Best. Birthday. Ever.

It’s a day to celebrate. A day that is just for you. It’s your birthday. And today was mine. And it was, without a doubt, the best. Birthday. Ever.

Today has been filled with friends, love, family, love, unexpected gifts, love, great food, love, wine, love, laughter, love and just more love than I can shake a stick at. (little southern saying). And, what made it the best, was that there was great news which to celebrate. 

As I look around tonight, I see that I am so beyond blessed. To have the people who are in my life. My life is completely and utterly saturated in…love. And love that crosses over state lines. The amount of friends that are scattered across the country, and the world, is wonderful.

And there are trips to see many on deck for the next 2 months – a trip to the beach, a trip to a friends house boat, travels to California and another trip For both my parents and I to Chicago. There will also be some travel  to smaller town in Illinois. My Father could not make the trip last time, due to his chemo. Healthy and ready to travel, it will be a fun trip for our close-knit family.

My sister and I are having a great time this weekend, as the celebration of my birthday month continues. But not too much will be able to top this day, these gifts, this amount of love, these answers to prayers…Yes, looking across the hourly table of this day, it has been the best one yet.

 

The Dark Side

As a writer, you are constantly looking for new challenges, and things to take you out of your comfort zone and expand your abilities. Different types of writing, topics, points of view, etc. So one when of Atlanta’s top and most well-known blues bands said they would like to write with me I was thrilled. Wow, to write songs!  I have only written songs  with one other man and it is always an amazing process.  And I have written many, if not hundreds, of radio parody songs…but never blues.

So I write poems, send then to him (the lead singer of the band) and then we meet and corroborate on those he likes and thinks would be good lyrics. The one request he has is that I go to the dark side. The  blues are the blues because they are about hurt, fear, shame, anger… there is no such thing as a happy blues song- that’s called pop. Blues have to be dark.

So I have been experimenting with the dark side of song writing and think I have come up with a a few good morsels. I’ll start out light and get darker form them. hopefully a few of these will make some songs…

So, I like the dark side…as it turns out they do have cookies!

So wrong

Is it so wrong to miss you baby
You’ve been gone for so long now
Oh I’d never thought you ‘d go baby
But you’ve been gone for so long now.
And every time I think about you Baby
I think about those brown eyes darling Made my knees so week I’d bow

My hearts been hurtin for so long baby
Don’t even know if your dead or alive
The only eyes that could ever hurt me baby
Been haunting my soul for a while
Oh, is it so wrong to miss you darling,
Don’t even know if you.re even above the ground, you know I been losin sleep.

Is it so wrong to miss you baby
And those lips that I’ll never kiss again?
To dream about those arms that would hold me,
Now I do wonder where those arms have been
You been weighin’ on my heart so hard now honey
And your heart that will never love me no more again.

Oh it is so wrong to miss you lover
Is it so wrong to never speak your name from my lips
Is it so wrong make you the judge sweetheart,
Hold up the bar to measures all that come by my door at night now
Is it so wrong to miss those feelings sugar
That you brought to my life, then walked out by candle light
Oh, you know you didn’t do me right, Yes it’s so wrong to miss you baby

Yes, I know it’s so wrong to miss you sugar baby
you ain’t been ’round my door in a time
So what the Hell now lover, I know she’s not you honey
But I’ll sleep with your sister tonight.

Your Front Row Seat at the Show

Where did you learn ti fight without raising your fist?
You walk around writing each little slight on your petty list
Love is not about keeping score
It’s about having trust and keep a safe shore

Where did you learn to would so deep
Using only words?
You think that just because I am not bleeding that my
Tears are absurd

You deviate, demoralize, and tear me down
Since when was anger used as a noun?
If you hate me so much why not just let me go
Instead you hang on, Amused in you
Front row seat at the show.

Evolution

Cool calm waters,
nothing matters
laying on a boat in the sun

Butterfly on a flower
Cool breeze in the air
morning is close to done

Thunder clouds approaching
Lightning all around
The struggle for love begun.