Rhyme and Reason

The last word is most remembered In a heated argument, it often seems like everyone wants to be the one to get in the last word. Sometimes it’s because they really DO have the most important thing to say. But most times it’s just to “win.” And that’s the kind of argument I recently overheard from a couple in a nearby booth at a restaurant. Each time the last word popp...

Letter by Letter – Line By Line Anything you do in life can’t be done all at once. At least not anything worth doing. You can’t even breathe all at once. There’s an inhale and an exhale. And I could literally come up with a thousand other examples. But I know you get the point. Each journey is made up of steps. In the process of writing, it involves going letter by letter,...

Who’s afraid of Old Man Winter? As I write this, it’s the third day of February in the year 2020. Yesterday was almost warm enough to be part of early summer. But, according to all the weather forecasts I see, Old Man Winter is gonna slap us back into reality starting today. With a drop of 40 degrees to start with. And a splash of snow in our faces.  [powerpress_player] I’ve live...

They shall fall and perish – OK, who are they? There’s a ginormous group of people on planet earth who are not gonna like how things eventually play out. And there’s a verse, in the Bible, that says “they shall fall and perish.” And by perish, it means their fate is permanent from that point on. Wow. Sounds kinda harsh, right? But what’s gonna cause this?   Life...

Hang on to the will to carry on Way, way back in about 1975 I was just getting started writing lyrics more than poems. And I also worked in a disco. Yes, a disco. As a bartender and floorwalker. (Remind me to tell you the story about getting beaten by a motorcycle gang.) Anyway…I got to be friends with quite a few of the people who worked there. And one night after work, a group of us met an...

Surely you realize time is of the essence. I looked up the usage and/or meaning of the phrase: time is of the essence. And oddly enough, it’s most common usage is in English and Canadian law. Of course, my right brain kicked in and began to connect dots from the phrase, to the passage of time, and to law. Here’s what I came up with, and I think it works… “Time is of the ess...

“Where is he Doc?” “Somewhere between dreams and reality.” I’m sure you’ve watched at least a movie or two where the main star struggles with issues of sanity. It’s a pretty common theme in mystery, sci-fi, and horror movies. And a lot of times the person wanders through weirdness feeling stuck somewhere between dreams and reality.   Waking up is sometimes...

The thrills are alive with the Sound of Music You might recall (then again you might not because it was a long time ago.) back in 1965 there was a movie musical called “The Sound of Music.” It starred Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. And several famous songs popped out of it. But I don’t actually wanna talk about the movie. “So, why’d you bring it up, Tony?&#822...

Grasping for the wind Have you ever tried to grab yourself a good handful of wind? Simple. Right? Yeah, hardly. OK, now imagine you’ve literally been given the keys to the kingdom. In fact, you’ve been made the king (or queen) of the kingdom. And you got all the riches and authority that came with it. You start out all bubbly and you tell everybody, “I have attained greatness, an...

A sleepy-eyed bon fide wee hours wanderer At 2:45 this morning I bumbled out of bed, as I do most every morning, and made my way into the kitchen. An issue I’ve been dealing with, for the past couple of years, typically won’t let me sleep more than about four hours at a time. But starting on the first day of this year, I decided to put my sleepy-eyed hours to good use. Writing regular...

Since talk is cheap, I’m goin’ back to sleep It’s the wee hours of the morning. So, if I can’t make sense of this, I’m going back to sleep. Unless you’re a recent public school graduate, you probably know what the saying, talk is cheap, means. And it’s always been used, sarcastically, when someone’s skeptical of what someone else said. It sort of ill...

Another hit from the extraordinary playlist in life Right at this minute I can’t think of where I saw it. But recently, somewhere on my computer, or my tablet, or my phone, an ad popped up at the top. It was a link to a show, of some kind, called “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist.” It didn’t interest me enough to click through. But it did find an empty spot in my memory...

Hmm…there’s nothing new to say today Imagine a king from a far away land. From a distant time in the past. A king who had more riches than anyone. And literally lacked for nothing. But none of it was enough. And his days blurred together in a tepid tapestry. Just time passing until he felt there was even nothing new to say. It had all been said. The king with nothing new to say was the...

This isn’t about a sea of blue I’ve had quite a few listeners and readers ask me to consider sharing more of my “old”writings and music. And that’s pretty cool. So, thank you for asking. And the old poem, I’m sharing today, comes from all the way back in 1975. I lived in Kansas, at the time, so I was far away from any sea of blue. But I still wrote this one abou...

Don’t give it all you got Cue up the Rocky theme music. Zoom the camera in on Rocky running through the backstreets of Philadelphia. Build up the music as he runs up those stairs. Feel the excitement as he reaches the top and dances with his fists in the air. Rocky gave it his all and overcame the obstacles. Yay! Scene fades. Point made. You don’t have to look far to find a motivationa...

The Proven Song Some people start with an idea for business and fly with it. Sometimes it’s a matter of just wanting to share some of their strategies. And sometimes it’s to completely teach others how to do it, too. Both of those apply to a guy named Jim. He took his ideas of building business online to a level he never dreamed of to begin with. And his proven system, and story, becam...

Starshine in Iris Forty-five years ago. It’s not possible. But it’s true. The year, 1975, was forty-five years ago. It was a significant year for me for several reasons. A few small. A few large. And I was still in the beginning stages of becoming a poet and a songwriter. In fact, the poem I’m about to share with you, Starshine in Iris, is a sample of writing I was doing as a res...