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THE BEN!
Phonetically that’s what my name
means in Japanese, I’ve been told.
My name has a synonym.
My name is in the Bible.
Maybe one day, folks will say,
“Holy Ben!”
My mentor also has my name.
He’s on the $100 dollar bill.
We are both very electrifying
and I like having him in my pocket
even though I'm not gay.
My favorite car company is Mercedes.
I owned one once
that had turbo and a diesel engine.
Just like me, our exhaust stinks and is visible.
I stand out in a crowd
with my voice and bamboo flute.
I play in parking garages and down back-alley ways.
Good acoustics.
Playing Jethro Tull and Calypso
puts me in a trance.
Makes it hard to sit still when all I want to do is dance.
So, I usually dance and prance like Pan.
I was probably Krishna in another lifetime.
But not now. I eat meat with my vegetables.
When I play the Star Wars theme,
it sends me out to Space.
When I play ‘In the Jungle,’
it sets the Beastie in me wild and free.
When I play ‘Amazing Grace,’
my spirit soars and flies.
I like getting the Thumbs Up
from the Band, and not just the crowd.
I have stage fright, so I need a helping
hand to make it up on stage.
But once I’m up,
I rage!
I have this recurring dream
with me in the spotlight
high up on a platform.
I’m sitting on my porcelain thrown
and there's a huge crowd below.
I have horns and a halo.
I sometimes grunt
when playing flute or singing songs.
I’m not ashamed to be a poet.
Even though I don’t know It.
Or grow It or pretend to flow It.
I prefer to freelance out loud in song
but the silent pen can’t be wrong.
I am the Ben!
Copyright ©
Benjamin Bartley
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