Dusti Rodes
2014-03-05 12:00 am
HOT BUTTERED TOAST Hot buttered toast, Thickly spread. Hot buttered toast, Best made, With thick white bread. Dusti Rodes (2009)
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Dusti Rodes
2014-03-05 12:00 am
THE STAND-OFF The other day, I challenged the World, To a gunfight. It told me It couldn't come. It was too busy, Circling around the Sun. Poor excuse, I reckon. Dusti Rodes (2007)
Dusti Rodes
2014-03-05 12:00 am
FLOWER POWER Bougainvillea, Stretching up out, Seeking the sun. In a south-facing window. Dusti Rodes (2011)
Dusti Rodes
2014-03-05 12:00 am
WOLFGANG Harley riding, Snuff taking, Mah Jong playing. German Hell's Angel. Holding court daily, From his pool-side seat. The family man, Playing with his boy. Joking with his wife. Making instant friends, Of the strangers that he meets. Sharing a day to themselves, Doing nothing in particular, But everything in general. Dusti Rodes (2009)
Dusti Rodes
2014-03-05 12:00 am
L'HIVER APPROCHE Il fait chaud. Curtains, like the evenings, Being drawn earlier. Cyclamens, on the window sill, Leaning towards the light. Dark before dusk. Leaves falling by the second, Whipped up by the winds. Temperature droppin' With the sinkin' sun; That spends most days, Hiding behind clouds. Half moon present In the failing light At four thirty. And it's not yet November. Dusti Rodes (2010)
Dusti Rodes
2014-03-05 12:00 am
THEY'RE PLAYIN' WITH THE CLOCKS They are playing with the clocks, Stealing our time. Precious moments, passing us by. What was it they said? Spring forward, Fall back. They're playing with the clocks again. Messing with our minutes. And our minds. The British Summer has gone. It's certainly a mean time, In Greenwich. Still light in the morning, for now. But dark long before dusk. Dusti Rodes (2009)
Dusti Rodes
2014-03-05 12:00 am
MAKING DUMPLINGS Two parts flour, To one part fat. (Fancy that!) Add a pinch of salt And some pepper. Then some water, Cold is best. Finger it gently Into balls. Making sure it's not too wet. Stick'em in the stew, For twenty minutes. Then enjoy. Just like you did, When you were a boy. Dusti Rodes (2009)
Dusti Rodes
2014-03-04 12:00 am
The Blackbird I see him, Everywhere, everyday. The blackbird. Here, near and far away. The blackbird. Tilling the dark brown soil. The blackbird. Continuing in his daily toil. The blackbird. Colliery coal-face in colour. The blackbird. Eyes that glint, With a light, Like no other. The blackbird. I see him, On a fence. The blackbird. In a hedge. The blackbird. Reflected in a window. The blackbird. Perched high, In a solitary tree. The blackbird. I see him, But does he see me? The blackbird. Watching, Waiting. The blackbird. Demonic soul-seeker. The blackbird. Hell-sent carrion eater. The blackbird. Herald to the Grim Reaper. The blackbird. And his name is Death. Dusti Rodes (2007)
Dusti Rodes
2014-03-04 12:00 am
Jazz Duellin' "Some people spend their whole lives, and not hear the sounds stored insides 'em. Forgits the notes, jist plays the music. We's alls gots 'em. Black notes, white notes, notes that's been done stretched, even bent ones. Theys orl ins there. It's hows youse use 'em, that's the trick! Whethers you beats 'em, till they is blue; or you coaxes them out gently likes fine wine from a bottle, it's up to youse. Some folks puts 'em in orders that mosts don't even finks of! And that's olrights too. It's up to youse. Jist gotta finds your own ways o' makin' 'em sounds... It's orls I kin tells yer..." He hadn't played the piano in a long time. Disillusioned, downed by the drugs, That ran riot in the community and company that he kept. He had drifted away. Somewhere. Anywhere. But there. Harlem could frighten even the strongest of souls. And he'd never claimed to be that. They called him Cajun. A remnant of time spent in New Orleans. The honky-tonks, the seedy bars and the backroom bordellos, That he had often frequented while down there, In what seemed now like a hundred life-times ago. But he was back in the old neighbourhood. He'd come for the funeral. One of only a few true people, He could call friend. Word spread like wildfire, as it does in these times, That he was back in town. At the graveside some of the old crew ambled over to him. Asking the usual stuff. How's he doing and the like. Told him they were holding the wake at Creole's Place that night. And would be sure pleased to see him there; The brother being a friend and all. When he walked into the Place that night, He was greeted by a sight he had almost forgotten. The air was thick with the smell of stale beer, Rotgut rye whiskey and weed joints. The lights, they were turned down real low. But people saw him standing there, And still took the time to say hello. He hadn't even been nowhere near a piano, In a long while. They had seen to that. Six years in the slammer cramps a man's style. Lithe fingers, gone fat. The used-to-be so supple sinews now taunt. He flexed 'em. They fought back. The spotlight on the stage area, Reminded him of those damned searchlights, That had sent their searing shafts of light skyward. Cutting into the darkness outside his cell, Night after night. Robbing him of the only escape available, To the inmates of the hell-hole. Where he had been incarcerated .... Sleep. Creole, the 'Fatman', on bass fiddle, 'Bleedin' Lips' Murphy, blowing blues horn. 'Skins'Duval, up there on drums. The Fatman called out, coaxing for him to come up on the stage. Most folk never really hear the sounds inside them. But some can't help but create, The music they were born to make. Cajun was one of those. He hears the roar rising from the void within. Like a volcano. Molten music, Stirring deep in the depths Of his frame. That must come to the surface, Like lava, straining to escape the confines. A piano is made of wood 'n' wires. Hammers big and small. Ivory keys that need gentle, Or sometimes even firm coaxing; To give their best or better. To some, it's just a piano, A boxful of sounds. A mechanism for making music. For others, like Cajun, It's an extension of the soul. The drums, they spoke something. Grumbled, mumbled low. Real low. The fiddle responded with a taunt strain. The horn blew for all it's worth. The note long and very low down. Somewhere deep, deep in the depths. They were having a conversation, Wanting Cajun to join in. To leave the safety of the shoreline, And strike out for the deep water. Then Creole started beating the box, With his waxed bow. Stacking the blues. Coaxing, urging, Cajun to take up the thread. Waiting for him to do things on the keys, That showed he was wading in the water with them. And Cajun answered them all. With authority. The dialogue became a monologue. The piano was doing the talking now. All everybody could do was but listen. In awe. The riffs and licks spoke with an urgency. They told of places, That none of the others had ever been to. Describing pain, that few else had ever felt. Diving to depths of despair, Unplumbed by mere mortals. But Cajun had been there. Seen the sights. And he was telling everyone. That which he had experienced. Reliving the roller coaster ride, That his life had been so far. And he took all those, Gathered there, that night. On the journey. Dusti Rodes (2007)
Dusti Rodes
2014-03-04 12:00 am
Bayou Blues As I ramble through my sorrows, Drifting aimlessly, On Life's road that seems to me As being many miles too far. I'm living in yesterday's tomorrows. And seeing things as they rarely are. Dusti Rodes (2007)
Dusti Rodes
2014-03-04 12:00 am
Tinning Tobacco I know it ain't your problem, But jist sometimes, This is one hell of road To be moving down, all alone. It has caused me to be in places, I never wanted to travel to. And view lots o' sights, I never did need to see. So I'm gonna try An' buy me a ticket At the next station, Then I'll be travellin' the first train out. Yes, I'll be on that train out, One way or another, even if, I just ride the blinds. Like I gone done, oh so many, many times before. An' when that there ol' Devil, He comes a'knockin' at my door. Thens they is gonna tells 'im I'sa don'ts live here, anymore. Dusti Rodes (2007)
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