Whiskey

Many have experienced the inspirational prowess of whiskey, and most everyone has a good whiskey story or two in them. In fact I would be willing to bet there are more songs about drinking whiskey then there are about drinking water. The Doors cover of “Alabama Song” is one of the more popular, and John Lee Hooker has a few good ones out there too.

I have been experimenting more and more with songwriting. I use my trusty three-string-ukulele to start a rhythm and then pen lyrics. Please note that I am a much better whiskey drinker than ukulele player. Writing poetry and songwriting have many similarities, but one major difference I have noticed is that I use much more repetition in a song than in a poem. Below is my attempt at writing a whiskey song, hope you enjoy.



Whiskey Breath Blues

Woke up this morning
Finished my whiskey
Yesterday that whiskey
Sure did-a-finish me
Just enough left
For one more glass
Oh whiskey of mine
Why don't you ever last?

Said you never last
You never last
Soon as I know you
You're in the past
Gave me some thrills
Showed me a good time
But you never last
Oh whiskey of mine

Oh whiskey oh whiskey
Oh whiskey of mine
Told you my secrets
Gave you my time
Kept me up late
Passed out with you
You've gone and left me
Empty bottle full of blues

Woke up this morning
Finished my whiskey
Tell you last night
That whiskey a finished me
Just enough left
For one more glass
Oh whiskey of mine
You never last


Aaron Kokorowski, 2010

Cheers to a New Decade

And cheers to a blue moon over all the New Year's Eve festivities, be safe out there tonight. The poem below is inspired by Nina Simone's beautiful take on Trouble in Mind, written by Richard Jones in 1927. The song has been covered often over the years, but Nina sings it in a way that makes me believe everything she says. Thanks again for checking out my blog and may all your resolutions ring true.







I Won't be Blue Always

It was the best song
We had heard
In a long while

It did not matter
Exactly
What was next

Tonight, we were closer
Then we had ever been
Everything was clear

The sun is gonna shine
Oh yes it will
The sun is gonna shine




Aaron Kokorowski, 2009

Some Poetry Stunt

A man downtown tried to cover a building
With all the pages he had ever written words on
Guess he was a poet, some sort of publicity stunt
Everyone watched him plaster poems on the skyscraper
One storey at a time, about half way up
It was all over Facespace and Mybook
The paper building guy in Seattle
The guy they keep talking about? I saw that!
Torn pages swirled between news helicopters
And then he ran out, he ran out of words
The man failed to cover the building
And as he fell out of everyone's trendy top ten
All his pages fell harmlessly to the ground
Kicked aside by busy people as they resumed the day


Aaron Kokorowski, 2009

Little Red Spider

Little red spider
Just small enough to see
What is your reason
For crawling on me?

Although bigger than you
I mean you no harm
We could have been friends
But you bit my arm

Guess it's the end
Of you being real
Little red spider
Under my heel


Aaron Kokorowski, 2009

Ode to Project Stoneway

Greetings to everyone on this late Harvest Moon, thanks again for checking out my poetry blog. Over the last three and a half years my wife and I lived in an apartment on Stoneway Avenue North in Seattle, and it was there where I experienced the most prolific stretch of writing in my life. I battled my notebooks daily, building poetry into my routine with the same urgency as sleeping and eating and breathing, often writing into the wee hours of the night. I've pulled hundreds of poems from thousands of pages in my notebooks, though much of the material remains raw and unpolished. Last week we moved out of our apartment, and I am anxious to get our boxes unpacked so I can start building poetry into my new dwelling and routine. While I hope to continue to generate new material on a daily basis, much of my focus in the coming months will be on revising and compiling all of my work from Project Stoneway. Be sure and check back here each month as I will continue to share my works in progress. Oh, and enjoy this moon's poem!




The Day I Did Not Invent Walking

I put one foot in front of the other
Then repeated the process
Commonly known as walking.

Although it was rather useful,
I recalled having seeing others walking
Before me, before I had walked.

Rather dismayed by this realization
I sat on a bench and cried my eyes out.
I was not the inventor of walking,

Nor would I ever be.
If only I could invent something
So practical and efficient.

Unsure how to move on,
I put one foot in front of the other
Then repeated the process.


Aaron Kokorowski, 2009

Them Recession Blues

Wherever you are, sing this one with me.


Dear Economy

Don't you go and listen to all of that bad news
People fussing headlines around the room
Get yourself right off of that floor today
Can't be lying on the ground all day
Plenty going on that's not so down and out
Time to get some good news going round

Got to stop believing in all that bad news
Make your head spin and give you the blues
Get yourself right off of that floor today
Time to stand up and have a say
Plenty going on that's not so down and out
Let's get some good news going round

Don't you go contributing to that bad news
Everybody negative and full of gloom
Get yourself right off of that floor today
Don't let propaganda get in your way
Plenty going on that's not so down and out
People let's get some good news going round

Don't go justifying all of that bad news
All people can talk about is imminent doom
Get yourself right off of that floor today
Now is not the time to sit and wait
Plenty going on that's not so down and out
Get up and get some good news going round

Aaron Kokorowski, 2009

Uncountable Sheep

How do you fall asleep when your mind wanders late at night? Does anyone out there actually count sheep to help lull yourself to sleep? I have tried before out of desperation, though generally my experience is regular exercise is the best cure for any sleeping problems. In my college years I often experimented with drinking beers or whiskey until I fell asleep, but technically that would be considered passing out. Tell you what, if anyone out there is having trouble sleeping let me know and I'll send you some of my poetry to read. This moon's poem is in two parts, Part I being the voice of the shepherd, and Part II being the voice of the sheep. Thanks again for checking out my blog.


I. Shepherd as Insomniac

The sheep in my head
Are tired of jumping
They're hitting the fence
Their legs are crumpling

Like stumbling elephants
That ate too much hay
Those useless fence jumpers
Have too much to weigh

All over the ground
Bunched in a heap
Baaaaa someplace else
If you can't put me to sleep

A simple job
One fence to leap
Too much to ask
Of these lazy sheep

They want to retire
From jumping the fence
They want paid vacations
Per diem expense

They're counting me
Those tricky sheep
They get out of bed
And go back to sleep

Get back to work
Is what I say
Start jumping that fence
Or nobody is getting paid

Can't take this mess
I'm terribly tired
Attention sheep
You are about to get fired


II. The Sheep say Baaaaa

What's the big deal
Why must we leap?
If you are so tired
Find a new way to sleep

We jump the fence
To spin your wheels
You need sleep?
That's your deal!

We the sheep
Are tired of jumping
Working all day
For next to nothing

Why jump the fence
So you can rest
After years of fence jumping
We've nothing left

Leave us to be
Old grumpy sheep
Don't think of us
When falling asleep


Aaron Kokorowski, 2009