Steampunk Santa
With three new friends
Drinking bourbon
Four drunk gents

Opening presents 
Meant for the Baby King
Blotto out of their minds
Listen as they sing

"We four dudes
Of Hoboken are
Four drunken pirates
Belly up to the bar"

"Oh come all ye faithful
Buy us one more beer
Its almost closing time
We sure do love our cheer"

They woke up inside
An old abandoned bus
Wreaking of booze
Not knowing where they was

The presents had gone missing
No gifts for Baby King
Four hung over dummies
Four laughing ding a lings

Her name is Anna Lynn
My dearest mannequin
I know the shapes she's in
I've  gotten under her skin

Some stop and stare at us
But she's the only thing I trust
As the world slowly rusts
My headless articulated bust

Chorus
Go ahead and make your jokes
She gives me my only hope
That somehow man will win
[A world soon] dominated by mannequins

Sad Soothsayer
Political pollster
Ain't got nuttin
In his holster

Shootin blanks
Air rifle blaster
Shootin his horn off
Media disaster

Tea leaf reader
Numb skull priest
Airplane safety
Door release

Tweeting moron
Spewing methane
Attention seeker
All in vain

Bobbing squinting
Tongue depressor
Brown shirt sycophant
Sad goose stepper

Candidate suck up
Big boot licker
Little ass kisser
Shit stained knickers

Chorus
Hype Coffin
Nothing to say
Soothsayer pundits
Please go away

Hype Coffin
Nothing to say
Soothsayer pundits
Please go away
Please - go - away

Luckily, I stopped watching any of the political pundits – even the one’s I used to listen to in my “echo chamber”. This was because a lot of what I heard was wishful thinking and also a lot of fear mongering. I simply got tired of it.

This song is my putting a nail in the “hype coffin”. As it turns out, the best advice to follow is ” It won’t be as bad as you had feared or as good as you had hoped”. Which is a pretty neutral place to be, but with so many things beyond our control it seems to be just right.

Covered bridge
Cold water creek
Late autumn day
Colors past peak

Blackberry brambles
Along the way
Counting my blessings
Every day

She grabs me
Like nostalgia
Visions of Bodie
Dark neuralgia

Old photographs
Those who have passed
I'm with them
Home at last

Anamoia

When the last leaves
Fall off the family tree
It will be those
Younger than me

Objects in time
Objects in space
Roadmap of sorts
Lines on my face

Anamoia

Cook your books
And get tax breaks
Billionaires
Have what it takes

Only losers
Pay their dues
Stable geniuses
Never lose

That is only
Here on earth
From what I'm told
About second birth

When we die
The needy do well
Heaven for us
The greedy, hell

I’ve been fascinated by how many billionaires are pathological narcissists and how unhappy they seem to be because of a demon lust for attention. Maybe the narcissist part is what we used to call an “A Type” back in the 80’s? Its an age old Dickensian theme – and I’m sure since the beginning of man. Maybe some animals also behave this way? A wolf?

At first I thought Trump was an anomaly. But now there’s Musk. Many of the same behavioral traits.

At least Bezos and his ex wife are getting attention being philanthropists. Same for Bill Gates. To me they have ego but aren’t pathological narcissists because they are thinking of others and giving. Even if they were narcissists giving sets them apart. There are givers and those who only take.

I believe heaven and hell are here on earth and Mary Trump’s book title speaks volumes “Too Much and Never Enough”.

All of this fits the Thanksgiving and Christmas time (“Scrooge”) themes.

When you're feeling no pain
Riding the gravy train
There's only one thing left to say
Hamburgers

That kid that you knew in school
Who dressed just like a fool
Became rich as the hills
Hamburgers

Painting is big fun
Preaching is better
The cow air is cool
Hamburgers

What we do with our life
Is a mystery to me
I'm happy as can be
Hamburgers

There's a skull on my bass
With a jovial face
He looks like a friend
He doesn't offend

I'll let him stay there
As I play from my chair
He likes the bass sound
Its warm and its round

He also likes cello
Its low and its mellow
He likes what he hears
He doesn't have ears

Sometimes a little hope
Means a lot
Just to show
That you care

When actions
Speak louder than words
And your actions
Show you are there

That little hope
Means a lot
Especially when
They thought you forgot

But you know
When this happened to you
And so you go on caring
A lot

There's a favorite time of mine
I call it "Amber Rust"
When the light of fireplace
Glows Amber Iron Dust

What is Iron Dust you ask
Please don't ask me why
Its just words rolling off my tongue
While staring, lost,
Mesmerized by the fire