When I was young / I went off to college / But I flunked out ‘cause I could not pass no test / My old man barely made it past fifty / And I reckon that I’ll follow his footsteps / But it ain’t gon’ be bad health that’s gonna kill me / It won’t …
Named to Lose
Luck evens out for most people. Sometimes, though, one bad break begets another, and it all goes into a death spiral. Such was the case of the Scheltonns of Roebuck, Oklahoma. Names were not Frank Scheltonn’s forte. It took a lot of thinking, but one could make a case that the decline and fall …
What I Ain’t Got
I don’t know where I am / And I don’t know where I’m going / I reckon it don’t matter anyway / What factories are left here are mainly hiring Mexicans / I reckon that they’ll work without much pay. Years ago, it had been the site of a filling station. Then it was …
What I Ain’t Got, Part Five (Final)
I’m too old now to make it / So I spend all my time / Telling kids not to make mistakes I made / If I’d known what I know now / And conjured up a plan / I’d be made in a different kind of shade. On the way back home, Sam …
A Keyboard, Not a Grindstone
What have I read this morning? (1.) A sordid story about former big-league baseball player Mel Hall and his victimization of young girls, (2.) a contention that drinking almond milk instead of eating almonds is really stupid, and (3.) a few more pages of American Caesar, a biography of General Douglas MacArthur. I don’t know …
What I Ain’t Got, Part 4
I don’t give a damn / ‘Cause it don’t make no difference / What happens is gonna happen anyway / I’m a ship without a rudder / Adrift with no sails / And the water’s still choppy on the bay / So I’ll paddle around / Either drown or run aground / So far …
What I Ain’t Got, Part Three
My friends all moved away / And they moved to big cities / Where they fight all that traffic every day / While I sit here and rot / In this godforsaken town / That gets older and sadder every day. At the produce stand, not all was drudgery. Sam Maitlin encountered …
Changes Ten by Ten
Fifty years ago, my father voted for and bet on Barry Goldwater, not to win the election but to carry South Carolina. He won. Goldwater lost. The election, not South Carolina. NASCAR’s greatest hero at the time, “Fireball” Roberts, was horribly burned at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He lived for more than two months, and every …
What I Ain’t Got, Part Two
My life ain’t so hot / But I’m past the point of caring / About all the things / I ain’t got. Sitting on the tailgate of a pickup and haggling over squash was simple compared to, oh, writing a book. Sam Maitlin tended to ruminate on the simple pleasures while he waited on …
What I Ain’t Got, Part One
I don’t know where I am / And I don’t know where I’m going / I reckon it don’t matter anyway / What factories are left here are mainly hiring Mexicans / I reckon that they’ll work without much pay. Years ago, it had been the site of a filling station. Then it was …
Nightrider's Lament 