Friday, July 6, 2012

A Poem by Keith Laufenberg

The Coulda Been, Woulda Been, Shoulda Been Blues

 

Now I cant sing & I cant dance, but,
I can put some words together and take a chance.
Cause, I aint young but I aint old,
And this heres a story needs to be told.

See, I woke up this mornin and they was in my head,
And I jumped up and saw em walkin round my bed.
I knew today wasnt my day cause no matter what happened, I was gonna lose,

Cause I got them low-down, no-good, dirty, slimy, rotten coulda been, woulda been, shoulda been blues.

Got up and didnt wanna go to work today,
Cause they had me runnin in circles doin whatever they say.
So now Im collectin the unemployment,
And lookin for a little enjoyment

Turn on the radio and hear ol blue eyes, you remember Frank,
Used to sing the song and take the money to the bank.
Well, he sings hes got regrets but too few to mention,
And theres a line that gets my full attention.

Cause I got more regrets than just a few,
Yeah man, thats me and isnt it you too?

Cause I got them low-down, no-good, dirty, rotten, scummy, vicious coulda been, woulda been, shoulda been blues. Yeah I got em and cant get rid a em, no!

So Im walkin down the street,
And who else do I meet?
But a friend from the past,
Who says, when did I see you last?

It was so long ago and wouldnt you know,
He wants to tell me all the news,
About all the stuff I did lose.
Cause hes the boss, he owns his own store,
And then he says wait a minute, theres more, theres more.
He did it all by himself, hes a great success,
Makes my life look morenmore, like one big ol mess
Dude tells me everything, all the news,
and of course he gives me them,
Low down, dirty, rotten, no-good, filthy, dastardly, coulda been, would been, shoulda been blues. Yeah, I got em and I wanna get rid a em.

Cause I coulda been a wealthy man,
If Id just done that insurance scam
Coulda been an attorney,
But didnt wanna take the journey

Coulda done post office work
But I didnt wanna go berserk.
Coulda joined the circus, been a lion tamer,
If only Id a been a lil insaner,
Coulda been a clown,
Travelin all over the world, from town to town
Then I start thinkin and my heart starts sinkin,
Cause whenever Im thinkin about what I coulda been,
All my hopes seem so slim that the light starts to dim.
Cause all it does is give me them: Low-down, dirty, rotten, senseless coulda been, woulda been, shoulda been blues, yeah I got em again
  
They had me a fight and they had it scheduled for eight,
I got started but by the time I got started it was way too late,
And then at the end he hit me with a hard right,
And I began slowly to see the clearing light.

A man goes out to work
And soon starts feelin just like a jerk,
And when he goes and fails,
He ends up poundin nails or workin in sales.

And, oh, by the way, dont let me forget to mention,
He aint exactly workin towards no old-age pension.
A lawyer, aint no way that coulda been me,
Cause, look-it here, he dont even know how to talk for free.

Now I know its true but it still makes me so blue, I got them low-down, dirty, no-good, rotten, scummy, slimy coulda been, woulda been, shoulda been BLUES!

And the woman, shes out workin on a college degree,
When the man says cmon over here and be with me.
Then she dont know where shes at,
With a belly swollen all big & fat

Now shes got two lil boys,
And cant even afford to buy em no toys.
Now the woman be all alone,
And so, she gotta pick up the phone.

She calls up & goes out to the job,
But before long shes startin to sob.
Cause the boss tryin to get in her pants,
And aint no way she wanna go back to them dirty ol food-stamps.

Now she got them dirty, rotten, low-down, coulda been, woulda been, shoulda been blues, yeah she got em, you know she do, how bout you?

Now Some people tell me I aint happy less Im sad,
But all that does is make me kinda mad.
Cause in this life, theres so much vengence & strife.
Turn on the tee-vee and what do you see?

Buncha stars drivin fancy cars, all that fame
And every last one of them is so damn lame.
You see all these people makin all this money,
And they actually supposed to be thinkin they funny?

Now this sad story’s about comin to an end,
And what I really need now is a friend,
Cause I cant sing but I can rhyme, So sing it with me one last time.

Cause we got them low-down, slimy, filthy, dirty, no-good coulda been, woulda been, shoulda been BLUES!


6 comments:

  1. This poems how I feel a lot, a whole lot of times and its funny to

    Vinnie F.

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  2. You said it, we all know these feelings we just can't put it into as good words as this poet did. Now I have to go back and deal with real world, too bad.

    Bar P.

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  3. very good poetry. I feel like this all the time. I like this stuff no end.

    Sad LadySady

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  4. I loved this poem. like a song.

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  5. this is real poetry, it makes you feel like the poet knows about this stuff. I feel like this a lot myself and i'm glad that other people do to. Who hasn't felt this way, I would ask.

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  6. I thought this was an exceptional poem. I don't normally read poetry but this was a little different; like a story, a song. Real life, like this writers stories that I've read a few before. So I felt good by reading it.

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