Rooftop Poetry Club - G. Scott Andrews

G. Scott Andrews

BIO-EPILOGUE:

Mr. Andrews’ poetry has a certain clarity.
Matter of fact,
Confident yet,
Sometimes disturbing.
Written as though
He’s prepared for the power
And lights
And the water
To suddenly stop.
After which
He will wander,
Singing “Dust in the Wind’
For a bucket of soup,
To lash on his back
And walk with his dog
Then when it feels right
To sing his own songs.

Poems:

Oh Man, the Caveman Band

Oh man, the caveman band!
Famous across the land!
Og is bangin’ on a drum,
Rockin’s easy with a thumb.
There’s a monkey playin’ bass, bananaramand!

Shaker is full of sand,
Two shells and a rubber band!
Tell all the jungle cats a’creepin’ that they should come.

Oh man, the caveman band!

Hot stage with a built in fan!
Fern leaf in the expert hand!
Saw a cavegirl come,
For the dance and fun.
Lucky lady left the concert with the lead man!

Oh man, the caveman band!

We Did Not Discuss Who Would Hide

We did not discuss who would hide,
Of course it would be me-
The drummer was too big
And my brother to small
A man
To choose
To die
In a manner so gruesome.
Flung from the van
And the chains
And the bed
And the truck
Through the air
To the side
Of the road
Leaving
All I had known
In a dotted streak
On the street.
My body bouncing,
Perhaps forty feet,
Or more,
Dividing lanes
For the traffic
Coming
And
Going.
What glory in death
For a man today?
There is no noble fight for country
Or god so great
And thankful,
That he would welcome
A soul to paradise-
No treasure worth
Dousing a light-
A life-
In hopes of
Spending
Time
As would
A Roman Senator-
Catamites nibbling
On his toes
As he
Wallows in his own crapulence.
Ahh!
To risk death for music!
To make the show inBuffalo!
To cover ones’ self
In blankets
And bags
Of stale chips-
Keeping unseen
From the
Tow-truck operator-
All to bring music
To those who would listen.
The glorious death
Of the Spartans
At Thermopylae
Was not half so noble.

I Turned on CNN to Watch the War Begin

I turned on CNN to watch the war begin.
I went across the street to watch it with my friend.
He said “Come right now, come and see.
it’s on TV, you won’t believe.”
That night I had a dream
(i saw a slope)
We were slipping we were sliding
We were hanging on a rope,
While all the world just looked in.
(we were counting all the money
we were paying for our sin)
Then I woke up to find that I had peace of mind
Because MY love,
MY love,
It grows and
It grows and
It grows and
It grows.
Where it stops?
Nobody knows.
You see,
I forgave myself
All the shit that I’ve done.
I thought that nobody noticed,
But everyone saw it
Except me.
Now I’m free.