A trail amidst the green  

Learn to be grateful

Learn to be grateful

Learn to be humble
Learn to forgive
Excuse the occasional stumble
Burn to live

With a low flame
As well as the roaring fire
Respond to wind and leaves
As well as the deepest desire

Smile upon a simple act
Feel the sunshine on your face
Breathe in....breathe out
Experience this thing called grace

Wait for simplicity to dance
Let the children's voices ring
Sip your coffee slowly
Appreciate all living things

They sing to you with heart
With the eternity of today
Listen as well as speak
What do you hear they say

Come unto life with open hands
With open eyes and mind
Search through out the universe
Get away with being kind



Neils
about 2000
*
transcribed this time
11:10 am
11/27/2004

Loki

Loki

I got stuck in traffic
Behind an animal control truck
Just my heart aches break
Just my luck

And after four blocks
I couldn't take it anymore
I wanted to jump right out
I wanted to open that door

There was a dog in there
A german shepard mix in a cage
I was runnin the full gamut
All the way from sorrow to rage

****
****

I made a vow right there
I'd get this one out
But I felt the temptation all day
And at night heard the creeping doubt

You don't need this burden
You ought to got to keep on goin
All that contagious urban madness
Was beginnin to make its showin

****
****

But I got up in the mornin
And got my shoppin done
And with bags of food and all
I made that dog pound run

And there he was
Locked up with some other guy
I put a pink reprieve on his gate
And they told me to come back by

In three more days
To give his owner a chance
To save him from that last gasp
Twisted dying by gas dance

And you know
Even if he's been rescued
I'm taken some other one home
The sadness down there is stunning
So many abandoned condemned and alone

Save one and leave a hundred
The soul awake aches and cries
And it might hurt beyond belief
And grief

But it'll never
Make me not try



Neils
10:25 am
10/19/2001
*
transcribed this time
7:09 pm
11/24/2004

Too many broken hearts

Too many broken hearts
Can kill you

Or kill your will to give
And then all you've got
Is accomidating in order to live

A man must destroy something
In order to be able to create
A man must engage with the rage
And dark cloud storms of hate

To feel alive to feel he's met
The challenge of death engaged
I seek not the warm comfort
Of some so called all knowing sage

I want the winter ice
The wind and cold and pain
I want to walk the old path out
To where no one knows your name

But the desolate barren land
Where there's only the passing through
Because survival is keeping on the move
Lest anything get a track on you

That has not earned it's own quarter
That has not it's own abilites
That has not learned to appreciate
Some of the finer complexities

That takes faith as it's priority
And a battery of basic skills
I never wanted that easy ride
I thought it enough to be able

To get back up from the spills




Neils
10:39 pm
05/22/2003
*
transcribed this time
6:29 pm
11/22/2004

The Rain

The rain is a heart beat
Falling on the window pane
The rivulets and trickles
A symphony of cleansing strains

A montage of metaphoria
Awash in rhythmic waves
The undulations of a spirit
Whose wetness in it gave

Life to the cosmic vision
Of golden outstretched arms
Embracing the tree of life
In a move not meant to harm

There was a sudden silence
That fell into the room
And it brought about temptation
A certain violent raging gloom

But it was only a threshold
If you held onto the course
You found a mutual sharing
Coming directly from the source

Pouring into a current
Into a breath taking stream
Crystal clear and conscious
You were part of anothers dream

The rain is a heart beat
Falling on a window pane
The blessing of beauty's best
A whisper and a name



Neils
about 92 or 93
*
Taken from the chap book
Blood Read
transcribed this time
3:38 pm
11/22/2004

Stray

Stray

I don’t like seein a stray dog
It hits too close to home
Out there scrounging for food
And havin to do it alone

No one to call a family
Not one place in does he fit
Everybody thinking that desperate look
Means they’re gonna get bit

Pullin and tuggin on scraps
He used to be a lot happier
Than tryin to get his nutrition
From the food that clings to wrappers

Tossed discards of a society
He trys to find his way
From the middle of a parking lot
Into the night and through the day

You can’t take’m all in
But you sure as hell want to
I sometimes think the pain in life
Is because of what we didn’t do

How dare this suffering go on
How dare this lonely one live
And reflect such agony in my heart
And reveal how little I have to give

Maybe tomorrow good will to animals
Maybe some carry through toward a goal
Anything to help relieve
This emptiness in my soul



Neils
About 1995
*
transcribed this time
10:54 am
11/21/2004

Sleep

Sleep

Sleep tonight my children
Let the whirligigs blow
Like the windmills in your dreams
Every heart should know

The stars and moons
Are turning round and round
The big sky up above
Loves to hear the sounds

Of the creaking and squeaking
Of the excited chatter
And outright stares or peaking
What it is that matters

Is the train rumbling by
Hope riding on her wheels
Smoke stacks up in the air
How you really feel

Is worth more everyday
Imaginations move your hands
Come help us build our future
Come help us live this land

Of adventurous wonder
Of this not turning away
Of what it is that's important
To make it a better day

All of you is included
Even the anger sadness and pain
Sometimes humans are like that
We love you all the same

All of us in this old town
Of balloons and festive carts
We want you more than anything
To know you can take part

Sleep tonight my children
Let the whirligigs blow
Like the windmills in your dreams
Every heart should know



Neils
about 1994
*
transcribed this time
10:52 am
11/21/2004

No one knows you

No one knows you

*********************************
*********************************

No one knows you when it's raining
No one knows you when you're poor
But why do I keep looking up
When I hear someone at the door

No one knows you when you're down
Or when you're all alone
But why do I keep hoping
When I pick up the phone

****
Chorus:
****

Because baby I'm a fool for you
In a game as old at time
You're my sunrise and my sunset
On this mountain I'm struggling to climb

****
****

No one cares when the money's gone
If you're at the gate
But why do I keep listening
Taking a breath to wait

No one sees you when you're troubled
Or reaches out to you
But why when love is spoken of
Do I want to know if it is true

****
repeat chorus:
***

Alternate last stanza

No one knows you when you're troubled
Or reaches out a hand to you
But why when love is spoken of
Do I want to know if it is true

****
****


Fade to last chorus...
or instrumental expression




Neils
about 1996
*
transcribed this time
8:17 am
11/21/2004

Tyrant

Tyrant

You can't please a tyrant
They aim to play the game
Of manipulation to capitulation
Maiming you with their shame

Until they own you outright
Drawin on a central theme
They hold the reigns of power
And all you've got's a dream

****
Chorus
****

Inside unspoken hearts
Lives a broken child
Wanting you to free them
As they lie in wait defiled

They're tryin to fulfill some need
But they can't let go
Can't make room for answers
They don't already know

****
****

What they can't do alone
They'll do with another
Willing to work together
To play one against the other

They'll draw and quarter you
And blame you when it fails
They're absolutely merciless
Their justice has no scales



Neils
*
about 1994
*
transcribed this time
11:23 pm
11/20/2004

When you whore with evil

What happens when you
Whore with evil too long

Is

You forget your own innocence
You forget your own song
You forget you ever knew truth
And that your heart too once was strong

You forget the skies and trees
You forget about a gentle hand
You forget about the strength
It takes to make a stand

And

You learn about the moment
That contains the icy edge of fear
And how to talk to another
About what they want to hear

And still keep your options open
In case again you need to change
You learn that you can step away
And not have to deal with the pain

If you’ve got a good story
That can move the scene along
But in the end it only makes one look
More and more like they don’t belong

****
****

Unless it’s someplace depraved
Where un-repentance hangs in the air
Unaffected by any warmth offered
Un-tricked by any dare to care

And

Even though the body is broken
Worn tattered pale and frail
Where else can the wicked go
When it is everything that is for sale



Neils
8:34 pm
10/21/2004
*
transcribed this time
7:48 pm
11/17/2004

You there

You there

You there in the evening light
Have you not seen a time
When the sky shone azure blue
And rested easy on the mind

Have you not seen a child at play
Laughing for no reason at all
Simply because the joy of life
Beckoned him with its call

Have you not seen a river winding
A tortoise fish snake or toad
A crane rising on its wings
As you walked down a road

Have you not shared the blessing
That trees and flowers can give
Had it at least lift some of the
Burden..of what it takes to live

Have you not seen and I'll only
Ask this one thing more
The incredible undefinable
With but a peek..behind loves

Open door

Neils
*
written
about 1995
*
transcribed this time
9:01 am
11/15/2004

Does anybody get

Does anybody get
How important a refrigerator
And a stove
Are

Does anybody remember
Bein out in those fields
Starin up at the
Stars

Does anybody know how
Wonderful a simple
Coffee maker can
Be

Can we not look past
The next thought
And see the miracle
Of what we see

Does it all have to
Be taken for granted
Is it all expected
To just be there

Does where we’re going
Have to create
The mad illusion
That we’re not anywhere

Except in a knotted up ball
Of anxiety and neurotic impulses
That fires off questions
And desires

Covering over
Food water shelter
Air and
Fire

****
****

Stereos power and fame
Pieces of paper
That explain
The importance of our name

But all pale in the presence
Of the fire flys glowing
Green and amber
Soft hued flame


Neils
April 30th
2001
*
different fires
*
transcribed this time
12:10 am
11/13/2004

My take on idiots

My take on IDIOTS

****
****

Having been in the so called
art community for some years

****
****

I found their disingenuousness amazing
I found that they outright lie
I find that they don't care what happens
As long as it's somebody else who dies

They're all for freedom
Till it comes to guns
Then only the state should have them
And to me that sounds fascist and dumb

They'll change in mid-argument
And deliberately misinterpret what you say
They seem to think by any means necessary
Is perfectly all right for them as a way

They love criminals
They even get them out of jail
Then celebrate them and don't even bother
To apologize when it miserably fails

They'd sell us out to the UN in a heartbeat
And they fanatically encourage illegal immigration
It's culturalism over nationalism
In almost each and every situation

They love freedom of speech
But don't want any accountability
Because as soon as you disagree
They go right into their oh you're oppressing me

They're vindictive and spiteful
They're lead around by their efite elite
Their snobbery is almost unbelievable
And their arrogance is such a treat

Other than that I like'm
And this is the short list
If they all disappeared for forever
I don't know a one of them

That I would miss

Neils
12:26 pm
06/22/2003
*
transcribed this time
9:49 pm
11/12/2004

Everybody's pointin

Everybody's pointin
Let me point out one more thing
The night time is my perch
And I sing I sing I sing

I'm right outside your window
I'm right outside your door
I've always been outside
The constant need for more

I'm a parrot or a mocking bird
Depends on where you live
But beyond the melody of words
I've lived my life to give you

No less than the trees
The moon and stars
And they haven't stopped
My song

Although I wear some scars



Neils
about 1992

This Steed

This Steed

I'm going to walk right into your dreams
And bring you my beating heart
I've been riding the nightmare of screams
Across the frozen ground leaving marks

But for those who try to follow
They say it can't be done
If the basic drive is hollow
In this land where there is no sun

There are bridges up ahead
And sighs coming out of the trees
Murmurings from those long ago dead
Who can no longer please or be pleased

For
There is no hope in the driving sleet
No future in the drizzling rain
But pounding hooves can make a beat
That push away the most numbing pain

And we've been thundering down the highway
Past these illusions that seemingly never end
This steed of deeds and I have been riding
Inside the howling of the coldest winds

And the steam comes out of his nostrils
The sweat clouds rise from his chest
As the mist curls in the vortex of whirls
On the lost souls road of no rest

Where the fog is thick as grey blood
And there is some sort of dew
On the rust colored blades of saw grass
That reach out to whip at you

As you cut close to the inside
When you lean it around the bend
Bearing down hard on the breath of death
Because you're going to take it to him

....to the end






Neils
The Winter of 95

A normal voice

A normal voice

****
****

Don't speak to me

With passion
Like there is such a thing as romance
Like even a tiny portion of the world
Stands a chance amidst the mad man's dance

Don't speak to me of the evening
And how flowers can perfume the air
Or how when even as the sun goes down
It still has enough light to dare us to care

Don't speak to me of your hopes and dreams
Or with any openess in your heart
About how to make a good begininng
Or how to even want to give that a start

****
****

No speak to me in a normal voice
And whatever that would mean to you
Why can't people ask for what they want
With out first thinkin

They have to tell the other person
What not to do

****
****

I thought we might catch a note
As it drifted from some guitar
And let it ride with us on a walk
As we gazed up on a star

I thought we might buy a malt
And sit out on a sunny day
On some park bench somewhere
And laugh and watch some children play

But I don't know how it happened
Suddenly I just went away
I didn't know what else to do
And I definitely didn't know what to say

I guess I couldn't find my normal voice
I couldn't find it even when I was given the cue
I guess lonely street just took a turn
And I went on down it

Without you



Neils
11:24 pm
06/25/2003

Moore Moore

Moore Moore
The living walking talking

Canker sore

****
****

In your heart of hearts mikey
You know you've got nothing to say
About any American Fighting Man's
Qualities that hold any sway

You don't know anything about tactics
You don't know anything about guns
All you do is open your big blow hole
Like that's somehow supposed to get it done

You don't have a single functional idea
You don't have even the beginning of a clue
The only person you're concerned with
Is Big Fat Ugly Hate America Disgusting you

You couldn't walk as far as they run
You couldn't even carry your own pack
You are such a pig such a stinking pig
To comment on men who have each others back




Neils
5:53 pm
11/01/2004
*
transcribed this time
6:02 pm
11/04/2004

What price Unification

What price
Unification

What is an accomplishment
What is there to achieve
A life sentence to Hell
Who is it that grants reprieves

But now you are my lord
My hand beneath the guessing
And all I have to do is ask
To receive your blessing

Character assassination forms
An utterance under the breath
Oh maybe not overt but covert
Like ignoring you to death

You brought this on yourself
We’ll add to the myth
We won’t oppose the rumor
You’re difficult to work with

Oh no don’t hurt my feelings
Oh no don’t make me grieve
Oh no don’t ruin my reputation
Amongst liars cheaters and thieves


Neils
About 1992