Schmuck

a schmuck is a prick in yiddish
but as I travelled in germany
i would see shops that said schmuck
and was shocked to find out
that schmuck
means jewelry in german

so , obviously, it must derive from ‘the family jewels’
or one jeweler was a real prick…….

************
a while ago you told me to refer to you
as king of the schmucks
do you remember that?
i remember that.

thanks to a ticket seller who couldn’t get rid of her tickets
a few of the musicians playing outside got to hear the show on Wednesday
no changes in the set list since bob played ‘dignity’ once in Prague.
not my favorite song especially since the street performers are ignored
by the band and ya gotta practice what ya preach,right?
it would be so meaningful for bob to ask his people to
put the street performers on the guest list
especially since he hasn’t had an opening act in 25 years
the stones always have an opening act
the venue the 100 year hall is classy and the sound fantastic
i enjoyed bob playing guitar in an impromptu intro to all along the watchtower
in fact I wish there were more of these little jam gems
my own version of you is an amusing song that needs a different approach
maybe bob should don a top hat and change the delivery
mother of muses is a prayer elegy that reminds me a bit of
leonard cohens song voice on his last tours
cohen never rushed a word and bob, too often, does….
the big crowd pleaser continues to be desolation row
and when I paint my masterpiece
and then , we danced… stage right
I asked a white haired woman to dance and that broke the ice
over the last 5 songs there were about 20 people dancing Wednesday
and the last 2 songs on Friday I danced with a beautiful young woman
who reminded me of the natural warmth and intimacy
that i am missing living alone
we swayed as I held her
listening to a beautiful version
of every grain of sand

arrived by train from Berlin
just in time
as the rain began to fall
i was born here
my father was stationed here.
luckily he won a lottery and came to Nürnberg
instead of going to korea
there is a Jewish custom that the first born
has to be bought back from the lord

my father, not a religious man,
decided he wanted to do the ceremony anyway
But my mother refused to participate
there were not a lot of Jews in Germany after the war
but apparently there had to be two witnesses
according to the army rabbi.
so either my father or the rabbi found
two guys and the rabbi said that they were to be given a certain amount
of silver which was supposed to be returned after the ceremony.
the ceremony was done, the guys returned the money but my father
found out later that the money was counterfeit
so where did that leave me,?
was I brought back from the lord properly?

maybe this has been a spiritual conundrum
of mine from my first days on the planet
so I too was stationed in nurnburg
for the first 5 months of my life
and there is still debate in some circles
whether I can become president

mostly wandering around
hung out at lahksmi bar
and a great Asian restaurant next door

I encountered a few musicians and….prometheus

just a shadow you see that he’s chasing

From Prague to Berlin is more than a 5 hour bus ride
but that is the way of the road
Prague was indeed mythical and late at night mystical
Berlin is trying to live in hell just like New York used to be.
before it changed it’s name again to new Zurich
It is dirty, full of traffic, languages religions restaurants museums
diplomats cops and robbers
and it takes ages to get somewhere, anywhere and it is getting expensive

’first we lose manhattan then we lose Berlin’

At night young people are getting dressed up
young women showing lots of skin
playing guitars and singing their own songs
of loneliness, bravura questionings,insecurities
in a time without the possibility of eternity
some people would tell me that I could be famous after I was dead-
you always want to hear that…..but what does that mean today?
i mean eternity ain’t what it used to be
we all go on doing what we were doing before
assuming, hoping that what we do will have some meaning
help folks in some way to inspire,survive or even thrive

”I was always too stubborn ever to be governed by enforced insanity
Someone had to reach for the stars, I guess it was up to me”

a.i. has already taken over don’t kid yourself
but is it more pervasive
than when there were only about 3 channels
and how they ignored the anti war protests until they didn’t
and the only paper telling the truth was Izzy stone’s weekly

and you got more inspiration from the Jefferson airplane and bob dylan
and peter Paul and Mary and the Grateful Dead
and Tom Paxton and pentangle and Aretha franlklin
and the temptations and the moody blues
and Joni Mitchell,Maria mulduar and
The doors and jimi hendrix
and of course the most subversive sound of them all….
the ooh oohs of The Rolling Stones sympathy for the devil.

in the last few months I have been getting audiences in Brussels to
howl with me on all along the watchtower
and shriek with me on cathedral bells

“it wouldn’t surprise me if a raven started squawking”
the munch scream is now audible
and will continue to grow