The Later Works

Life's Just a John Prine Song

Life's just a John Prine song, it's sad and it's funny, when you're livin' on love 'cause ya ain't got no money, and your teeth are all achin' and sayin' 'Goodbye' to their neighbors.

He was blowin' blue notes through the end of his horn, wonderin' why in the world that he had been born, and I found him all alone with his music in the bowels of BART*.

He said, "Life's just a John Prine song, it's sad and it's funny, when you're ridin' on bald tires 'cause ya ain't got no money, and your life's just a scream 'cause you're wonderin' which one'll go first.

I said, "Kleenex your heart, and Phoenix your friends, you'll never know whether your fortunes may end, and your heroes are homeless when they're makin' amends, and love's on the backroads bein' made by your friends.

(Repeat first verse and chorus)

He sang, "Life's just a John Prine song, no matter...how...it...ends..."

* Bay Area Rapid Transit, the Bart trains that link SF to the rest of the Bay Area

© PB 1994

They Laid Off Santa Claus

They laid off Milo, they laid off Pedro. They took a short pause, and laid off Santa Claus. And it was gross, so gross from coast to coast, in the summer they laid off your mother, your sisters and brothers, by Christmas we'd all hit the streets. (repeat from top, slower, dirge-like)

© PB 1994

The House or Home
That Poems Built

I always wondered what it would be: a lean-to, a wickiup, a shed, or a canopy of strings, marbles, and soft fabric, or a travois pulled behind the Old Gold Chevy, or a rusted joke pulled behind the '89 Toyota 4-WD pickup or a Palace of Fine Art. The house or home that poems built. Stay tuned and we'll see.

© PB 1997