Contract

 My final February Album Writing Month skirmish for 2023. The prompt was a contract or deal that went bad.

Sign where you see the sticky arrows,

Be sure to get the last page notarized,

Overnight them back and we can finalize.

Pretty straight forward way to end the lies.

Got married in a tux in front of family and friends,

Blessed and cheered, ate and danced.

Ended it by showing your driver's license, 

To a notary public at the bank.

Put the signed papers in the prepaid envelope,

Drop them off at UPS,

Wait to receive the mailed decree and

Once again you will be free.

So, sign where you see the sticky arrows

Be sure to get the last page notarized

Overnight them back and we can finalize

Pretty straight forward way to end the lies.

Thought the first agreement was a done deal,

But currencies changed, we each added clauses.

Payments made, payments lost,

Without the original contract, we got kind of lost.

Some truths were hidden, others weren't accepted.

Time to recoup some of what was lost.

So, sign where you see the sticky arrows

Be sure to get the last page notarized

Overnight them back and we can finalize

Pretty straight forward way to end the lies.

Fifty Cents

I have no idea why the chorus popped into my head while I was making dinner. But, I'm glad it did. 

Fifty cents, I remember when that cost just 50 cents.

Was just a few years ago, hell, I can remember,

Paying 29.9 for a gallon of gas.

Prices go up faster than your pay,

That's the one thing you can plan on, anyway.

I don't mean to complain because I know that's how it is,

But it always hurts more when it's something like this.

Like what, you ask? Pick your own favorite item.

We all have something we don't want to live without,

We'll pay extra because it's something special,

And grumble about it even when no one is listening.

Card or cash, Apple Pay, it's all the same.

Fifty cents is gone, just like pennies.

Fifty cents, I remember when that cost just 50 cents.

Was just a few years ago, hell, I can remember,

Paying 29.9 for a gallon of gas.

Prices go up faster than your pay,

That's the one thing you can plan on, anyway.

I try not to shop much, do it mostly online,

Price check everything and avoid long lines,

But I just can't help but stop at the convenience store

To pick up snacks I know I shouldn't eat

I notice they cost more than they did last year

But I buy a few anyway, because I deserve a treat.

Fifty cents, I remember when that cost just 50 cents.

Was just a few years ago, Hell, I can remember,

Paying 29.9 for a gallon of gas.

Prices go up faster than your pay,

That's the one thing you can plan on, anyway.

Yeah, fifty cents, fifty cents

I remember having Kennedy head half dollars,

Like the two dollar bill, they're not too common.

But for some reason they still make them.

Fifty cents, I remember when that cost just 50 cents.

Was just a few years ago, Hell, I can remember,

Paying 29.9 for a gallon of gas.

Prices go up faster than your pay,

That's the one thing in the world that hasn't changed.

Legacy

Because who gets to be at least 60 and doesn't think about this, right?

Could you just walk away from your life today

And be proud of what you're leaving?

Even if you don't leave now, think about it,

Will you be proud of what you're leaving?

What do I want to leave behind

Sometimes I think I'd rather not leave

But I know someday this ride will come to an end

Whether I am ready or not.

I hope there are people somewhere playing music and singing

Who might have once sung along with me

I hope there are people who fell in love with reading and/or writing

Because of something I said

I hope there are a few people braver about trying new things

Because of something they saw I did.

I hope small bits of the world are a little happier, a little healthier

Because I was in their life

I know i enjoyed all of these things

Because of the people I met on the way.

When I go, have a party wherever you are.

Make a toast with peanut butter and honey

Or raise a glass of seltzer

Dance the old lady dance or however you want to

Play air guitar, Softly sing harmony, 

Write a bunch of stuff no one reads.

Hike a distant trail

Walk around the block

Enjoy your life

Go as long as you can

And wave to me in the air.

Yeah, maybe my children 

will read these words,

play this song,

when it's my time to leave.

And that will be my legacy.

I Love Paper

 Rough draft morning. This was a 30 minute writing prompt for February Album Writing Month.

The song is too long. Instead of cutting, I added when I edited.

Musicbysue · I Love Paper

I was thinking about the things that I love

And thinking about how easy I have it.

I have a place to live, food to eat,

And time to enjoy this planet.

I love sunrise and sunset and being outside

I love being alone when I choose

I love the bakery, paperbag of scones and muffins

Eating fresh baked bread with my soup.

One of the things I've loved my whole life 

is reading and writing.

Holding a book, turning the pages,

Soaking up the words.

Holding a pen or pencil,

Pressing it onto the notebook page,

Writing my thoughts and emotions

Onto a piece of paper.

I love hiking in the mountains, feeling the air

I love listening to water streaming over rocks

I love the suck of mud on my boots

And the rhythm when I walk.

Paper, pencils, and pens 

have been replaced

With my laptop, tablet, and phone.

As I type I remember 

The glory of my hand on paper.

Typing is faster, I tell myself

My handwriting has gotten sloppy

Printing takes too long, 

my thoughts move too fast

Save the paper for another time.

I love libraries and bookstores, searching for books

I love looking at the covers,

I love getting lost in stories, finding truths,

And the freedom to not finish unless I want to.

Yeah, I love paper, I love paper,

even on looking at it on a screen

Book paper, newspaper, 

The back of an envelope,

the paper in magazines.

Saxophone

This morning's writers group photo was of a saxophonist in a smoky club. There were three prompts. I kind of ignored the first one and then incorporated it into part two. Part three ties them together. 

The overall themes of the writing session were: awareness, wonder, empathy

Saxophone

1.

Saxophone playing, 

Jazz notes rising through the smoke filled air,

Climbing higher

and higher.

Filling the room,

Filling ears, hearts, and minds.

Notes and emotions

      Soar,

   Swirl,

      Rise,

 Fall.

He wants to play forever.

But he begins to end the solo

as the piano cuts in.

The saxophone fades out

The bass and drums

  continue

    their rhythmic support,

Booming,

Shuffling.

Thump, badum, da, da, da, dum.

Boom, swish, clap.

Saxophone resting

  then gently joining again, 

Waiting for the climax

  when all the instruments 

  will play their story,

And then silence.

2. 

After the show,

  the saxophone player

  sits backstage,

Wiping the sweat from his face,

  hands,

  arms,

Listening to his bandmates 

  critique each other,

  applaud each other.

He tries to relive the moments on stage

  when he felt so alive,

   he could feel his true story being told.

A knock on the door,

He wonders who has come.

Surely no one looking for him.

He came to this city alone

and has lived only with music

since getting here.

A voice.

A voice he hasn't heard 

  since he slammed a door

  and drove away

  as fast as he dared.

A voice.

A voice he has heard every day of his life.

Hesitating,,

Waiting for him

  to turn around,

  to look,

  to speak, 

  to acknowledge.

His bandmates' voices fade into nothing.

He lifts his eyes,

  stares at the ceiling,

And cries.

3.

Since he first picked up

  that magical piece of brass

He has been able to speak,

Listen, 

Learn.

Since he squeaked that first note,

he has felt it.

I live for music. 

  Music is life.

Later he learned,

Love is music

  And music is love.

He now knows,

  Music doesn't judge,

  Music doesn't  hate,

Music heals,

  bonds,

  reaches lost souls.

He thinks,

  I am music.

  Music is me.