This was a Christmas present for Katie

The Pedestal Is For Your Gray Matter


The sunrise comes and sunset goes
Tides always have their ebbs & flows
It is tough to quantify how much it grows
Or predicting how much the spring wind blows

Perpetually featured, predominantly
Is the feature you use so brilliantly
I marvel at times how preponderantly
Your mind is used intelligently

It may sound odd but it’s very true
When I compare our brains it makes me blue
Some may question this union of two
But at least I was smart enough to marry you

So just to finally set the record straight
I enjoy all the thoughts that you create
You’ve never been a Petruchio’s Kate
Or one who might too easily capitulate

I will admit to you in all actuality
I revel in its fine functionality
Proud you’ve never needed to alter reality
Thankful you tolerate my abnormality

Fish gotta swim and birds gotta fly
Girls need chocolate and guys need pie
One thing is certain and I can’t deny:
I will love your big brain ‘til the day I die

Departing Antwerp (or, Van Gogh couldn't act)

Just going through the motions
Up here front and center
On a stage I never wanted to be on
The tepid dialogue is painful
To even hear but I continue
I won't wait for direction
Instead just stomping on the gas pedal
As I perform one of my patented
"Bull-in-a-china-shop" moments
There's an audience out there
Behind the ever increasingly bright lights
That I just can't, or won't see
I'll just plow forward and expect
At any moment one of those
Comically long shepherd's hooks
To yank me back to reality
And the role I should be playing
Which will never earn me
Awards or accolades from my peers
But that'll suit me just fine
I'm newly determined
The sadness will not last forever

Some old stuff...

High Anxiety

I don't know whether
To be scared or angry
So I figure I'll just do both
Irritated by this sardine can treatment
And biting my nails off
Since I'm stuck in a
Tubular metal flying coffin
I can't even pray
There's too many
Nightmarish visions
Breathing this stale recirculating air
AND being at the mercy of someone
I hope didn't have 4 or 5 martinis
With his peanuts
I feel more helpless
Than an entire Chilean football team
But I got it all figured out
The lack of control
Is what makes me wheeze
Better get a pilot's license...

B.W.Barr (circa 1989)

The Muse is back...!!! (I think)

There is nothing more frustrating in my life than having a plethora of quality ideas and being unable to do anything with 'em...(BTW, I sure would like some feedback from all you creative-types out there on anything you might do to help focus when composing, painting, etc.) Lately, while my oldest daughter has been attending Driver's Ed classes from 7-9 pm each weeknight, I've been putting the finishing touches on my job paperwork, and then blasting some tunes and a small trickling of potential poem material falls into my brainpan. I've been using my Windows Journal function on my Tablet PC to literally scrawl 'em all down, and go back periodically to whip 'em into shape or something resembling coherent thought. So, with that said, here's my latest humble offering...

The Artist

The whiskey's not working
and lately neither am I
rising to face another dawn
at high noon I'll dive
face first into my rich portrait
of abundant malaise and crow
to all those unfortunate few
in the vicinity my daily bellows
of significant trifles, so pleased
at all my accomplishments
fully bereft of critics and patrons
the tortured artist is the role
I was born to play
desolation envelops as a wind
blowing out the match flame
before the next Marlboro red
today is my epiphany
since I've discovered my occupation
is actually charlatanism
I begrudgingly log on to monster.com

Need a band bame...? Part II

This list will be relegated to the ever (seemingly) popular trend of oxymoronic band names out there...what does it say about these tortured artists who feel compelled to razzledazzle us with these genius names? I have no idea but it's funny nonetheless...

Lonely Crowds
TerraFirma Pilots
The Open Arcane
Whispered Screams
BeautyScars
Mystifying Clarity
Divergent Convergence
Dull Charismatics
The Radiant Darkness
Purely Tainted
Turbo Tortoise
Smooth Dissonance
Young Geezers
Solitary Union
The Thoroughly Incomplete
Sleepy Speedfreak
Oceans of Sand
DJ Lawrence Welk
Quiet Cacophony
Flowers and Razorwire
Stubby Giants
Professional Slacker
Serious Jokers

Need a band name? Here you go...!!!

Are you an angst-ridden Emo playing 5 chords in mom & dad's garage? A leather-clad 80's glam or hairmetal throwback? An undiscovered indie genius? Need a band name to set you apart? To stress the "Random" in my blog name, I offer these suggestions at no additional charge:

Broken Window Theory
Throwdowntown
Busted Mutts
Chaos Ballet
Flinching Stoics
Altitude
Caper Chase
A Great Divide
Entrenched
The 39 Steps
Thirsty Jerks
Exponential
Vast Limitations
Fringe Element
Legendary Nobodies
Arrogant Me
ToneDef
Fireside Mantra
The Dazzingly Swift
Largesse
Nod-Offs
Hipster Grips
Spackled
Contingency 6
Dubious Intent

Everybody has a "Best of the decade" list now...

I've lost count of how many times in the last week I've heard (through various media outlets) about a "Best Of" list or "Top 100" list, and I suppose it's standard operating procedure for a near-monumental event like ten years passing by. So, since music is one of my favorite pastimes, I've decided to throw in my two cents in this category. And I could have easily made this ten times longer and included more genres or sub-genres, but I'll keep it short and sweet by relegating it to what I wound up listening to the most...

TOP 10 INDIE RELEASES OF THE DECADE
(...just as an fyi, the term "Indie", to me, refers more to the spirit / originality / individuality of the artist, than being on a particular label)

Band of Horses, “Everything All the Time” (2006)
The Wedding Present – “Take Fountain” (2005)
My Morning Jacket, “Z” (2005)
Iron and Wine, “Our Endless Numbered Days” (2004)
Okkervil River, “Black Sheep Boy” (2005)
Interpol, “Turn on the Bright Lights” (2002)
Sun Kil Moon, “Ghosts of the Great Highway (2003)
Bon Iver, “For Emma, Forever Ago” (2007)
Sigur Rós, “Ágaetis Byrjun” (2000)
Yo La Tengo, “And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out” (2000)

TOP 10 ELECTRONIC RELEASES OF THE DECADE

Karsh Kale, “Broken English” (2006)
M83, “Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts” (2003)
Thievery Corporation, Richest Man in Babylon” (2002)
LCD Soundsystem, “Sound of Silver” (2007)
Boards of Canada, “The Campfire Headphase” (2005)
DJ Cheb I Sabbah, “La Kahena” (2005)
Bonobo, “Dial M For Monkey” (2003)
Mandalay, “Solace” (2001)
Ulrich Schnauss, “A Strangely Isolated Place” (2003)
dZihan & Kamien, “Freaks & Icons” (2000)

TOP 10 OF EVERYTHING ELSE I LOVE

Old 97’s, “Alive And Wired” (2005)
MGMT, “Oracular Spectacular” (2008)
Sanctus Real, “Say It Loud” (2002)
My Morning Jacket, “It Still Moves” (2003)
Carter Albrecht, “Jesus Is Alive …And Living In London” (2009)
Robert Earl Keen, “Gravitational Forces” (2001)
BR549, “This Is BR549” (2001)
Rogue Wave, “Descended Like Vultures” (2005)
Killswitch Engage, “Alive Or Just Breathing” (2002)
Danny Balis, “Too Much Living” (2009)

Me & My Horse

Me & my horse don't see eye to eye
I want to canter and he wants to fly
He likes his PC and I like my Mac
I spent my last check to upgrade his tack

Me & my horse, we ain't gettin' along
He spends too much time playing mahjong
Frequently found in a bourbon-lined trough
I take him home early so he can sleep it off

Me & my horse aren't on the same page
He don't like me workin' for the minimum wage
I get dirty looks when I'm spittin' out my chew
He hates my Benny Goodman & Stoney LaRue

Me & my horse, we're not exactly friends
We always ignore what the other recommends
More than just stubborn, it's the way we are
He plays harmonica and I play guitar

Me & my horse may choose to disagree
But out on the range is where we need to be
The end of the day, with a coupla cold brews
We're never hesitant to voice our views

Me & my horse will never seperate
Wouldn't be good for our mental state
Too much history for a total disconnect
An unspoken man and equine respect

It's probably broke but I don't know how to fix it

Anybody else out there on Blogspot wanting to give me a few tips / tricks / hints / pointers to make this thing effective? I'm open and receptive to any of you cagey old veterans offering up some words of wisdom...Thx, B.W.Barr

Death of a Poet

Awake again at 3 am
Another walk through deserted streets
The time has come for me to face
The facts which I’ve long avoided
Today I must abandon
All efforts to be a poet
My half-hearted attempts
At the assembly of words
Is now a burden
Ripe with second guessing
The architecture involved
With the language I love
Became a twisted wreckage
Oh I know once there was a point
When I exuded cool in the coffeehouse
Of my own mind, sucking down cigarettes,
Dissecting Langston Hughes and Bukowski
And did I really think I could become
A lothario with pen and paper? Sadly, yes,
But those conquests were few and far in between
How I longed to shout
“Look at me, you miserable ignorant twits!
I’m spouting prose which screams genius and depth!
Put down the Nietzche and revel in my brilliance.”
So I kick at some billowing trash
Dig my hands deeper
And wonder what to do
Now that I’ve laid this fad aside
I used to cringe when hearing
The tepid reviews coming in
How could they possibly hope to comprehend
What it was I was saying
Yet now looking back (again)
Everything I ever wrote seems trite
Was it written for me?
For any reader’s enjoyment?
Was it ever art at all…?
It’s a moot point now that I’m retired
I turn in to Mrs. Cho’s Donut Palace
For some rainbow sprinkled solace
But no coffee today
Bad habits should be eliminated in pairs

B.W.Barr (Fall '08)

Page Fillers

In between any new content, I do plan on posting some of my older scribbles, some which date back to ye olde schoolhouse dayes. I might try to attach an approximate date when it was first written, if I can. I don't know. Sometimes I have a hard enough time remembering what I did last week. But, feel free to pitch in your two cents worth on that material as well. Depending on my actual paycheck-producing job schedule / demands, I'll try to get some stuff up here periodically. I'll also try to utilize Facebook with any updates. Thanks for playing...

No TV (for now)

I don't know how this idea jumped into my head, but as I've done in the past, I'll generally just go with it. I decided that I need some sort of outlet for my writing, and I know my better half has a blog so maybe the idea slowly grew from there. Ok...here it is...a Bradley Poetry Blog. Here's my dilemma...I have sudden bursts of words which pop up and I know there's something there which could prove useful if I could piece it together. However the poetry muse(s) haven't been visiting me much lately. I want to utilize this foum to throw out here anything which I might actually be able to put into the jumbled blender that is my brain, and see what gets spit out. I would certainly appreciate and encourage anyone's constructive criticism if something needs tweaking or clarification, or whatever. I'm of the opinion that at this point, I feel the same about writing as I do about golf. I love it and hate it. When it ain't working, I'm ready to rip my hair out. But...when I hit that sweet spot and drive that sucker 250 yards stright down the middle of the fairway, it's worth it. I don't know if that makes any sense to the non-golfers out there, but it is what it is. I guess I'll see where this goes