Neon Filler

Howe Gelb

Things could have been better 
they sure could not have gotten much worse 
when there were tears out in the alley 
and laughter waiting out front in the hearse 
and there?s remark about contender 
repulsa ain?t too hard to find 
conclusion based on surrender 
and the general dismissal 
on the merit of mankind 
the snakes and the saw-toothes 
they lay loving the buck 
spending all their time setting up camp 
and running amuck 
 light Is not the neon filler 
not the memory of sun filled days by solar spark 
light is the moses 
splitting the waves in a sea so dark 
there?s a town in the high desert 
where doctor gene scott says the demons run 
alongside a chunk of heaven hovering there 
where the wind in the image of the throne rides shotgun 
riddles of the wonderment, wonders of the firmament 
and me laid up, laid off and laying low 

things could have been better 
they sure could not have gotten any worse 
tears out in the alley way 
and laughter waiting out front there in the hearse