Deep in the river
Deep down to the bottom
Of the river
The catfish swim
Little ones
Big ones
With their big whiskers
Medium sized ones
And then they’s
The smart ones
That sits at the very bottom
They know which bites
Got the hook in it
They know…
 But they don’t tell nobody
They just sits and waits
Watchin’ the dumb ones
Get snatched
And yanked up
To the shimmerin’ sky
Jus’ leaves more food
For them
And they eat it too
And they get bigger
And bigger
So that if they ever
Do get caught
They’re too big
To get in the boat
 
They ain’t dumb
They got it all worked out.

Wilám #1
I got a dog that likes poodles
Dumb crazy poodles
He’s a snickerdoodle
That dog that likes poodles
 
​Wilám #2
Hey baby
Come over here
Sit your butt down
In this here chair
I love the way you grove
 
Now, that’s how to impress a lady.

There’s a drunk man in the coffee shop
Came drippin’ in on a whim
Askin’ for a whipped Russian latte
Coffee tender don’t even
Know what that is
There’s a drunk man in the coffee shop
Melting into an old ratty couch
In the dark corner of the room
Sitting next to the college boy
And trying to do his home work
The calculus is over his head
But it reminds him of Eliot and Whitman
And causes him to reminisce
About old loves, old losses
Old wives and old lives
Not of his own but of those he’s known
 
There’s a drunk man in the coffee shop
He used to be the beatnik generation
Now he’s just beat,
Sippin’ a latte    
And slippin’ through
The ratty…
Dirty…
Cushions……
On the couch.