Ladies & Gentlemen....Coal Black !

Those of you who were habitues of the late, great Coal Black's House Of Pain may remember these 8 little gems, which are now being released as part of Poison Apple's concept cd "LeSabre of Love: The Bitsy Henderson Story". ( And also, now that the House of Pain is inactive, I'm always afraid that WeirdPress will suddenly zap it into non-existence, and I want my favorite Coal stuff here at Word Garden, too, just in case. Paranoia strikes deep....)

"dr. phil"

during the week
that became a year
that i let fuckhead stay at my trailer,
he took to watching
dr. phil
afternoons.

one wednesday,
about 430,
i had just gotten up and was
polishing 
my stage boots
when fuckhead says,
we need to work on having
a healthy
relationship.

i threw one boot
at his ear
and the other
through the screen.
i'd prefer not to,
i said.
i'd prefer
not to.
_____

"god"

god sees when you do bad, mama said.
does not, i said.
does. god sees everything.
this was bad news and i didn't care for it.

then i don't like god, i said.
i'll give god a bloody nose.
can't, said mama.
your arms are too short.

jenny at school say
it's against the rules.
jenny say
i'm gonna tell.
but jenny ain't god.
guess how i know?
_______

"easy"

do ya think it's easy, babe
what the night has to do to get by?
do ya think it's easy
to get
so dark, so deep, so high?

when i look at you,
i know just why the moon goes so crazy
and so blue...
it's cos she's so helpless in love
with a star that's only passing through.

do ya think it's easy, babe
to love someone so dark, so deep, so true?
every wicked thing you do drives me crazy...
and it's never easy
never easy
lovin' you.
______

"northbound / southbound" 

early, i took the northbound bus,
and the whole world seemed quiet, holy and fine...
late, i took the southbound bus,
and i never saw such a devil-cursed line.
______

"coneflowers"

i left my leather boots
in the closet like buddhas,
and wore white heels to sally's summer wedding.
in the morning,
one lay in the wet grass,
and the other in the deep green leaves of the coneflower plants
at the foot of your wooden steps.
______

"she"

she
got a wild-ass dog that sleeps with her.
she
swears a blue streak.
she
don't speak no yankee.
she
rather drive than fly.
she
rocks a sweet pair of boots.
she
don't listen to no shit music.
she
the only one in the room, to me.
she.
____

"bring me all of your dreams, you dreamer" *

bring me all of your dreams,
you dreamer,
i will hold them tender in rough hands.

dream sweet, sweetheart,
my bed is old, but knows how to give,
and here your dreams will rest easy.

bring me all of your dreams,
you dreamer,
bring me the best one before you forget.

the windows are frosted,
but my quilts are warm...

lay your dreams and your body safe in my arms,
and then, my sweet baby,
dream on, dream on.

* as part of a prompt, the title and opening line are from the Langston Hughes poem "The Dream Keeper", which may be found HERE.
_______

...and my favorite Coal composition by far...

"stones"

i said i wadn't gonna throw no more stones at your window,
and mama say, if you gonna open you mouth,
tell the truth, girl, or hush.

i said i wadn't gonna throw no more stones at your window,
oh, but honey,
there were so many stones
and i missed you so much.
_______

"easy", "she" and "stones" are for Coal's favorite waitress down at The Egg Explodes diner.