TEA WITH MAGGIE

Quite well, General, and you?
You have been better. Haven't we all?
The indignities of age. But we
were young once, and strong, and did we not
cast our enemies down, and trample
their banners beneath our feet?

We did. And now you come here, an old man
sick, alone (but for your aides)
to take tea with me.

When they carve our tombstones, General
they will say, we did what had to be done.
Let others sneer, let others make their petty points of law.
Who among them has known
what we have known? We have seen the tide
and said to the waves: no further.

General, another cake? Your arm shakes, your lip
quivers. But our minds, General, our minds
and our hearts, they are strong.

Not literally, of course. We each have our tales
of strokes and operations. Not long now, eh?
Not long. But they fear us still.
They will fear our shadows when we're gone.

NEW LIVE DATES

It's a meat market in here
Why girls as green as grass
Should dance to the songs of a man ten times their age
Climb on their boyfriends' shoulders
Throw their panties and their room keys on the stage
I'll never know

They wanted to send me out backed by machines
Some guy in a booth somewhere, flicking switches.
I said no: give me a band, the younger and louder the better
Let the old man have his Zimmer frame of noise
his crackling fire of guitars
his beating heart of bass and drum

I've lived; no, not lived, let's say survived
To hear my music cut to pieces, used to sell
Everything from shoes to car insurance
Everything from fried chicken to retirement homes
It doesn't matter: nothing matters
but the lights, the noise, the stage

and my women. I drink them up
I leave them pale and drained
In the morning, they don't know themselves
Waking with a shiver to the memory of pleasure
The scents of whisky and old leather
And the sound of curtains flapping in the wind.

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