The Tragically Hip - "Fireworks": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9wW9ENBPlQ

Good Morning Patreon: Patreon.com/ChrisCrofton

“The Importance of Getting a Physical When You’re Like 35”  -for Tim DeClerck

yeah, get a physical
at age 35

but treat the doctor as an adversary 

don’t admit how much you drink

don’t admit how much you smoke 

say stuff like “How much do YOU smoke, asshole?”

return home self-satisfied, 
and in need of a new doctor 

get drunk 

die young

The Tragically Hip - "Ahead By a Century": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fbGFO1EaAE

Good Morning Patreon: Patreon.com/ChrisCrofton

CAFFEINE-FREE (poetry window 2020)


a car with no 
engine 
a boat with no sail 
a poet
without access
to the crazy
words

Carly Simon - "Coming Around Again": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDP8OoTlrIk

Good Morning Patreon: Patreon.com/ChrisCrofton

GARGOYLE PRACTICE   -for Mariah Jensen

look at us 

crouched
on the ramparts
of our own lives 

making faces,
shouting profanities

strutting
self-consciously
on our filthy little ledges 

reducing
mysterious miracles
to investments,
and returns 

and our one shot
at grace 

to gargoyle practice

Barry Manilow: "Mandy": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvGpvQbkccE

Good Morning Patreon: Patreon.com/ChrisCrofton

CONSENSUS REALITY -for Ian Pope

still-living stragglers 
from past generations
insisting
that their reality’s not dead

the last few
living corporatists 
grasping at
all the things they treasured: 
racism, the Cold War,
The Eagles 

but the good news is 
we don’t need a consensus for reality
we just need young people
to do what they do 
and then: KAPOW!
a new reality 

so let these 20th century stragglers 
wave their raggedy flags,
talk about Woodstock, etc 

let them stamp their feet
as the sun sets 

on their version

of how to conduct a life

RFK Jr. is a Kardashian. ALSO: Adult jungle gyms, and late-capitalism's horrible aesthetic. PLUS: Chris hates chicken fingers, a new Can Do Cold Brew ad - and a song of the week from Tom Waits!!!

Tom Waits - "Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards)": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MegTgHW6sg

Cold Brew Patreon: Patreon.com/ChrisCrofton

Channel Nonfiction: ChannelNonfiction.com

Can Do Cold Brew: CanDoColdBrew.com

Leo Sayer - "More Than I Can Say": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HhYHLq7V2M

Good Morning Patreon: Patreon.com/ChrisCrofton

A FAINTLY FAMILIAR SONG    -for Sam Armstrong

I can’t let anything remain
faintly familiar

I have to track it down

no help!
don’t tell me!

I’m pretty sure
this 
dogged pursuit
of musical memories

negatively affects
my annual income 
but…

IT’S "IT'S MORE THAN I CAN SAY" BY LEO SAYER!

Glen Campbell - "Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in LA)": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw_virLYhHs

Good Morning Patreon: Patreon.com/ChrisCrofton

EXPOSURE

I spent
20 years
chasing
exposure

it was so
upsetting
that I had 
to drink myself silly

now I concentrate
on the work

no money in either

but dignity

in one

Graham Nash - "I Used to Be a King": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5A1P6zlmRs

Good Morning Patreon: Patreon.com/ChrisCrofton

HAZELNUTS THAT SHINE LIKE JEWELS

I can picture
them on the
table in the servants'
quarters
in the medieval dusk

dazzling

Father John Misty - "Mahashmashana": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV_JHlxfFDA

Good Morning Patreon: Patreon.com/ChrisCrofton

END OF THIS GODFORSAKEN YEAR 


I talked to 
a tree frog
about this
year and he
said he enjoyed it
immensely

Crooked Fingers - "Call to Love": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8HlCaahO8M

Good Morning Patreon: Patreon.com/ChrisCrofton