rainy days and mondays by paul williams

the rain as a running gag

And now it comes
Like stepping into a bucket
You fall to your knees in prostration to a better punch line
You knew it was out there
And you knew that it would return
But not with such comic grace
Not with uncanny timing and effect
And now you are covered in it
But the rain is merciful
The rain as a running gag

Richard Hawley

Wheel of Fortune

That sound I try to avoid
The audience cries, “WHEEL OF FORTUNE!”
It sputters and scrapes in the periphery of my hearing
I don’t even have to force myself to not hear it
Which I do often, denying myself the acknowledgment of its frailty and fruitlessness
It could just as well be the fluttering of a bird’s wing which I try desperately to hear
But I couldn’t even if I tried
Everything is a blur
Everything is a slow heavy sliding of soundless iron
Soundless but still shrill in its imagining
That’s where you are now
Soundless in my imagining

out of my dreams by richard rodgers and oscar hammerstein

L.A. Freeway by Guy Clark

Baby Q