The cards are thrown, the
whiskey shakes,
A lightning flash before it
breaks.
A heavy hand upon the chest,
No time to lose, no time to
rest.
Above the noise, the neon
scars,
It's written down inside the
stars.
THE SICKNESS AND THE
RIFF
The smoke is thick upon the
land,
With rubber stamps in heavy
hands.
The judges nod, the shadows
fall,
Yet something rises through
the wall.
So let the ceiling crash and
bend-
We'll dance until the very
end,
Where guitars scream and
tear the night,
And burning skies ignite the
light.
DESTINED IN THE SKY
It's no dark myth, it's no
design,
That pulls your hand right into
mine.
Past all the doubt and prison
bars,
We trace our names up in the
stars,
A blazing pulse, a quiet truth,
The reckless heartbeat of our
youth.
Liquid lightning in starry sky
Ride the moods in ebony eyes
White flashes of electricity
Tracing silhouette of black tree
Where branches dances
with white wind
Illuminating leaves of light again
Silver strikes like a battle ax
Setting fire to house white neon attack
As firemen clothes glow yellow and red
Lightning strong like sky has bled
It’s streak of light across onyx sky
Makes for an eventful exciting night
Now that I learned
all the colors
Now that I learned
all the shapes
Now that I lived
safely, in comforting space
Now, and wow, I found
my own face
He is using winter white words
That tap dance on my nerves
Violet verbs slippery perturbed
“If you licorice love me you would”
Begging come on I’ve been good
Wanting to chop his hard wood
Then as if a light switch flips
Sour verses drips from lips
Grabbing green envying hips
Sometimes I am like red wine
Loosening up mahogany mind
Encouraging emerald good time
Tonight I am brown whiskey
I’ve the lock denying key
No amethyst access to me
It’s not a game at all
I am not hard but soft
His memory of that lost
If I was his favorite red car
He’d not stab it so hard
Or tear it apart from heart
Try a little teal tenderness
Use your charm to caress
Don’t curse with verse, bless
I need to emotionally connect
Not be made a sex object
You use to get through when upset
If you really care for ME
Be as easy as blue breeze
We both have neon needs
Seven pearls robbed
Ceramic contrivances replete
with squatter rights
entombing deep necrosis
for an Oscar appearance
staged and blanched
choreographed photoshoppery
of Cheshire cats
faux poses and grins
for psychedelic strobes
beneath neon footlights
and synchronised clatter
of frenzied palms
rhythmic and rigid
Politburo manoeuvres.
Another gritty grimy old town with echoed din
who sees how many secrets it keeps within
where at day's end amid traffic's sound
some head for home some run around
with rain-washed windows in hotel rooms
whenever there I do roam
through wind-swept streets at midnight
and hold long-distance conversations on the phone
and that dirty old river forever flows
who knows how many places it goes
as the ships come in and the tide rolls down
some make it safe some run aground
and oh those winking blinking lights
filled with promise of earthly delights
will take you shake you
make you feel all right
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Steel towers gleam gold
Trinity River whispers~
hot wind hums through wires,
a lone bull's shadow stretching
across the restless concrete.
Headlights stream along the strip
Late night dreamers on a trip
Neon lights shining bright
Everyone's feeling lucky tonight
Crowds bustle on the sidewalk
Wild laughter & small talk
Silhouettes smoking cigarettes
Pink Cadillacs & red Corvettes
High rollers & classy chicks
Cowboys getting their kicks
Sharks in suits
Snakeskin boots
The Devil’s drawing them in
Tempting them with sin
He’s playing them all
Watching them fall
He begins his dance
Playing with chance
Gambling with their soul
He lets the dice roll
All bets are on seven
A trip to heaven
Only the dice will tell
Who’s going to hell
Hundred dollar bills
Whiskey & wild thrills
Burning with desire
The city’s on fire
This green does not belong with the trees.
Neon Green belongs to moments of clarity.
The color of the lit up truth that everyone can see.
I have arrived! Says this green.
Neon Green serves as an interruption.
This green says no more reconstruction.
A shade who refuses to disappear.
Bright in the dark so you know it's here.
This green does not allow you to shrink.
Neon Green does not care what anyone thinks.
This is a green who is not calm.
A shade precise and glowing on.
So the next time, someone says 'you're too much'
This color refuses to empty its cup.
No care to whisper, no need to shout.
Neon Green is here.
No doubt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
beneath cold neon,
truth whispers in shattered glass~
dawn licks its wounds clean
Nate, the neon hedgehog was followed around by a crowd
some were amazed that he was not very loud
I loved his fuchsia, my husband liked his greens, yellows and blues
He could not hide at all, he had no subterfuge.
How pretty
is the motor city
under neon diodes?
I sent my heart
into its stars
exhaled my soul
into rustbelt smoke
maybe I’ve lost my mind
or rather it’s left behind
my sanity abandoned
and blighted
my memories subjected
to successive evictions
—just up and forget ‘em—
I guess the city could
enlighten me a bit
on resilience
ANGIE, that last slow dance in smoky haze—
you slipped UNDER MY THUMB like twilight’s ache.
The Rolling Stones crooned fate through tangled days;
I tried to PAINT IT BLACK for mercy’s sake.
But YOU CAN’T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT—truth stings—
just loaded TUMBLIN DICE in neon towns,
chasing HONKY TONK WOMEN on borrowed wings
while WILD HORSES dragged dreams to thorny grounds.
O RUBY TUESDAY, ghost in sequin sheen,
your laugh a roulette wheel’s bright, spinning sound.
The jukebox plays what might-have-been,
where every win was loss, and lost was found.
Stones still roll… but honey, in the end,
the house takes all. Even diamonds bend.
Sundown reflects splashed tones
Her skin, blushing again --
Lamp post glows through her frame.
Our first kiss in the rain
Speaks of neon rapture
Like bright dew on the lane.
Some Kind Of Kaleidoscopic
For nette onclaud
Jul 10, 2025
Neon’s radioactive glow in a window,
offers the cheap promise of pleasure.
Like a hypnotic, fluorescent serpent,
It flashes, blinks and winks - “Welcome”
It fairly slithers on rain-slicked boulevards,
it warms like moonlight on cold unfriendly nights,
It signals cool, ready fun in the summertime.
We dress our vices in silky, pastel colors,
gamblers choices of Disney flavored whiskies.
It’s the soft, velvet glove that hides brass knuckles,
oh, you’ll feel those bruises in the morning.
The world’s a dark alleyway with an electric blush,
whose color flatters the lonely, desperate,
and makes sin look like something you could fall for.
Neon is perfume for the optical senses.
In that light, everything seems possible.
Isn’t that girl smiling at you? You see,
beauty is easier to trust than the truth.
Neon imperviously reflects off regrets,
and glitters brightest on broken dreams.
Of course daylight is harsh, but honest.
Didn’t we come in here to escape it?
.
.
Songs for this:
The Ballad of Mac the Knife by Sting & Dominic Muldowney
Any Old Thing by Swing Republic
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