Channelling Johnny Cash

Press play before reading. Salute.

Some call me

The man in black

Some still sing

Of my Folsom blues

For I was once the

Biggest sinner of them all

In the late 1950s

While others just whispered

In Little Rock

Arkansas

About my mistakes

As they grew

When I once got on Stage

And sang

About a boy named Sue

I’ve walked the line

And rocked the music scene

In Memphis, Tennessee

Filled with cocaine blues

Saw Sunday morning coming down

With Tommy

 Drunk on the mysteries of life

 Like raiders in the

 Bluest of skies

Sat with my personal Jesus

Filled with bitter tears

And Ira Hayes

In my rusty old cage

To once write Freedom songs

But the Man said no

Aint no trail of tears

Was going to stop us

I was so full of rage

I’ve sung and slept 

For 25 minutes

In the house of the blues

Sang with Dylan

About a Girl from the North Country

In good old Nashville

But life

And liberty

Go hand in hand

It's why I played

Guitar

And sung 

Dressed like an undertaker

In a Rock and Roll band

But when the good altar calls

And The Gospel Road sings

A true believer sees the truth

For when the Tall Man comes

Calling around

 

Like a highwayman

Riding the Rails

With his 9-inch nails

You gotta have faith

For when your dreams

And once-loved relationships

Lie disheveled in the

Dirt

Like on May 15, 2003

Now that's makes

You cry

And the pain still hurts

But now I

Live forever

Now my search for love is over

Yes I’ve found my nearest thing to heaven

My eternal summertime

Called June

When l was growing up

In Kingsland, Arkansas

And life was dragging on

My mama once told me

Son

According to my Hymn Book

Wait and you’ll know the one

We now dance

Entwined

Hand to shoulder

In heavens Caudill Drive

In Hendersonville

A place

Where no-one

Breathes or even

Gets older

In our ring of Fire

And now I'm back

In a new Jackson

With my Beloved

Sunshine

Finding my old rhythm

One piece at a time

Me and June

Are on the road again

Ain't no grave

Or a big river

In this ring of Fire

No more cocaine blues

For this old County Boy

Named Sue

Now I'm at peace

With my

Orange Blossom

Named June

All of God's children ain't born free

You've just got to find a wildwood flower

Your own

Wild piece O’Colorado

For when it's springtime

In Alaska

She'll protect ya

I'm a still

Riding this train

With my guitar

Playing Boss Jack

 

With June

Still singing

My old prison songs

About a new Folsom blues

But gotta be careful

Don't want God cutting me down

Don't want the tall man

Coming round

Not in this ring of fire

So I’ll be outa here

Going to new lands of happiness

Riding this train

Filled with no more tears

Good night

And amen

This last gunfighter is

On the road again

Crossing all shining seashores

 In new The Holy Land

For a thing called love

Now blows

It's ragged old American 

Flag in our new winds

As we now go back on tour

My gone girl has now 

Been found and

We now live and sing 

Out among the stars

Playing love songs on our 

Old guitars

(C)

Copyright John Duffy

Image shared under fair usage policy from Pinterest.

The Noble Winters Night Chant

Press play before reading,

Salute

(A lone voice chants to the watching skies)

(A lone voice chants to the watching skies)

Oh
Noble Winters Night

Goddess

Preacher
Shield


Redeemer

Hey Denna
Hey Denna



Bless our skin
With a seal
Of Light


Oh
Noble Winters Night

Goddess

Preacher
Shield

Redeemer

Hey Denna
Hey Denna

Princess of the falling Snow

Show us beauty
And
All You know


Oh
Noble Winters Night

Goddess

Preacher
Shield

Redeemer

Hey Denna
Hey Denna

Queen
Of The Great In-Between

Take my hand
When I arrive

To show me
Lands

When we stand
Together

So I can see my life
On-screen

And see all the things
I could have been

Oh
Noble Winters Night

Goddess


Preacher
Shield

Redeemer

Hey Denna
Hey Denna


Hear this song
Of a dreamer

Sung for my teacher

Who brings me peace
Until I see her

Until I see her

Hey Denna
Hey Denna


Goddess

Preacher
Shield

Redeemer

Send these words
To her


My Goddess

Preacher
Shield


Life's

Redeemer



Hey Denna
Hey Denna

(C)
Copyright John Duffy

I was inspired by a strange urge to create a supernatural chant prayer.
The words just flowed.
Salute.

Denna in this context means "divine", heavenly", or "luminous".Noble Winters NightNoble Winters 

Chess at The Genoma

 Part 1

The Travellers Diary 

Press play before reading. 

Salute.

(A lone voice whispers)

With loud firm reverberating knocks 

Which sang out aloud like a rock star's edgy symphony of 

Boom boom boom 

On my spirits dividing wooded door 

Between my two guiding Jack and Jill rooms 

The Consciousness 

And The Unconsciousness

I heard your heart call 

Like a softly whispered echo 

Of a sweet mysterious kiss

Sent to Me at midnight 

In the low hours

As I wandered

Into my grand realms 

My own Holy See 

With the power 

Of my spirit

To somewhere 

So sacrosanct 

Unknown to some or most 

Especially those 

Lost late-night ghosts

Who stalk and wander like lonely sheep 

Only to be captured by tentacles of broken-down dreams 

When found

In sleep's many lucid  

Playgrounds 

And fluctuating streams

To the center of the Constellation Reticulum 

I traversed

A secret place 

Called The Genoma 

A Universe 

Within a Universe

Known only to perhaps 

The initiated Tibetan 

The now-deceased author who died 

After penning 

The great book  

The Third Eye 

Published in 1956

Called Tuesday Lobsang Rampa

A weightless place

Where I play seventh-level chess 

With him 

Grandmaster Morpheus Immortal 

The King who helps mold and create all stanzas

Where I move him to tears

With my pale face 

Beyond all mortal comprehension 

As I move my Royal piece

Crowned with golden and silver leaves 

Watching her stand

Tall and Proud 

In front of all those things gathered around

Still 

But hidden in those shadows 

Bending low

By the shimmering blue portal 

A familiar place

I wish to go

And with cold immortal hands 

I always slowly gesture

Like the great showman 

Phineas Taylor Barnum 

And mouth

Checkmate

For it's a game to barter  

To dream but of you 

The crow-haired girl 

Blessed with those thrilling dark eyes 

To die for

And such enticing spiritual treasures 

Beyond earthly measure 

For which my soul pines for 

And cries 

A true queen who holds me in perpetual bondage 

When in dreamland 

For high mountains 

Life and tragic circumstances 

As wide-ranging 

As a lone eagle flies

Prevented us 

Within real life to dance 

So I always listen for your heart's loud knocks 

To summon me to your spontaneously beautiful worlds 

Like when Captain Kirk 

On Star Trek 

The Original Series

Called out 

For the many forms of Joseph Ruskin or even Spock 

To appear

For even though 

The night sky 

Over us 

Will eventually pass 

Wherever we lay under the twinkling stars 

Separated but

So far away

Just mere atoms 

Swept up in the Universes 

Ever moving dust 

Always think of me 

Wherever you are 

Especially before you sleep 

For I always pray to beat Morpheus at chess 

If only for another chance 

To look into those dark pools  

That many souls would love to get lost in 

It's what drives me 

To win

Making Morpheus

The Grandmaster Immortal

Suddenly stand up 

So abruptly and say 

Causing all the intricate pieces to quickly fall away

Ok 

You win 

She's over there 

Go through that blue portal 

She's sitting on a soft yellow bed of hay 

Playing a golden guitar 

As a stunning horse looks over yonder way 

So 

Go through 

You win again 

For three's a crowd

Go see your

Twin flame 

For an hour or two

Reborn

From The Realms of No Name 

Who's heart knocks so loudly 

It shouldn't be allowed 

And I'll see you tomorrow night 

And so I go 

Part 2 

Grandmaster Morpheus 

Silent Thoughts 

What a fool 

I've played with 

Using my stupid spoon 

As always

To continue my right 

To hold him in my steely grip of perpetual bondage 

Another prisoner to the eternal heart of my beloved Lucinda 

It's why I just love to lose  

In this and any age

To enjoy the exquisite smell and luscious taste of their divine delicious aura 

As they all take plight 

Spellbound by the clutches of love 

And bound for all eternity 

To always chase and adore her

(C)

Copyright John Duffy 

If the covid vaccine was a Senryu

If the covid vaccine was a Senryu

(A lone voice whispers)

#SuddenDeath

In these covid years

The more statistical truth

The more your heart breaks 

(C)

John Duffy 

A senryu must be exactly 3 lines.

Like a Haiku, a senryu must follow the 5-7-5 format:

The first line must have 5 syllables.

The second line must have 7 syllables.

The third line must have 5 syllables.

A senryu focuses on humans and usually contains irony.

It usually focuses on human nature.

It is not written about nature or the seasons.

A senryu does not have to rhyme.

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