Poetry of Joel Phipps
The Convenience Store
I’m lost in this convenience store
I try to find just what I need
But I’m not sure what I’m looking for
It’s almost like I’m lost at sea
It was like I just appeared in this world
Never given a chance at all
We had a field that I loved to roam
So I could hide from my life’s call
I look around and I see where I’m standing
But no one seems to notice me
Everyone’s got their problems a dime a dozen
And all I’m wanting is to be set free
I’m lost in this convenience store
I try to find just what I need
But I’m not sure what I’m looking for
It’s almost like I’m lost at sea
I’ve looked around, don’t see what I want
Never mind all that I really need
The moonlight flickers like a neon sign
I’ll just pick up a few packets of tea
I have a feeling there’s something I’m forgetting
So I wander aimlessly up and down these isles
Incoming shoppers make long shopping list
And the cashier, she just flashes a smile
I’m lost in this convenience store
I try to find just what I need
But I’m not sure what I’m looking for
It’s almost like I’m lost at sea
Public Service Announcement
I’m Joe Glasgow and I approve this message
The rich and elite are in control
And they can recite any Biblical passage
But they don’t follow what the Book’s told
They have rights, but the working classes don’t
And they’ll make you do what they won’t
Oh, you’ll try your best to speak your mind
And they’ll read your mail
Then they’ll tap your phone line
And you’ll be thrown in jail
If you don’t follow their way
What can you say?
You should have the right
To save your immortal soul
But you’ll be attacked, day or night
When you strive to accomplish your goal
Oh, what are we doing wrong?
Is everything here just a con?
Get out and into the streets
Don’t be violent, but let your voice be heard
Revolution is all in your speech
Leave them hanging on your word
And speak the truth; it’ll set us free
Then we’ll finally have our equality
Now, try to be resistant, be independent
Ignore orders that compromise your heart
Well, this has been a public service announcement
If you want anything, go out and start
What more can be said? I don’t know.
But this is approved by yours truly, Joe Glasgow
Now get in the streets!
Writersville, U.S.A.
They shed sweat and blood, toil through mud
Throughout the countryside
They write with pens, they live by pens
With each word they take a stride
No hope was left, no publisher would bite
As if there were a Writersville, U.S.A.
The manuscripts were all destroyed in Writersville, U.S.A.
It’s said that talent will skip a generation
So I wonder about the next day
But it’s a cutthroat world
For all the boys and girls
To work in their desired trade
In the life of poetry and novelisation
Tending to those greedy folks, those sleazy blokes
Will only take your soul away
So heed to your own, you’re not alone
Your dreams are what matters anyway
So do as you should
When you’re in Writersville, U.S.A.
Rejection letters, it could be better in Writersville, U.S.A.
But it’s perfectly fine, anytime
No right or wrong in Writersville, U.S.A.
It’s perfectly fine, anytime
In Writersville, U.S.A.
December Rains
Put your head on the tracks
Let the December rains fall
There’s no looking back
There’s nothing here at all
The wind blows your hair
Whilst you’re trying not to care
Oh, how can you keep on keeping on?
When you’re awaiting the dawn. . .
It’s a deserted highway
There’s a storm as dark as night
There seems to be no day
You can hear the distant fights
So you drive on out
Under the shadow of doubt
Oh, how can you keep on keeping on?
When you’re awaiting the dawn. . .
How can you keep on keeping on?
Amore Consumato
Her eyes, they speak with softness
Full of charms and kindness
I don’t worry for she’s true
As her spirit burns with a fire
The keys to the future
They are dangling in her hands
As she roams over the streets
And the lands
Her smile is so sweet and kind
As her love transcends space and time
She’s just like an angel in the night
With wings of gold flying so high
Hours dissolve into minutes
Days pass by like the wind
My love, she’s one without limits
With no conclusion or no end
Her foreign ways, they never tire
She’s adorable as she glows like a flower
And even in the final act of the game
There’s always one more hand to play
The soft touch of her cool fingers
Is like a perfume that always lingers
Her love is like a beautiful poem
Being read on a sunny day by the Somme
Upon the midnight hour
I hear her song in the tower
She’s just like the nightfall
Full of darkness and mystery
Her hair is like a black river
Flowing down her narrow back
She says a song is like a poem
And a poem isn’t like a song at all
The times, they tick idly away
As she flirts with her ambitious ways
Her eyes are like a dark tinted window
Showing me all she holds deep inside
Mountains made of letters
Hide our goals around the bend
My love is just like some thistle
Upon a hill waving happily in the wind
Wise men bear gifts and things
Empty promises and diamond rings
But my love is unfazed by them
‘Cause even the poet can write a song
The rhythm of the guitar and drums
Resound when it gets cool and rainy
I hear her footsteps as she comes
Full of purpose and proficiency
Houses made of cards collapse into the sand
Just as shooting stars fall into her hand
The fire in her soul burns ever so bright
Despite her forgiveness, even she can hold a grudge
The Lord of hosts parts his ways
As the people are distracted by the sea
You know you don’t need to ask why
‘Cause she has her values that never budge
The darkness hits like a hammer
Father Time’s voice begins to stammer
She gives hope even to the hopeless at heart
For even the loneliest of people needs a friend
Her precise Chinese ways are like a fine art
She turns my gaze more than twice
My love, she’s as lovely as the butterfly
Even when her colourful wings are not apart
As the wind howls like a lion
My love comes in on a white stallion
She’s always so faithful
Just like the sky so high above
Her eyes, they enchant my soul
They can see through everything
She’s so lovely like a snowy dove
At my doorstep with a song to sing
You Cast A Spell Over Me
I don’t know if I can make it through
You wore pink flowers in your hair
I just don’t know what I can do
When you flashed that goodbye smile
But all that I know true
Was you cast a spell over me
Now I’m not saying that it was all a fad
But there was nothing more precious than you
You know I can only write a poem when I’m sad
As I remember your smile and gentle eyes
But you had always made me glad
As you cast a spell over me
But sadness is all I’ve had since you’ve gone
And I sit alone at night and think about you
Doodle rhymes onto paper and write you a song
That you’ll never really hear or read
Perhaps my heart’s become too hopeless and forlorn
Since you cast a spell over me
I drew a portrait of you the other evening
‘Cause I couldn’t find the words to describe
The way it feels when I see you in the morning
With your hair cascading about your face
And I can’t put words to how I’m feeling
When you cast a spell over me
I fear I’m the last of a dying breed
That I may be the last romantic alive
But I know that I can never be free
With this kind of life that I live
In my heart you’re always with me
‘Cause you cast a spell over me
I didn’t think I’d make it long
‘Cause everything seemed to be dark
For I feared everything was a con
I lifted up my eyes to see the light
And I found at the break of dawn
That you cast a spell over me
Appreciation
From the streets to the bars
From the trains to the cars
And the tables to the sky
From questions making us ask why
Just listen to the sound
Of the grass upon the ground
And the flowers that wither and die
To the drink that’s both hot and dry
From the image of the sea
Or the thought of you with me
Seeing your midnight hair
Or skin so light and fair
From the song upon the wind
To the unknown behind the bend
And it’s hard to say goodbye
When all you want to do is fly
But there’s a deep appreciation in my soul
From the words that paint a picture
To the keys that hold the future
From the rivers of ink that flow
There are answers I don’t know
For the photographer to the writer
Their souls will last forever
Upon slips of paper
As the world slowly wavers
From the busy evening streets
To the islands of the Greeks
To the rain falling down
Or in the ocean where you’ll drown
From the stars in the night
Looking like a lovely sight
There’s so much to say and do
And these words are so true
‘Cause there’s a deep appreciation in my soul
From the poet’s confusing words
To the pain that he stores
From the novelist hard at work
Creating a diamond from the dirt
From the gentleness of a kiss
That works a miracle of bliss
From the musicians with their song
Knowing they can do no wrong
And the sound of the rain on leaves
Take a shine to the darkness around me
From the sun in the sky of blue
To the way you say, “I love you”
And the way you move so elegantly
Demonstrating sheer beauty
From the rivers to the flood
And the salvation given by the blood
Oh, there’s a deep appreciation in my soul
From the apple of my eye
To the stony beaches of Skye
From the smile upon their faces
To your heart and all its graces
From the rhythm of the rhyme
Beyond the spans of time
To the open heart and hands
Sometimes it’s hard to understand
The reason of the world
From the shell to the pearl
Or the methods people employ
As they treat life like a toy
But in the goodness of the name
This is not a game
From the air to the sea
I say this to you from me
For there’s a deep appreciation in my soul
Joel Phipps is a poet and songwriter of Irish-Scottish heritage who lives on a small farm in southwestern Ohio where he occasionally can be seen wearing a kilt. He admits to a strong desire to return to his ancestral lands near Edinburgh, Scotland. When not writing, he plays rhythm electric guitar, draws, paints, listens to music and manages a website of his songs and poetry, Keys To The Future: A Poetic Extravaganza.