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 …
Tag: writing
The Way I Do, Part Six (Final)
Sure enough, when three o’clock rolled around, so did several high school kids. In deference to Mud Galvin’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” philosophy, he and Abel got provisionally high before they got there, and the kids apparently did the same. Abel was glad Victoria was back. She had been Mud’s significant other for at …
The Way I Do, Part Five
A stranger asked me if I knew the Devil / I told him, well, in fact, he looks like you / He told me he was no more than a lawyer / Who merely wanted someone else to sue / Or screw. Mud Galvin called at eleven, and Abel tried in vain to sound …
The Way I Do, Part Four
It took about a year to get my head straight / I drank my share and crashed into the ground / It seemed as if my voice got so damn lonely / My friends all dreaded having me around. Abel and Siri had their differences on the proper course to Cain Caldwell’s house. She …
The Way I Do, Part Three
I don’t know what I’m gonna tell ‘em / Don’t know what I’m gonna do / I might walk out that door and never come back / Open the window, jump off the roof / But it ain’t gon’ be bad health that’s gonna kill me / Won’t be red meat and pecan pie / …
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 …
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 …
Nightrider's Lament 