Thursday, January 6, 2022

Baggage . . .

 

Six AM,
The buses aren't nearly as crowded
As the night before.
Someone said there was
Music and laughter 
Behind all the shutters and doors.
What was all of it for?

Who needs friends?
There's barely a minute for breathing.
Everyone here works so hard.
There's no party.
When I reach my doorstep
I struggle to pull out my key.
Where's the meaning for me?

You see but you're unaware
There's life on the other side.

But there's no bridge to cross.
I'm looking through the fog
For some way out of here.
I've baggage here to toss.

Bless my soul!
I've read about you in the paper.
I've seen your picture somewhere.
When you speak it's in volumes and volumes.
I can't hear a word that you say.
Funny it happens that way.

I've been told 
That envy's the thing I've been feeling
For your kind of work and your play.
But to tell you the truth
That it's only a wish 
For a new kind of day,
When worry and fear melt away.

Could be 
That a day will come
When you just might understand.

I’d like to go away.
And go there to stay.
But I can’t find the way.

So it goes,
But change never really comes easy.
Resistance is felt all around. 
But inevitably something happens
That makes the old ship run aground.
We all stare in awe of what’s found.

Like me you appear to be
Looking for some meaning here.


Baggage

©2021 Raymond M. Jozwiak
from Grains, to be released June 20222



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Wednesday, January 5, 2022

Pian-oho-gonzology . . .


OHO is about as Baltimore as steamed crabs and natty boh. From the furtive minds and dogged persistence of Messrs. Graboski and Reeve flows much musical mayhem which continues to this day. My
association with these gentlemen began in the mid 1970s playing cover music for private affairs, social club events and periodic nightspots. I 'retired' from that in 1979 but the bond had been formed. Through periodic yet ever-present contact with Jay, a connection remained. OHO entered the next chapters of their story, producing an abundance of beautiful and rocking' music. Then in 2010, a musical showcase was planned which was to include OHO, participation in which was offered to me. Playing original music exclusively for this event and reuniting with Jay and David was a prospect I found irresistible. From that point, we were together again, poised and ready to make more music. The album GAZEBO began to take shape while work continued/continues on AHORA. . . and OHO goes onward!

(from https://ohomusic.com/bio)
". . . OHO? Aha! That's a name that rings bells. Baltimore's answer to Pink Floyd, an American underground icon, a band that came out of nowhere playing music the chroniclers swore was years ahead of its time. OHO sneaks around the musical conventions that have mummified so many others, unleashing sliders where you'd expect curve balls, fast balls where you'd expect change-ups. Part of its their sense of humor, part of it their unerring humanity.  Definitely, one of a kind and all in good fun...its got to be. . ."





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Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Ego . . .



Sometimes I can get my point across,
And I do it rather well.
You can see
What I think
About me.

It's just my ego.
It gets the best of me.
It's just my ego
It just won't let me be,
It just won't let me be alone.
It's not one of my most redeeming qualities.
Still though it serves me rather well sometimes.
It won't be easy to just let it go,
It's just my ego.

I take such great pride in what I do.
Everyone should take some too.
Don't you think;
Pride in me,
Not in you?

There's a fine distinction between confidence and pride.
There's a fine distinction that I'll never know.
Cloaked with some discretion you emerge from the inside.
I emerge in all my glory. 
What is there to hide?

Mother said that I would never make
Any friends if I don't see
What I'm like,
If I don't lose some pride.



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Monday, January 3, 2022

Soon . . .

 

A new album 'Grains' is scheduled for release in June 2022. 'Grains' is an amalgamation of jazz influences and chops, Brill Building writing, lyrics (diametrically opposed to my last release- 'Frills') and colors from a life well-lived and loved. The album includes 'Broken'- a former tyrant expressing his regrets, 'Thinking'- a pure love-song, 'Otherwise' and 'Elephants'- reflections on recent events and 'Baggage'- the frustration with the everyday grind. 'Grains' (as in 'like sands through the hourglass' ) will be available through most online music retailers, including music.apple.com and amazon.com, June 14, 2022. 


Eyes

- from the forthcoming album 'Grains' 
©2021 Raymond M. Jozwiak
 


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Sunday, January 2, 2022

Cowboys Etc. . .

 

Cowboy justice 
Is just exactly what we need.
Twice as effective 
As mercy, now for which they plead.
If I can't get you 
To see things the way I do,
Something happens.
I start the process. see it through.
It's what I've been taught to do.
And I'll teach you.

No one tells me
Just what I can or cannot do.
My advisors,
Some, say are keepers of this zoo.
I don't mind if
You think that what they say is real.
I'm in charge here.
At least that's how they make me feel.
That's a part of the deal,
And it came true.

Gotta see it my way.
I'm giving the people what I want.
It's a price I must pay.
We cowboys know how to be gallant.

There's no question
Of right or wrong here to debate.
Disagree though, 
You'll be subjected to the hate
That's inflicted 
On members of the team like you.
Cause we cowboys
Will never worry if we're few.
Our justice is true.
Make no mistake.




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Saturday, January 1, 2022

More Than . . .

radio (at which to HEAR) . . . 

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora)
". . . In Greek mythology, Pandora . . . was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hesiod related it, each god cooperated by giving her unique gifts. Her other name—inscribed against her figure on a white-ground kylix in the British Museum—is Anesidora (Ancient Greek: Ἀνησιδώρα), "she who sends up gifts" (up implying "from below" within the earth). . .The Pandora  myth is a kind of theodicy, addressing the question of why there is evil in the world, according to which, Pandora opened a jar (pithos) (commonly referred to as "Pandora's box") releasing all the evils of humanity. It has been argued that Hesiod's interpretation of Pandora's story went on to influence both Jewish and Christian theology and so perpetuated her bad reputation into the Renaissance. Later poets, dramatists, painters and sculptors made her their subject. . ."


OHO Radio
- Pandora



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Friday, December 31, 2021

Harry . . .

Southward bound,
A latte grande on the seat
Between my legs.
All around,
I see the saints,
I see the dregs.
And the byproducts of civilization
Enter, exit from stage left, stage right.

Another monument 
To the elusive and mysterious
Honolulu Harry, 
The richest man I know.
Honolulu Harry,
The richest man in this life 
Or the next.

Through the town,
Sometimes with baggage,
Some without,
Making a livelihood.
Up or down,
Any direction that you choose
And among the fast foods, strip malls and traffic, 
There’s that name again as plain as day.

Harry was certainly rich,
But it only was money.
Very few liked him that much.
Now it seems kind of funny.

Just the sound
Of his name spoken with respect
And reverence that’s owed to him,
Brings to mind
Beneficence 
Without a peer.
And it warms the heart to think of the thousands

Harry helped, but not while he was here. 


(from Put A Finger On It ©2006 Raymond M. Jozwiak)



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