Bonfire of Roadmaps (Brad and Michele Moore Roots Music Series)

195 Pages·2007·2.019 MB·English

by  Joe Ely

BONFIRE OF ROADMAPS
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Brad and Michele Moore Roots Music Series
Copyright ©2007by Joe Ely
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First edition, 2007
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University of Texas Press
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Austin, TX 78713-7819
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The paper used in this book meets the
minimum requirements of ansi/niso
z39.48–1992 (r1997)(Permanence of Paper).
Library of Congress Cataloging-
in-Publication Data
Ely, Joe.
Bonfire of roadmaps / Joe Ely. — 1st ed.
p. cm. — (Brad and Michele Moore
roots music series)
isbn-13: 978-0-292-71653-7 (cloth : alk.
paper)
isbn-10: 0-292-71653-2 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Ely, Joe—Travel. 2. Country musi-
cians—Travel. 3. Voyages and travels—
Poetry. 4. Lyric poetry.
I. Title.
ml420.e54a3 2007
782.421642092—dc22
[b] 2006023534
JOE
E LY
BONFIRE of ROADMAPS
University of Texas Press Austin
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CONTENTS
52 Cities till Christmas 9
Iron Rhinos 43
Bonfire of Roadmaps 68
One Fuse of a Summer 90
Lord of the Highway 110
Gulf War One 116
Jim Beam 131
Laredo East and West 140
On the Run Again 175
Afterword 193
7
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52 CITIES TILL CHRISTMAS
Damn, Damn, Damn I kick my self out the door
Dragging my ball and chain
The yard cats scatter and the buzzards take flight
Crazy ol’ Joe is back on the road
First stop London, God not again
I haven’t been there since the Gulf War made pebbles
From the proud stone banks of the Mesopotamia
And sold the rights to cnn and bbc
I take that back, I was there last week
Seeing the city through Marie’s eyes of innocence
Tug boats became swans, busses, red castles on wheels
In a throng of storybook faces
And through the eyes of Sharon
Who saw the fabric, the lace and the burlap
The scarves and shawls that drape the city
And the blossoms on rusty security bars
Am I becoming another weary gypsy
Like those in Barcelona, drinking wine
At Public monuments and Urinals
Whose world has shriveled to a paper sack?
9