bizarre ensemble duo

bizarre ensemble duo

 bizarre ensemble duo -- sketch by douglas brent smith,  from "the bizarre chronicles, volume one" 1984

Vans In Space

Vans In Space - collage by douglas brent smith

 Vans In Space - collage by douglas brent smith

anonymous, take a number

 

i am not anonymous

i am not a number you can push around

so get off my back!


do not pigeon-hole me or

patronize me or

i'll come unglued


not the common man

i get uncommon as often as i can

so stop measuring me

reassuringly


i am not anonymous

i am not a number you can push around

so get off my back!





-- douglas brent smith


Unstoppable In Collageland

 

Unstoppable In Collageland

Unstoppable In Collageland -- collage by douglas brent smith, 1980

well?


he was cute and

younger than me but

not illegally younger


and wearing a tight

orange and purple 

shirt that had written

across the chest

"are you gay?" and

he smiled and i thought

"isn't everyone?"


 -- douglas brent smith


Two Guitars

 

Two Guitars

Two Guitars -- sketch by douglas brent smith

Road Control

 

Road Control

Road Control - collage by douglas brent smith, 30 January 1984

Unlimited Strength

image: https://pixabay.com/photos/rappelling-rope-safety-security-755400/


Strength is not a zero-sum game. Your strength does not subtract strength from anyone else (or shouldn't). Someone else's strength does not subtract from yours. Sometimes we act like it does, but it need not be that way. As high performance leaders our job is to help others to develop their strength. In the process, we develop our own.

Our strength does not depend on anyone's weakness. We never need for anyone else to ever be less in order for us to be more. We can all grow. We can all improve. We can, and should, all develop our leadership strength.

-- doug smith

the night after

 

i saw it coming and started running

but it never seemed to stop

it flashed like a light in the middle of the night

and exploded with a loud piercing pop


the morning hit me and my shirt didn't fit me

and beer cans were bent at my feet

i walked to the kitchen someone started bitchin'

and led me back to the street


cars were passing and hustlers were hassling

every new face that strolled by

i jumped to the street dodging the heat

while my feet did their best to fly


like a circus clown in a strange dark town

i reached for your number and phoned

come save me from this with a smile and a kiss

it's too much to face all alone


you balked and you stalled and said why did you call?

you need to find someplace to stay

the high that sustained us was destined to fall

and the feelings have all flown away.





-- douglas brent smith



Life Goes On

Life Goes On

 

Life Goes On - sketch by douglas brent smith, 1984

I Can Take You Anywhere

I Can Take You Anywhere

 I Can Take You Anywhere -- collage by douglas brent smith, 30 January 1984

grand canyon

 

she shared some details

of the road trip with

the teen in a van

not too many intense

infraction type details

it was fill in the blanks

with too much thinking

heart wrenching imagination

like why would two people

in a van driving together

sharing inside secrets and

cheap road food not be

more than she said

playing a players game

of silence and selective

facts believable whether deceivable 

or not who could know


she met a native american guide

entering the great grand canyon

already ahead of her hiking

below the entertainer chevy chase

working up his best sweat

"losing weight for a part," he told her

he seemed nice she told me


she, so sun tanned

deeply in pain

followed the guide's instructions

scaling the canyon, seeking and

finding her peace on her own


in shorts and a shirt

a weight loss plan of her own

for that burn in her heart

immune from her lotions

medicines and potions

yet falling away as she scaled

deeper to release the one-hundred-and-ninety

pounds of disappointment


the guide set her free

with a nod for the tip

and when she returned

freedom felt better than the pain

sending her away again

without the boy

without me

free.




we share this

 

when the motion

slips into another space

explanations defy attempts to reconcile


part of the magic lives in everything

     that's ever been

     and ever is


like a wave

all of our days are part of something

more complex than we can see

so the part of you in me

and me in you goes on


some of the energy conserved in all

     that's ever drawn

     from breath lives on




-- douglas brent smith


How Did I Get This Job?

  How Did I Get This Job? - collage by douglas brent smith, 27 December 1987