foxtales

Poems and Prose by Tim Fox

  • Paragon of Virtue

    I am not
    a paragon of virtue
    I am not
    the one you counted on

    I am just
    the one you found in situ
    I am just
    the one who let you down

    Sometimes I think
    I’m the oldest living cliche
    Sometimes I think
    I’m really just a bore

    And now I know
    there’s nothing new to say
    yeah now I know
    it’s all been said before

    Sometimes I go
    to the record store all alone
    I walk the aisles
    feeling crushed by all the songs

    The same with books
    and magazines and cartoons
    Too many words
    and all of them feel wrong

    When I was young
    the sky cracked open one day
    When I got old
    it closed right up again

    ‘Cause in my mind
    my sins are here to stay
    And in my heart
    is where they’ve always been

    Yeah I’m not
    a paragon of virtue
    maybe I’m just
    looking for the why

    Maybe I’m just
    the one you found in situ
    Maybe I’m just
    the one who never tried

     

    writefoxllc

    ,

  • Hoboken

    Through the half lids of me eyes
    I think about that time between your thighs
    and how you said that all that’s fixed must first be broken

    And in the palm if my right hand
    you traced your kisses through the sand
    and I thought well this must be love or so I’m hopin’

    And when you had me on my knees
    I looked at you you looked at me
    we looked away well at least at least well that was somethin’

    So we said good night at last
    and I just held you to the mast
    of that sharp ship that sails throughout the night out of Hoboken

    Which is a place I’ve never been
    and a sight I’ve never seen
    but don’t leave me now don’t leave me now I hope you’re jokin’

    ‘Cause when you laugh I feel it comin’
    and the joke’s on me or somethin’
    just remember me ’cause your last word’s gone unspoken

    writefoxllc

    ,

  • Sangfroid

    We drove across land that is not ours
    nor ever
    cultivated & subdivided
    empty strip malls financed by indifference
    blood splashing against the wheel wells
    at 80 miles per hour
    tires red with the gore of innocents
    brought & bought & left behind–
    fend for yourself
    This is what ‘independence” means
    or maybe “in the tenements”
    or perhaps “in the tents”
    bought & paid for on the field of nowhere
    the stark plains of abandonment
    dark, overgown, festering
    Water pools black by the river
    an ocean of regret that ebbs & flows
    oozes out of tar pits & over curbs
    of an America lost abirthing again

    writefoxllc

    ,

  • Disordered

     

    I like my face shaved
    I like my head caved in
    I don’t like Kool-Aid
    I like my beer and gin

    I like to wander
    sometime I don’t know where
    I never ponder
    because I just don’t care

    where you may end up
    now that your fun is gone
    where you might show up
    when you might hear this tune

    we had a good thing
    but now it’s gone away
    we had to break up
    that night I chose to stay

    under your covers
    you liked the night light on
    but now it’s over
    and I just have this song

    to tell you goodbye
    I don’t know where you’ll go
    but you’ll remember
    that time we saw the show

    about the vessel
    that was trapped undersea
    you had to walk out
    instead of lean on me

    I like my face shaved
    I like my head caved
    in I don’t like Kool-Aid
    I like my beer and gin

    writefoxllc

    , ,

  • Generous to a Fault

    I’m generous to a fault
    But it ain’t no fault of mine
    Never gave a good goddamn
    ‘Bout these, thou, or thine
    All I’ve got I gave away
    Never gave it any mind
    Yes I’m generous to a fault
    But it ain’t no fault of mine

    My mama didn’t raise no fool
    That’s how it seems to me
    Taught me love and taught me hope
    Told me that’s how I should be
    But on the day my mama died
    Something died inside of me
    No mama didn’t raise no fool
    But I didn’t get shit for free

    So I left my dreams out in the alley
    For someone else to come pick up
    Watched them drive off at midnight
    In a stolen pickup truck

    I put my heart out on my doorstep
    Just for anyone to steal
    When I woke up in the morning
    I didn’t know how I should feel

    My spirit went for nothin’
    Let it sail off in the breeze
    ‘Cause when you wake up on that day
    You can let it go with ease

    Yeah I’m generous to a fault
    But it ain’t no fault of mine
    No I never gave a good goddamn
    ‘Bout those, these, thou, or thine
    Yes all I got I gave away
    I never gave it any mind
    Yeah I’m generous to a fault
    But it ain’t no fault of mine

    writefoxllc

    ,

  • Jackie’s Song

    The day my brother died well they,
    Shut down the highway, yes they
    Shut down the highway, oh they
    Shut down the highway all day long

    And when I started cryin’ well I
    Walked me a long way, yes I
    Walked me a long way, oh I
    Walked me a long way, the long way home

    I hear the people sayin’, they say
    Show us the right way, they say
    Show us the right way, yes please
    Show us the right way, that we should go

    So I turn my head and say, well I
    Don’t know what to say, no I
    Don’t know what to say, said I
    Don’t know what to say, we’re all alone

    We lift our eyes up now and we say,
    Is anyone listening? We say
    Is anyone listening? We pray
    Is anyone listening? We just need to know

    Someday we’ll be together and we’ll
    Know why things happen, yes we’ll
    Know why things happen, maybe we’ll
    Know why things happen, but today we don’t

    And as my brother passes well the
    Wind it starts blowin’, and the
    Leaves they start shufflin’, and the
    Sun isn’t shinin’, and a
    Baby stars cryin’ ’cause he’s on his own

    So I said, hey now little baby don’t you
    Start cryin’ now, no don’t you
    Start cryin’ now, please don’t
    Start cryin’ now, ’cause you’ve just begun

    But if you look around you’ll see that
    People are good now, yes
    People are good now, oh yes
    People are good now, that’s all we know.

    Oh yes when my brother died well they,
    Shut down the highway, yes they
    Shut down the highway, oh they
    Shut down the highway all day long.

    writefoxllc

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  • Fall Poem

    fullsizerender9Gold drips from barren trees

    Sunlight older in the afternoon

    Grown tired, brown leaves scatter

    Wind carries them where it will

    Winter’s coming to the fields,

    The parks, the streets, the neighborhoods

    Old man huddles in his room

    Blanket drawn high to chest

    He knew a love once, long ago

    Love gone now, his memories devouring

    Looks out through the window pane

    Neighbor kids playing on the lawn

    Leaves piled high, and then they jump

    They laugh–he sees smiling faces

    But only hears the hiss of the radiator

    Kicking on now for the first time

    Bone-dry heat fills the tiny room

    And the blanket falls again

    writefoxllc

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